Must-see attractions in Bangkok

  • Female Visiting the Cloister with Large Group of Seated Buddha Images in Wat Pho or Temple of the Reclining Buddha, Bangkok Old City, Thailand, ( Self Portrait )

    Wat Pho

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    Wat Pho is our absolute favorite among Bangkok's biggest sights. In fact, the compound incorporates a host of superlatives: the city's largest reclining…

  • Grand palace, Wat pra kaew with blue sky, bangkok, Thailand

    Grand Palace

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    The Grand Palace (Phra Borom Maharatchawang) is a former royal residence in Bangkok that was consecrated in 1782. Today, it’s only used on ceremonial…

  • Wat Arun temple in Bangkok during sunset.

    Wat Arun

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    Wat Arun is the missile-shaped temple that rises from the Chao Phraya River's banks. Known as Temple of Dawn, it was named after the Indian god of dawn,…

  • Wat Phra Kaew Bangkok Thailand

    Wat Phra Kaew

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    Architecturally fantastic, the Wat Phra Kaew temple complex is also the spiritual core of Thai Buddhism and the monarchy, symbolically united in what is…

  • Swan boats, Lumphini Park, Bangkok, Thailand

    Lumphini Park

    Bangkok

    Named after the Buddha’s birthplace in Nepal (Lumbini), Lumphini Park is central Bangkok’s largest and most popular park. Its 58 hectares are home to an…

  • Wat Saket, The Golden Mount Temple, Bangkok, Thailand.

    Golden Mount

    Banglamphu

    Even if you're wát-ed out, you should tackle the brisk ascent to the Golden Mount. Serpentine steps wind through an artificial hill shaded by gnarled…

  • Thai Buddhist temple Wat Suthat.

    Wat Suthat

    Banglamphu

    Other than being just plain huge and impressive, Wat Suthat also holds the highest royal temple grade. Inside the wí·hăhn (sanctuary for a Buddha…

  • South East Asia, Thailand, Bangkok, Samphanthawong district, Chinatown, Wat Traimit temple which houses the Golden Buddha

    Wat Traimit (Golden Buddha)

    Chinatown

    The attraction at Wat Traimit is undoubtedly the impressive 3m-tall, 5.5-tonne, solid-gold Buddha image, which gleams like, well, gold. Sculpted in the…

  • Cycling in Bangkok at Sunset

    Talat Mai

    Chinatown

    With some two centuries of commerce under its belt, New Market is no longer an entirely accurate name for this strip of commerce. Regardless, this is…

  • Talat Noi

    Chinatown

    This microcosm of soi (lane) life is named after a small (nói) market (đà·làht) that sets up between Soi 22 and Soi 20, along the atmospheric Soi Wanit…

  • SkyWalk at King Power Mahanakhon

    Bangkok

    Offering an unparalleled 360-degree view of Bangkok's cityscape, this two-tiered viewpoint is perched atop King Power Mahanakhon, currently Thailand’s…

  • Wat Benchamabophit.

    Wat Benchamabophit

    Bangkok

    You might recognise this iconic temple from its impression on the back of the ubiquitous Thai 5B coin. Also referred to as the Marble Temple, it was…

  • Bangkokian Museum

    Bangkok

    Comprising three early-20th-century wooden bungalows, the charming Bangkokian Museum illustrates an often-overlooked period of Bangkok's history. The main…

  • Temple in National Museum Bangkok Thailand

    National Museum

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    Thailand's National Museum is home to an impressive collection of items dating from throughout the country's glittering past. Most of the museum's…

  • Thanon Khao San

    Banglamphu

    From seedy backpacker ghetto of the 1980s to atmospheric flashpacker central of the current times, Th Khao San has undergone a considerable image makeover…

  • Wat Bowonniwet Vihara's golden stupa

    Wat Bowonniwet

    Banglamphu

    Founded in 1826, Wat Bowonniwet (known colloquially as Wat Bowon) is the national headquarters for the Thammayut monastic sect, a reformed version of Thai…

  • BANGKOK, THAILAND - 2013/10/19: Santa Cruz Church, known to Thais as Wat Kudichin, sits along the banks of the Chao Phraya River. After the fall of Ayutthaya, King Taksin gave the Portuguese a plot of land for the building of a catholic church in Thonburi, the new capital. The current Santa Cruz Church was built in Italian style.  A famous Thai cake is named after Santa Cruz Church "Khanom Farang Kudichin".. (Photo by John S Lander/LightRocket via Getty Images)

    Church of Santa Cruz

    Chinatown

    Centuries before Sukhumvit became Bangkok's international district, the Portuguese claimed fa·ràng (Western) supremacy on a riverside plot of land given…

  • Pak Khlong Talat Flower Market

    Flower Market

    Chinatown

    In 2016, as part of a cleaning drive, Bangkok's famous and formerly streetside flower market – also called Pak Khlong Talat – was moved indoors. Within…

  • Views from the "Artist's House" in Bangkok, Thailand.

    Artist's House

    Bangkok

    Sort of a gallery, kind of a coffeeshop, more a cultural centre… It's tough to categorise this old wooden house on Khlong Bang Luang in Thonburi. There's…

  • Royal Barges National Museum

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    The royal barges are slender, fantastically ornamented vessels used in ceremonial processions. The tradition of using them dates back to the Ayuthaya era,…

  • King Prajadhipok Museum

    Banglamphu

    This museum assembles old photos and memorabilia to illustrate the rather dramatic life of Rama VII (King Prajadhipok; r 1925–35), Thailand's last…

  • BANGKOK, THAILAND - December 13, 2014: Dream World amusement park.

    Dream World

    Bangkok

    This is an expansive amusement park north of the city that boasts a snow room.

  • Siriraj Medical Museum

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    Collectively dedicated to anatomy, pathology and forensic sciences, this museum has a somewhat atypical (bordering on macabre) array of exhibits ranging…

  • Museum Siam

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    This fun museum's collection employs a variety of media to explore the origins of the Thai people and their culture. Housed in a European-style 19th…

  • Saranrom Royal Garden

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    Easily mistaken for a European public garden, this Victorian-era green space was originally designed as a royal residence in the time of Rama IV. After…

  • Wat Ratchanatdaram

    Banglamphu

    This temple was built for Rama III (King Phranangklao; r 1824–51) in the 1840s, and its design is said to derive from metal temples built in India and Sri…

  • Amulet Market

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    This arcane and fascinating market claims both the footpaths along Th Maha Rat and Th Phra Chan, as well as a dense network of covered market stalls that…

  • Wat Mangkon Kamalawat

    Chinatown

    Clouds of incense and the sounds of chanting form the backdrop at this Chinese-style Mahayana Buddhist temple. Surrounding the temple are vendors selling…

  • Holy Rosary Church

    Chinatown

    When a Portuguese contingent moved across the river to the present-day Talat Noi area of Chinatown in 1787, they were given this piece of land and built…

  • Hua Lamphong Train Station

    Chinatown

    Located at the southeastern edge of Chinatown, Bangkok’s main train station was built by Dutch architects and engineers between 1910 and 1916. It was…

  • MR Kukrit Pramoj House

    Bangkok

    Author and statesman Mom Ratchawong Kukrit Pramoj (1911–95) once resided in this charming complex now open to the public. Surrounded by a manicured garden…

  • Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute

    Bangkok

    Founded in 1923, Asia's oldest snake farm gathers antivenom by milking snakes, injecting it into horses, and then harvesting and purifying the antigens…

  • Institute of Islamic Art

    Bangkok

    This institute has a small gallery displaying indigenous classical and contemporary Thai Islamic art, with the objective of reviving the Thai Islamic…

  • Sampeng Lane

    Chinatown

    Soi Wanit 1 – colloquially known as Sampeng Lane – is a narrow artery running parallel to Th Yaowarat and bisecting the commercial areas of Chinatown and…

  • Thanon Bamrung Meuang Religious Shops

    Banglamphu

    The stretch of Th Bamrung Meuang (one of Bangkok’s oldest streets and originally an elephant path leading to the Grand Palace) from Th Mahachai to Th…

  • Wat Thevarat Kunchorn

    Bangkok

    The origins of this riverside Buddhist temple located near Thewet Pier date back to pre-Ratanakosin days, but it was successively built upon and renovated…

  • Gallery VER

    Bangkok

    This vast experimental art space has hosted a variety of work by both established and emerging local artists, sometimes with a subversive lean. In 2017,…

  • Wat Saket

    Banglamphu

    Wat Saket contains murals that are among the most beautiful in the country. Proceed directly to the pillar behind the Buddha statue, however, for some…

  • Bangkok CityCity Gallery

    Bangkok

    This small, modern-feeling art space, which opened in 2015, hosts changing exhibitions featuring the work of domestic, often pop-inspired artists, as well…