Bangkok and Ayutthaya
Old-town Bangkok on foot, then two nights inside the Ayutthaya ruins, not a day trip.
City Classic · 5 days · November to February
Most people do Ayutthaya as a coach day trip and see three temples in flat midday light. Sleep there instead: the ruins open at first light and are still lit at dusk, and both of those hours belong to whoever stayed the night. Bangkok is routed the same way round — the old royal island in the last three hours of daylight, the Grand Palace at half eight rather than eleven, and the river crossings taken as transport rather than as a photograph.
Day by day
- Day 1
Rattanakosin at closing time
Land, drop bags, and take the old royal island in the last three hours of daylight once the coach parties have gone.
15:30Wat Pho
The reclining Buddha hall empties out after three, and you can walk the full 46 metres without queueing at the feet.
The traditional massage school inside takes walk-ins until early evening and costs a fraction of any hotel spa.
17:30Loha Prasat at Wat Ratchanatdaram
The iron spires are the only ones of their kind left standing anywhere, and the top tier hands you the old city's rooflines at dusk with almost nobody on the stairs.
- Day 2
The palace at opening, the river after
Two of the most crowded sights in Thailand, taken at the two hours they are not crowded, and Chinatown for dinner.
08:30The Grand Palace
The Ramakien murals in the Wat Phra Kaeo cloister are legible in early light and unbearable by eleven, when the tour buses all arrive together.
Opens 08:30. Shoulders and knees must be covered — the loan counter at the gate can add half an hour on its own.
11:30Wat Arun
Everyone photographs it from the east bank at sunset, but the porcelain shard work only makes sense with your nose against the prang.
The cross-river ferry from Tha Tien pier runs every few minutes for a few baht.
19:00Yaowarat Road
Bangkok's best eating happens on one kilometre of pavement, and the trick is one dish per stall rather than sitting down anywhere.
Most street kitchens set up after dark and a good many close on Mondays.
- Day 3
North to the old capital
Break the drive up at Bang Pa-In, take a working monastery at midday, and be on the west bank for the light.
09:30Bang Pa-In Royal Palace
It sits directly on the road north, and the Chinese-style Wehart Chamrun hall explains more about nineteenth-century Siam than anything in the ruins proper.
12:00Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon
Still a working monastery rather than a ruin, so the reclining Buddha is draped and tended and the great chedi can be climbed.
17:00Wat Chaiwatthanaram
The riverside prangs face west, so the last hour of light lands on them straight on; it is the one Ayutthaya temple that genuinely repays waiting for sunset.
Floodlit on some evenings, usually Friday to Sunday — check locally before building an evening around it.
- Day 4
The island at first light
Two temples on the historic island before the heat, then the rest of the day is yours by the river.
08:00Wat Mahathat
Arrive at opening and the root-bound Buddha head is yours alone; by ten there is a rope and a queue behind it.
You are required to crouch below the Buddha head in the banyan roots — standing over it causes real offence and is policed.
09:30Wat Phra Si Sanphet
Three royal chedis in a line on the old palace ground give the clearest sense anywhere in Ayutthaya of how large the city was before 1767.
- Day 5
Green lung, then silk
Cycle the mangrove peninsula before the city wakes, then one indoor hour before the airport.
07:30Bang Kachao
A loop of mangrove and orchard inside a river bend of the city itself, and before nine is the only hour Bangkok is quiet.
Bikes hire beside the Bang Nam Phueng pier. The elevated concrete paths are narrow and slick after rain.
14:00Jim Thompson House
Six teak houses reassembled by the American who rebuilt the Thai silk trade, and the last domestic interior of its kind left in central Bangkok.
Entry is by timed guided tour only; book ahead at weekends.
Questions
- How long is the Bangkok and Ayutthaya itinerary?
- The Bangkok and Ayutthaya itinerary runs 5 days and covers 12 stops across Bangkok, Ayutthaya.
- When is the best time to do the Bangkok and Ayutthaya itinerary?
- November to February is the best window for the Bangkok and Ayutthaya itinerary.
- What happens on day one of the Bangkok and Ayutthaya itinerary?
- Day one is rattanakosin at closing time: Land, drop bags, and take the old royal island in the last three hours of daylight once the coach parties have gone.
Sources
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