Bangkok travel guide
Where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Things to do in Bangkok, planned over three days
Best time to visit Bangkok
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Cool season and the best time, roughly 20 to 31C, low humidity and almost no rain, but peak prices and poor air in February.
Hot season at 34 to 40C, outdoor sights become early morning only and April is the worst month unless Songkran is the point.
Wet season with short afternoon downpours, the cleanest air, lowest prices and a June to early July value sweet spot.
Wettest months, with flooding in low sois and traffic disruption in September and October, so keep afternoons flexible.
What's on
- Loy Krathong Full moon of the twelfth Thai month, 24 November in 2026
Floating lanterns and krathong on the river on the city's prettiest festival night.
- Songkran 13-15 April
Thai New Year city wide water fight centred on Silom and Khao San, with temple merit making in the mornings.
- Chinese New Year January/February, lunar dates shift yearly
Yaowarat is the centre with lion and dragon dances, red lanterns and Chinatown's biggest street food nights.
- Vegetarian Festival (Tesagan Gin Jay) Nine days in the ninth lunar month, about 30 September to 8 October in 2027
Nine days of strict vegetarian Thai Chinese food at 100 plus Yaowarat stalls, with parades and shrine merit making.
Worth the trip for
Best things to do in Bangkok
The Grand Palace
Thailand's most sacred palace complex with Wat Phra Kaew, best entered at opening before heat and tour groups.
Wat Pho
Older and calmer temple with the 46 metre Reclining Buddha and the school where Thai massage was codified.
Wat Arun
Porcelain covered prang to climb late afternoon, then watch lit up from across the river at sunset.
Talat Noi
Old Chinese Thai riverside lanes of workshops, shrines, murals and the So Heng Tai mansion, lived in not staged.
Song Wat Road
Restored warehouse shophouses with galleries, cafes and vintage shops at the centre of Bangkok's shophouse revival.
Yaowarat Road
Chinatown after dark for a grazing street food night under the neon, starting around 7pm when stalls take over.
Chatuchak Weekend Market
Huge weekend market of around 15,000 stalls, best at 9am picking a few sections before the midday heat.
Jim Thompson House
Teak house compound in a jungle garden on a khlong, filled with Southeast Asian art and a guided tour.
Where to stay in Bangkok
Sukhumvit
first trip, all-round base
BTS and MRT cross at Asok, Phrom Phong adds malls and restaurants, with the widest hotel choice at every price.
Riverside / Charoen Krung
couples and atmosphere
Grand hotels, river views and boat transport on the city's oldest road, with Talat Noi and Song Wat at the north end.
Silom / Sathorn
practical central base
Both rail lines, Lumphini Park at one end and the river at the other, with better value and less character than Riverside.
Ari
repeat visitors and a neighbourhood trip
Leafy, low rise and cafe dense, full of young Bangkokians and almost no tourism, one BTS stop from Chatuchak.
Siam / Langsuan
shopping-first and luxury in the centre
Every mall, the BTS interchange and good hotels around Lumphini Park, functional rather than soulful on the street.
Old City / Rattanakosin and Banglamphu
temple-first short stay
Walk to the Grand Palace and Wat Pho from riverside boutiques, but no rail nearby, early nights and long rides east.
Think twice about
- Khao San Road itself
Backpacker party street, loud until very late, tout heavy and one of the worst connected spots in central Bangkok with no rail nearby.
- Nana / lower Sukhumvit (Soi 4-7) and the Patpong / Soi Cowboy strips
Red light districts with go-go bars, touts and scam prone nightlife bars outside otherwise fine hotels, a poor base for most travellers.
- Areas marketed as near the airport or a bargain far up a highway with no station
Bangkok traffic taxes every trip into town, so a cheap room 45 minutes from a BTS station is not cheap in time.
- Pratunam
Wholesale market chaos, gridlocked streets and poor pavements, wearing as a general base unless bargain shopping is the trip.
Best restaurants in Bangkok
Sorn
Southern Thai fine dining, fiery and seafood led, Thailand's first three-star restaurant.
POTONG
Progressive Thai Chinese tasting menu in a century old herbal pharmacy shophouse, telling Chinatown's story.
Le Du
Seasonal modern Thai tasting menu from Chef Ton, easier to book and friendlier priced than Sorn.
Nusara
Intimate jewel box dining room by the river with Wat Pho views and Thai family recipe inspired courses.
Raan Jay Fai
One wok, charcoal fire and the famous crab omelette from Bangkok's only street food starred table.
Jeh O Chula
Late night tom yum Mama noodles loaded with seafood, pork and egg on Bangkok's student food street.
Rung Rueang Pork Noodles
Customisable pork noodle bowls, tom yum or clear, dry or soup, for the price of a coffee at home.
Wattana Panich
Beef noodle soup from a broth carried forward for over five decades, tender beef and a rich balanced bowl.
Best bars in Bangkok
BKK Social Club
Award winning cocktail bar at the Four Seasons on Charoen Krung, the headline stop on a Bangkok bar night.
Tropic City
Rum forward, neon lit bar on Charoen Krung 28, a looser counterpoint to the hotel bars nearby.
Bar Us
Drinking room on Sukhumvit 26 that cooks its cocktails like dishes, ranked one of the world's best bars.
The Bamboo Bar
Live jazz in the Mandarin Oriental bar room running since 1953, the city's oldest and calmest jazz night.
Opium Bar
Late night bar above Potong in Chinatown, the place to finish when a Charoen Krung or Yaowarat night runs late.
Outdoor things to do in Bangkok
Thai Country Club
Prestige championship round an hour out, immaculately kept and where Tiger Woods won the 1997 Asian Honda Classic.
Alpine Golf Club
The sterner championship test, heavily contoured with few level lies, host to the Johnnie Walker Classic.
Nikanti Golf Club
All inclusive golf where one fee covers green fee, cart, caddie, tip, meals and on course snacks.
Siam Country Club Bangkok
Wide fairways and huge turtle back greens on a 7,250 yard design, the gentlest loosener after a long flight.
Hidden Bangkok Tours
Small guide led longtail trips into Thonburi canals past stilt houses, the Artist's House and Wat Paknam.
Pandan Tour
Private teak boat trips through the Thonburi khlongs, praised as authentic and untouristy.
Co van Kessel Bangkok Tours
Bike and boat tours through Chinatown and greener Thonburi that make the city's geography click on day one.
Bang Krachao
Guided Green Lung ride with ferry, elevated mangrove paths, park and weekend Bang Nam Phueng market, plus kayak options.
Best hotels in Bangkok
Bangkok Marriott Hotel Sukhumvit
Reliable upscale pick at the local end of Sukhumvit with a rooftop bar, right at BTS Thong Lo.
Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok
Design forward, pet friendly hotel with the award winning Bar.Yard rooftop over Lumphini Park.
Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok
The riverside grande dame since the 1870s, home to the Bamboo Bar and Le Normandie.
Capella Bangkok
All river facing rooms and villas on Charoen Krung, calmer and more resort like than the Oriental.
Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River
The modern riverside option, home to BKK Social Club and Yu Ting Yuan.
COMO Metropolitan Bangkok
Quiet, design led hotel housing one star Nahm, calm but five minutes from the BTS.
Amara Bangkok
Solid mid range Silom pick with a rooftop pool, walkable to Sala Daeng BTS.
Josh Hotel
Ari's boutique calling card with vintage design, pool and cafe bar scene, eight minutes from BTS Ari.
Is Bangkok expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | THB 1,250 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | THB 3,300 a person |
| Splurge | THB 10,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Rajadamnern Muay Thai Stadium: a few days ahead
- Thai Country Club: weeks ahead
- Alpine Golf Club: weeks ahead
- Nikanti Golf Club: a few days ahead
- Siam Country Club Bangkok: a few days ahead
- Hidden Bangkok Tours: a few days ahead
- Pandan Tour: a few days ahead
- Co van Kessel Bangkok Tours: a few days ahead
- Sorn reservations open on the 15th for the next month and vanish, and Potong, Le Du and Nusara need 2 to 4 weeks for cool season weekends.
- Book Rajadamnern Muay Thai and good riverside sunset tables online ahead in the November to February peak.
- Buy Grand Palace tickets at the gate or official channel only and check on the day for royal ceremony closures.
- Carry a light layer for the enforced temple dress code of covered shoulders and knees.
Is Bangkok safe?
- Heat is a safety issue: temples and markets before 11am, water and electrolytes, and indoor middays.
- The main risks are scams and road traffic, so take a Grab car rather than a motorbike taxi.
- Do not criticise the royal family in public, never step on banknotes, and leave vapes home as they are illegal.
- Drink bottled or filtered water and choose busy street stalls cooking fresh in front of you.
- Check your government's current travel advice before you go.
Bangkok travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Anyone saying the Grand Palace is closed today and offering a cheap tuk-tuk tour is running the gem and tailor scam.
- Do not follow ping-pong show touts in Patpong or Nana upstairs, where padded bills and intimidation follow.
- Skip Damnoen Saduak as sold by hotel desks and use Bang Nam Phueng or Amphawa instead for a floating market.
- Avoid Asiatique, buffet dinner cruises and gem or tailor factories on tour itineraries.
Getting around Bangkok: public transport and more
- Use BTS and MRT first with a Rabbit card for BTS, and stay within a five minute walk of a station.
- Take the orange flag Chao Phraya Express boat between Saphan Taksin, Riverside, Chinatown, Tha Tien and the Grand Palace piers.
- Use Grab or Bolt for fixed price rides, and the Airport Rail Link from Suvarnabhumi to Phaya Thai in about 26 minutes.
- Treat tuk-tuks as a short photo ride with a price agreed first, never as transport or a tour.
Who Bangkok suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Bangkok your trip
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