Planning Your Bangkok Trip
Beyond the essentials, there's more to planning a successful visit to Bangkok. Check out these links for ideas to help you plan the perfect trip.
- At A Glance
- In a hurry? Don't want to wade through a lot of pages of information? Then just read this one. We've summarized all you really need to know about Bangkok in a nutshell. Of course, there are still links to all the details, if you want to know more. If you're looking for ideas on what are the best sights to see or places to stay - beyond what you find in most guidebooks, then have a look at the Best of Bangkok pages. You might also want to check out my Bangkok For You pages for suggestions targeted at specific interests, such as shopping, food or the arts.
- Day Trips / Excursions
- A number of interesting places are within an easy day trip of Bangkok. Perhaps the most fascinating is a trip to the old capital of Ayuthaya, which can include stops at the Royal Arts & Crafts Center at Bang Sai and the Bang Pa In summer palace. See our day trips page for a complete list of possible excursions from Bangkok. If you want to leave the logistics to someone else and have a worry-free vacation, you can book packaged day trips in advance.
- Events
- As with just about every other large city, Bangkok is place where there's always something going on. There are several exhibition and convention centers, among the largest in Asia, where there are almost always some kind of trade show going on. Plus there's the famous - some might say infamous - nightlife.
- Travel Insurance
- Does your regular health insurance cover you when you travel? Often, the answer is no, and then there's the added costs of emergency transport home, etc. to consider, as well as missed flights, lost baggage and other headaches. Don't be caught short. Look into travel insurance.
- Maps & Guides
- Nancy Chandler's colorful maps of Bangkok pack loads of information into a very compact format. Shoppers will find the maps especially useful, as Nancy points out where the best buys can be found. Among the guidebooks, we'd rate Rough Guide's compact but thorough Bangkok guide as the best bet. See the linked page for on-line purchase.
- Itineraries
- Bangkok, like so many big cities, has many different faces, "something for everyone," if you will. However, there are must-see sights in the city which almost every tourist will want to visit. The suggested itinerary on this page is my own personal opinion about what a short visit to Bangkok should include.
- Useful Links
- Follow the links on this page for more information you may find useful about Bangkok.
In this section
A number of interesting places are within an easy day trip of Bangkok. Perhaps the most interesting is a trip to the old capital of Ayutthaya, which can include stops an the Royal Arts & Crafts Center at Bang Sai and the Bang Pa In summer palace.
Day Trip Destinations Around Bangkok Base map image © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC BY-SA The destinations mentioned on this page can be visited on your own as a DIY Day-trip, or you can book a tour to them from any of several operators.
Sight-seeing from the back of a bicycle is becoming an increasingly popular, zero-emissions way of seeing Bangkok. A number of operators now offer various tours that promise to give you a glimpse of "unseen" parts of Bangkok.
The Ban Nampeung floating market in Bang Krajao, a popular "Bangkok Jungle" bike ride Baja Bike Tours This international bike tour operator offers tours of Bangkok conducted by Co can Kessel (see below).
As with just about every other large city, Bangkok is place where there's always something going on. There are several exhibition and convention centers, among the largest in Asia, where there are almost always some kind of trade show going on. Plus there's the famous - some might say infamous - nightlife.
Major Event Venues BITEC (Caution: Web site was infected at last check) The Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Center (BITEC) is one of the largest trade venues in Thailand.
As the old cliché goes, Bangkok has “something for everyone.” While there are a number of standard tourist sights that most people see, if you have a particular passion, you can easily indulge it in this big city. Follow the links below that correspond to your particular interest.
Art Lovers Architecture Although a bit short on notable modern buildings, Bangkok still has a rich architectural heritage that you can see, both in the palaces of the kings and princes as well as in the simple elegance of traditional teakwood houses.
There are hundreds of things to see and do in Bangkok. Most of this site's 500 or so pages are devoted to covering some of them. So, which ones should you see? Come to that, where should you stay and where should you eat? In this section I have collected a few lists of what I consider the best of Bangkok, that is, beyond the obvious things you'll find in any guidebook.
There are quite a few interesting sights around Bangkok, which you can see on a day trip from the big city. These include places like the ruins of the old capital Ayutthaya or the more modern summer palace at Bang Pa In. There are packaged day trips that can take you to these places, but the more adventurous travelers can see more (and save money) taking the "do it yourself" route.
$page->page_head(""); $page->menu(); ?> While a printed guide can be useful for helping you to plan a trip, they can often be bulky and awkward to take with you. Although some of the major guides are available in electronic format, they generally aren't organized in a way to be useful on the ground. My own electronic guidebooks have been specifically designed for use while you travel. They contain information from this on-line guide about each sight, what's nearby, and how to get there, all in formats for most ereaders or ebook apps.
Nancy Chandler's colorful maps of Bangkok pack loads of information into a very compact format. Shoppers will find the maps especially useful, as Nancy points out where the best buys can be found. Among the guidebooks, I'd rate Rough Guide's compact but thorough Bangkok guide as the best bet.
While a printed guide can be useful for helping you to plan a trip, they can often be bulky and awkward to take with you.
Bangkok, like so many big cities, has many different faces, "something for everyone," if you will. However, there are must-see sights in the city which almost every tourist will want to visit. The itinerary below is my own personal opinion about what a short visit to Bangkok should include.
Individual day trips may be booked through online aggregators like Viator. Most hotels will have tour desks offering similar tours. The advantage to purchasing in advance is that you can be sure of what you're getting and don't have to know whether or not your selected hotel has a tour desk.
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