If you plan a trip to Bangkok and you would like to discover more from the surrounding of the Thai capital, make a day trip to Ayutthaya. Here are some tips on how to make the most out of your day trip to Ayutthaya.
After Sukothai, Ayutthaya was the second capital of Siam Kingdom. It was founded in the 14th century by U-Thong and during 4 centuries of its existence, it housed 33 kings and participated in 70 wars. In the 16th century, Ayutthaya was one of the most important cities in Asia, playing an important role in the international trade. It was destroyed upon the arrival of the Burmese in 1767, and the capital moved to Bangkok (Thonburi).
Ayutthaya is worth visiting once you are in the Thai capital. It lies relatively close to Bangkok, which means that you can plan a day trip to Ayutthaya. If you’ve had enough of all the golden temples and crowded places in Bangkok, you can then enjoy some quality time between real ruins and calm walk in the archeological park of Ayutthaya.
Read also: 5 Temples in Bangkok Worth Visiting
Here are some tips on How to Make the Most of Your Day Trip to Ayutthaya
In Bangkok, you can find many agencies offering the trips, but much cheaper is to go on you own: you can go by train, bus, minibus or boat. Probably the best solution is to take a minibus from the metro station Victory Monument – in a small street on the left from the monument, you will find a small station of minibuses going to Ayutthaya. One way takes about 60-90 minutes with no intermediate stops and costs about 60 B.
There are about 7 temples worth seeing – some of them have been renovated, others in ruins. If you are not really archeologist or lover of ruins, you should pick 3-4 places that you really want to see. You might be amazed by the first site, but then it is always the same thing and you risk to get bored. The top temples to see are Wat Phra Mahathat (the largest and most visited temple, left in ruins), Wat Phra Si Sanphet (the most holy and beautiful temple), Wat Chai Wattanaram and Wat Phanan Choeng.
The directions are not really well indicated across the city, so if you plan to visit non-neighbor temples, have a plan with you. If you want to learn some historical details, you can hire guides.
Not all the spots are located close to each other, sometimes you will need to walk 2 km or more. Ayutthaya is a calm town, so why not to enjoy it on a bike? There are many places in Ayutthaya where you can rent a bike. You may also see a lot of elephants carrying tourists, but the elephants looked sad to me – who knows how they are treated.
At majority of the temples, you will need to pay an entry fee (+/-50 B). But if you plan to visit more than 4 temples, then you might be interested in the one day global entry ticket to almost all the temples in Ayutthaya (+/- 220 B).
Bear in mind that the majority of temples are open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
And what about you? Have you ever been to Ayutthaya? If so, which temple did you like the most and why?