Bangkok is one of my favourite cities, its full of life, culture and cheap eats.
You can embrace your cultural side by visiting temples and floating markets whilst still enjoying Western style comforts. Not to mention they have a great transport system with train announcements in English (yay!). It’s fun just to go on the sky train, weaving through the tall buildings (and also to cool down, trains = freezing!). Here are some popular things to do (plus 1 unusual one).
Visit Wat Pho (Temple Of Reclining Buddha)
Wat Pho is a really pretty temple close to Grand Palace and home to the reclining Buddha, 46 metres in length and covered in gold leaf. The Buddha is massive and you can also buy coins to place in several bowls along the wall, making a wish for every coin. A great way to donate to the temple and to embrace your spiritual side! Take in the peacefulness as you stroll around the beautiful complex filled with hand carvings, incense sticks and statues. You can also climb up a set of steep stairs to get wonderful views of the surrounding area.
Bangkok River Cruise
This is a great way of seeing the city from a different perspective, whether you take a day or night cruise, you’re bound to spot something you would have otherwise missed. Or you just simply use it to people watch which is always fun.
Learn How to Cook
Book yourself in for a Thai cooking class and learn how to cook delicious dishes from fresh ingredients. They make it easy and fun for you to learn, plus lunch (cooked by yourself) is included!
Khao San Road
This is the main backpacker street in Bangkok where everyone seems to end up, full of cheap bars, street food and entertainment. It’s always busy here day or night- probably more so in the night when the tourists are out partying. There’s always souvenir and clothing stalls so you will definitely get some cheap deals here. This street is packed with atmosphere so worth a visit even if you’re not much of a party person.
Go For Cocktails at Lebua, State Tower
This is a beautiful sky bar overlooking the entire city. The views when I got to the top literally took my breath away. If it looks familiar you may recognising it from the film The Hangover. Cocktails are quite expensive at around £10-£12 but defo worth it if you’re just going for a couple. Listening to the live band whilst taking in the views was one of my highlights and worth a visit.
Grab Yourself a Bargain
There are many places to shop in Bangkok and they each offer a different experience. I personally love shopping around the Siam area which is in the business district. They have nice western shopping malls with well known brands. Central world and Siam Paragon are really nice and air conditioned with good shops and entertainment facilities. They also have loads of places to eat and a gourmet food market with all kinds of nice treats on offer. There’s also MBK which is a huge market style centre with many bargains and Platinum Mall being good for cheap fashion finds. You can haggle for the prices at some stalls too.
Relax at Lumpini Park
This is a really nice park to get away form the hustle and bustle of the city. Even though you can still see the city it’s nice and peaceful here and great for jogging or just sitting with a picnic, plus its right next to the public train lines.
Wind Down at the Cinema
This may sound like an odd suggestion as your probably thinking ‘I didn’t travel all the way to Thailand to go to the cinema’, but if you only have a short amount of time here and have seen most of the usual sites then it’s a great way to kill time. On the other hand if you’ve been on the road for a while it’s nice to just do something you do at home. It’s strangely comforting! I know Siam Paragon, Central World and MBK all have cinemas and they are like half the price of what you pay at home which is a great bonus! Basically all the movies are played in English as well and you can stock up on cheap ice cream and snacks too, yummy.
Extra… (if you have time for 1 more thing!)
Siriraj Medical Museum (for something a bit quirky)
Maybe a controversial choice as it’s a bit different. It’s basically where they preserve human bodies and even baby fetuses, amongst other stuff. Not for the faint hearted but I find this stuff so interesting! Unfortunately I didn’t have time to visit as it’s hard to get to. But if you can get someone to write down the name in Thai to show the taxi driver it would be helpful. This is something different to do in Bangkok, especially if you’ve been here several times and looking for somewhere new to explore.
Is there anywhere I’ve missed or interesting places you’ve been in Bangkok? Comment your recommendations below!
Heading north from Bangkok? Check out North Thailand: Pai or Chiang Rai?
