The Best Day Trips from Bangkok

The 8 best day trips, ranked

Ordered by how well they repay a full day - factoring travel time, what you can actually see, and how easy they are without a car.

1. 1

   Ayutthaya

   Ruins of the old capital, cheaply

   80 km north · ~1 hr 20 by train

   The capital of Siam for four centuries until it was sacked in 1767, now a UNESCO-listed field of brick temple ruins, collapsed stupas and rows of headless Buddhas. Wat Mahathat has the famous Buddha head grown into a fig tree, Wat Phra Si Sanphet has the three restored chedis, and Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon has the reclining Buddha and a climbable central tower. The site is spread out and flat, so hire a bicycle at the station or take a tuk-tuk by the hour. Go early: there is very little shade and the middle of the day is punishing.

   Getting there: Trains run from Bangkok to Ayutthaya about 24 times a day, taking roughly an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half. Fares start around 40 THB for the basic classes and climb to about 1,050 THB for the fastest air-conditioned seats, so this is one of the cheapest good day trips anywhere. The fastest morning departure leaves at 8:30 and takes about 1 hour 17. Minivans and river cruises also run; guided tours start near 30 USD with hotel pickup and lunch.

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2. 
   2

   Damnoen Saduak floating market

   The postcard, if you arrive by 9am

   100 km southwest · ~1 hr 30 by road

   The classic photograph: wooden boats stacked with fruit, hats and noodles nudging along a narrow canal. The single fact that decides your day is the time. Between 6:30 and 9am it is a working market and it is wonderful. After that the coaches arrive, the canal jams, and the vendors switch to selling souvenirs to a captive audience. If your tour arrives at 10am you will see a different, much worse place than the one in the photos.

   Getting there: Roughly ninety minutes by road. Group tours run about 700 to 1,500 THB including hotel pickup and air-conditioned transport, and almost always pair it with the Maeklong railway market fifteen to twenty minutes away. At the market itself, a traditional rowing boat runs about 400 THB per boat for an hour, seating up to six; a motorised long-tail costs roughly 600 to 800 THB.

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3. 
   3

   Maeklong railway market

   A train through a vegetable market

   70-80 km southwest · ~1 hr 30 by road

   A produce market laid out on and beside a live railway track. Minutes before a train, the vendors fold back their awnings and slide their baskets clear, the train grinds through inches from the tomatoes, and then everything slides back. It takes about ninety seconds and it is genuinely startling. Outside those four moments it is a normal, good, hot market - so the whole point is arriving for one of the four times above.

   Getting there: About ninety minutes southwest of Bangkok, and only fifteen to twenty minutes from Damnoen Saduak, which is why nearly every tour does the two together. Trains pass through the market at 8:30, 11:10, 14:30 and 17:40 - the schedule is the attraction, so check it against your tour's timing before booking.

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4. 
   4

   Amphawa floating market

   Where Thais go, weekends only

   80 km southwest · ~1 hr 30 by road

   The floating market Bangkok residents actually visit. The crowd is mostly Thai families and young couples down for the weekend, the food is the reason people come rather than the souvenirs, and grilled river prawns cooked on the boats are the thing to order. It has an authenticity Damnoen Saduak lost some time ago. The trade-off is the schedule: weekends only, afternoons and evenings, which does not suit every itinerary.

   Getting there: Similar run to Damnoen Saduak, roughly ninety minutes by road, and often bundled into the same tours. The crucial difference is timing: Amphawa runs Friday to Sunday afternoons and into the evening, not at dawn. Evening firefly boat trips leave after dark.

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5. 5

   Kanchanaburi and the River Kwai

   History and waterfalls, in a long day

   130 km west · ~2 hr 30 by road

   The bridge over the River Kwai and the Death Railway, built by Allied prisoners of war and conscripted labourers under the Japanese occupation, with a museum in town covering the human cost. Many tours combine it with Erawan National Park, where a waterfall drops through seven bathable tiers of turquoise pools. It is a genuinely moving half of a day and a genuinely lovely other half, but be realistic about the twelve to fourteen hours.

   Getting there: About two and a half hours by road each way. Full-day tours typically run twelve to fourteen hours door to door, which is the honest headline: this is a long day, not a half day. Trains also run from Bangkok on the surviving stretch of the wartime line.

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6. 
   6

   Bang Pa-In Summer Palace

   A polished pairing with Ayutthaya

   60 km north · ~1 hr by road or rail

   The royal summer retreat, a formal lakeside park mixing a Thai pavilion on the water, an Italianate mansion and a Chinese palace, which sounds incoherent and somehow works. It is manicured and calm, a useful contrast to the raw brick ruins up the road. Dress code is enforced: covered shoulders and knees, and it is applied strictly.

   Getting there: Just south of Ayutthaya, which is why most Ayutthaya tours stop here on the way. Independently it is a short hop from Ayutthaya by taxi or tuk-tuk, so it slots neatly into a self-guided train day.

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7. 
   7

   Pattaya

   The closest beach, with caveats

   150 km southeast · ~2 hr by road

   The nearest proper beach resort to Bangkok, and the most divisive place on this list. The city centre's nightlife reputation is entirely earned and puts many people off. What redeems it as a day trip is everything just outside: the Sanctuary of Truth, an enormous all-teak carved temple on the shore, and the quieter beaches south towards Jomtien. Go for those and it works; go expecting a calm beach town and it will not.

   Getting there: Buses run frequently from Bangkok's eastern terminals and take roughly two hours; a train also serves the route. Minivans are quicker but cramped.

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8. 
   8

   Ko Kret

   A half-day escape without the drive

   20 km north · ~1 hr by road and ferry

   A car-free island of Mon communities known for hand-thrown terracotta pottery, with a leaning riverside stupa and a circuit you can walk or cycle in a couple of hours. It comes alive at weekends when a food market fills the lanes and is very quiet midweek, which you may consider a feature. This is the trip for a spare half-day when you do not want another two-hour drive.

   Getting there: A river island in the Chao Phraya on the northern edge of the city, reached by road to Pak Kret and then a short ferry crossing that costs a few baht. No tour needed, and it is the cheapest trip here by a wide margin.

Day trips from other cities