Travel Guide to Bangkok, Thailand

Region: Asia · Budget: Cheap · Flight from UK: 11 hours · Best months: November to February

Bangkok hits you all at once: the heat, the noise, the smell of frying garlic from a thousand street carts, the gold-spired temples sitting next to glass skyscrapers. It's also the most underrated food city in the world — you can eat brilliantly for £2 from a plastic stool on a street corner, or genuinely world-class in a Michelin-starred restaurant for less than a London pub dinner. From the UK you're 11–12 hours direct, and on the ground the BTS Skytrain and MRT metro cover most of where tourists want to go for under 50 baht a ride. Most travellers stay 3–4 nights and that's about right — long enough to do the Grand Palace, a klong (canal) tour, a market, a rooftop bar and a serious night-out, before heading north to Chiang Mai or south to the islands. The biggest first-timer mistake is trying to walk between sights — Bangkok is huge and pavements often vanish; the Skytrain plus the orange-flag river boats are your friends.

Budget breakdown (per day, GBP)

Stay £8–£19 · Food £4–£10 · Activities £3–£8 · Total £15–£37

Best time to visit

November–February is the best window — 'cool' season (still 26–30°C but with low humidity and almost no rain). March–May is brutally hot (35–40°C). June–October is monsoon — hot, humid, with daily heavy showers, but cheaper and far less crowded. Loy Krathong (November full moon) and Songkran (mid-April water festival) are spectacular but plan transport and accommodation well in advance.

Weather overview

Tropical, hot all year. Three seasons: cool-dry (Nov–Feb), hot (Mar–May), and rainy (Jun–Oct). Even in 'cool' season the heat is intense by midday — schedule outdoor sights for early morning or late afternoon. Pack lightweight, modest clothing for temple visits (shoulders and knees covered).

Suggested trip length

1 Week or 2 Weeks

Day-by-day itinerary

Day 1: Arrive in Bangkok, drop bags at your accommodation and take a slow orientation walk through the centre to get your bearings before the jet lag hits. Grab an early dinner near your hotel — somewhere you can walk back from in five minutes — and have an early night to reset your body clock. If you've still got energy in the evening: Grand Palace.
Day 2: Street food on Yaowarat in the morning while you're fresh and the light is good for photos, followed by a long local lunch somewhere off the main tourist drag. Afternoon: explore a neighbourhood you haven't seen yet on foot, stopping for a coffee or a drink whenever you find a spot that looks right.
Day 3: Wat Pho — book any tickets in advance online to skip the queues, which can easily eat 90 minutes in peak season. Afternoon: a slower café-and-shops loop in a different part of town, then dinner somewhere recommended by your accommodation hosts rather than a top-10 list.
Day 4: Chatuchak Weekend Market. Use the second half of the day for any souvenirs or gifts to take home, and try a restaurant outside the main tourist strip — typically 30–40% cheaper for noticeably better food. End the day somewhere with a view, sunset is usually the best free attraction in any city.
Day 5: Day trip out of Bangkok — a coastal town, mountain village, vineyard region or nearby city is usually under an hour by train, bus or ferry and gives you a completely different angle on Thailand. Pack light, leave early, and aim to be back for a relaxed dinner.
Day 6–7: Revisit your favourite spot from earlier in the week now that you know your way around, slow down with a long lunch, and pick up anything you missed on the first pass. Use the final morning for a quiet breakfast and a final wander before heading to the airport — leave at least 3 hours' buffer for international flights.

Things to do in Bangkok

Grand Palace and Wat Pho first thing in the morning (8:30am opening) — go directly to Wat Pho's reclining Buddha first, when the Grand Palace coach groups arrive en masse around 10am.
Long-tail boat tour through the Thonburi klongs — old wooden houses on stilts, riverside temples and a side of Bangkok that hasn't changed in 100 years.
Eat your way through Chinatown (Yaowarat) after dark — start at Texas Suki on Phadungdao Road and don't stop walking until you find dim sum at Hua Seng Hong.
Sunset rooftop drinks at Sky Bar (Lebua), Vertigo (Banyan Tree) or the more relaxed Sirocco — dress code applies.
Cooking class at Silom Thai Cooking School or Blue Elephant — half-day with market visit, around £30.
Day trip to Ayutthaya by minivan or train (90 minutes) — the former Siamese capital with crumbling brick temples and Buddha heads tangled in tree roots.
Massage at Wat Pho Traditional Massage School — the original home of Thai massage, £10 for an hour.
Chatuchak Weekend Market — 15,000 stalls; arrive at 9am, plan to get lost, and budget on cheap food and Thai craft beer.

Best areas to stay in Bangkok

Sukhumvit (Asoke / Thong Lo) — best for first-timers, on the BTS line, packed with bars, restaurants and good mid-range hotels.
Silom / Sathorn — financial district, calm in the evenings on weeknights, great rooftop bars and easy access to the river.
Riverside (Charoen Krung / Bang Rak) — a gentler, more atmospheric area, with the river boats on your doorstep and some of the best new hotels and restaurants.
Old Town / Banglamphu (around Khao San Road) — closest to the Grand Palace and temples, but Khao San itself is a chaotic backpacker strip you may want to avoid for sleep.
Avoid Pratunam and Ratchada for sleep — useful for shopping and night markets but loud and not pretty.

Transport tips

From Suvarnabhumi: the Airport Rail Link is 45 baht to Phaya Thai (30 minutes); a metered taxi to most central hotels is 300–400 baht including tolls.
Don Mueang (the budget airline airport) has no train — taxi or pre-booked transfer (around 400 baht) is easiest.
BTS Skytrain and MRT are spotless, air-conditioned, and the fastest way around — get a Rabbit card for the BTS, single tickets for MRT.
Tuk-tuks are a tourist experience, not transport — agree the price first (100–200 baht for a short ride) and don't accept any 'special tour' offers, they're scams.
Use Grab or Bolt for taxis — pricing is set in the app and avoids the 'meter not working' negotiation.
The orange-flag Chao Phraya Express boat is 16 baht and the cheapest way to do the temple sights along the river.

Safety tips

Bangkok is generally very safe for tourists — the main risks are scams (gem shops, 'temple closed today' tuk-tuk drivers) rather than violence.
If a stranger approaches you near the Grand Palace and tells you it's closed for a Buddhist holiday, walk away — it's a setup to take you to a tailor or gem shop.
Drink only bottled or filtered water; the ice in tourist-area restaurants is fine (it's industrially produced) but skip ice from rural street carts.
Watch your drink in Khao San and RCA bars — drink-spiking is rare but does happen.
Mosquito-borne dengue is present year-round; use repellent at dawn and dusk, especially near the river.

Visa & entry requirements (UK travellers)

Visa-free entry up to 60 days for UK passport holders.