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3 hours
Chiang Mai Old City
Chiang Mai Old City is the historic walled core inside the roughly square moat at the centre of modern Chiang Mai.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Chiang Mai
Country guide
Thailand
Thailand is 513,120 km² and 76 provinces, plus Bangkok, which is not a province at all but a special administrative area with an elected governor of its own. The 65,975,198 people counted in 2024 spread across four regions that behave like four separate trips: the central plain along the Chao Phraya, the north around Chiang Mai and the old Lan Na kingdom, the Khorat Plateau in the northeast, and the long strip of the Malay Peninsula in the south. Most itineraries take two of the four. Taking all four is largely a schedule of internal flights.
Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor
Cities
Every city catalogued in this country so far, ranked by how much there is to see.
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Bangkok
Photograph · Preecha.MJ · CC BY-SA 4.0
Bangkok 3,496 places -
Phuket
Photograph · Ryomaandres · CC BY-SA 4.0
Phuket 3,160 places -
Chiang Mai
Photograph · Supanut Arunoprayote · CC BY 4.0
Chiang Mai 2,870 places
Practical information
Practical information
- Language spoken
- Thai
- National practical orientation; regional and minority languages may also be used
- Dialling code
- +66
- International calling code; local area and mobile prefixes still apply
- Currency
- Thai baht (THB)
- Use the official local currency; card acceptance varies by place
- Emergency number
- 191 police · 1669 medical
- Use only for an emergency; tourist assistance may use a separate number
- Plug type
- Type A, B, C and O · 220 V
- Check that chargers support the recorded voltage before using an adapter
- Tap water
- Not recorded
- No verified nationwide drinking-water statement was recorded
Planning a visit
- Seasonal closure recorded
- No data recorded for this month
- The current month
- January: no seasonality data recorded
- February: no seasonality data recorded
- March: no seasonality data recorded
- April: no seasonality data recorded
- May: seasonal closure recorded
- June: seasonal closure recorded
- July: seasonal closure recorded
- August: seasonal closure recorded
- September: seasonal closure recorded — this month
- October: seasonal closure recorded
- November: seasonal closure recorded
- December: seasonal closure recorded
Top things to see
Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.
Filter the list
38 places match
38 places match
Category
Typical visit duration
Interests
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02 45 minTha Phae Gate
Tha Phae Gate is a historic city gate situated at the eastern edge of Chiang Mai's old city moat and wall system. It stands as one of the most recognizable landmarks in northern Thailand's largest city.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Chiang Mai
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03 1 hr 30 minGrand Palace
พระบรมมหาราชวัง
The Grand Palace is the walled royal compound on the east bank of the Chao Phraya that Rama I began on 6 May 1782, an act that also founded Bangkok.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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04 1 hourWat Arun
วัดอรุณ
Wat Arun is a Buddhist temple on Bangkok’s Thonburi bank, beside the Chao Phraya River. Its best-known feature is the central prang, a tall tower decorated with porcelain and surrounded by four smaller prangs.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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05 1 hourWat Phra Kaew
วัดพระศรีรัตนศาสดาราม
Wat Phra Kaew is the royal chapel standing inside the Grand Palace wall, and it is the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand, by function rather than by consensus of guidebooks.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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Soi Romanee 06 30 minSoi Romanee
Soi Romanee is a narrow historic lane in Phuket Old Town, distinguished by its well-preserved Sino-Portuguese shophouse architecture.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Phuket
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07 1 hr 15 minWat Pho
วัดพระเชตุพนวิมลมังคลารามราชวรมหาวิหาร
Wat Pho, in full Wat Phra Chetuphon, is the temple immediately south of the Grand Palace, and it is the only monument in Bangkok carrying an international documentary-heritage inscription.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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08 1 hourKhaosan Road
ถนนข้าวสาร
Khao San Road is a 410-metre street in Phra Nakhon, a few minutes' walk from the Chao Phraya, whose name means milled rice and whose reputation has nothing to do with rice.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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09 45 minWat Suthat
วัดสุทัศนเทพวรารามราชวรมหาวิหาร
Wat Suthat Thepwararam is one of only ten first-class royal temples in Bangkok, and the one written into the city's original plan rather than added beside it.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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10 40 minWat Benchamabophit
วัดเบญจมบพิตรดุสิตวนารามราชวรวิหาร
Wat Benchamabophit is Rama V's marble temple, built in 1900 as part of the Dusit district he laid out for himself, and the clearest surviving statement of what the Thai monarchy meant by modernisation.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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11 3 hoursChatuchak Weekend Market
ตลาดนัดจตุจักร
Chatuchak is the weekend market that the Thai government's own Bangkok page calls the largest in the world, and it is large enough that the claim is hard to argue with: Wikivoyage records roughly 8,000 vendors on 35 acres and…
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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12 45 minDusit Palace
พระราชวังดุสิต
Dusit Palace is not a palace to tour but a royal quarter of Bangkok, roughly 64,749 square metres bounded by Ratchwithi Road to the north, Si Ayutthaya Road to the south, Ratchasima Road to the west and U-Thong Nai Road…
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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13 20 minDemocracy Monument
อนุสาวรีย์ประชาธิปไตย
The Democracy Monument stands on a traffic circle where Ratchadamnoen Avenue crosses Dinso Road, in Phra Nakhon district, roughly halfway between Sanam Luang and the Golden Mount.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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14 45 minHua Lamphong railway station
สถานีรถไฟกรุงเทพ
Bangkok (Hua Lamphong) railway station is the former central passenger terminal of Thailand, a domed Italian neo-Renaissance building in Pathum Wan operated by the State Railway of Thailand.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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15 45 minWat Ratchabophit
วัดราชบพิธสถิตมหาสีมารามราชวรวิหาร
Wat Ratchabophit Sathit Maha Simaram is Rama V's own foundation of 1869 and the most formally peculiar of Bangkok's royal temples, which is exactly why it is worth seeing after the canonical ones rather than before them.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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16 20 minVictory Monument
อนุสาวรีย์ชัยสมรภูมิ
Victory Monument, in Thai Anusawari Chai Samoraphum, is a military memorial at the centre of a large traffic circle in Ratchathewi district, where Phahonyothin, Phaya Thai and Ratchawithi roads meet northeast of central Bangkok.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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17 40 minWat Mahathat Yuwaratrangsarit
วัดมหาธาตุยุวราชรังสฤษฎิ์ราชวรมหาวิหาร
Wat Mahathat Yuwaratrangsarit is a first-class royal temple of the highest grade — one of only six ratchaworamahawihan temples in Thailand — with an Ayutthaya-period foundation and a position that is itself a statement: it stands on Maha Rat Road…
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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18 45 minRama VIII Bridge
สะพานพระราม 8
The Rama VIII Bridge is an asymmetric cable-stayed crossing of the Chao Phraya River, 475 metres long with a 300-metre main span, hung from a single inverted-Y pylon 160 metres tall that stands on the Thonburi bank.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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19 2 hoursYaowarat Road
ถนนเยาวราช
Yaowarat Road is the mile and a half of Chinatown that records the commercial history of Bangkok, as against the royal history a few streets north.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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20 45 minVimanmek Mansion
พระที่นั่งวิมานเมฆ
Vimanmek Mansion is a former royal villa in the Dusit Palace complex in Dusit district, and it cannot currently be visited.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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21 45 minWat Ratchanatdaram
วัดราชนัดดารามวรวิหาร
Wat Ratchanatdaram Worawihan stands where Ratchadamnoen Klang meets Maha Chai Road in Phra Nakhon, and it is on itineraries for one building inside it: Loha Prasat, the metal-spired monastery.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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22 30 minAssumption Cathedral
อาสนวิหารอัสสัมชัญ
Assumption Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bangkok, standing in Soi Oriental off Charoen Krung 40 in Bang Rak, a short walk back from the Chao Phraya river.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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23 15 minSao Chingcha
เสาชิงช้า
The Giant Swing, Sao Chingcha in Thai, is a 21.15-metre red teak frame standing on an open island in front of Wat Suthat in Phra Nakhon, and it is the last physical trace of a Brahmin ceremony that Bangkok stopped…
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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24 20 minAnanta Samakhom Throne Hall
พระที่นั่งอนันตสมาคม
Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall is the domed marble building at the head of the Royal Plaza in Dusit, and it is the one entry on this list that cannot be entered.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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25 1 hr 30 minPhaya Thai Palace
พระราชวังพญาไท
Phaya Thai Palace is a group of early twentieth-century royal halls at 315 Ratchawithi Road in Ratchathewi, standing inside the walls of a working army hospital rather than behind a ticket office.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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26 1 hourWang Lang Market
ตลาดวังหลัง
Wang Lang Market is a daily market in Bangkok Noi district, on the Thonburi bank of the Chao Phraya beside Siriraj Hospital, and it runs for 300 metres along a narrow lane between the Siriraj pier and Arun Amarin road.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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27 45 minBhubing Palace
Bhubing Palace is a royal residence situated on Doi Suthep mountain in Chiang Mai province, northern Thailand. The palace serves as a winter retreat for the Thai royal family when visiting the region.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Chiang Mai
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28 1 hourSaranrom Park
สวนสราญรมย์
Saranrom Park, or Saranrom Royal Park, is a 23-rai public park directly east of the Grand Palace, run by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, and one of the few green spaces in Rattanakosin that a visitor can simply walk into and…
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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29 45 minThree Kings Monument, Chiang Mai
อนุสาวรีย์สามกษัตริย์
The Three Kings Monument stands as a prominent landmark in central Chiang Mai, commemorating the three kings who were instrumental in the city's founding and historical development.
- High
- Historic monument
- Chiang Mai
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30 45 minOld Phuket Town
เมืองเก่าภูเก็ต
Old Phuket Town is Phuket's historic commercial quarter, where streets of Sino-European row houses show the island's trading and tin-mining past.
- High
- Historic monument
- Phuket
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31 45 minSampeng market
ตลาดสำเพ็ง
Sampeng Market is a historic wholesale and retail market in Bangkok’s Chinatown, running through a narrow lane parallel to Yaowarat Road.
- High
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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Chang Chui Market 32 45 minChang Chui Market
ช่างชุ่ย
Chang Chui Market, known locally as ช่างชุ่ย, is a creative market and lifestyle destination in Bangkok. The name translates to "meticulous craftsman," reflecting its artistic ethos.
- Notable
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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33 45 minChannel 7 Boxing Stadium
สนามมวยเวทีสถานีโทรทัศน์สีกองทัพบกช่อง 7
Channel 7 Boxing Stadium is a televised Muay Thai venue operated by the Royal Thai Army's Channel 7 television station in Bangkok.
- Notable
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
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34 45 minChiang Mai Night Bazaar
The Chiang Mai Night Bazaar is an evening market and commercial district occupying a stretch of Chang Klan Road in central Chiang Mai.
- Notable
- Historic monument
- Chiang Mai
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35 45 minPatong Beach
Patong Beach is a coastal area on the west side of Phuket island in southern Thailand. It represents one of the most internationally recognized beach destinations in the province, situated within the broader Phuket tourism region.
- Notable
- Historic monument
- Phuket
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36 45 minPhuket Big Buddha
Phuket Big Buddha is a prominent religious landmark on Nakkerd Hill near Chalong in southern Phuket. The hilltop setting makes the statue visible from many parts of the island and gives the visit a strong sense of place.
- Notable
- Historic monument
- Phuket
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Phuket Wake Park 37 45 minPhuket Wake Park
Phuket Wake Park is a cable-wakeboarding facility in Phuket, Thailand. An overhead cable system pulls riders across a purpose-built body of water, so the activity does not use a boat.
- Notable
- Historic monument
- Phuket
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38 1 hr 30 minSuan Pakkad Palace
วังสวนผักกาด
Suan Pakkad Palace is a private aristocratic compound on Si Ayutthaya Road in Ratchathewi, south of the Victory Monument, where Prince Chumbhotbongs Paribatra, who lived from 1904 to 1959, and his wife Princess Chumbhot assembled a residence out of old…
- Notable
- Historic monument
- Bangkok
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata ·
Common questions
How long should a first trip to Thailand be?
Ten to fourteen days allows three or four days in Bangkok, about three in Chiang Mai, and a separate southern base. If an island follows an international arrival, keep a spare transfer day because the last road or ferry connection may not align with the flight.
What entry documents are needed for Thailand?
Thailand's entry permission depends on the traveller's passport, purpose, and stay length. Use the linked Thai immigration guidance to confirm the applicable visa route and whether a Thailand Digital Arrival Card is required for the arrival date.
What is the best way to travel around Thailand?
Bangkok anchors Thailand's transport network. The Tourism Authority of Thailand lists buses, trains, urban rail, vans and songthaews for land journeys, alongside domestic aviation and boat services. Check any island's final sea or road connection separately before booking the inbound leg.
When is a practical time to visit Thailand?
November through February is the broad starting point for this route, not a nationwide weather guarantee. Northern conditions and the monsoon timing on each coast differ, so choose dates around the island or ferry leg rather than Bangkok alone.
What money and payment basics apply in Thailand?
Thailand uses the Thai baht (THB). Cards may work in larger hotels and businesses, but market purchases and some island transport can require cash, so retain a modest baht reserve without assuming a particular exchange fee.
What practical safety details should I save for Thailand?
Record 191 for police and 1669 for medical emergencies in Thailand. Power is 220 V with Type A, B, C, and O sockets; tap-water safety is not recorded here, so ask the accommodation rather than treating the missing entry as approval.