A Complete Guide to Bangkok

Finally - it was my moment to experience the legendary Bangkok. It was my first time in Thailand, a country that ends up on many backpackers' lists as an easy and beautiful country to travel around. I wholeheartedly agree, and already can't wait to come back to explore more of Thailand. I only had ten days to cram in as much as possible with Ina, one of my best friends from Salzburg, who I met up with in Phuket.

We focused on the southwest part of the country, starting in Ao Nang before crossing the Krabi Peninsula and taking a ferry to the little island of Ko Tao, far and away our favourite spot of the entire trip. Then, we took the ferry back down to Ko Samui, one of the neighbouring islands of Ko Tao.

Three days later, the final destination of our mini Thai adventure dawned upon us: Bangkok. Without further ado, here is everything we got up to in this ultimate city destination during our three days!

Many of the incredible photos below were taken by Ina, both on my camera and hers. It is a joy to travel with someone who loves documenting the world as much as you do.

How to Get to Bangkok

Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) is Bangkok's main international airport and is one of the biggest in Southeast Asia. This, combined with cheap flights from around the world, make it a major hub and one of the most popular options for starting or ending trips through the region.

Ko Samui Airport

There is an airport on Ko Samui, which turned out to be one of the prettiest we've seen, and so it was super easy to hop on a short flight north with Bangkok Airways after our island-hopping, landing in Bangkok less than an hour and a half later. There are more than twenty flights servicing this route daily, so you'll be sure to find one that fits your schedule! If we'd had more time, taking the ferry back to the Krabi Peninsula and then traveling by land to Bangkok could also be an option; but we were far too tight on time to make that happen, unfortunately.

To get to and from BKK from Bangkok, I strongly suggest you take the Bangkok Airport Rail Link to and from Phaya Thai. It's by far the fastest, easiest and most affordable option. We took a Grab car to/from Phaya Thai with our luggage.

I also flew out of BKK to get back to Europe on a direct flight with Thai Airways to Munich. I shared my thoughts on this on Instagram, which I loved so much that I have copied it out below:

And so my month in Thailand draws to a close — I’m writing this as I sit curled up in a plastic seat at my gate in Bangkok Airport, waiting for my 12-hour long haul to take me back home to Europe. Sometimes I still forget Europe is my home these days. I’ve called so many places home throughout my lifetime, each one a temporary haven to store my books and my clothes and provide a place to rest my head in between my insatiable desire to constantly be on the go, discovering the far flung corners of the globe. And so, because the concept of home doesn’t really exist for me, I guess I like to think of the whole planet as home. If, one day, my travels ever saw me venture into outer space, I’d surely be telling the aliens that my home is the planet earth. And even if about 40 thousand feet above sea level is the highest I’ll ever get, I guess my perspective remains the same. Maybe that’s why I love flying so much, and why I’ll always pay for a window seat and research which side is the best view to fly in and out of my destinations. I want to feel at home.

How to Get Around Bangkok

Bangkok is massive. We had intentionally booked our accommodation to be right down near the touristy centre so we could walk everywhere. However, there were moments we needed some transport:

To cross the Chao Phraya River, which divides the city, a hub for transport of humans and goods, you'll need to grab a one of the many little ferries that crisscross between the many piers on both sides of the riverbank. Depending on your proximity to tourist attractions you’ll be pay anywhere for 5-30฿ to get across and it’s a delightful little jaunt and a beautiful way to see the city.

For longer trips, such as out to Lumphini Park or up the iconic sky bars of the city, we ordered Grab Scooters using the Grab app.

These little scooters are so cheap, so easy and, actually, so much fun to ride through the buzzing Bangkok!

Grab also offers cars as well as food delivery, which we used in Ao Nang.

Where to Stay in Bangkok

Bangkok is massive. There are SO many neighbourhoods where you can stay. You'll find accommodation at literally every price point - from the budget backpacker hostels to the luxurious five-star hotels. I wasn't kidding when I said Bangkok is the ultimate city destination in Southeast Asia!

We checked into the Comfy Bed Hostel which was central, cheap, clean, quiet, comfortable and, while the rooms were tight, the beds were spacious and private. Highly recommend!

Best Things to Do in Bangkok

There's probably enough to do in Bangkok to keep you going for much longer than just three days, but we were on a tight schedule and picked the highlights that we really wanted to see and photograph. Here is everything we saw during our time in the city:

The Streets of Bangkok

As I mentioned earlier, we intentionally booked accommodations in the middle of the touristy downtown that we wanted to explore so we could wander at leisure. It gets very hot in the middle of the day, so we tried to do the bulk of our exploring in the mornings and in the evenings.

Khao San Road

The legendary Khao San Road is a constant bustle of activity. You'll find plenty of open-air shopping, loads of sit-down restaurants and just as many street food carts to compete, loud music and it's all partially thrilling and partially overwhelming. We wandered up and down Khao San every night and had our dinner (Pad Thai and a mango banana smoothie) from the carts dotted around. An experience, for sure!

Trok Mor Market

One of the few "non-touristy" places we stumbled across was the Trok Mor Market, populated only by locals buying their goods for the day. It epitomised the essence of a proper Bangkok market, with bustling streets, smells wafting from little food stalls, a general hubbub constantly around us, a swirl of heat, the occasional breeze brushing through the crowds and always a mango banana smoothie to be found.

Grand Palace

The temples of Bangkok make for the most gorgeous photographer’s playground and we ran around all day in the heat finding the most photogenic spots to capture and spot the Bangkok Mounted Police. We didn't go inside the Grand Palace (we felt it was too expensive and we'd be battling crowds and heat) but we thoroughly enjoyed spotting the iconic temple spires from the perimeter.

Wat Arun

Perhaps one of the most iconic temples of the Bangkok skyline is Wat Arun, right on the riverbank across from the Grand Palace. We took a small ferry across the river to reach it and immediately entered the ticket line. At the time we visited it was only 100 ฿ (about €2,50) but we saw a paper sign that said prices would be doubling from the end of the month, so I would expect it to be at least 200 ฿ now.

It was hot and crowded, but I'm happy we made the effort to visit one of Bangkok's most well-known and photographed spots. Shoulders must be covered during your visit; red scarves are provided if you don't have your own. It's also apparently very popular to rent traditional costumes for photo opportunities around here; you'll find hundreds of rental shops in the immediate vicinity if that's your thing!

A temple has existed on this site since 1351, with the current structures having been completed since 1851. The name Wat Arun comes from the Hindu God Aruna, the god of the rising sun.

Satri Wat Rakhang

In Thai, วัดระฆังโฆสิตารามวรมหาวิหาร, this sweet little temple is actually a school. And we found it to be far better than any of the other touristy temples we walked past, quietly set back from the river where we could wander in sweet peace as the only tourists around.

Vertigo Moonbar

And of course, perhaps one of the most spectacular things to do of all, is to make your way up to one of Bangkok's iconic sky bars. We popped into the Vertigo Moonbar, in walking distance from Lumphini Park, 52 floors above the city, for drinks and mesmerizing views.