A blog about my love for travel, food and fashion.

Monday 13 April 2020

Bangkok Travel Guide


For those that are in Thailand for a reasonable amount of time it makes sense travelling up North to Bangkok from Phuket and making the most of your trip. The best way to travel to Bangkok would be by catching a flight (I've also heard that you can get an overnight train which is cheaper but this takes up a lot of your travel time). Internal flights in Thailand are super super cheap so I would make the most of this as they cost around £20-£30 if you book in advance. 

The flight time is no more than an hour to an hour and a half which is the perfect way to maximise your time in Bangkok especially if you catch a flight first thing in the morning. 

The one tip that I would highly recommend is that you pay for your baggage before your flight which can often be done through the airline app on your phone. DO NOT make the mistake of thinking you can pay at the airport...well you can but this will cost around £200 for a 23kg suitcase. By booking in advance on the app you'll be paying around £15 so its a literal no brainer. 

In my case I thought I could pay at the airport not anticipating these crazy prices. However, we was lucky enough to purchase a brand new flight (as the original one) which included baggage for £60. This is something you don't really want to be doing so make sure you've got your baggage already booked.

Where to stay...


When it came to booking our hotel in Bangkok we didn't really base it on location but simply on the basis of which one we preferred. I would endlessly be searching for hotels on booking.com and remember being in the cinemas waiting for my film to come on when I stumbled across YOLO Bangkok boutique hotel and instantly fell in L O V E. I absolutely loved the minimalistic yet chic vibe it had. This hotel for 2 nights cost I'm in inclined to say no more than £60 per person and was definitely a nce we got there we was upgraded to this B E A U T I F U L room that had a bathtub right in the middle of the rosplurge in comparison to our last hotel but it was worth every penny. Oom and an outdoor garden area with a swinging chair. I genuinely couldn't rave about this hotel enough all the from the staff being amazing answering our every question and boy let me tell you we had 100's all the way to the no shoe policy that they had once entering the reception/lobby area.

1. Visit Wat Arun




Wat Arun also known as the temple of dawn and is definitely a must see when visiting Bangkok with the visiting hours between 8:30am-5:30pm and an entry fee of 50 baht (this may have gone up as it was just under a year since I last visited). Now you might have heard Wat Arun and Wat Pho but for me Wat Arun trumps Wat Pho with its majestic vibe so, if you are short on time in Bangkok you can't leave without visiting here. I would also suggest either visiting first thing in the morning or just before closing time to avoid the burning midday heat.

2. Visit Wat Pho




To visit Wat Pho you simply have to take a boat ride across the Chao Phraya river and your there however, due to the extensive grounds of Wat Arun it can take some time to find the pier for the boat so your best bet would be to ask around. The boat ride literally costs as little as 50p and run frequently so you won't be waiting around for long. Wat Pho is famously known for hosting the largest reclining buddha therefore their entry prices are little more expensive being at 200 baht (which is hella steeeeep) but if it makes you feel better you get offered a free bottle of water. Personally, looking back now I would have opted out not seeing this attraction as for me it wasn't worth the money but hey you do it for 'the culture' right?

3. Visit Chinatown


If you've just finished up by Wat Pho then it makes sense that your next stop to be Chinatown . For those wondering how to get around Bangkok a lot of people recommended Grab when I was doing my research. For those that don't know what Grab is its Thailand's version of Uber. However, let me tell you its IMPOSSIBLE to get a Grab in Bangkok due to its high demand and dense traffic (as you can see above). I also found Grab to be much much cheaper in Bangkok than Phuket so if you can get your hands on one then you've truly hit the jackpot. 

Therefore, your next best bet of transport would be Tuk Tuk's but your wondering what's the ballpark price to pay for a ride right? Listen up homies my top tip would be to use Grab to cross reference how much a ride should cost. So I would enter my destination and see what price Grab was offering and use this as my absolute maximum when negotiating with the tuk tuk drivers. If they were offering anything higher then let me tell you ladies and gents your getting ripped off and its time to walk down to the next driver for negotiations. 

Another thing to be careful of is, that they will try guilt trip you about getting stuck in traffic but this DOESN'T affect the cost of the ride so stick to your guns.

I would recommend visiting chinatown at around 8pm as that is when all the food markets start coming out and serving locals and hungry tourists. I absolutely loved the hustle and bustle of chinatown, families setting up their livelihoods cooking up the most delicious and authentic meals ever.

But I want to iron out a misconception especially for veggies and vegans that its really difficult locating food so don't expect to be grabbing your dinner here and I would recommend coming here already well fed. We had to learn this the hard way, thinking we was going to feast on tofu pad Thai's, veggie spring rolls and fresh fruit juice. But boy that wasn't the case at all your girl was HAAANGRY. 

But there's always a silver lining to every story and for us that was patience is truly a virtue because we eventually after a few hours found this beautiful family of three making tofu pad Thai's! I couldn't believe my eyes, so much so that we ordered three plates full. The whole experience was so authentic and one that I would never forget, sitting on the edge of the road watching the hustle and bustle whizz past, tucking into our dish that cost 90 pence. So my word of advice would be to persevere because you never know what you'll stumble across. 

4. Grab a drink at The House of Eden


For those that don't know, Bangkok has a large cafe scene, so large that it would take days to go through them all so I'm going to show you the highlights and one of those being House of Eden. This literal pink paradise is located in this beautiful shopping mall in the food court. For you instagrammers out there this is the perfect spot to get your gram but I would recommend coming during the day instead of the evening. The drinks are also on the pricier side of things so I'd also suggest sharing but other than this definitely has to make your list for cafe hopping.

5. Tour the famous floating markets 




If you guys are looking for a comprehensive tour of the infamous floating markets then I would highly highly recommend booking with Klook. Our whole day tour allowed us to see 3 very different food markets all for less than £20. If that's not a bargain I don't know what is. You can book your tour here.

Your first stop will take you to the most famous and oldest floating markets to exist which are Damnoen Saduak where you get to hail down vendors selling food making it such a fun and interactive experience. The tour guides are also amazing, super informative not only giving you facts about the markets but providing a more overall history of Thailand.





The second stop is the Maeklong Railway Market where a train runs every hour through the markets selling fish, spices, food and other objects. You get to stand inches away from a train whilst it makes its way down the track and is so fun seeing the vendors having to pack and reassemble every time the train passes.




The last stop of the tour will take you to the Amphawa floating markets where your allowed to go off for a few hours to feast on as much food as you like. I personally would have opted for the tour option where this stop wasn't included, otherwise its such a looooong day and by the end of it you are exhausted. So it's just something you want to take into consideration when booking your floating markets tour.

6. Cafe hop at Cafe Reverie 



This monochromatic, fairy tale inspired cafe is a known instagram hotspot in Bangkok and makes the perfect place to grab a hot drink, cake or a meal. It's located in a very random location and not very central so I would recommend getting a Grab here.

7. Grab dessert at Unicorn Cafe




I absolutely loved how eccentric and colourful unicorn cafe was, their whole concept from their decor all the way to their desserts and drinks were super quirky and was definitely my favourite cafe. This place really brings out your inner child and is quite a fitting place to bring your kids.

8. See Bangkok from above 



Bangkok is also famously known for their sky high rooftop bars allowing you to see Bangkok from above. There's quite a handful to choose from but we ended up going to CRU Champagne Bar which gives you insane views. Mocktails were priced at £10 which is pretty expensive but if you think about it its your entry price and let me tell you it was worth it. We spent hours here engrossed in conversation to the point where we lost track of time (as cliche as it sounds). The atmosphere was such a vibe where they would constantly be playing RnB classics.

And that's a wrap! I hope you enjoy reading my travels to Bangkok and hoping that some of my tips and tricks come in handy. Can't wait to come back to Bangkok and for those that have been there already I would love to hear about your travels to Bangkok or Thailand for that matter!


SHARE:

No comments

Post a Comment

Blog Design Created by pipdig