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!

Phuket travel guide

For as long as I can remember Thailand had been on my travel bucket list. Its pristine beaches, Thai food and rich culture fascinated me to the point where I would spend every night before bed constantly checking flights. When it came to booking my summer travels Thailand was thrown into the mix as a suggestion but it didn't really formulate into a solid plan. My trip to Thailand actually came about very spontaneously where it was 24 hours later from when we had entertained the idea to our flights being booked.

How to get there...

With any holiday the process starts with booking flights and I found flights (at a very short notice) for £354 per person flying with Air china on the way there and Air Shenzhen on the way back. Our flights consisted of a stopover in China so make sure you have the correct entry requirements whether that being you need a transit visa etc etc. Luckily if your a British citizen you WON'T need a transit visa if your stopover in China is less than 24 hours. Flying to Phuket took a whole day of travel so bear this mind when deciding on how long to go for. Another thing to mention is that if you're a British citizen you will not need a visa to travel to Thailand if you're going for less than 30 days.

Where to stay

When doing our Phuket holiday research we decided to stay in the Patong area which is one of the main tourist areas within Phuket. We simply chose a more populated tourist area for a number of reasons being accessibility, safety and convenience. Travelling as a student I was pretty much on a tight budget for the trip and therefore stayed in a more affordable hotel the Phoenix Grand Hotel. With 4 nights and breakfast included it cost no more than £45 per person. The only downside I would have to mention is that the breakfast options for vegetarians were poor however this was expected with a more budget hotel. 

Airport transfers and SIM cards

Because our hotel was located a 40 minute drive away from Phuket airport we had prior to our trip booked an airport to hotel transfer with Klook which was the cheapest option that was available. I could not recommend this site enough as we used it in regards to EVERYTHING which you will encounter as we go along. The transfer was extremely reliable and most importantly safe (being two girls travelling across Thailand never did we once feel unsafe or worried). Within our transfer package we also decided to include sims which made our trip so much easier. They cost around £3 each and the data lasted for 8 days before they needed to be topped up again which could be easily done from your phone so you don't have to worry about trying to find a store and topping up.

How to get around the island

The best to get around the island is to rent out a scooter which seems to be the most cheapest transport option however this wasn't a choice for us. Prior to our trip my research had informed me that grab was the uber version in Thailand and therefore was the next best option. However, I found grab to be ridiculously expensive in Phuket to the point where we had spent £20 per person in one day which didn't seem reasonable to me at all. I would only recommend getting a grab if your travelling from one end of the island to the other. If you want to hire a car for the day most grab drivers are also your usual taxi drivers so if you let them know your plans for the day you can negotiate a reasonable amount for the entire day. If you are doing journeys that are in the vicinity of where your staying then tuk tuk's are your new best friends. On average a single tuk tuk journey to your destination would be 200 baht and this can be easily split between your group therefore being your cheapest option.

What to do in Phuket

1. Visit the Big Buddha

There's not a great deal of sightseeing to do in Phuket as it's all beaches and boat days that will mostly occupy your time therefore visiting the Big Buddha, Wat Chalong and old town won't take more than half a day to a day. Entry into the big buddha is free but bear in mind to dress appropriately by wearing clothing that covers your shoulders and past your knees. As the buddha is situated on one of the highest points on the island the views are INSANE. Although there are some well known view points of the entire island you can just visit the buddha and get the exact same views but without the hike (seems like a win win to me).

2. Visit Wat Chalong

Again, Wat Chalong is completely free to visit allowing your sightseeing day costs to be kept to a minimum. This was the first Thai temple I had visited and I was in awe of the architecture and the religious beliefs and values behind Buddhism. Not only were the temples majestic in their own way but were surrounded by stunning clean gardens. 

3. Visit Old Town

It was a no brainer to visit the colourful Old town of Phuket which made a great place to grab some lunch, fresh juices and do a spot of shopping. Whilst walking around we noticed one particular road that was full of stalls where we decided to do some souvenir shopping. I came to Thailand with a huge list of things I wanted to get and found some real gems here. Don't feel afraid to haggle prices down (don't be too ambitious) but if you don't try you don't get right?

4. Boat tour to Phi Phi island 

Boat tours are the best way to go island hopping especially if your in Phuket for a short period of time and don't have time to stay a few nights in these different islands. I loved boat tours so much that I wish every day I spent in Phuket consisted of island hopping. We booked all of our boat tours with Klook (I wasn't joking when I said my whole trip was 'sponsored' by Klook). Our tour guide was phenomenal constantly making us laugh and providing us with tonnes of information throughout the day.

The way the tour works is that you get picked up (and dropped back off) from your hotel but prior to this the pick up time is emailed to you. The itinerary for this particular tour was that we was taken to Maya Bay however this is closed off to tourists and therefore making the beach inaccessible in order for the sea life to recover from the masses of tourists that visit every year. Then we was taken to a beautiful spot to have a swim. For those that can't swim (like myself) don't worry, you get offered a life jacket allowing you to float freely. Then we arrived at Phi Phi island where we were able to have lunch (which is included within the tour price) and have some free time to explore and roam the island. Lastly, we were taken to a snorkelling spot which I would highly recommend taking part in.

A word of advice would be is to take a waterproof bag with you to keep your belongings because it tends to get slightly wet on a speedboat. Secondly, I would highly suggest purchasing a waterproof phone case where you can insert your phone and some money allowing you to take pictures underwater. These can be brought here.

5. Boat tour to James Bond island 

Another tour I would recommend booking if your short on time would definitely be the James Bond island. It doesn't take a genius to work out that one of the James Bond scenes were filmed here hence bringing in masses of tourism to this island.

Again booked through Klook however, this one was slightly different where we went on a slower boat taking two hours to get here but I wouldn't have had it any other way. It was the perfect way to meet new people from across the globe which really helps for those travelling alone. It was at the end of the tour that I realised that I wasn't ready to leave because of all the amazing people we met on our day trip. 

With this tour we had the chance to sit in smaller boats whilst being kayaked around which allowed us to experience the island in a more fun yet intimate way whilst simultaneously enabling us to make friends with the locals too. 

6. Zip-lining and ATV'ing

There are so many activities to do on the island and zip - lining and ATV'ing are one of those. I would say it's an activity when you have ample amount of time within Phuket. At this point I never knew how much I was going to love touring the islands so I have a slight regret not booking myself onto an another tour but this was just as great. It's one of those things that you don't get to do on a regular basis so why not do it whilst you're in Thailand?

7. Watch the sunset from Kee Sky Lounge 

By far this was one of my favourite sunsets I have ever witnessed. We got here around 40-45 minutes before the sun was about to set thinking it was going to be busy but to our surprise we had the whole lounge to ourselves. 

I couldn't have had the most perfect ending to our stay in Phuket with the most vibrant colours running through the sky, great cocktails and live music playing in the background. If your in Phuket I highly recommend giving this rooftop bar a visit at sunset.

Thank you for giving my Phuket guide a read, if you have any more questions feel free to let me know:)