Bangkok Temple Guide Wat Pho Wat Arun Grand Palace and Hidden Temples

Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace

So Wat Phra Kaew is actually inside the Grand Palace which means you’ll have to pay the 500 baht entrance fee. That’s no problem though because the Grand Palace is a really great place to visit itself. Inside you can expect to see a lot of Thai Buddhist architecture statues of Buddhist mythological creatures as well as a large golden chedi which is a large Tower.

The palace was constructed in 1782 when the king decided to move the palace to this side of the Chao Phraya River. The palace is modeled after the former capital of Ayutthaya which I’ll talk a little bit about towards the end of the video. Wat Phra Kaew is located inside the Grand Palace.

This Temple is deeply associated with the Thai monarchy and is one of the most revered temples in the whole country. The highlight of this Temple is the emerald Jade Buddha which is a small statue located inside the temple. It’ll take approximately 2 to 3 hours to make your way around the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew.

Wat Pho and the Reclining Buddha

Next up is Wat Pho which was established by King Rama I first in the 16th century you can expect to see large beautifully designed stairs as you walk around The Gardens of this Temple probably the most famous item in this Temple is the large reclining Buddha which is one of the biggest in Thailand the statue which is covered in Gold Leaf stands at 46 M long and 15 M high so it really is one of the bigger Buddha statues that you’ll ever see. There are lots of other smaller golden budas dotted around the temple too there’s a 500 baht entry fee at this Temple which is around $5 or £3 it’s only about a 5 minute walk from the Grand Palace so you can easily visit after visiting the Grand Palace. It’ll take approximately 1 hour to make your way around Wat Pho.

Wat Arun Across the Chao Phraya River

The last of the Bangkok big three is wat Arun wat Arun lies across the chaoa river from the other two temples it’s easily accessed by boat which costs about five baht to go across from Tania which is in between wat Po and the Grand Palace so again easily accessible Wat Arun was first established in the 17th century but has gone through major changes to be the temple that has become today despite being a Buddhist temple Wat Arun is renamed after the Hindu god Aruna and the main feature of Wat Arun is it central prang a towering structure embellished with colorful Ceramics and seashells side note if anyone can tell me why this is called a chedi this is called a stupa and this is called a prang please let me know in the comments below they all just look like Towers to me Wat Arun is open from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. it costs 100 baht to enter and it takes about 1 and 1/ half hours to explore the whole temple in my opinion the best view of this Temple comes from across the river rather than actually going to see it yourself up close this kind of looks quite similar to Wat Pho however if you view it from across the river you get to see the boats going past the sun setting behind it and I think this is probably my favorite Temple but you don’t actually even need to go in it to really fully experience it.

Planning a Bangkok Big Three Temple Day

Let’s talk now about some tips for visiting the Bangkok big three. Well the first thing to know is that this is quite a lot of temples to visit in one day. Visitors often complain of being templed out from visiting so many temples.

It’s also a really hot area town because there’s no shade there’s no skyscrapers nearby and for some reason everything’s painted white so the light and the heat reflects. Every time I walk around this area I notice how hot it is and you can see tourists everywhere dripping with sweat looking kind of miserable from walking around all day. My solution for this is to either split this up into two days it wouldn’t be a terrible idea to come to you two on one day and then come back and maybe see Wat Arun.

Alternatively you could just visit the Grand Palace and then w p and then like I said before just look at water runin from across the river you don’t need to go across if that feels like it’s going to be too much for you. Alternatively you might might want to take a big break in the middle of the day. Luckily in this area there’s lots of restaurants some of them are really Swanky and quite nice some of them are no thrills however there’s lots of places to sit down eat a meal get a cold drink get an ice cream whatever and recharge your batteries.

Best Order to Visit Bangkok Temples

The order I suggest viewing these temples is in the order that I’ve shown you them first the Grand Palace then wat po then what aun. The reason being that there’s a more to see in the Grand Palace and it gets the busiest so I would suggest get in there as early as possible to beat the crowds and the heat. The Grand Palace opens about 8:30 a.m.

if. You can get there not long after that that’ be the perfect time.

Bangkok Temple Dress Code

You will not be allowed to enter the temples if you are dressed inappropriately that means no shorts no skirts no tank tops no visible tattoos. Now don’t worry that doesn’t mean that. You have to walk around covered up all day.

If you want. There are places to rent shirts and rent SES to cover your legs all around the temple. It costs about 200 baht and you rent it for the day and then you give it back at the end and this way you’ll be allowed into the temple you just need to cover up when you’re there.

Removing Shoes at Bangkok Temples

Another thing you know is that you must take your shoes off when going inside some of these temples it’s disrespect respectful to walk in there with your shoes on so please take your shoes off. You’ll see it cuz there’ll be lots of shoes to the side so you’ll know when to take them off.

Bangkok Temple Scams and Pickpockets

Unfortunately because this is one of the biggest tourist areas in Bangkok it also attracts scam artists this is one of the dodgiest places I’ve been around town. The biggest scam to be aware of is that as you walk in up to these temples there’ll be Tuk Tuk drivers there and they’ll tell you that the temples are closed for the day don’t believe them they’re lying to you they’re trying to get you into their Tuk Tuk to take you somewhere else I believe to charge you an absurd price. In general Bangkok is really safe however I have noticed this scam all around the temples.

I’ve also noticed a lot of signs saying beware of pickpockets. Now I’ve never actually heard of anyone getting pickpocket in Bangkok in the whole of Bangkok actually however there’s plenty of signs there which means it must have happened at some point so please watch your stuff in this area.

Hiring an English Speaking Temple Guide

It is possible to rent an English-speaking guide at the temples. Now I’ve never done this but I assume it’s good value for money. There’s not a lot of information inside the temple telling you what things are so you would get quite a lot of information from having a guide.

I have also seen some stuff online about about guided tours and some of them seem reasonable however some of them seem extremely high I’ve seen like over $100 for a group tour per person. So if you’re paying if there’s two of you that means it’d be $200 I think this seems like a bit of a ripoff. Please don’t pay too much more than the stated prices that I’ve given you now because that would be way over the top.

Less Touristy Temples in Bangkok

Now for the rest of this video I’m going to show you some less touristy temples to explore in Bangkok. These temples are still largely used as temples rather than tourist attractions so. This will give you a more unique experience when you stay in Bangkok.

Wat Paknam and the Giant Golden Buddha

One of my favorite temples to visit is Wat Paknam Wat Paknam lies beside Bangkok Yai canal and. This can be visited as part of a Canal tour and this is a really stunning Temple. The highlight of it has to be the giant Golden Buddha which is about 40 m tall lying at the side of the canal.

There’s also again another massive chedi this time you can go inside and admire some of the Buddhist artwork inside it. This Temple is free to enter.

Wat Benchamabophit Marble Temple

Wat Benchamabophit. Also known as the marble Temple is a really pristine beautiful Temple lying in Chinatown. It has a beautiful Garden area and this Temple was constructed in the 19th century so it’s one of the newest temples on this list.

This spot isn’t particularly well visited. However it is popular with the instagrammer crowd. There’s a certain framing of a picture where you get to see one of the Arches and the temple.

So while there might not be many people visiting the temple they might actually be a Quee to take a picture in a certain spot at a certain time of day so please be aware of that.

Wat Saket Golden Mount

Wat Saket. Also known as a golden Mount is yet another chedi located not too far away from Khao San Road on the top of a hill. What I like most about this Temple is that.

You have great views of the city. From there. You have an unobstructed view because it’s the older part of town.

There’s not a lot of skyscrapers so you get an unobstructed view of the river. You can even see the Bangkok big three in the distance so you get to see a lot of cool sites from the top of this Temple. There’s also a lot of great food in the side Roots near this Temple so that’s definitely worth checking out.

Wat Mangkon Kamalawat Chinese Temple

Wat Mangkon Kamalawat is one of the largest Chinese temples in the whole of Thailand. Now this has a completely different feel to it because it’s a Chinese temple it’s completely different to the Thai Buddhist temples. So if you’re not visiting other Asian countries I would definitely check out a temple like this while you’re here.

This is also in Chinatown so there’s plenty of great food nearby too.

Chao Phraya River Temples and Koh Kret

A really cool day trip to have in Bangkok is exploring the Chao praya River. There’s an island to the north of Bangkok lying in the middle of the Chao praya River and you can take a boat from the city center to this island. The Island’s called Kret there’s lots of cool things to do there.

In fact I have a whole video about Kret which I’ll link above here. However on the boat trip to there it takes about 2 hours and you’ll pass by some really cool t. There are some boat trips that will stop at each one.

You can get off and go explore it. But even if you’re just staying on the boat and admiring The View it’s just really cool to sail past these unique temples. Some of the more interesting ones are there’s a nine-story Chinese Pagoda there’s another Giant Buddha statue this time with a nagger protecting the Buddha so.

You’ll see it has lots of snake heads coming over behind it. The nagger is a mythological creature from Buddhist mythology. And the final one next is Wat Bang Chak another giant Buddha lying at the side of the river this is.

One of my favorite day trips to do in the whole of Bangkok.

Ayutthaya Temple Day Trip

Now the final place place that I want to mention is the former capital of Thailand Ayutthaya. This is an ancient city that has fell in disrepair. It’s actually a completely different city too Bangkok however.

A lot of people do it as a day trip from the city so I’m going to include it in this list. Again you get a completely different feel for temples here because they’re in disrepair they’re ancient temples that were built over 500 years ago Ayutthaya was the capital city of Thailand until the Burmese invaded in the 1700s and they forced the king and the government to move to Bangkok which is how you got the city that you see here today. This takes about a 2-hour drive.

It can also be visited by train or on a longer boat trip. It’s free to enter the park however. You have to pay about 50 baht to enter some specific temples or monuments.