Day trips from Bangkok: Ayutthaya, floating markets and Kanchanaburi

The best day trips from Bangkok are the temple ruins of Ayutthaya, the floating markets and the railway market to the south-west, and Kanchanaburi, with the Bridge on the River Kwai and Erawan Falls. All of them are one to three hours away. We checked train times, park fees and temple tickets on 14 November 2026, and we mark every figure that is only reported.

Day tours to book from Bangkok

These five day trips leave from Bangkok, with live prices and availability.

See more activities in Bangkok

Day trips from Bangkok compared: travel time, cost and tours

Fees are the rates for foreign adults in 2026. Thai visitors pay much less at temples and national parks. Bring cash, because most ticket booths, boats and buses outside Bangkok do not take cards.

Ayutthaya day trip: the train from Bangkok, temples and tickets

Ayutthaya Historical Park

Ayutthaya was the capital of Siam until the Burmese army sacked it in 1767. Its ruins sit on an island formed by three rivers, and the old city is listed by UNESCO. The temples are spread out, so plan on a bicycle or a tuk-tuk rather than walking.

Start at Wat Mahathat, where a sandstone Buddha head is held in the roots of a fig tree, then walk to Wat Ratchaburana and the three chedis of Wat Phra Si Sanphet, the old royal temple. End at Wat Chaiwatthanaram on the riverbank for sunset. Wihan Phra Mongkhon Bophit, with its large bronze Buddha, is free.

The fastest new option is the SRT Bangkok Connex, an air-conditioned train launched on 1 August 2026 from Krung Thep Aphiwat, which connects with the MRT Blue Line. It runs six times on weekdays from 5:15 am and four times at weekends from 9:05 am. The 50 THB launch fare ended on 31 October, and we found no confirmed price after it.

• Getting there. Ordinary trains from Hua Lamphong take 1.5 to 2 hours for about 15 to 20 THB in third class, bought at the window. The station is on the east bank, about 4 km from the main ruins, so cross by the river ferry near the station or take a tuk-tuk. Bicycles are rented outside the station.
• Entry. 80 THB per temple, or 300 THB for a pass to six sites valid 30 days, cash only. These are the rates of the fee schedule in force since May 2025. Open 8:30 am to 5 pm.
• Time needed. Five to six hours for four or five temples. Add Bang Pa-In Palace, a royal summer palace on the way, reported at 100 THB, where the Bangkok Connex also stops.
• Tour or not. Easy alone. A tour adds a guide, transport and lunch, which helps in the midday heat.

Damnoen Saduak floating market and the Maeklong railway market

The Bangkok guide lists the floating markets near the city. Here is how to reach the three south-west of Bangkok, and how to fit them into one day. They lie between 90 and 100 km from the capital, and each one keeps different hours.

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

Damnoen Saduak is the market of the postcards, with women selling fruit and noodles from wooden boats on a canal. It is also the most touristy of all, and by mid-morning tour boats outnumber vendors. Go early, before the coaches.

• Getting there. Bus 78 or a van from the Southern Bus Terminal (Sai Tai Mai), about two hours, with fares reported at 70 to 100 THB. The first buses leave around 6 am.
• Entry. Free. A paddle or longtail boat is reported at about 150 to 200 THB per person, with higher prices quoted to foreigners, so agree the price and the length of the ride before you step in.
• Time needed. Two hours. The market runs every day from about 7 am to noon, and it is at its best between 7 and 10 am.
• Tour or not. A tour is simpler, because it pairs the market with Maeklong.

Maeklong Railway Market

At Maeklong, stalls line both sides of the railway track, and when a train comes the vendors fold back their awnings and pull in their baskets. The train passes a few centimetres from the produce, then the market closes over the rails again. Locals call it Talat Rom Hup, the umbrella pull-down market.

• Train times. Arrivals at Maeklong reported at 8:30 am, 11:10 am, 2:30 pm and 5:40 pm, departures at 6:20 am, 9:00 am, 11:30 am and 3:30 pm. Be there 15 to 20 minutes before.
• Getting there alone. Train from Wongwian Yai to Mahachai for 10 THB, a river ferry for 3 THB, then the train from Ban Laem to Maeklong for 10 THB. About two hours of travel for 23 THB, plus the waits between legs.
• Entry. Free. When the station guard blows his whistle, step off the rails and stay off them until the train has gone.
• Tour or not. Tours time one passing, often the 11:10 am arrival, and add Damnoen Saduak before or after.

Amphawa Floating Market

Amphawa is the floating market Thais go to. It opens only from Friday to Sunday, from the afternoon into the evening, with grilled seafood sold from boats and cafés in the wooden houses along the canal. After dark, boats take visitors along the river to see fireflies in the trees.

• Getting there. Maeklong town is next door, so the train market and Amphawa make one afternoon. From Bangkok, it is about 90 km by van or taxi.
• Entry. Free. Shared firefly boats are reported at about 60 to 80 THB a person from around 6 pm, and private boats at 500 to 1,500 THB.
• Time needed. Three to four hours, from late afternoon until about 8:30 pm.
• Tour or not. Getting back to Bangkok after dark is the hard part, so a tour or a hired car helps. Wat Bang Kung, a small temple wrapped in banyan roots, is close by.

To see all three, go on a Saturday or Sunday. Damnoen Saduak at 7 am, the 11:10 am train at Maeklong, lunch, then Amphawa from mid-afternoon and the firefly boats.

Kanchanaburi day trip: the Bridge on the River Kwai and Erawan Falls

Kanchanaburi is about 125 km west of Bangkok. During the Second World War, Allied prisoners and Asian labourers built the Thailand to Burma railway here for the Japanese army, and tens of thousands died. The bridge, the cemeteries and the line that still runs to Nam Tok all date from those years.

Bridge on the River Kwai and the war cemetery

The black steel bridge over the Khwae Yai river is the one from the film, though the film was shot in Sri Lanka. You can walk across it between trains. In town, the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery holds the graves of prisoners who died on the line, and the JEATH War Museum shows life in the camps.

• Getting there. Train 257 leaves Thon Buri station at 7:45 am and reaches Kanchanaburi around 10:30 am. Foreigners pay a flat 100 THB on this line, wherever they get off. First-class buses leave the Southern Bus Terminal about every 15 minutes for about 110 THB, in two hours.
• Entry. The bridge and the cemetery are free. JEATH is reported at about 50 THB and the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre, next to the cemetery, at about 150 THB.
• Time needed. Four hours for the bridge, the cemetery and one museum. Train 258 leaves Kanchanaburi at 2:43 pm and reaches Thon Buri at 5:40 pm.
• Tour or not. Easy alone by train or bus. Tours add Erawan Falls the same day.

The Death Railway train to Nam Tok

Beyond the bridge, the same ordinary train follows the old Death Railway for another hour and a half. The best part is the Wang Pho viaduct near Tham Krasae, a wooden trestle that hugs a cliff above the river, where the train slows right down.

• Times. Train 257 leaves the River Kwai Bridge station at 10:37 am and reaches Nam Tok at 12:05 pm. The return, train 258, leaves Nam Tok at 1 pm.
• Fare. Included in the 100 THB foreigner fare. Tickets are sold at the window on the day, with no seat reservations. Arrive early at Kanchanaburi if you want a window seat.
• Weekend train. Special train 909 leaves Hua Lamphong at 6:30 am on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, stops half an hour at the bridge, goes on to Nam Tok and is back in Bangkok at 7:25 pm. It costs 120 THB return, or 240 THB with air-con, and sells out early on the SRT D-Ticket site.

Erawan Falls

Erawan National Park, about 65 km beyond Kanchanaburi, has a waterfall in seven tiers of turquoise pools where you can swim, and the pools are full of small fish. A trail of nearly 1.5 km climbs to the top tier. The first tiers crowd quickly, and the upper ones are quieter.

• Getting there. Bus 8170 from Kanchanaburi bus station, about 1.5 hours, 80 THB at November 2026 prices. It leaves at 8:00, 9:40 and 11:00 am, then 1:00 pm, and the last bus back leaves the falls at 4:30 pm.
• Entry. 300 THB for foreign adults, 150 THB for children. Open 8 am to about 4:30 pm, with no entry after 3:30 pm.
• Rules. No food beyond the second tier, and a 20 THB deposit on each plastic bottle, refunded when you bring it back. Wear shoes that grip on wet rock.
• Tour or not. From Bangkok in one day, take a tour or sleep in Kanchanaburi and catch the 8 am bus.

More day trips from Bangkok: Khao Yai, Lopburi and Bang Krachao

Khao Yai National Park

Khao Yai is the oldest national park in Thailand, about 200 km north-east of Bangkok, and a UNESCO-listed forest. Wild elephants, gibbons and hornbills live there. Most visitors walk a short trail and see the Haew Suwat waterfall, the one from the film The Beach.

• Getting there. By car, 2.5 to 3 hours. There is no public transport inside the park. Trains and vans reach Pak Chong, and a songthaew climbs to the gate, which is still about 14 km short of the visitor centre.
• Entry. The park lists 400 THB for foreign adults and 200 THB for children at the Pak Chong and Noen Hom gates, plus 30 THB for a car. Open 6 am to 6 pm, and the ticket is valid for one day.
• Time needed. A full day, with five to six hours on the road.
• Tour or not. A tour or a rental car. Two days are better if you want to see wildlife at dawn.

Lopburi and Phra Prang Sam Yot

Lopburi is known for the macaques that lived around Phra Prang Sam Yot, three linked Khmer-style towers in the town centre. Since May 2024 the authorities have caught more than a thousand of them, and in February 2026 the province said captured monkeys would be kept in municipal enclosures. You will see far fewer than in older photos.

• Getting there. Trains from Hua Lamphong or Krung Thep Aphiwat take about 2 to 3 hours. The temple is a short walk from Lopburi station.
• Entry. Reported at 80 THB for foreigners in 2026, with a combined ticket for several monuments at 200 THB.
• Time needed. Three hours in town. Lopburi pairs well with Ayutthaya, which is on the same railway line.
• Monkey festival. The monkey buffet, with tables of fruit laid out for the macaques, falls on the last Sunday of November, which is 29 November 2026.

Bang Krachao, the green lung of Bangkok

Bang Krachao is a loop of the Chao Phraya just across the river from Khlong Toei, covered in mangroves, palm groves and stilted houses. Raised concrete paths run above the canals, and the best way round is by bicycle. It is the shortest escape on this list.

• Getting there. Taxi to Wat Khlong Toei Nok pier, then a ferry of about five minutes, reported at around 10 THB. Bicycles are rented at the landing for about 100 THB a day.
• Entry. Free, including Si Nakhon Khuean Khan Park and its birdwatching tower.
• When. Saturday or Sunday morning, for the Bang Nam Phueng floating market, open from about 8 am.
• Tour or not. Easy alone. Guided bike tours exist if you prefer someone to lead the way.

Beach day trips from Bangkok: Pattaya, Hua Hin and the islands

The nearest beach town is Pattaya, about two hours from Bangkok by bus from Ekkamai, with Koh Larn a short ferry ride offshore. Hua Hin is further, around three to four hours, so it works better with a night there. The nearest island with good beaches is Koh Samet, and that one also needs a night.

Day trips from Bangkok on your own or with a tour, and which day to go

Ayutthaya, Lopburi, Kanchanaburi and Bang Krachao are easy to reach by train or ferry, and cost very little on your own. The markets, Erawan Falls and Khao Yai are where a tour saves time, because each one combines places that public transport links badly.

Pick the day before the trip. Amphawa only opens from Friday to Sunday, the Bang Nam Phueng market and the 909 train to the River Kwai only run at weekends, and Damnoen Saduak is over by noon. The temples, the parks and the Maeklong trains run every day.

For an early train, sleep near the station you leave from. The riverside and the old city are the areas to stay in Bangkok closest to Hua Lamphong and Thon Buri. The things to do in Bangkok fill the days in between.