Ayutthaya

A great day trip from Bangkok
By Jon_Mak_Mak (dabbler - 2 reviews)
Written on 23rd May, 2009 after a visit to Ayutthaya in January, 2008
Ayutthaya is an amazing, ancient city easily reached by train from Bangkok. It only takes a couple of hours from Hua Lamphong station so there's not really any need to go on an organised tour. Once you're there you can hire a tuk-tuk to take your around for the whole day for about 500B! The tuk-tuk's are tiny (smaller than Bangkok's) and the one we hired actually broke down a couple of times and we had to push it which my parents thought was a great laugh and it made our day trip to Ayutthaya even more memorable.

If you're arriving by train, head out of the train station and cross the road and continue down the road right in front of you towards the river. When we went there was quite a few people going that way so we just sort of followed the crowd. You can buy a ticket to cross the river by boat and once on the other side ignore the touts and tuk-tuk drivers by walking down the road and waving down a tuk-tuk that is driving past.

Wat Chaiwatthanaram is one of my favourite old temples in Ayuthaya. It's a big place on the bank of the Chao Phraya River and was very peaceful, and there were few tourists when I visited it in January 2008. You can climb about half way up the central prang for good views of the river and surrounding area.

Another one of my favourite's is Wat Phra Sri Sanphet. It's a really big area and had loads more people walking around. There are three large chedis in the grounds and many of the buildings are ruins. Although it was a bit busier than some of the other places, the atmosphere was still very calming and relaxed.

Wat Ratchaburana is worth a look too as you can climb down into the centre of a large prang where there is some kind of burial chamber with paintings on the wall. It's a very narrow and steep climb down some steps and is really hot and humid but if you can handle that, it's an interesting place.
Also reviewed by Jon_Mak_Mak: Khao San Road,

Nice, but we preferred Sukhothai
By beachgirl (dabbler - 3 reviews)
Written on 8th May, 2009 after a visit to Ayutthaya in February, 2008
I visited Ayutthaya in February last year as a part of a longer Thailand trip. I've already written a report for Sukhothai and I have to say I enjoyed Sukhothai more than here.

In Ayutthaya the ruins are right in the city. You might have a set of ruins and then, right beside then a 7/11 or a noodle shop! While this gives the whole thing a bit of a ''living museum'' feel, we found what we didn't like about the living museum was the traffic and the noise. Ayutthaya isn't some quiet hic town, instead it's a boisterous growing Thai city.

Of the ruins (I think we saw most of them) the best was the reclining Buddha on the south side of the river. This place is serene and the site is beautiful, and, when you get to Sukhothai you find the entire place is like this (except for the river of course!)

I think Ayutthaya works well if you are in Bangkok and looking for a short daytrip or overnight trip, but if you've got the time and want to break the trip north to Chiang Mai, I'd go with Sukhothai.

One more thing, Baan Lotus in Ayutthaya is a truly awesome place to stay -- we highly highly highly recommend it!
Also reviewed by beachgirl: Kanchanaburi, Phu Quoc Island, Sukhothai,