Bangkok is often a stopover for flights to and from Europe and many people wonder if it’s worth a trip into Bangkok itself. The short answer is – yes – but it does depend how much time you have.

*Bangkok Airport is a one hour drive from the main highlights of Bangkok – the Grand Palace, markets and the Chao Praya river area – it’s slightly shorter to the popular MBK shopping district. You would need a minimum 6 – 8 hours between flights to make it worthwhile, although there are companies that specialise in quick tours – just Google them.

There are ‘meeters and greeters’ at the airport offering you transport to the city or to organise a tour for you. Tread carefully, make sure they have a legitimate kiosk and also be aware of the current regular taxi price to your destination.

*There are hotels near the airport, so if all you want is a rest, then that may be a better option without having to travel into the city.

*If you plan to overnight in Bangkok, then your possibilities broaden – on our way to Kenya, we stopped for a 24 hour break, choosing to stay in one of the boutique hotels along the river and using a local guide for a morning tour.

• The Riva Surya is a newish hotel right on the water. It’s small and reasonably priced and the staff are wonderful. We had booked for AUD $140 but chose to accept the offer of an upgrade to a river view room for an extra $35 (obviously prices depend on the timing of your visit – check Trip advisor or other online hotel sites).
• The hotel had a swimming pool and was walking distance to restaurants and river transport.

• There are several other well-known hotels along the river but be careful as, for example, there are two Sheraton hotels in Bangkok – check the address or map.
• There are tour boats along the river (and touts to get you onto them) and there are regular public transport ferries that either travel across the river or along it. (The difference is the price – to get to the Grand Palace we were quoted 1500 baht by one tour operator – it did include a stop at Wat Arun – before arriving at the Grand Palace jetty. The public ferry, in contrast, was 20 baht, a HUGE difference and a more authentic experience – just be sure of what you want and move to a different ferry wharf if need be. We were not caught out because of an earlier trip to Bangkok with a guide.)

• Tuk tuks are really just for tourists – be careful to get a rate you are happy with and negotiate first.
• Don’t be taken in by the well-worn con that the Grand Palace is closed – this is rarely the case and usually just an excuse for the operator to offer you alternative tours.
• You will need to cover shoulders and knees at the Grand Palace and they will ask you to hire clothing if yours doesn’t comply. Flip flops were fine, however, despite what we were told. If you don’t have your own guide, you can hire one at the gate but after our first visit, we went it alone.
• Another option (we used this for an overnight later in our trip) is a hotel near the MBK and Siam shopping districts – there are 3 very large shopping malls, all joined together in this area. A major Skytrain station is also here; making it a terrific place to base yourself. We stayed at the Pathuwan Princess, a 4-5 star hotel – everything you need and many things you don’t, are right at your door. They can also organise day tours for you.
• We like to use the Tours by Locals company to book our guides. They are based in Vancouver, Canada and carefully vet local guides in many locations across the world. So far we have never had a problem, with the guides we have used always being on time, polite and friendly. If you don’t like a guide’s package tour – ask them to customise for you.

Following is a recount of our first Bangkok stopover detailing some of the highlights of our morning tour with Michai from Tours by Locals.

The morning flight to Bangkok is without incident…9 hours in the air sees us arriving in the late afternoon. We check into our hotel, the Riva Surya, a boutique hotel on the banks of the Chao Praya River. We are offered an upgrade to a river view room for about $35…so take it gratefully and are not disappointed, the river teems with life as boats of all descriptions wend their way up and down.

 Dinner is in the hotel restaurant that also has a view of the river and we take our coffee out to the chairs by the pool. The night is warm but there is a breeze; the monuments and nearby bridge are lit up, if not for tiredness, we could sit here all night.

 Next day we have our breakfast by the river and then get ready to meet our guide, Michai, At 10am he is waiting for us in the lobby and after quick introductions and a run down of the day, we are off in a taxi to the local markets to pick up snacks.

Michai encourages us to try durian, rambutan and a bunch of other yummy fruits as we weave our way through the alleys and back streets. Eventually we reach a place that is packed with Buddhas…Buddhas of all sizes and varieties, from fit in your hand to room sized! The bigger ones are hollow steel and the smaller are made of plaster, they are all shiny, yellow gold.

 From here we travel by tuk tuk to the Grand Palace, a glittering monument to past Thai kings. At the centre of the Grand Palace is the temple of the Emerald Buddha; we remove our shoes and enter quietly. The Buddha is actually jade and dressed in seasonal attire by the king himself. People come to pray and make offerings. We see baskets of flowers and are told that people bring these on their birthday. A recently restored, gold inlaid mural that runs around the walls of the palace, is another of the spectacular highlights of this place.

Michai takes us from the palace, through his old university grounds, to the amulet market stalls that line several streets near the river. Here locals trade amulets very seriously with prices ranging from a few baht to many thousands. Leaving the amulets we cut through a shopping mall to a ferry station. 3 baht and we cross the river weaving our way through more market stalls until we reach a small local restaurant for lunch. More lovely Thai food and an amazing coconut cake later, we jump on yet another tuk tuk and arrive at a less touristy temple that houses a giant gold Buddha. Here we can take photos and just marvel at this Buddha that takes up most of the room, right up to the ceiling. Once again it is surrounded by garlands of flowers and other offerings. On exiting, we encounter a happy group of schoolchildren, let out for the day but milling around ready for their afternoon lesson with a monk. Shoes and bags are lined up very neatly and they smile and wave shyly at us.

Next, we cross the river again and stop for coffee before heading through the flower market – stunning – to the temple of the reclining Buddha. Once again, the Buddha barely fits in his room and I find it hard to take a picture of the whole thing without squishing into a corner. A short taxi ride and we are back at our hotel with time for a short swim before our dinner cruise.

Finding the dinner cruise, however, turns out to be a little more of an adventure. We stand at a boat pier then quickly realise the one we need doesn’t stop at our location. We decide to jump on the next boat across the river and walk to the correct pier…a little help from some locals also puts us on the right track and we manage to arrive at the pick-up spot about ten minutes before the LoyNava boat. Our boat is 70 years old, originally a rice boat but now decked out as a restaurant. The food and service are both excellent and we enjoy a peaceful two hour cruise up the river and back.

During the day, we also learned that our flight had been delayed by eight hours…giving us the chance to stay at the hotel a little longer, arranging to leave at 5am. The drive to the airport is swift so at a little after 6am we are searching for our checkin counter…surprise, surprise…the flight is delayed another two hours. All works out in the end and we join the flight to Nairobi at 10:40am…only ten hours late 🙂