Must-see attractions in Ayuthaya

  • Top Choice
    Bang Pa In Palace

    Ornate buildings are sprinkled across Bang Pa In Palace's 19-hectare gardens. First established in the 17th century, the palace was revived in the 19th…

  • Top Choice
    Wat Ratchaburana

    The prang (Khmer-style spire) in this large temple complex is one of the best extant versions in the city. There are giant stucco-sculpted Garuda on the…

  • Top Choice
    Wat Chai Wattanaram

    Glorious in the early morning light and also at sunset, this temple is Ayuthaya's most impressive off-island site thanks to its 35m-high central prang …

  • Top Choice
    Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon

    Visitors to this photogenic ruin 2km southeast of the island can climb stairs up into the crypt of the stunning 60m-tall, bell-shaped chedi (stupa). There…

  • Top Choice
    Wat Phra Si Sanphet

    At this captivating ruined temple, three wonderfully intact stupas form one of Ayuthaya's most iconic views. Built beginning in 1448, this was a private…

  • Top Choice
    Wat Tha Ka Rong

    With animatronic ghosts, supersized crows and glowing Buddhas, Wat Tha Ka Rong is eerie and playful in equal measure and feels more like a carnival than a…

  • Wat Na Phra Men

    Featuring a gorgeous 6m-high Buddha flanked by maroon columns, this active temple was one of the few to escape the wrath of Burma's invading army in 1767;…

  • Wat Mahathat

    Ayuthaya's most photographed attraction is in these temple grounds: a sandstone Buddha head tangled within a bodhi tree's entwined roots. Founded in 1374,…

  • Wat Phanan Choeng

    This lively temple, believed to date to 1324 (26 years before the founding of Ayuthaya), revolves around the 19m-high Phra Phanan Choeng Buddha, aka …

  • Wat Phutthai Sawan

    Atmospheric ruins and lively temple worship can both be experienced at Wat Phutthai Sawan. King U Thong founded this temple in 1353 on the south bank of…

  • Chao Sam Phraya National Museum

    The most impressive treasure of Ayuthaya's premier museum is the haul of royal gold (jewellery, utensils, votive tablets, spittoons) unearthed from the…

  • Wihan Phra Mongkhon Bophit

    Next to Wat Phra Si Sanphet, this sanctuary hall houses one of Thailand's largest bronze Buddha images, dating to the 15th century, most likely. Coated in…

  • Wat Niwet Thamaprawat

    On an island across the Chao Phraya River from Bang Pa In Palace, this unique buttercup-yellow ubosot (ordination hall) was designed to resemble a…

  • Baan Hollanda

    The little 'Dutch House' features a concise but informative exhibition of Dutch history in Thailand from 1604, when the Dutch East India Company (VOC)…

  • Wat Phra Ram

    Wat Phra Ram's tall main prang (Khmer-style spire) isn't in the best condition, but it's definitely worth a visit. The temple was constructed on the…

  • Million Toy Museum

    Thousands of toys from across the decades are amassed in this jam-packed private museum. Rare porcelain elephants, wooden Japanese kokeshi dolls, wind-up…

  • Wat Lokayasutharam

    This early-Ayuthaya temple ruin in the island's northwest features an impressive 42m-long reclining Buddha in front of a precariously leaning prang (Khmer…

  • Ayutthaya Night Market

    Besides a fun selection of food (including some rather uncommon ones, like fried butterfly pea flowers) and crafts sold from thatch-roofed stalls by…

  • Wat Thammikarat

    The most prominent features of this ancient and presently active temple is not the large wí·hăhn lŏo·ang (royal assembly hall) but the modest stupa in…

  • Wat Worachetharam

    A weathered Buddha, about all that remains intact from the wí·hăhn (assembly hall), sits picturesquely in front of a bell-shaped stupa at this small…