Ayuthaya
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…
Must-see attractions in Ayuthaya
Ayuthaya
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…
Ayuthaya
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 …
Ayuthaya
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…
Ayuthaya
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…
Ayuthaya
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…
Ayuthaya
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…
Ayuthaya
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 …
Ayuthaya
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…
Ayuthaya
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;…
Chao Sam Phraya National Museum
Ayuthaya
The most impressive treasure of Ayuthaya's premier museum is the haul of royal gold (jewellery, utensils, votive tablets, spittoons) unearthed from the…
Ayuthaya
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,…
Ayuthaya
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…
Ayuthaya
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…
Ayuthaya
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…
Ayuthaya
Although there was a temple here in the Ayuthaya era, the present buildings are from the current reign, with the bòht (ordination hall) built by King Rama…
Ayuthaya
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…
Ayuthaya Historical Study Centre
Ayuthaya
Though it feels staid compared to enchanting local ruins, this museum features model longboats and temples along with exhibitions on the lives of…
Ayuthaya
Though it's not yet near Indiana Jones levels, forest is slowly reclaiming this attractive ruin. The massive stupa collapsed, but the imposing walls of…
Ayuthaya
The little 'Dutch House' features a concise but informative exhibition of Dutch history in Thailand from 1604, when the Dutch East India Company (VOC)…
Chantharakasem National Museum
Ayuthaya
This museum is within the grounds of Wang Chan Kasem (Chan Kasem Palace), built for King Rama IV (r 1851–68) at the site of a palace used by King Naresuan…
Ayuthaya
The field north of Wat Phra Si Sanphet full of brick foundations, walls and little else was once the royal palace compound of the Ayuthaya kingdom. There…
Ayuthaya
Arriving in the 16th century, the Portuguese were the first European settlers in Ayuthaya. Several of their skeletal remains are on view at this excavated…
Ayuthaya
North of Wat Na Phra Men, where few foreigners venture, this small temple ruin has a mid-sized stupa in pretty good condition and a completely toppled…
Ayuthaya
In 1665, King Narai gave the French land next to the Christian Vietnamese settlement and donated money towards building the first St Joseph Church, which…
Ayuthaya
Set within manicured, frangipani-fringed gardens, this small museum complex details the lives of the estimated 1500 Japanese who came to settle in…
Ayuthaya
Thousands of toys from across the decades are amassed in this jam-packed private museum. Rare porcelain elephants, wooden Japanese kokeshi dolls, wind-up…
Ayuthaya
A good first stop in Ayuthaya, the historical exhibitions in the former city hall contextualise the kingdom's history and culture from ancient times to…
Ayuthaya
Originally built under Burmese occupation in the 16th century, the top section of this huge white stupa, whose name means 'Golden Mountain', was added…
Ayuthaya
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…
Ayuthaya
Glaring from an enormous marble base is this gigantic statue of King Naresuan, the 16th-century monarch renowned for his efforts to free Ayuthaya from…
Ayuthaya
Besides a fun selection of food (including some rather uncommon ones, like fried butterfly pea flowers) and crafts sold from thatch-roofed stalls by…
Ayuthaya
Less evocative than the Ayuthaya's other major temples, peaceful Wat Maheyong, built in 1438, sees more meditators than sightseers. The walled corridor…
Ayuthaya
Think you can tell a spice boat from a sam pan? This interesting little private museum is full of wooden boats, both real and artistic miniatures, many of…
Ayuthaya
A kitschy, photo-friendly tourist trap rather than an actual market, around 250 food stalls and souvenir stands cluster on wooden platforms above the…
Ayuthaya
The 6.5m-high, 14m-thick weathered walls of this 1580 fortress once served as Ayuthaya island's primary line of defence. Besides making a good photo-op,…
Ayuthaya
Part of Ayuthaya's old defenses, this now-decrepit fortress wall still has traces of the crenellations where soldiers once crouched during battle.
