Bangkok splits neatly into things that cost almost nothing and one temple complex that costs more than the rest combined. The Grand Palace is 500 baht; everything else on this list is 300 baht or less, and two of the five are free. The city's real budget trap is not the ticket prices but the taxi and tuk-tuk detours to gem shops and tailors, so the guides below are ordered to be walked and boated between. Prices are in Thai baht as published, and the temples all enforce a dress code.
1. The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew
The one genuinely expensive ticket in Bangkok, at 500 baht for foreign visitors. Thai nationals enter free, and so do children under 120cm tall. It is also the one worth paying for: the Emerald Buddha sits inside Wat Phra Kaew within the palace walls, and the complex has no real equivalent elsewhere in the city.
The hours catch people out. The complex opens at 8:30am, but the ticket office closes at 3:30pm and the grounds themselves at 4:30pm — so a 3:45pm arrival gets you nothing. The dress code is enforced at the gate and is stricter than at other temples: shoulders and knees covered, no torn or very tight trousers. Cover-ups are sold for around 50 baht from stalls outside the complex and roughly 200 baht once you are inside, which is the cheapest avoidable expense in Bangkok.
Your ticket also covers the Arts of the Kingdom Museum at Bang Pa-In, about 50km north of the city, and a dance performance at the Sala Chalermkrung Royal Theatre — neither of which most visitors realise they have paid for.
2. Wat Pho and the Reclining Buddha
A ten-minute walk south of the Grand Palace and a fifth of the price at 300 baht, free for children under 120cm. Open 8:00am to 6:30pm, which is a far longer day than the palace and makes it the better late-afternoon option.
The 46-metre reclining Buddha is the headline, but the compound is also the home of traditional Thai massage and is considerably calmer than the palace next door. Doing both on the same morning is the standard route, and going to the palace first — it closes earlier — is the right order.
3. Wat Arun, across the river
200 baht, open 8:30am to 6:00pm with last tickets at 5:40pm. The Temple of Dawn is directly across the Chao Phraya from Wat Pho, and the crossing is part of the appeal: the river ferry is a working commuter boat, not a tour.
The porcelain-encrusted central prang can be climbed partway, and the steps are steep. Go late in the day — the 5:40pm ticket cutoff means you can be on the terrace as the light drops, and the view back across the river to the palace is the best free-feeling part of a paid ticket in Bangkok.
4. Wat Saket and the Golden Mount
The best-value ticket in the city at 100 baht, open 7:30am to 7:00pm. An artificial hill topped with a golden chedi, reached by a spiralling staircase, giving a 360-degree view over the old city.
It is a fraction of the price of any commercial viewpoint in Bangkok and it opens at 7:30am, which is early enough to climb it before the heat arrives. Of everything on this list it is the one most often skipped and the one that most rewards the effort.
5. Chatuchak Weekend Market
Free to enter, and one of the largest markets in the world. The full market runs Saturday and Sunday, 9:00am to 6:00pm, which is the only time all of it is open.
The rest of the week is partial and worth knowing about: the plant section trades Wednesday and Thursday, 7:00am to 6:00pm, and Friday is wholesale only, 6:00pm to midnight, with restricted access to much of the site. Turning up on a Tuesday, as plenty of people do, gets you a mostly empty market.
Worth knowing
- The dress code applies at every temple, not just the palace. Shoulders and knees covered. Buying a cover-up outside the Grand Palace costs around 50 baht against roughly 200 baht inside.
- Lumphini Park is free and open from dawn until 9:00pm — the obvious place to sit out the middle of the day without spending anything.
- Jim Thompson House is 250 baht, open 9:00am to 6:00pm, if you want one more paid attraction. It is indoors and air-conditioned, which matters more in Bangkok than it sounds.
- Ticket prices at Thai temples are published and do change. The figures above are the current published rates, but confirm at the gate if the budget is tight.
The short version
Do the Grand Palace first because it shuts at 3:30pm, walk to Wat Pho, cross the river to Wat Arun for the late light, and keep a weekend free for Chatuchak. If you only pay for one thing, make it the 100 baht climb at Wat Saket — it is the cheapest ticket in Bangkok and the best view.