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
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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…
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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 …
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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;…
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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
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 …
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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)…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Ayuthaya
Set within manicured, frangipani-fringed gardens, this small museum complex details the lives of the estimated 1500 Japanese who came to settle in…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Ayuthaya
Less evocative than the Ayuthaya's other major temples, peaceful Wat Maheyong, built in 1438, sees more meditators than sightseers. The walled corridor…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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Ayuthaya
Part of Ayuthaya's old defenses, this now-decrepit fortress wall still has traces of the crenellations where soldiers once crouched during battle.
