In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Ayutthaya is 80 km north of Bangkok, an easy day by train: a third-class ticket is 20 THB each way from Hua Lamphong, about 1 hour 45 minutes, with no reservation needed (Seat61). The ruins sit on an island across the Pa Sak river from the station: hire a tuk-tuk at the station for 200 THB to 300 THB an hour, or rent a bicycle for 50 THB to 100 THB a day. Most ruins charge 50 THB each, or 220 THB for the six-site ticket. Dress to cover shoulders and knees. Or book a tour: the guided temples tour with lunchad (from ฿1,100, 4.7 stars from 12,518 reviews) covers the transport, a guide and four temples in one booking. For the other regional excursions, see Day trips from Bangkok.
Getting there by train
The train is the cheapest way to reach Ayutthaya, and it runs all day. Local third-class trains leave from Bangkok’s Hua Lamphong station, take about 1 hour 45 minutes for the 71 km, and sell tickets at the station on the day: no reservation, just turn up and board. Express trains are quicker, typically about an hour, but they leave from Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal, 7 km north of Hua Lamphong, and must be booked at least the day before (Seat61).
| Train | One-way fare | Bangkok station | Journey time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local, third class | 20 THB | Hua Lamphong | About 1 hour 45 minutes |
| Rapid, second class, no air-conditioning | 61 THB | Krung Thep Aphiwat | About 1 hour |
| Express and special express | Higher: an express surcharge applies | Krung Thep Aphiwat | About 1 hour |
- Children aged 4 to 11 and under 150 cm pay half fare; under-4s travel free (Seat61).
- The long gap in local trains between lunchtime and early evening makes an afternoon rapid or express worth booking for the return.
- Ayutthaya station has a left-luggage room on the platform, 10 baht, for bags between trains.
- Don Mueang station, which connects to Don Mueang Airport Terminal 2 by an elevated walkway, is a stop for some northbound trains.
Tours from Bangkok
A tour adds the van both ways and a guide who explains the ruins. Check which option you are choosing: the cheapest option on several listings leaves out entry fees and lunch.
Guided temples tour with lunch
From ฿1,100 · 4.7 stars from 12,518 reviews · 7 to 7½ hours · hotel pickup option
From Bangkok: Ayutthaya Temples Guided Tour with Lunchad visits four temples, including Wat Phra Si Sanphet and Wat Mahathat, with a licensed guide. The options with lunch and tickets include entry fees, a buffet lunch at a local restaurant and a van or minibus from a meeting point in the city (River City, or downtown); the budget option has no lunch and no tickets. Hotel pickup is an option. It suits anyone who wants the temples explained and does not mind a set schedule.
Historical park and Bang Pa-In Palace
From ฿999 · 4.6 stars from 3,230 reviews · 9 to 9½ hours · hotel pickup option
From Bangkok: Ayutthaya Historical Park Guided Day Tripad adds the Bang Pa-In Royal Palace to Wat Chaiwatthanaram, Wat Phra Si Sanphet and Wat Mahathat, with a guide, an air-conditioned vehicle and a bottle of water. The cheapest option is a coach tour of up to 40 people that meets at MBK Center and leaves out entry fees; lunch at a local restaurant costs extra. Choose it for the palace and the lowest price.
The Aisawan Thiphya-Art pavilion at Bang Pa-In Palace. Photo: Chainwit., Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
Temples with tickets and a boat ride
From ฿1,080 · 4.9 stars from 1,095 reviews · 8 hours · small group · pickup option
Bangkok: Ayutthaya UNESCO Experience with Tickets and Boatad includes entry to Wat Mahathat, Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon and Wat Chaiwatthanaram, an English-speaking guide, a boat ride on the river, drinking water and a 28-language audio guide you play on your own phone. Lunch is not included. It meets outside KFC at Samyan Mitrtown, on Phaya Thai Road, at 8:30, or collects from hotels between 7:30 and 8:30. It involves walking through ruins and is not suitable for people with mobility impairments.
Private driver
From ฿3,500 for a car of up to three · 4.7 stars from 970 reviews · 9 hours · private
From Bangkok: Ayutthaya Full-Day Trip with Driverad is a private vehicle and an English-speaking driver, not a guide. Hotel pickup, tolls and stops at Bang Pa-In Palace, Wat Mahathat and Viharn Phra Mongkhon Bophit are included; entry fees and lunch are not. It suits a family or a group of three who want to set their own pace.
Bike tour of the old city
From ฿1,490 · 4.8 stars from 192 reviews · 3 to 3½ hours · small group or private
Ayutthaya City and Historical Park Bike Tourad starts at the operator’s office near Pom Phet Fort on Uthong Road, so you reach Ayutthaya yourself. It includes a bike and helmet, a guide, the ferry crossing, entry to Wat Mahathat and Wat Phra Sri Sanphet, a drink and a snack, and rides through local communities and Chao Phrom Market between the ruins.
Temple tickets and the six-site ticket
The park is managed by the Fine Arts Department. The grounds are open, but each ruin compound charges admission.
- Single site: 50 THB for foreign adults, free for Thai nationals.
- Combined ticket: 220 THB for the six paid sites. At 50 THB each, it is cheaper once you visit five.
The six paid sites are:
- Wat Phra Si Sanphet and the Royal Palace
- Wat Phra Ram
- Wat Mahathat
- Wat Ratchaburana
- Wat Chaiwatthanaram
- Wat Maheyong
Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon is not one of the six and charges its own, smaller fee.
Official ticket or tour: the prices side by side
On your own, the figures are the third-class train fare and the ticket prices above; the tuk-tuk is for the vehicle. Tour prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” price for each listing.
| What you want | On your own | On GetYourGuide |
|---|---|---|
| Getting there and back from Bangkok | 40 THB for the third-class train, 122 THB on a second-class rapid | Van included, from ฿999 |
| Entry to the main ruins | 50 THB each, 220 THB for six | Included in the ฿1,080 boat tour; extra on the ฿999 coach option |
| Getting between the ruins | Tuk-tuk 800 THB to 1,000 THB for four to five hours; bicycle 50 THB to 100 THB a day | Included |
| A guide | None | Included, from ฿999 |
| The whole day, one person | About 1,160 THB with a third-class train, the six-site ticket and a tuk-tuk | ฿999 to ฿1,100, plus lunch and tickets where not included |
| The whole day, two people sharing a tuk-tuk | About 1,420 THB in total | From ฿1,998 for two |
For two people or more, the train and a shared tuk-tuk is the cheaper day. For one person the prices are close, and the tour adds the guide and the van.
Getting around Ayutthaya
Ayutthaya station is on the east bank of the Pa Sak river, and the historical park lies across the water on an island ringed by rivers. The start of the UNESCO area is about 3.5 km from the station, a 44-minute walk (Seat61).
Crossing the river by ferry
Walk straight out of the station and down the short lane to the river pier. A passenger ferry crosses to the island every few minutes and lands beside the bicycle shops and guesthouses.
Bicycle rental
Cycling suits November to February, when temperatures are lower. Rental shops opposite the ferry pier charge 50 THB to 100 THB a day for single-speed bikes with a basket and a chain lock. The island is flat and the park roads have wide shoulders. Wat Chaiwatthanaram is outside the island and needs a ride over a road bridge with traffic.
Tuk-tuk hire
Ayutthaya’s tuk-tuks have a curved front fairing, called tuk-tuk hua kop (“frog-nose”). Drivers wait outside the railway station and at the ferry pier.
- Hourly rate: 200 THB to 300 THB an hour for the whole vehicle, which seats up to four.
- Half-day: four to five hours covering five main temples costs 800 THB to 1,000 THB.
- Payment: agree the rate or total and the list of temples before you board, and pay in cash at the end.
Key temples to visit
1. Wat Mahathat
Admission 50 THB, or the 220 THB six-site ticket
Founded in 1374, Wat Mahathat was one of the capital’s main royal monasteries; its central prang (a tall Khmer-style tower) stood 50 metres before it collapsed in the early 20th century. The sandstone Buddha head in the roots of a banyan tree is the one image everyone photographs. Visitors kneel or crouch so their heads sit lower than the sacred image.
2. Wat Phra Si Sanphet
Admission 50 THB, or the 220 THB six-site ticket
Wat Phra Si Sanphet was the holiest temple inside the royal palace compound, the role Wat Phra Kaew plays in Bangkok. Three bell-shaped chedis (stupas) stand in a line on a raised platform, holding the ashes of three 15th-century kings: Trailokanat, Borommarachathirat III and Ramathibodi II. Around them are monastery foundations and weathered brick cloisters.
The three chedis of Wat Phra Si Sanphet. Photo: Supanut Arunoprayote, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
3. Wat Ratchaburana
Admission 50 THB, or the 220 THB six-site ticket
Directly across the road from Wat Mahathat, Wat Ratchaburana was built in 1424 by King Borommarachathirat II on the cremation site of his two elder brothers, who killed each other in a duel on elephants over the succession. The restored central prang carries stucco garudas and nagas. A narrow, steep staircase leads down into the crypt, which keeps remnants of 15th-century Khmer-influenced murals.
The grounds of Wat Ratchaburana. Photo: Stefan Fussan, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
4. Wat Chaiwatthanaram
Admission 50 THB, or the 220 THB six-site ticket
On the west bank of the Chao Phraya, outside the main island, Wat Chaiwatthanaram was built in 1630 by King Prasat Thong in honour of his mother. It follows Angkor-period Khmer design: a 35-metre central prang ringed by eight smaller chapels and galleries lined with headless Buddhas. It faces the river, which makes it the usual spot for sunset.
5. Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon
King Naresuan the Great built a large chedi here in 1592 to mark his victory over the Burmese crown prince. It stands southeast of the railway station, outside the island, and is an active temple: a staircase climbs the chedi, hundreds of seated Buddhas in saffron robes line the cloisters, and a reclining Buddha lies in the grounds.
Seated Buddhas at Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon. Photo: Mr.Peerapong Prasutr, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Guided tours or going alone
Tours run daily from central Bangkok, with hotel pickup from Sukhumvit and Silom on some options.
- Coach and river cruise: an air-conditioned coach north in the morning, four temples with a licensed guide, then a Chao Phraya cruiser back to Bangkok with a buffet lunch on board. The Ayutthaya day trip with a cruise and buffet lunchad is from ฿2,300 (3.9 stars from 7 reviews, 8½ hours) and returns on the Grand Pearl Cruise.
- Small-group minivan: five to six hours at the island and outer temples.
- Decision: go by train if you are happy to explore on your own for about 1,000 THB; book a tour if you want a guide to explain the Siamese dynasties, or the river cruise back.
More day-trip options are in Day trips from Bangkok. The combined tour of Ayutthaya, the railway market and the floating market is covered with the Maeklong railway market and Damnoen Saduak pages.
Common questions
How much does the train from Bangkok to Ayutthaya cost?
A third-class ticket on an ordinary local train is 20 THB each way, with no reservation needed, and the ride takes about 1 hour 45 minutes. A second-class non-air-conditioned seat on a rapid train is 61 THB. Express trains cost more because of a surcharge and leave from Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal.
Which station in Bangkok departs trains to Ayutthaya?
Local third-class trains leave from Hua Lamphong. Express trains all leave from Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal, about 7 km north, and need a ticket booked at least the day before.
How much is a tuk-tuk for the day in Ayutthaya?
Open-sided tuk-tuks outside Ayutthaya railway station charge between 200 THB and 300 THB per hour. A typical four-hour itinerary covering five major temples costs around 800 THB to 1,000 THB for the vehicle, which seats up to four.
Is there a combined temple ticket for Ayutthaya?
Yes. A 220 THB combined ticket covers six paid sites: Wat Phra Si Sanphet with the Royal Palace, Wat Phra Ram, Wat Mahathat, Wat Ratchaburana, Wat Chaiwatthanaram and Wat Maheyong. Individual tickets cost 50 THB each for foreign visitors, so the combined ticket pays for itself from the fifth site.
What is the dress code for the temples in Ayutthaya?
Cover your shoulders and knees. Tour operators list shorts, sleeveless tops and ripped or tight clothing as not allowed at the temples.
Is an Ayutthaya tour from Bangkok worth it?
It buys the air-conditioned van both ways and a guide. A tour with a guide and lunch is from 1,100 THB on GetYourGuide, while the train, the 220 THB ticket and a tuk-tuk shared between two people come to about 710 THB each. Go by train if you are happy with a map; book a tour if you want the history explained.
