Two days in Bangkok is enough to walk the full Rattanakosin temple loop from the Grand Palace to Wat Pho and across the river to Wat Arun, then spend a second day covering Sukhumvit, the Jim Thompson House, Lumphini Park, and the Asiatique riverfront. The route averages 5-7 km of walking per day, with one Chao Phraya ferry on Day 1 and 3-4 BTS hops on Day 2.

Day by day

Day 1: Rattanakosin: Old City Temples and Yaowarat

  • Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew — 2.5 hr. Arrive at 8:15 AM, 15 min before the gate opens at 8:30. $14 entry with audio guide. Long pants and covered shoulders required; sarongs at the entrance carry a refundable $3 deposit. Last ticket at 2:30pm; never reschedule into the afternoon.
  • Walk south to Wat Pho — 5 min. $8.50 entry. The 46-meter Reclining Buddha hall is the main draw; the smaller chedi courtyards behind hold the original Thai medical school inscriptions on stone tablets. Enter from the east gate on Sanam Chai Road; the south gate has the tour-bus queue.
  • Rest valve — lunch at any lokanta on Maharat Road behind Wat Pho — 45 min. A plate of Khao Man Gai or pad krapow gai with iced tea costs $2-4. These are the canteens where Thammasat University staff eat, not tourists.
  • Cross-river shuttle ferry from Tha Tien pier to Wat Arun — 5 min. $0.15 each way, cash only at the gate (no Rabbit Card). Run by the temple, not the tourist boat operators.
  • Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) — 1 hr. $5.50 entry. The central prang's tile cladding is original Chinese trade-ship ballast porcelain from the 1820s. Climb to the second tier only; the upper steps are 70° steep with no handrail.
  • Ferry back to Tha Tien, walk to the Tha Chang Chao Phraya Express pier — 15 min.
  • Chao Phraya Express orange-flag boat from Tha Chang south to Saphan Taksin — 25 min. $0.45. Stay on the outside deck for an open-water view of Wat Arun receding behind the riverbend.
  • BTS Silom Line from Saphan Taksin to Wat Mangkon (transfer at Sala Daeng to MRT Blue Line, exit 3) — 25-30 min. $1.20-1.60.
  • Yaowarat (Chinatown) night street food — 1.5 hr. The lane Phadungdao (between Yaowarat and Charoenkrung) runs the better seafood-grill stalls at half the price of the main Yaowarat Road frontage. Cash only.
  • Total: ~6 km walking; 2 ferries, 1 BTS segment, 1 MRT segment.

Day 2: Sukhumvit, Siam, and the Riverfront

  • Jim Thompson House — 1 hr. $7 entry (ticket office opens 10am, gate only — no online). The 1959 teak-house compound holds the silk merchant's collection of Southeast Asian Buddhist art. BTS National Stadium exit 1, then 5 min through Soi Kasemsan 2.
  • BTS from National Stadium to Siam — 2 min. $0.50. Walk through Siam Square to Soi 5.
  • Rest valve — lunch at Som Tam Nua, Siam Square Soi 5 — 45 min. Som Tam Thai, gai yang (grilled chicken), and sticky rice for $5-7 per person. Queues move in 20 min; lunch service ends at 2pm.
  • Walk through Siam Paragon ground floor (Gourmet Market for produce browsing) and the MBK Center connecting walkway to BTS Siam — 45 min.
  • BTS Sukhumvit Line from Siam to Asok — 8 min. $0.65. Walk through Terminal 21 mall (themed floors, free entry) to the Asok-Sukhumvit Soi 21 intersection.
  • MRT from Sukhumvit station to Lumphini — 5 min. $0.45. The MRT station empties into Lumphini Park at the south end.
  • Lumphini Park walk — 1 hr. The 57-hectare park holds the largest monitor lizard population in central Bangkok; they sun on the south lawns and along the lake edges. Free.
  • MRT from Lumphini to Silom (transfer) and BTS to Saphan Taksin — 15 min. $0.90.
  • Free Asiatique shuttle boat from Sathorn pier to Asiatique — 15 min. Departures every 30 min from 4pm. The riverside warehouse complex holds 1,500 retail and food stalls; the central Ferris wheel and the original 1907 East Asiatic warehouse facade are both visible from the boat approach.
  • Asiatique riverfront — 1.5 hr. Sunset on the boardwalk, dinner at one of the open-front Thai food halls. Mid-range plates $4-8.
  • Free shuttle boat back to Sathorn pier — 15 min. Last service 11:30pm.
  • Total: ~5 km walking; 4 BTS segments, 2 MRT segments, 2 shuttle boats.
Traveller Tips
  • Buy a Rabbit Card the moment you arrive at any BTS ticket office: $6 issue plus $3 starting credit. It covers all your Day 2 BTS hops without queueing at single-ticket machines.
  • Day 1 is mostly on foot and on the river; the only transit is the BTS/MRT hop to Yaowarat for dinner. Day 2 is BTS- and MRT-heavy. Load the Rabbit Card with at least $7 for the full circuit.
  • Book Grand Palace timed entry online at royalgrandpalace.th if you visit Dec-Feb; walk-up queue at the gate exceeds 45 min in peak weeks. Wat Pho and Wat Arun are both walk-up only.
  • The Sathorn pier to Asiatique shuttle is free with no ticket. The Chao Phraya Express orange-flag boat also stops at Asiatique on weekend evenings; the blue-flag tourist boat does not.
  • Yaowarat street stalls run cash only. Withdraw $40-50 in 20s and 100s at a Bangkok Bank ATM (Sala Daeng station has one inside the turnstile zone) before transferring to the MRT.