Sometimes we don’t have a lot of time in one city or another so we try and pack whatever time we have full of touristy type things such as seeing famous landmarks or trying a staple food item. Bangkok is the capital of Thailand and, while it is a destination in itself, for us it was a starting point to our first trip to Asia. While there, we visited Phuket for New Year’s Eve before heading back to Thailand for a few days and then an extended layover in Seoul, South Korea before we came home. Whether you only have 1 day or several, here are some tips for spending 24 hours in Bangkok.

1. Take a Water Taxi

We landed in Bangkok very late and were leaving for Phuket in less than 36 hours before stopping back in Bangkok for a few more days on our short trip to Thailand. Having such a short time in the capital, we wanted to pack as much into that first day as possible.

We woke up around 8am, got free (see “included”) breakfast at the lounge in our hotel and set off. We were literally across the street from the metro so after asking the concierge in our hotel how to get to the temples, we were on our way. We took the metro to the other side of the city to catch the water taxi which took us to the beautiful temples of Bangkok that we’d read so much about.

The metro and water taxis were super easy to navigate, the directions were clear and in English and also very affordable. It only cost us a few bucks each to get from our hotel to the temples (about 30 minutes in total).

Buddhism is the largest religion practiced in Thailand and their temples are absolutely beautiful. The architecture is intricate, careful, detailed and inspiring. While I am not terribly religious in the traditional sense, I still felt that I would have been disrespecting their practices if I entered their place of worship. That’s not at all to say that people shouldn’t enter places of religion that are open and available but for me, I didn’t know enough about Buddhism to be absolutely certain that I wouldn’t accidentally do or say something wrong. Maybe on my next visit, I will feel more comfortable learning more about the practices and traditions.

So for now, I can only speak to the beauty of the facade and surrounding areas of the temples in Bangkok.

It was so hot in Thailand in December that we were absolutely wiped out! We totally missed out on the nightlife but that’s why there are 2nd and 3rd and 4th trips, right?