Private Half-Day Bangkok City Tour with the Grand Palace

A private guide and air-conditioned car take you round the Grand Palace, Wat Arun and Wat Pho in one morning. Pickup is 9am from central Bangkok hotels and you’re back around 1pm. Entry to every temple on the route is included, the Grand Palace’s 500 THB ticket among them.

The Route

The morning starts at the Grand Palace, with about 50 minutes for the courtyards and throne halls, then 20 minutes in Wat Phra Kaew, the temple of the Emerald Buddha inside the palace walls. From there the tour crosses to Wat Arun on the Thonburi side of the river for an hour.

Next comes an hour at the amulet market by Wat Mahathat, where stalls sell Buddhist amulets and charms. The last stop is 30 minutes at Wat Pho and its 46-metre Reclining Buddha.

Half Day or Full Day

The same operator, Mam Holidays Thailand, runs a full-day version of 8 hours that adds Wat Traimit’s Golden Buddha and the Pak Khlong Talat flower market. The half day suits a first visit with one free morning, or families who want a car waiting between stops. Four big sites in four hours leaves little slack, though. Wat Pho gets 30 minutes, which covers the Reclining Buddha but not the rest of the complex.

Watch out: The Grand Palace dress code is enforced at the gate. Cover shoulders and knees, and skip see-through tops and ripped trousers, or you’ll be turned back until you cover up.

Insider Tip: Near the palace, strangers sometimes tell visitors it’s “closed today” and offer a cheap tuk-tuk ride elsewhere. It’s a long-running scam that ends at a gem shop. With a guide meeting you at the hotel, ignore anyone who says so.