Ayutthaya, Railway Market & Floating Market Day Tour from Bangkok

Maeklong Railway Market: the Train Through the Stalls

The day begins about an hour and a half southwest of Bangkok in Samut Songkhram, a fishing town at the mouth of the Mae Klong River. Here a local railway line ends by running through the middle of a fresh market. Vendors lay out seafood, fruit, vegetables and spices right beside the track under umbrellas and awnings, and the narrow aisle between them is the railway itself.

When the train's horn sounds, the market folds up in seconds: awnings are pulled back, baskets slide away and the carriages pass within touching distance before everything is set out again. This Maeklong railway market tour stop lasts about an hour, so you can walk the stalls, watch the train and take photos. Your guide checks the day's timings and finds a safe place for the group to stand.

Longtail Boat Ride to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

From Maeklong it is a short drive to Damnoen Saduak in Ratchaburi province. Its canal network, dug in the nineteenth century to link two rivers, carried fruit and vegetables from the orchards to market, and boat vendors still trade along it today. On this tour you board a longtail boat, the slim wooden craft with a long-shafted engine typical of Thai waterways, and speed through the canals past coconut groves and stilt houses.

The ride ends in the heart of the floating market, where women in straw hats paddle sampans loaded with tropical fruit, noodles and sweets, and shops line the jetties. You have about an hour to explore on foot, shop for souvenirs and snack on mango sticky rice or fresh coconut. The best time to visit Damnoen Saduak is the morning, which is exactly when this tour arrives.

Ayutthaya and Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon

After lunch the vehicle drives north to Ayutthaya, the capital of Siam from 1350 until its destruction in 1767 and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The first temple is Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon, southeast of the old city island. Founded in the fourteenth century for monks who had studied in Sri Lanka, it is still an active monastery, which gives it a living atmosphere that the ruins lack.

Its great chedi was enlarged in 1592 to celebrate a famous victory over a Burmese army, and you can climb the steps to look into the shrine at its heart. Around the courtyard sit long rows of Buddha images draped in saffron sashes, one of the most photographed scenes in Ayutthaya, and a large reclining Buddha rests in the grounds. Expect about 30 minutes here with your guide.

Wat Phra Si Sanphet

Wat Phra Si Sanphet stood within the walls of the royal palace of Ayutthaya and served as the private temple of the kings, used for ceremonies rather than as a monastery. Its three bell-shaped chedis, lined up on a high platform, were built around the turn of the sixteenth century to hold royal ashes, and their silhouette is the classic image of the old capital.

A huge standing Buddha covered in gold once stood here before the city fell; today the brick foundations of halls and galleries surround the chedis on the lawns. The temple later inspired Wat Phra Kaew at the Grand Palace in Bangkok. Your guide explains how the palace was laid out and what happened in 1767. Many visitors searching for the best Ayutthaya temples tour put this stop at the top of their list.

Wat Mahathat: the Buddha Head in the Tree

The final temple, Wat Mahathat, was one of Ayutthaya's grandest monasteries and is said to have once held relics of the Buddha in its central prang. Burned in 1767, it is now a field of ruined towers, headless statues and brick walls. The image everyone comes to see is the sandstone Buddha head embraced by the roots of a fig tree, which grew slowly around it over the centuries after the temple was abandoned.

Guards ask visitors to crouch so that their heads are lower than the Buddha head when taking photos, a small sign of respect. About 30 minutes here completes the Ayutthaya part of the day. From Wat Mahathat the vehicle returns to Bangkok, about two and a half hours by road, arriving at MBK Center in the evening after a full day of markets and history.