PLANNING ADVICE
Bangkok in 3 days: organise visits by area
A Bangkok draft combining temples, neighbourhoods and markets, adapted to your arrival time and interests.
Day 1: Grand Palace and Wat Pho, at an easy pace
With three full days, use the first for the historic centre: Grand Palace in the morning, lunch, then Wat Pho. As planning estimates, allow 2–3 hours for the first complex and 1–2 for the second, plus walking, heat and queues. The Grand Palace official website lists opening 08:30–16:30, ticket sales until 15:30 and admission at 500 baht: checked on 12 October 2026, to reconfirm before visiting. Grand Palace admission is separate from Wat Pho admission. If your flight arrives that day, reduce the plan to a walk near your accommodation: this suggestion assumes you already have the morning available.
Day 2: Wat Arun and Chinatown
Visit Wat Arun earlier in the day, leaving a break for lunch and a rest by the river or at your accommodation. Head to Chinatown in late afternoon so the walk can continue into dinner. These are not two places connected by a straightforward riverside walk: Wat Arun is on the western bank and Chinatown on the eastern bank. Check the crossing service and onward route, or compare available transport. As estimates, allow 1–2 hours at the temple and 2–3 for walking and eating. These are editorial allowances, not journey times or guaranteed business hours.
Day 3: one neighbourhood, then your final evening
Use the final day for your own priorities: Siam for shopping and city activities, or a market after checking its days and hours. If you want Chatuchak, choose a day that matches the market you intend to visit rather than assuming all stalls operate daily. For sunset, consider a rooftop after checking reservations, dress code and any spending requirement with the venue. Do not automatically add an out-of-town excursion to this day. If you depart, remove the evening activity and organise luggage and the airport journey first, allowing the time required by your airline.
Where to stay and how to use the map
Choose accommodation around your journeys: the historic centre for a temple-focused stay, or somewhere close to BTS or MRT when combining several neighbourhoods. Check the actual walk to the station, not just the area name. Before booking an activity, open the route on a map and look for changes, crossings or a long walk. Our planning suggestion is to group nearby visits and leave a break in the middle of the day; in heat or rain, remove a stop rather than chasing the schedule.
Turn the draft into your own plan
This is an editorial outline rather than your generated itinerary. Select Bangkok and your interests, open place cards, compare maps and add activities. Use a system proposal or manually choose from filtered results. Keep visits you actually want and recheck practical information before travelling.
If you have three nights, count the actual hours
Three nights do not always provide three sightseeing days. A late arrival and early departure may leave only two full days: dedicate one to the historic visits you genuinely want and the other to a different neighbourhood. With three full days, add another area without repeatedly crossing the city. Before saving, check hotel arrival, breaks and return times against reservations. The route should not force you to recover a missed visit during a transfer.
Locate your days on the map
An outline for full days, to adapt to your pace. Map links locate places; they do not book transport or set the route.
- Day 1 · Grand PalaceLocate on Google Maps ↗
- Day 1 · Wat PhoLocate on Google Maps ↗
- Day 2 · Wat ArunLocate on Google Maps ↗
- Day 2 · ChinatownLocate on Google Maps ↗
- Day 3 · Siam or a marketLocate on Google Maps ↗
Choose your base
Compare areas and the time to spend there. Once you have chosen your bases, pick what to see in the planner.