Busy in Bangkok (With Kids)

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Bangkok is massive. It can be overwhelming as it has so many different districts, especially if you have kids. To cover this one city comprehensively you'd need around 5 days and you'd be cramming from morning until night. But if you're pressed for time this intense 10-11 hour one day Bangkok Trip via Trip Advisor could be an option. It looks pretty full on but if you like to cram this could be for you. You get to see: The Grand Palace, Maeklong Railway Market, Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, Wat Pho and The Reclining Buddha & Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn). With pick up from your hotel & an English speaking guide.

We personally think 2-3 days with kids at a relaxed pace is enough before heading off to the mountains and Chang Mai or beaches / islands. If you're prepared for early starts, you'll get the best out of some of the tourist attractions. Sight see like a pro with kids and be sat sipping coffee + a fresh juice all zen and finished, whilst the hoards of tourists are only just arriving. Your Central Nervous System will thank you for it.

In this 'Things To Do In Bangkok With Kids' blog, I'll talk about all the attractions to do to educate and entertain the kids in Bangkok that I think are worth doing including: The Best Bangkok Temples to visit with kids, Thai Traditions, A dinner time cruise on The Chao Phraya River, Tuk Tuk rides, Eating Street Food with kids, Visiting A Night Market, Visiting a River market, Bangkok Sights that imo are a must do. You may only make this trip once in a lifetime with kids, so we make every second count. And you can pick and choose from the below suggestions.

We always thought we'd only visit once, but that was our thought 5 trips ago. And there are still wonderful things that we want to see and do in Bangkok before our kids get too big. I hope some of these things inspire you to travel to Bangkok with kids. Even if you only fit in a few of these suggestions, it will make your trip to Bangkok a memorable one for you all as a family. Let's get Busy in Bangkok.

Walk Out at Night For Street Food:

A simple & cheap evening, but the best way to learn about a new culture is to try it. Take in the smells of the streets. We go out & eat Thai street food with the kids so they get to see the streets of Bangkok at night, lit up, busy, exciting. There are street sellers all over Bangkok, stop by and talk to the locals and sample the food. Just potter, buy as you go, graze all through the night. It's amazing what you'll see at night. You'll go past stores selling shakes and juices, treats, corn. Just spend the night being free, brave & adventurous and sampling all the delights that pass your way. There are walking street food tours that you can book onto but since we've not done them, we can't recommend. I would say just get out there and see what you find! This Chef designed Thai street food tour via Trip Advisor is what we'll try next time we're in Bangkok. And we'll blog about it here. Please tell us if you try this tour.

Pics of Thai street food courtesy of EFTours

Thai food is delicious. A mix of sweet, savoury, tangy & spicy. The kids prefer peanut satay type dishes whilst we load up on the lemongrass, Thai basil, chilli and heat. There might be interesting bugs / deep fried crickets to try along the way. The boys do but the girls are more squeamish. We try to live by the motto try everything once and if you don't like it - don't try it again, but at least you know. Would you try bugs?

Visit a Bangkok Temple with kids - Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn):

Wat Arun Temple is sat on Honburi Bank of the Chao Phraya River. You'll see it all lit up by night if you travel on the river on a Apsara Dinner Cruise on The Chao Phraya River

The temple used to be the home of The Emerald Buddha until it moved to The Grand Palace.

It's studded with thousands of different coloured porcelain pieces that glitter in the sun. Wat Arun is home to a cast of buddha's footprint that you can see when you're there.

It has lot's of beautiful buildings, courtyard, garden and prayer halls to look at and passages lined with 120 Buddha statues in the sitting position with the remains of deceased, kept in cubicles below the statues.

Your older/adventurous kids might be able to visit the 3rd and 4th prungs (layers to tower), which are to much for little legs to climb, but a sight to behold if older kids can get up there with mum or dad. Tip for big kids that have climbed the stairs: getting down, walk backwards holding the rope (like descending from rock climbing)!

There are many trips to book, You can see the options for Wat Arun Temple Trips via Trip Advisor here along with reviews from others that have done them.

Make a Tik Tok on a Tuk Tuk:

Whizz around the city in a crazy tuk tuk ride. A tuk-tuk is a Bangkok icon and a cheap way of getting around. You might want to take a tuk tuk to visit a temple or take one just for the fun of it making tik tok videos as you go. Just have some quick fun with it. Negotiate the price before you go. In tourist areas they'll try to tan you and they sometimes can be very forceful in wanting to take you somewhere. And because you want to be polite you can end up going thinking ahhh why not and ending up somewhere you didn't want to be - with kids- and having to pay a hefty free. Be firm and know where you want to go, set the price before you go on your crazy ride. Top Tip: Say "Sawadee khrap/krup" (hello (man)), and "Sawadee kha" (hello (lady)) when you approach someone to book something - it shows you have been to Thailand before and know what you're doing (even if you did just read it 5 mins before on our travel blog ;-). Come on, you got to Talk the talk until you can walk the walk!

We don't actually use tuk-tuks as a mode of transport as it's faffy + haggling is a pain, but as an experience you must do it with kids. Tuk-Tuk drivers will take you past their friends shops & try to tempt you to buy. They earn commission from their mates, so just be aware of that. Go for the Tuk-Tuk come home with nothing extra on top (unless you want it obvs). On our first trip with the kids, we let a tuk-tuk driver take us somewhere we didn't really intend going. He was persuasive and we were trying to be chill about it all so went with it. We ended up being down a dead end street being accosted by 4 guys wanting more money for the longer trip & to take us back. We firmly got out of the situation, but with kids it's not the kind of hassle you'll be wanting. Don't let this put you off though. Knowledge is power & if you know the ropes you can experience exhilarating must to do ride with kids - even if your heart will only take it the once!

Tips for riding Tuk Tuks with Kids in Bangkok: Just help yourself and avoid the rush hour. Rush hour in Bangkok and crazy busy. As such standing Pollution is chronic and you don't want to risk little lungs in smoggy rush hour heat / traffic. This Tuk Tuk food + temples by night trip is what we'll be trying on our next trip and blogging about it here. This is also a good option to get the experience of a must do tuk tuk ride but without the scam hassle. Do let us know if you try this tour what your thoughts are on it.

Bangkok traffic. Don't ride a tuk-tuk during rush hour or you will choke to death.

Go for a dinner time cruise on The Chao Phraya River:

This feels fancy and the kids will love it. It's nice getting clean after a long day of exploring & dressed up. Plus it's exciting eating on a twinkly boat. You can teach them all about the Chao Phraya River. It's a nice way to see the city at night. And you'll pass the amazing Wat Arun Temple (Temple of Dawn) all lit up as you cruise along the river at night time.

The Apsara boat is run through The Banyan Tree Hotel who you can book your cruise through. We've only done this once, and whilst we don't do it every time we visit. We'll be sure to do it again with our littlest one on our next trip to Thailand now he's a little bit older.

The food served on the cruise is Thai Cuisine, and because it's associated with The Banyan Tree the food is good. Of course for the kids it's more about the getting dressed up to go for a fancy river cruise. There are basic noodles that kids will eat. In addition to all the yummy foods for the grown ups. We had Tom Yum soup to start, various noodle and rice dishes, king prawns and seafood dishes. Book your meal cruise on The Apsara via Trip Advisor here.

Visit Mae Klong Market (The Railway market)

One of the most exciting markets in the world that we’ve ever been to. This market literally sits on a railway 37 miles outside of Bangkok. It's so spectacular that it's a must see. Market vendors have their stalls right on the train line and pack their stalls up and lay back out every time an alarm warns that a train is coming through!

In 1905 city officials decided to plan a railway line that would run straight through the Mae Klong Market (even though it was already hugely popular & busy market for the locals to buy their fresh meat & fish). Instead of moving the market, sellers dug their heels in & decided to stay put. The railway was built regardless.

The train runs to a rough timetable, and the market sellers get a bell that rings to warn/announce an oncoming train. They literally get 90 seconds to move their stall before the train comes through. The train chugs through at 15 mph and then the sellers are back at it, unloading their stall all over again. Around 7+ times each day with military precision. It's an incredible thing to see and a normal way of life for Mae Klong market traders.

Obviously it's busy and there's a train involved, so you'll need strict hand holding with the kids but if you can, go.

How to get to the Mae Klong Market from Bangkok: Mae Klong is 37 miles from Bangkok. There’s no direct bus, you can take a taxi, or or car rental. For ease there is a trip Advisor tour that looks good and combines The Railway plus a floating market Trip combining 2 trips in one here. We'll do this trip next time we visit Thailand with the 2 kids and blog about it here. This interests us as you'll be actually on the train as it passes through the market and there's also a visit to A Coconut Sugar Farm + Samut Sakhon Salt Farm. Do let us know if you do this trip how you found it.

Visiting a Night Market

There are trips that include a market visit and a Thai cooking class, which would be good for older kids, but there's no way Bertie age 5 would get anything out of selecting his fresh produce and cooking up a delicious Thai meal. As lovely as that sounds for me. We prefer to market visit & set our own schedule to allow a quick dart if the kids are not 100%.

If you would love to learn how to cook Thai food, we recommend that you save this experience and wait to do this on an island / beach trip, where the views will be pretty & you'll get to cook with a local in their home or at a beautiful location. If you have the time to fit in a night market visit do. But it's not an essential part of a visit to Bangkok with kids especially if you venture out at night street food (you'll get the ambience of the night time) and visit a market during the day.

Have a Picnic in Lumphini Park (say Loom-pee-nee)

Central to Bangkok so easy to get to via 6 entrances. Opens from 4.30am to 9.30pm.

Take a picnic or even some Thai street food and your yoga mats (the ones I told you to pack as a hack for airport delays ;-) and set up camp in the shade under a tree in the lush free Lumphini Park. There are food stands inside the park. Whilst the kids are playing, Mum can get some yoga in with the locals doing Tai Chi at various spots.

A good book and the kids drawing stuff. That's at least 5 minutes before someone moans 'i'm borrrrred mum'. Shhhhhhh ommm.

There are many activities to do in the park once you're there including taking a swan boat out on one the lake, play in the actual park, visit the outdoor gym. See what events are on that day as they vary.

See if you can spot the Giant Monitor Lizards that roam the park. Some are absolutely huge and you might crap your pants when you actually see one. They look like Kimodo Dragons but thankfully aren't. Kids should know not to touch the lizards or go close to them as they will kick off if they feel cornered or in danger. In our experience they are really not interested in people.

Visiting Klong Lat Mayom Floating River market (Saturday / Sunday)

This is not so easy with kids as these places are mad busy. Water, busy, heat, kids. Ummm not sure. BUT it's an experience, so if you can handle it. We try to never limit ourselves just because we have kids. Klong Lat Mayom is a weekend market in Taling Chan District, is our favourite floating market, it's popular with locals which is always a good sign. Klong Lat Mayom market is prettier and not as touristy or busy as some other floating markets. And with the kids, we're here to take photos with every blink.

We travelled to Thailand years ago before kids when it wasn't as touristy as it is now. Klong Lat Mayom market feels more like the Thailand back then. Because this market is more chill, it's definitely better suited for children. Theres also an orchid farm that you can visit there. Damnoen Saduak Floating Market is the one you'll have heard of and the most famous of the floating markets in Bangkok, but it's too busy, too touristy & stinky from fumes from the traffic jammed boats. With kids it's just not a pleasant experience that I would recomend at all. We wished we'd not bothered.

Once at the market you'll get aboard a boat which the kids can get into and your guide will take you down the canal to visit all the vendors which line the canals, to buy your bits & yer bobs. These are super cheap so make sure to visit hungry and experience all the delicious foods, fruits and flowers on offer. Tip for visiting a floating river market with kids: plonk them down with a refreshing fresh coconut to drink with a straw, maybe a mangosteen fruit to try & one of those cute little Thai cone hats that you can buy then take insta pics of them sat in the boat. That's why you're here right!

How to get to Klong Lat Mayom from Bangkok: Take a taxi for around £12 or hire a car it's around 30 minutes from Bangkok. Tons of others ways to get there, but with kids, we just want an easy life sometimes. For ease this Trip Advisor trip to The Floating Market looks good but is pricey and that's the trade off between doing it yourself or having a neatly parcelled trip for ease with kids. Let us know if you do this if you think it's worth it.

Visit The Grand Palace + The Emerald Buddha (2 in 1)

The Grand Palace with kids: Get there early to avoid the crowds 8am. Opens 8.30am | image via Lonely Planet

There are over 800 temples to visit in Bangkok. This is not the best temple to visit, but it is impressive and it's something that you probably kind of have to do if you've got kids. You can either DIY and just go like we do. Or for ease, book a trip to The Grand Palace via Trip Advisor. There are loads for you to chose from.

Built by King Rama I in 1782 from ruins for the Grand Palace in Ayutthaya, the old / original capital city of Thailand, when it was decided that Bangkok would be a much safer capital city for attack purposes.

Guardian protector at the gates of The Grand Palace | image via Lonely Planet

The Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew) is also housed inside the king’s Royal Chapel and is considered to be the most important image of Buddha in Thailand.

The Grand Palace opens from 8.30am - 3.30 pm. Aim for an early start. Be prepared for sweaty hand holding. And Queues. It gets very busy. And you will sweat like never before because of the humidity & the fact that you're dressed like you would be at home. If you get here for 8am you'll help yourself avoid the big tours arriving and being able to scoot off before it gets too hot. We visited once at 1pm and got so hot & narky waiting in the humid & cramped queue that we left without even going in. We were too hot!

Theres an entrance fee of 500 THB per person (£12 per person)

How To Get To The Grand Palace: Avoid taking a Tuk-Tuk here as you will be a sitting duck to be taken into a scam. The Palace has so many scammers hanging around. In fact it's what looks like an organised business enterprise. Just get to the Palace, do your thing, then exit. You'll have plenty of time to shop for trinkets some other time. Personally it's not worth looking at the stalls around here. If your kids are like magpies for shiny things tell them before you leave for the day exploring that you are strictly not buying here.

We took a river boat on the Chao Phraya River. A chance to see Bangkok from the river during the day. The Grand Palace is between Tha Tien pier & Tha Chang pier. Get off at at Tha Chang pier & walk to the right / south to get to the entrance of the Palace. You’ll be able to see The Grand Palace from the boat on approach (a great chance to take some pics). Tip getting on & off river taxi with kids: boats can be wobbly on stopping so get the kids drilled that theres no dilly dallying around or causing a fuss getting off. We need military position exiting and a quick jump off. The Grand Palace is the most popular stop so you'll have time getting off. But for an easy life, make sure those little soldiers are drilled sergeant.

Tip for a visit to The Grand Palace with kids: Take a snack in the bag (standard mum practice anyway), & make sure you remember: water, sunscreen, hats. Leave expensive devices, branded shoes at the Hotel. It's not a bloody fashion show.

Shoes off at temples Tom Lau Getty Images

It's VERY important to respect the culture of the country you are in & dress code applies. Take something to cover up your shoulders for yourselves and the kids (cardigan or a long sleeve linen shirt). Long trousers (make sure knees are covered). No strapless heel shoes (pumps work well for the kids easy to slip on and off as shoes must be removed before entering the temples as a mark of respect.

Visit The Giant Buddha Wat Pho

Wat Pho, to the south of The Grand Palace, is home to the huge 46-meter-long reclining Buddha. Remember dress code / shoe rule still apply. And as this is a real place of worship, you may see monks and scholars at work as a learning centre, so pre-drill kids not to be little arseholes & that this is a very important place.

You can leave coins in bowls at the Buddha for good luck. Tip for visiting The Giant Buddha Wat Pho with kids: There are 108 bowls by Buddha, so you know 108 coins would be good for the kids important task. Keep them busy. You might get to close your eyes for 2 minutes and sleep whilst standing up.

image via Terje Langeland/Getty Images

a very neat stash of shoes, pic from World Nomads - be prepared for shoe chaos at temples. you've got extra little shoes to think about too. Put them together but don't be surprised when you get back if they're all over.

Visit Khao San Road

If you are at The Grand Palace early in the morning, you may as well grab some lunch on Khao San Road, just head north on a 30 min walk. There ton's of budget cafes, restaurants, bars, and street seller shops all busy with backpackers. You can buy some souvenirs there. You may have scheduled this in for the evening, but it's actually good to see it in the day too.

Look out for my 2 day itinerary guide to Bangkok post showing how you can fit all of these in just 2 day stay in Bangkok with kids.

Visit Wat Mahathat

One of the oldest temples in Bangkok. A great place for the kids to buy charms and trinkets.

Visit The Golden Mountain (Wat Saket)

Get your walking legs on and climb 300+ steps up to The Golden Mountain For a sit down & beautiful sunset views over the city.

Visit a rooftop sky bar

Most rooftop sky bars won't allow stinky kids in & you'll wish you had a babysitter, but if you have booked a table in their restaurant then you can stay for a while and enjoy the ambiance. We booked in Vertigo at the top of The Banyan Tree which had impressive views. But there are plenty of rooftop bars and restaurants to choose from. Book your table at Vertigo Sky Restaurant Bangkok here.

Vertigo rooftop restaurant & Moon Bar, Bangkok

a well deserved meal at a rooftop restaurant - Vertigo At The Banyan Tree Bangkok.

If you look the other way, & just ignore the kids, it's almost like you're on a date night.

Give them their devices, order that beautiful meal and marvel at how much you've packed into your short stay. You've bloody earned this evening after doing all the above sight seeing!

Enjoy lovers, this marks the end of your Bangkok sightseeing trip with kids.

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