Bangkok Old Town
Temples, palaces, the river and Khao San — the city's historic heart

The appeal of the Old Town is a kind of original Bangkok you can still reach out and touch. Step off a boat and you are at a palace wall and a row of spires; turn into a lane and old shophouses have become curry shops and cafés; walk a little further and you pass a flower market, monks' supply stores and street stalls that have been there for decades. Come evening, the light catches the spire of Wat Arun across the river, and if you want some noise, Khao San is a short walk away. This is the Bangkok people come to in order to feel the roots of the city, not just to pose for a photo.

• 1
  For temples and palaces

  Grand Palace · Wat Phra Kaew · Wat Pho · Wat Arun

  The Old Town is where Thailand's most important temples and palaces sit close enough to walk between. The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew are the centre; just south is Wat Pho with its giant Reclining Buddha; and across the river is Wat Arun with its porcelain-clad prang. You can see three or four major temples in a single day, linked by the cross-river ferry. It is the best possible starting point for a first trip to Bangkok.

• 2
  For photography and architecture

  Spires · palace walls · old shophouses · the river

  If you like to shoot, the Old Town is the best ground in Bangkok — layered temple roofs, the prang of Wat Arun backlit at dusk, the old shophouses around Tha Tien and the Giant Swing, the Golden Mount looking out over the whole quarter, and boats on the Chao Phraya. Morning and evening light give completely different moods. Photographers tend to arrive at first light, before the crowds and the heat build.

• 3
  For good food on the street

  Old-Bangkok street food · Tha Tien · Khao San

  The Old Town has one of the densest clusters of long-running food shops in Bangkok — curry-and-rice, noodles, pad thai and Thai sweets around Tha Tien and Tha Chang, famous old stalls people queue for around the Giant Swing and Phra Nakhon, and late-night eats on Khao San. Prices are still much gentler than the modern side of town. It is a neighbourhood where you genuinely eat well on a small budget. More at the Bangkok street food guide.

• 4
  For backpackers and budget travellers

  Khao San · Rambuttri · hostels · bars

  Khao San Road and Soi Rambuttri are one of the oldest backpacker centres in Asia — hostels, budget rooms, bars, restaurants and tour-and-transport agencies, busy until late. To be straight about it: some travellers love the party atmosphere, others find it too touristy. If you want something calmer, the Rambuttri side and the riverside around Phra Athit are a short walk away but a very different mood.

The strongest argument for basing yourself in the Old Town is simple: you wake up within walking distance of the Grand Palace and the main temples, and skip the morning traffic — which matters, because these sights are best visited early, before the crowds and the heat. The area runs from boutique hotels and guesthouses in old riverside buildings to the hostels and budget rooms around Khao San and Rambuttri that backpackers worldwide have used for decades.

The honest trade-off: nights here are much quieter than Sukhumvit (except the Khao San zone, which stays lively until late), there are fewer international restaurants, cafés and malls than the modern side of the city, and there is no BTS — you rely on the MRT Blue Line, the boats or Grab. If your trip is built around shopping, international food and nightlife, Sukhumvit or Silom may suit you better. But if temples and history are the heart of the trip, the Old Town is the base that fits best.