The 15 Best Palace & Ruin Tours in Thailand

1.Ayutthaya Temples Guided Tour with Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 10,535 reviews · 7 hours · from $28Our pick

Explore four Ayutthaya temples from Bangkok, hear Siamese history from a lively guide, and enjoy a Thai buffet lunch for $28.

“We had a fantastic day visiting Ayutthaya with our guide, Paul. He was friendly, very knowledgeable, and brought the history of the ruins and temples to life. Everything was smooth and well organized, and Ayutthaya is an absolute must-visit from Bangkok. Highly recommend this tour!”

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2.Ayutthaya & Ayothaya Floating Market Day Trip

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 6,084 reviews · 8 hours · from $48

Review of Bangkok to Ayutthaya day trip with four historic sites, Ayothaya Floating Market, guides, transport, timing, and value tips.

“My flight leaving Bangkok was late at night, so I joined this tour to fill the time after checking out of my hotel, although it wasn't my first time in Ayutaya. Meeting at 10 AM in convenient Asoke and scheduled to finish by 6 PM. An ideal schedule, and the tour itself exceeded my expectations. ★In this tour, each spot had a scheduled stay of one hour or 45 minutes. And at each location, our tour guide Jenny would give a detailed explanation for the first 10 minutes or so. The rest of the time was free time. That was a very appropriate time allocation. ★Jenny was always waiting attentively…”

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3.Grand Palace, Wat Pho, and Wat Arun Guided Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 3,632 reviews · 5 hours · from $24

Review of Bangkok’s five-hour Grand Palace, Wat Pho, and Wat Arun tour, with temple advice, costs, dress rules, guides, and practical tips.

“Peak is a kind, caring, welcoming and lovely tour guide! She told us many interesting facts about the culture and history of Thailand. The tour was absolutely worth it!”

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4.Ayutthaya Historical Park Guided Day Trip

★★★★★★★★★★4.6 · 3,020 reviews · 9 hours - 570 minutes · from $28

Explore Ayutthaya from Bangkok with a local guide, visiting royal palaces, ruined temples, Wat Mahathat, and UNESCO-listed sites in one day.

“It was a lot of fun and informative, got to see the various beautiful sites of Thailand and learn about its rich history. The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable, fun and we've made a life long friend. would recommend Jack any day.”

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5.Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew Guided Walking Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.4 · 2,417 reviews · 150 minutes - 3 hours · from $17Best value

Explore Bangkok’s Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew with an English or Chinese guide, sacred art, royal history, and practical tips for a smooth visit.

“The place is very beautiful and rich of different cultures. Guide was explain every single aspect with details. Help us through the whole tour since the cab as we got late but still she covered everything.”

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6.Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Wat Arun Sacred & Local Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.3 · 2,256 reviews · 4 - 5 hours · from $18

See Bangkok’s Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Wat Arun, and flower market by boat, tuk tuk, and ferry on a practical half-day tour.

“Brilliant tour, amazing temples. My only recommendation is a lunch break could be added as it’s 5 hours walking. Other than that highly recommend, we thoroughly enjoyed learning and seeing the sights”

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7.Ayutthaya Temples and River Cruise from Bangkok

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 1,692 reviews · from $73

Explore Ayutthaya’s ruined temples, see the Buddha in tree roots, and cruise back to Bangkok with lunch on this full-day trip.

“Pick up was way too early. We went on a minibus to go to a bigger bus. We waited 30min in the big bus for other people to arrive. The temples were pretty but maybe too much free time on site and not enough explanation about the life in the temple etc. Food on the cruise was good, just the cruise was too long.. to be fair only the last 40min was worth it ( more than 3h cruise).”

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8.UNESCO’s Ayutthaya Historical Park: Full-Day Tour from Bangkok

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 1,559 reviews · from $28

Review of TripGuru’s small-group Ayutthaya tour from Bangkok, with temple highlights, transport advice, costs, heat tips, and honest drawbacks.

“The Advertising for This excursion is irritating and fair, because first you see all entrance fees are included in the price. Finally it came out that you have to pay extra for all the entrance fees.why are you doing this? This is only to confuse the customer.”

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9.The Old Siam: Ayutthaya Temples Small Group Tour with Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★4.6 · 992 reviews · 7 hours · from $35

Explore Ayutthaya’s finest temple ruins, see the tree-root Buddha, enjoy Thai lunch, and travel comfortably from Bangkok for $35.

“Really enjoyed yesterday's tour to Ayutthaya! Our guide (the man from the photo) was very knowledgeable and shared a lot of curios facts about Buddhist culture. I tried on a traditional Thai dress and it was so worth it! The guide took a lot of pictures of me and they are all very lovely! The tour also included lunch, and there was live music in the canteen. Great value for money!”

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10.Grand Palace & Temples of Bangkok with experienced guide

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 890 reviews · from $22Top rated

Review of Bangkok’s Grand Palace and temple tour, with guide insights, costs, dress rules, walking demands, and tips for booking wisely.

“I really enjoyed this tour and thought it was great value for the price. I did the one that started at 8:30 AM which helped avoid the hottest hours. We were able to see the Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Pho, and Wat Arun. This is a walking tour and an efficient one in order to hit all the sites in a timely manner. So, it's a bit of a hustle but I still felt like I got a good taste and view of each site with a desire to revisit some of the activities or museums in the future when I have more time. Our guide was Nicky.…”

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11.Historical Day Tour to River Kwai

★★★★★★★★★★4.6 · 868 reviews · 10 hours · from $51

Review of Bangkok’s River Kwai day tour: WWII memorials, the Death Railway train, museum, bridge, lunch, timing, cost, and practical tips.

“Really fascinating trip and very poignant too. Was a long way from Bangkok but you do get a stop off there and on the way back. Riding the train was really good and nice to see bits of rural Thailand. Would’ve liked a bit more time at the cemetery but understand the time constraints. Really worth doing.”

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12.Historical City of Ayutthaya – Unesco Full Day Tour From Bangkok

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 847 reviews · from $41

Review of WanderSiam’s Ayutthaya day tour from Bangkok, with temple highlights, costs, transport tips, guide quality, and practical advice.

“Great guide, Sunday, with a lot of interesting facts about the places we visited. We left early, which helped a lot. A must-do when in Bangkok.”

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13.Grand Palace Skip-the-Line Entry Ticket

★★★★★★★★★★4.2 · 720 reviews · 1 day · from $20

Review the Bangkok Grand Palace skip-the-line ticket, with Wat Phra Kaew, museums, Khon performance, dress rules, timing, and value.

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14.Lopburi Monkey Temple & Ayutthaya Old City Tour From Bangkok

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 719 reviews · from $61

Review of the Lopburi Monkey Temple and Ayutthaya tour from Bangkok, with temple details, costs, transport tips, heat advice, and honest drawbacks.

“Amazing tour with an amazing tour guide. She was very knowledgeable and informative with a great personality. I recommend people give this tour a go as you will not be disappointed.”

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15.Bridge on the River Kwai and Thailand-Burma Railway Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 658 reviews · from $108

Review of Bangkok’s Bridge on the River Kwai tour, with cemetery, JEATH Museum, boat ride, Death Railway, lunch, value, and practical tips.

“Excellent guide. Very knowledgeable and efficient. All components of the itinerary were handled well.”

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