Holidays in Bangkok, Thailand

Tips for a holiday in Bangkok

You will experience a holiday in Bangkok in a cacophony of images, smells and sounds. It is a fascinating, chaotic and intoxicating city, full of contradictions, courteous people, food stalls on every street corner, towering skyscrapers, colourful taxis and masses of pedestrians. A visit to the capital of Thailand can fall like a stone on your stomach. The witching pot is hot, humid, crowded, noisy and polluted, but offers rewards for travellers willing to get a little lost in this big city.

Traditional Thai life is never far away. In the early morning, you can see Buddhist monks walking the streets dressed in orange robes. Bangkok has beautiful, serene temples where you hardly realise you are in the heart of a teeming metropolis. The city is full of shrines, though they are sometimes hard to see through the adjacent concrete jungle of luxury hotels, gleaming offices and ramshackle ruins. With its mix of traditions and modernities, every street in Bangkok has a surprise in store for you. In the stilt houses on the Chao Phraya River, it seems as if time has stood still. In the former capital Thonburi, which is separated from the rest of Bangkok by the river, you will know why the Thai capital was once called 'The Venice of the East' thanks to its many canals.

Most travellers start their holidays in Bangkok in the Banglamphu district, one of the oldest residential areas and the city's backpacker hub for many years. Everyone heads here to Khao San Road, with its many restaurants, cafes, food stalls, market stalls, clubs, bars, souvenir shops, tattoo shops, clothes shops, tour operators and travel agents. It is touristy, but still has a casual atmosphere. Just south of it you will find Chinatown, the largest in the world, with its many markets, temples, warehouses and restaurants.

Bangkok is buzzing with energy and has so many sights, shops and restaurants, you won't have much time to rest. But try to find a moment to pamper yourself at a luxury spa or sip a cocktail on a rooftop terrace. To really rest during your holiday, you still need to go to the beach. But luckily you'll find those just a few hours' drive from Bangkok.

Cycling through Bangkok

Hot, sultry Bangkok and cold, often windy Amsterdam: there couldn't be two more different cities in the world. Yet they have two things in common: both cities are hilly and have plenty of waterways. Cycling through Bangkok? No problem! Read more about cycling through Bangkok here

Sightseeing in Bangkok

Some claim that there is not that much to do and see in a metropolis like Bangkok, but that is completely unjustified! You can easily fill your days in the Thai capital, with its temples, markets, shopping malls, museums, palaces and beautiful architecture. Read more about sights in Bangkok here

Flying to Bangkok

From the Netherlands, you can easily fly to Bangkok. Airlines KLM, China Airlines and EVA Air fly directly from Amsterdam to Bangkok several times a week. Flight time is 11 to 11½ hours. Read more about flying to Bangkok here

Staying in Bangkok

During your holiday, you have a wide choice of hotels, guesthouses, hostels and flats in Bangkok. There are hundreds of hotels alone, ranging from luxury 5-star resorts to simple and featureless hotels with basic amenities where mostly Thai and Chinese stay. Read more about accommodation in Bangkok here