Old town walk: Golden Buddha to Golden Mount at sunset
WAT
An afternoon from Chinatown to the old town, ending on top of the Golden Mount at sunset. Follow it on your phone, stop by stop.
- STOPS
- 5
- FEES
- ฿320
- HOURS
- 5
Checked 31 October 2026
At a glance
- Time
- About 5 hours
- Entrance fees
- About ฿320 a person (part review-based)
- Start
- Wat Traimit, a short walk from MRT Hua Lamphong (BL28).
- Start time
- 13:00 — Start by 13:00: Wat Traimit and Loha Prasat close at 17:00 (review-based), and the Golden Mount, open until 19:00, is kept for sunset.
- Sunset
- Between about 17:48 and 18:49 through the year.
- Dress
- Shoulders and knees covered at every stop. Take your shoes off before you step into a hall. Dress code for all temples
1 Wat Traimit (Golden Buddha)
- Stay
- 60 min
- Fee
- ฿100
- Hours
- 08:00–17:00
- Basis
- Checking
First because it closes at 17:00. The Golden Buddha is on the top floor; the museum floors below are a separate ticket and closed on Mondays (review-based). About an hour.
Look for
- The Golden Buddha: about 3 m tall, 5.5 tonnes of gold. In the shrine hall on the top floor. Sukhothai style, usually dated to the 13th–14th century.
- A crack that changed everything, 25 May 1955. The ropes broke while it was being moved, the statue fell, and the plaster chipped to show gold underneath. The exhibition floor below tells the story.
- Almost 200 years in disguise. It was covered in plaster, probably before Ayutthaya fell in 1767, so that no one would steal it.
More about Wat Traimit (Golden Buddha) →Walking directions (Google Maps)
Next: 2. Yaowarat and the MRT to Sam Yot →2 Yaowarat and the MRT to Sam Yot
Walk the length of Yaowarat Road, Chinatown’s main street, to MRT Wat Mangkon, where the station ceiling is painted like the inside of a dragon. Ride one stop to Sam Yot.
Walking directions (Google Maps)
Next: 3. Wat Suthat and the Giant Swing →3 Wat Suthat and the Giant Swing
- Stay
- 60 min
- Fee
- ฿100
- Hours
- 08:30–20:00/21:00
- Basis
- Review-based
The Giant Swing is in the street and free; the temple behind it stays open into the evening (review-based). About an hour.
Look for
- The Giant Swing, 21.15 m. Free to see from the street. In early March each year the setting sun lines up with its centre (6 March in 2025).
- Phra Si Sakyamuni, about 8 m of bronze. The main Buddha image, brought from Sukhothai, in the ordination hall.
- The longest ordination hall in Thailand. That is how it is usually described; walk its full length inside.
More about Wat Suthat and the Giant Swing →Walking directions (Google Maps)
Next: 4. Wat Ratchanatdaram (Loha Prasat) →4 Wat Ratchanatdaram (Loha Prasat)
- Stay
- 40 min
- Fee
- ฿20
- Hours
- 09:00–17:00
- Basis
- Review-based
It closes at 17:00 (review-based), so see it before the Golden Mount. About 40 minutes.
A few minutes from the foot of the Golden Mount. Its Loha Prasat is a 36 m hall of seven storeys with 37 iron spires (24, 12 and 1), said to stand for the 37 qualities that lead to awakening. By most accounts it was begun under Rama III in 1846, restarted in 1960 and opened to visitors in 2007. The ground floor is a maze of columns you can walk through.
More about Wat Ratchanatdaram (Loha Prasat) →Walking directions (Google Maps)
Next: 5. Golden Mount (Wat Saket) →5 Golden Mount (Wat Saket)
- Stay
- 90 min
- Fee
- ฿100
- Hours
- 07:00–19:00
- Basis
- Review-based
Last, for the sunset: open until 19:00 (review-based). About 318 steps up; give it an hour and a half.
Look for
- About 318 steps to the top. Review-based count. The path winds round the hill to the roof terrace, with places to stop on the way.
- The golden chedi on the roof terrace. Walk all the way round: the old town, Wat Ratchanatdaram’s iron spires and the city towers in every direction.
- Sunset over the old town. Open until 19:00 (review-based), after sunset in every month.
More about Golden Mount (Wat Saket) →Walking directions (Google Maps)
Come down after sunset and take a taxi back to Yaowarat: the street food is just starting. Chinatown (Yaowarat) at night →
Jay Fai and three other MICHELIN Guide street-food shops are in the old town, around Wat Suthat, the Golden Mount and Khao San Road. Michelin street food in the old town →
Questions
- How long does the old town walk take?
- About five hours from 13:00, including time inside each stop.
- How much are the entrance fees in total?
- About ฿320 a person: Wat Traimit ฿100 (checking), Wat Suthat ฿100, Loha Prasat about ฿20 and the Golden Mount ฿100 (review-based). Wat Traimit’s museum is a separate ticket.
- Why start in the afternoon?
- So that you reach the Golden Mount, open until 19:00, at sunset. Wat Traimit and Loha Prasat close at 17:00, so do not start later than 13:00.
- Can I do this walk on a Monday?
- Yes, but Wat Traimit’s museum floors are closed on Mondays (review-based). The Golden Buddha hall stays open.