Ayutthaya UNESCO Temples and Sunset Boat Ride: Experience Ancient Beauty and Peaceful Scenery
4.8
59 Ratings
Ayutthaya
Experience the ancient beauty and peaceful scenery of Ayutthaya's UNESCO temples with a scenic sunset boat ride. Explore historic sites, visit hidden gems, and immerse yourself in local life.
Duration: 8 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Wat Yai Chai Mang Khon - The main exhibit of this temple “Wat Yai Chaimongkhon” is a bell-shaped Chedi. You can climb up to its platform to enjoy the stunning view of the temple. Moreover, the rectangular gallery also features a long line of dozens of stone images of the lord Buddha, to which Thai people come to pay homage and make merits. You will enjoy seeing Thai people worshipping the Lord Buddha, in addition to its spectacular rooftop views. Regarding Thai history, the temple had a bond with King Naraesuan’s reign. In 1592, when King Naresuan conquered the war with King Uparat of Myanmar, King Naresuan built a big chedi as the symbol of the conquest. The chedi was named “Chaimongkhon”. Many Thai people called it “Chedi Yai”. After that, these names were combined together into “Wat Yai Chaimongkhon”. - Historic City of Ayutthaya - Historic City of Ayutthaya houses Wat Phra Si Sanphet, the largest temple ruin in Ayutthaya which was awarded as a UNESCO Heritage site. This temple is a must-visit for all Ayutthaya travelers since this temple was the personal temple of Thai kings in the Ayutthaya period. The highlight of this temple is the three large stupas standing at the center of the temple. The stupas were built for containing relics of all Kings of Ayutthaya. The temple is highly valuable for people seeking to study Thai history. For your information, Wat Phra Si Sanphet was located inside the Grand Palace of Ayutthaya and served as the royal Chapel, as Wat Phra Kaeo does in Bangkok. In Ayutthaya’s heyday, this was the largest temple in the city. When King Borom Trai Lokanat commanded the construction of new living quarters, this residential palace was transformed into a temple and the establishment of Wat Phra Si Sanphet. - Vihara Phra Mongkhon Bophit - Viharn Pra Mongkolborpit houses one of the largest bronze Buddha images in Thailand. Many Thai Buddhists visit this temple to cherish the beauty of the huge golden Buddha image. The Buddha image is in the attitude of subduing Mara. This Buddha image has a lap measurement of 9.55 meters and a height of 12.45 meters. You will need to look up to the ceiling to admire the huge size of this Buddha image. - Wat Mahathat - Wat Mahathat is a UNESCO world heritage site. This temple is well-known to worldwide travelers for the Lord Buddha’s head embedded in the Bodhi tree. Historically, Wat Mahathat was a royal temple of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. It is one of the oldest and most significant temples in the history of Ayutthaya as it housed the Buddha’s holy relic. Attractions in Wat Mahathat include remains of old buildings such as pagodas, octagonal pagodas, a royal hall, small temples, murals under a Bodhi tree, and the famous sand-stone Ayutthaya-style head of the Buddha image in a tree’s root. - Wat Phra Ngam - Wat Phra Ngam is another must-go old temple in Ayutthaya. The beauty of this holy site can be seen through the beautiful architecture of the structured octagon pagoda and the “Time Portal”, the arched entrance made from bricks cuddled by the giant Bodhi Tree. The exotic appearance of this notable arch becomes the photo shooting spot for trendy foreign tourists. - Wat Na Phra Men - Wat Na Phra Meru is the only temple in Ayutthaya that hasn’t been destroyed by the Burmese and shows the most complete vision of Ayutthaya architecture. You will see the original beauty of the 500- year-old Ayutthaya temple here. In addition, the temple houses the green stone Buddha image dated back to the Dvaravati period. This stone Buddha statue is in a sitting position, which is only one of the five that exist in Thailand. After visiting this temple, you will have an authentic, Thai-taste dinner recommended by our guide. - Temple of the Reclining Buddha (Wat Lokayasutharam) - Wat Lokayasutharam features a huge reclining Buddha image, called Phra Bhuddhasaiyart. The Buddha image is about 37 meters long and 8 meters high. There is also a miniature of this buddha image in front of the huge one. Visitors are not allowed to do anything with the huge buddha image but can offer some oblations to the miniature one. Many tourists enjoy taking photos with the huge and the miniature to record their peaceful visit with these two buddha images. - Wat Chaiwatthanaram - Wat Chaiwattanaram is one of the most visited historical sites of Ayutthaya. The Temple was ordered to be built in 1630 by King Prasat Thong to honor his mother, featuring the architectural style influenced by the Angkor temple in Cambodia-its unique feature is a large, central prang (Khmer-style pagoda) surrounded by smaller prangs, symbolizing Mount Sumeru, the gods’ mountain according to Hindu belief. The lighting at night makes the temple even more exotic and beautiful. As a bonus to your tour, our guides will bring you on a sunset boat ride, where you will see the romantic sunset on the Chao Phraya river bank, before leading you back to your comfy hotel.
What's Included
  • Admission to all listed temples
  • Language-specific professional guide (Choose from 7 languages)
  • Included dinner
  • Sunset boat ride around Ayutthaya Island
  • Private air-conditioned transport
  • Travel accident insurance (up to 1M THB)
Additional Information

Experience the unparalleled Ayutthaya UNESCO Heritage! Included in your journey is a picturesque sunset boat tour around Ayutthaya island. Your adventure commences at Ayutthaya UNESCO Heritage sites such as Wat Yai Chai Mongkon, Wat Phra Si Sanphet, Wat Mahathat, and Wat Chai Wattanaram - with all tickets covered to avoid unexpected costs. Unlike other tourists, you will also visit Wat Phra Ngam and Wat Na Phra Meru. The former boasts the “Time Portal” gateway, and the latter, having survived Burmese destruction, depicts the authentic beauty of a 500+ year-old Ayutthaya temple. Lastly, you’ll wrap up your excursion with a serene sunset boat trip, witnessing the daily life of locals inhabiting the island of Ayutthaya during this breathtaking aquatic journey.

Location
Wat Yai Chai Mang Khon
U-thong Road, Pranakorn Sri ayutthaya District,
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.8
(59 Ratings)
5 stars
4 stars
3 stars
2 stars
1 star
847troyb
Jun 5, 2024
Fantastic - I had Nina for this tour, she wad absolutely wonderful, very knowledgeable with great English skills. Would highly recommend it.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Charlynam
Apr 22, 2024
Ayutthaya Romantic Day Trip - Lin (guide) and Kevin (driver) were amazing today. It was 40 degrees (104 F), and they made sure we had LOTS of water, and umbrella for shade, and had the AC high in the car. We had great food as well at a nice restaurant. Lin is extremely knowledgeable about Thai culture and is very passionate about her job. She is dedicated to making sure visitors have a wonderful experience, and finds vicarious happiness when they do. This excursion was part of our honeymoon, and it was romantic and special. We saw many temples today that were very beautiful, and Lin took photos of us the whole time so we can cherish these memories. Ayutthaya is worth the trip, and Lin is the best guide!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
F1005rtbruced
Apr 22, 2024
Bangkok temple experience - Lin and Kevin were amazing, They picked us up at our hotel in Bangkok and took us to multiple beautiful temples in the area. Lin is a wealth of knowledge and took photos of my wife and I throughout the whole experience. I would highly recommend booking a tour and or an experience with them. Lin is very good at what she does and was such a joy to be around, she really made the whole experience feel first class. Kevin is a great driver and even in the traffic made us feel safe. They provided water the entire time and being that it was 104 out that was necessary!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Laurahb5924qt
Apr 19, 2024
Amazing Private Tour! - What a wonderful experience we had as a family with two children (7&3) on this private tour to Ayutthaya and the temples. We were picked up very promptly by our fantastic and super friendly guide Lin at our hotel. During our bus ride out to Ayutthaya our guide Lin shared with us the history of where we were going and of Thailand in general which was very interesting. She kindly answered any questions we had too. Throughout the day we visited a range of temples where further information was shared and lots of photographs were taken. We never felt rushed at any site, allowing us to spend as much or as little time as we wanted. She was particularly attentive to ensure that we were all okay, particularly our young children who adored her. The weather came in when we were due to have the boat tour and she suggested a dinner stop instead. She had ordered ahead and on arrival dinner was served. After dinner, she managed to organise a boat tour where the children were able to feed the fish in the river - which they thought was fantastic. An excellent day trip with many memories and so many photographs taken. Thank you Lin once again. We would highly recommend this trip.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Michael_l
Mar 12, 2024
Great experience - good balance of fun and facts - Pui was a wonderful guide and the whole experience was delightful and well paced. Recommended. The boat trip was relaxing and when we arrived at the endpoint we got a bonus of a Thai music festival and food fair :)
Review provided by Viator
Jj_j
Feb 26, 2024
Lovely way to see Ayutthaya! - We had a lovely day with Pop looking around the temples. Lunch was delicious - we were taken to a lovely local restaurant and able to select food and drink from the menu. The boat ride was also a lovely experience, and a nice, relaxed way to end the tour before our car ride back to Bangkok. Thank you for a lovely day!
Review provided by Viator
Laura_h
Jan 26, 2024
Amazing Ayutthaya Trip - From the start our private tour to Ayutthaya was brilliant. Our guide was great at confirming collection times a few days ahead of our trip taking place and was very punctual. After settling ourselves in a very comfortable mini van with introductions all round, we headed out of the city to Ayutthaya. Along the way, she shared historical information about where we were going and happily answered any further questions we may had. However, she also gave us time to just relax and enjoy the ride there. During the trip, we were kept informed of where we were, what we were seeing and there were constant wellbeing checks regarding loo stops or if we needed a drink and ensuring we were able to stay in shade to minimise the intense heat of the day. She was great with our two young children too, helping them to spot things and give them interesting facts. The weather changed for the worse and it looked like we would not be able to enjoy the sunset boat ride to the final temple, however, after amending the schedule and an hour later after stopping for dinner, she had managed to busily rescheduled a boat trip with a fish feeding opportunity for our children & a whistle-stop tour of the final temple, just before the gates closed for the evening. We arrived back at our hotel, very tired, but very happy having had a fantastic trip! Later that evening we received a huge file of photographs she had taken during the trip which was a lovely surprise. Points to consider: Dress conservatively covering shoulders & knees at least Take an umbrella to shield you from the intense heat / sun rays - it is a very open site Take plenty of water with you Ensure you have small change to pay for use of the loos
Review provided by Viator
Roam818221
Oct 20, 2023
Ice provided an amazing tour! - We decided last minute to take the tour and Ice graciously accommodated us. He was the best! We truly felt cared for with water, delicious food, charging my phone, and even toilet paper! He spoke great English, was very polite, and taught us about Thai culture, history, and more about Buddhism. I should also mention he’s a great photographer! Overall, we were so happy we started our trip this way. The World Heritage site was amazing and the river cruise a highlight. We highly recommend it!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Craig_w
Mar 30, 2024
Very good place to visit - Ayutthaya is amazing and this tour covers all of the main sites. Our driver was great and our tour guide was helpful. Lunch was ok. Sunset boat trip did not take place at sunset. Worth visiting but more information about the sites sould have been very helpful.
Review provided by Viator
Detlef
Jan 15, 2024
Thailand and ancient temples - The tour guide Richard gave us very little information. He barely understood our questions. We would have liked to have received more information. The food was very simple. The boat trip was not at sunset, but long before. The only good thing was the car and the driver.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Select Date and Tickets
up to 12 guests
1 Adult
June 2024
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Today