When you only have one day in a city, you want to fit in as much as possible. Here, we want to give the option to not go to every tourist attraction and wear yourselves out by trying to get to every site. Rather, we want to show how you can spend the day watching the city in action and feeling a part of it.
Stay
If you are planning to spend two nights in Bangkok with a day in between, we highly recommend staying along Sukhumvit Road between Siam Center (Siam BTS Station) and Asoke Intersection (Asoke BTS Station).
Early Morning
Start your day at the Chitlom BTS Station. From there you can use the elevated sidewalk to see the city burst into action. The elevated sidewalk in that area is called the Ratchaprasong District Walk or R Walk. As you walk along, there are signs that explain to you what you are viewing down below. Use the West Walk to walk from Chitlom BTS Station to Siam BTS Station.
Along the way, one specific site to observe is the Erawan Shrine on the corner of Ratchadamri Road and Sukhumvit Road, where a large shrine sits inside a circle and people can do their alms giving around that circle.
Morning
You have finished the Ratchaprasong District Walk when you arrive at Siam BTS Station. The next place we recommend you head to is to see the iconic temple on the river – Wat Arun. Even though this itinerary is for families who want to stay off the beaten path, we include this temple as a way to view Thai religious practices and take in the scenery of this area of Bangkok, which is a historical center point of the city.
There are several ways to reach Wat Arun as a family. First, you can take a Grab taxi from Siam to Wat Arun.
You can also take the BTS skytrain Sukhumvit line from Siam Station to Asoke Station and change to the MRT. Follow signs closely to switch from the skytrain to the metro. At Asoke MRT Station, take the Blue line to Itsaraphap station. The MRT will cross the river and you will need to follow your map app and walk to Wat Arun.
After you finish your visit at Wat Arun, return back to Siam to continue your day
Lunch
Once you arrive back at Siam BTS, it’s time for lunch and people watching at the mall. There are two malls connected to the Siam BTS Station – Siam Paragon and CentralWorld. These are both large, ritzy malls bursting with visitors. Siam Paragon is more glamorous and more touristy with expensive attractions inside including SeaLife Bangkok and Kidzania (both fun to do with kids if you end up with more time!). Read about other fun things to do in Bangkok with kids here.
But back to lunch! Both malls have food courts inside that are fun to scout out during your one day in Bangkok. The food is cheaper than restaurant food and the variety is endless!
The Siam Paragon food court is found on the ground floor with a plethora of different international and Thai stalls. If you arrive in Bangkok during rainy or cool season (August to February), it will be very hard for you to find Mango and Sticky rice as mangos are out of season, but do not worry this is a great place to find that specific dish year-round. You will also be able to find all your other favorite Thai dishes too.
CentralWorld also has an abundance of options for restaurants. Their food court is found way up on the 7th floor.
While you are at the mall, we recommend checking out a supermarket. Both malls have very large international grocery stores, which means you can buy items from around the globe. When we visit a new place, we like to check out local grocery stores. For a good example of a local grocery store, we recommend walking across Ratchadamri Road from CentralWorld to visit Big C Supercenter Ratchadamri. This will give you a taste of local Thai grocery stores. We feel checking out a grocery store gives you the best picture of the place you are visiting and is a valuable experience. To learn other tips on how to best visit a place and get the most out of it read our post on steps to plan you off the beaten path trip.
Afternoon
The afternoon can be very hot in Bangkok, but hopefully after cooling down in the mall and the grocery store, you are ready for another adventure.
If you are visiting on a weekend, we highly recommend the experience of visiting Chatachuk Weekend Market. Take the BTS skytrain – Sukhumvit line from Siam Station north to Mo Chit BTS. The market is right next to the Mo Chit BTS skytrain stop, you can’t miss it!
You can spend many hours there, but we recommend with kids only staying two. The busyness of the market can tire children out quickly. You can find fresh fruit shakes (a Thai staple!) around the market. If your children continue to be too hot, you can work your way to the back of the market where you will find JJ Market, the mall version of Chatachuk Weekend Market, with stalls, fast food restaurants, and air condition.
Alternate Afternoon Option
If it is not a weekend day, we recommend going into the Green Lung of Bangkok, a little bit of jungle in the middle of the city. You can get a Grab taxi to two different spots along the river Wat Khlong Toei Nok Pier or Wat Bang Na Nok Pier. Both of these piers will take you to a ferry crossing the Chao Phraya River. Once across, you can find bike rentals on the other side and you can bike around the Green Lung area on elevated sidewalks (away from roads and cars!). I personally recommend traveling to Wat Bang Na Nok Pier as I would cross and then bike to the Bangkok Tree House for a snack at their cafe.
*Family tip – Be aware that the biking takes place on elevated walkways without railings on both sides. You need to be able to trust your children to bike carefully, or you may want to bike alongside them to prevent falling. Or you can also just walk along the paths through the green lung; it just takes longer. You will encounter locals using the elevated walkways with their motorcycles, because there are personal houses directly connected to the Green Lung walkways, but they are careful and respectful of bikers and people walking.
Dinner / Evening
After you have returned your bike and ferried back across the Chao Phraya River, it’s time to find a place for dinner and an evening activity.
We love the train market found on the Eastern side of the city off Srinakarin road called Talat Rot Fai (literally translated ‘train market’). This bustling night market is located next to Suan Luang Rama 9 BTS station on the yellow line. Follow the crowds behind Seacon Square mall to the main area of the market.
*Family tip: This area is known for pickpockets so watch your stuff closely! The extra vigilance does wear me out with watching the kids and my purse, so if your family is low energy by this point in the day, I recommend staying only a short time or skipping this section of the itinerary.
At the train market, there is a large area of food stalls. You can grab Thai snacks and make a meal out of them or sit down for a larger meal.
Wow! This was a full day visiting Bangkok! From the train market you can take a Grab back downtown to your hotel on Sukhumvit or use the BTS Skytrain from Suan Luang Rama 9 BTS station.
Keep in mind that you can pick and choose from this. We want to give you as full an experience as possible in you only have one day in Bangkok. A couple other posts to help you out while you are researching how to visit Bangkok – here we recommend three cultural icons for kids to look for in Bangkok; here is a list of attractions specifically for kids and listed based off your budget; here is our post all about food tips for keeping your kids happy while traveling around Thailand, because lets be real and admit that sometimes kids can be picky when it comes to delicious food! Have a great trip!