A trip to Bangkok isn’t complete without visiting one of their many temples. You can easily spend a whole day exploring temples and other landmarks along the Chao Phraya River including the Grand Palace and Wat Arun.
Contents
Hours
Wat Arun is open every day from 8:30AM to 5:30PM.
Directions
There are several ways of getting to Wat Arun and the other temples along the river. You can read more on how we tried to use public transportation here.
Admission
Entrance to Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn, costs 100 baht ($3.15 USD).
You do not need to purchase tickets ahead of time. Just come in during business hours and purchase a ticket at this kiosk stand before entering.
As you can see in this picture, you are not allowed to fly any drones at the temple or outside of the temple.
TIP: this place is still a Buddhist temple so appropriately clothing is required or you will be turned away. If you forgot to wear appropriately clothing, you will be able to purchase clothes next to the kiosk as pictured above.
The clothes that are not allowed are tank tops and shorts for women. Feel free to stop by as well if you would like to get into the feels.
Wat Arun
After you purchase your ticket, you will head over to the entrance and pass a security guard and walk through.
We didn’t spend too much time at all at this temple because we were already exhausted from the crowd at the Grand Palace and the heat. It is super hot late December 2018.
At the entrance of Wat Arun, you’ll be able to get a couple decent photos as it is slightly less crowded than the Grand Palace. You will have room to be the only person in the photo without waiting too long.
One of the things that made this temple stand out is that it is super white! You can even see it from the river if you use the ferry. During our ferry ride, they mentioned that Wat Arun used to be where the Emerald Buddha resided until it was transported and housed at the Grand Palace after some time.
It is also very steep. You are able to walk up the steps to some of the higher ledges of the temple to get a higher view, but it really feels like you are climbing up as they are that steep that you would want to crawl instead for safety purposes. That might be an exaggeration, but proceed with caution. There isn’t any bars for you to hold as you descend and ascend. You can try to use the temple itself for a safety hold.
Hopefully you allocate enough time and energy to explore all that Wat Arun has to offer!
