dtremit

Wondering if anyone has recent experience with any of the many private tour guides offering trips to Ayutthaya? We are interested in booking a tour for our upcoming trip, and most of the opinions I can find are from 4+ years ago. The only exception was a recommendation for Tours with Tong, and it sounds like that may be a slower booking process than we have time for on this trip.

Has anyone booked an Ayutthaya tour recently that they've enjoyed?

We would prefer a private tour, as we have fairly limited time, and I have some minor mobility issues that we'd appreciate guidance working around.

Thanks in advance for everyone's advice.

JFSV

Not sure if it helps but we did Ayutthaya last week - I found a 'taxi company' online which charged us 3000baht from our BKK hotel to Ayutthaya. It was a decent car (a toyota camry) with a good driver with tour badge (he did not have to pay to enter into the various monuments). Although he did not give any proper tour per se, he also wandered around the various places with us, often taking pictures for us or pointing us out to what is to see.

We did everything on our own relatively quickly - I think the pick up was at 8am and by noon or 12.30 we had seen everything. We did 5 or 6 stops and skipped the elephant trekking camp.

I think this company may have accessible cars and 'proper tours' - I can send you the details if helpful?

Cheers
J

dtremit

JFSV -- that would be helpful, thanks!

AndrewAC

You don't need to pay for the entrance fee right now. The Historical Parks and National Museums are all free until the end of Jan 2017 to commemorate the Thai King's passing

If you are reasonably fit and can stand the heat, one of the best ways to experience Ayutthaya is by bicycle. Just take a train from Hua Lamphong station to Ayuthayya or a minibus from Victory Monument BTS station. Bicycle rental is pretty easy to find at either terminal in Ayuthayya.

If you don't want to bike, just negotiate with a taxi driver. He should do it for like 2000 baht a day or less. Otherwise, you can book tours with Klook travel or Hotels2Siam websites. Compare the prices quoted by the driver to the ones from the websites and just take the cheapest. Note that the entrance fees are FREE, so don't let them charge you more for it. Elephant rides are also available in the historical park near Wat Mahatat. They are wearing the red cloaks. Great photo opp

JFSV

Hi Andrew,

Re fees, I had read that too but I did not find that myself when I was in BKK last week. For example, we had to pay 500baht each to go see the Grand Palace.

Re Ayutthaya, we only had to pay in two of the sites, 20baht each. In the rest there was no fee payable. I was also confused as I was expecting a uniform approach to this ie. Either all payable or none.

Re taxi fare to Ayutthaya, I was quoted 3500baht by a couple of 'taxi companies' so when I found one for 3000 I was happy but again perhaps there are better deals out there.

transpac

The entrance fee waiver program runs through the end of January, 2017 and covers "Historical Parks" and "National Museums". The Grand Palace does not fall into either of those categories. Ayutthaya Historical Park, but not all sites in Ayutthaya, is covered.

This link has about the best list I could find on a brief search...

http://www.thailandee.com/blog/en/in...ree-januray-31

Oldtiger

FYI - For about the last two months all provincial mini vans have been banned from picking up passengers around Victory Monument in the center of Bangkok. You now have to go to one of the main Bus Terminus which is extra hassle. One of the many juntas rulings to 'clean up' Bangkok .

As an alternative suggestion to taking a taxi and then hoping that the driver knows where he's going and can speak some reasonable English, I would consider taking a day "boat trip' to Ayutthaya. There are a number of options and most will collect you from your hotel. You can either go there by coach and return by boat or visa versa. They will take you to the main sites in Ayutthaya, provide guides and lunch.

Down side is that its more expensive than hiring a taxi or going by mini bus or train (about 2,000 Baht per person). My wife and I did this trip last year (rather than driving there and back) and it was really great and hassle free ^^^.

Do a Goggle search "Boat trip Bangkok to Ayutthaya" for a list of operators who offer this service.

Hope you have a great time.

drron

We have had several tours over the years with a guide called Gift.Our Ayutthaya tour was ~ 4 years ago but on TA she is still getting good reviews.
https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attra...s-Bangkok.html

And her website-
http://privatetourthailand.com/

AndrewAC

The Grand Palace is not administered by the Fine Arts department so it does not fall under the category of National Museum or Historical Park. The famous ones that offer free entrance are Ayuthayya, Sukhothia, Bangkok National Museum, and the Royal Barges Museum. There are probably more as well.

There are actually alot of fake ticket sellers at these parks. I have lived in Thailand for 5 years and speak Thai so they don't bother me, but I would suggest watching what the locals do and following them. If they ignore a "ticket seller" you should do the same.