Home > Bangkok > Backwaters of Bangkok Longtail Boat Cruise with Optional Temples Tour
USD $35.00
Backwaters of Bangkok Longtail Boat Cruise with Optional Temples Tour
Bangkok, Thailand
Get a feel for traditional life in Bangkok away from the high-rise urban area during a longtail boat tour of the city's 'khlongs' (small canals). You'll travel with a guide who shares the history of Bangkok, from its days as a sleepy town on stilts to the hyper-modern city of today. Along the canals, visit hard-to-access sites like a temple, a unique art gallery and an orchid farm. You can choose to extend your day with an optional guided tour of the Grand Palace and Wat Pho. This tour is limited to 15 people for a small-group experience.
Backwaters of Bangkok Tour (4 hours): After meeting your guide in the morning in central Bangkok, head to a nearby pier to board your longtail boat. Then take off along the Chao Phraya River and admire views of skyscrapers, hotels and riverside homes before turning into the khlongs.
Gliding through the narrow canals, observe daily life on the water as you pass by simple wooden houses flagged by clothes drying in the sun, a khlong-style convenience store, perhaps some water birds and, if you’re lucky, maybe a sunbathing lizard. Your first stop is Wat Khun Chan temple, where your guide points out the contrast between the modern temples on one side of the khlong and the older homes perched on wooden stilts on the other side.
Continue to the Artist's House (Baan Silapin), a beautifully restored old home on the canal that a local artist renovated, in part to preserve the traditional structure and in part to open a gallery and art center. Walk around the house to enjoy the paintings, sculptures, architecture and tranquil atmosphere. In the garden, your guide points out an old stupa, a relic that's thought to date back at least 250 years to the Ayutthaya period.
Next, move on to an orchid farm where your guide discusses the prized flower, and then make a stop where you can feed sacred catfish that suddenly appear in the water around the boat. Enjoy a last glimpse of the khlongs before returning to the Chao Phraya River where your tour ends.
Backwaters of Bangkok and Temples Tour (7 hours): If you're interested in Bangkok's must-see temples, this guided afternoon tour makes it easier to navigate the large and sometimes confusing complexes. You'll also gain insight into the history and significance of these important landmarks from your guide's informative commentary.
After the canals tour described above, continue with your guide to a riverside restaurant for lunch. Then head to the Grand Palace, a large walled complex that was a royal residence for 150 years and continues to be used for ceremonial occasions. Your guide shares the colorful history of the palace as you walk around the grounds, home ornately decorated buildings and temples, including the most revered temple in Thailand, Wat Phra Kaew, where the venerable Emerald Buddha (Phra Kaew Morakot) statue is located.
Continue next door to Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha), the oldest temple in Bangkok. Known to have more Buddha statues than any other Bangkok temple, Wat Pho's main attraction is an immense gold Buddha sculpture in a reclining position. Measuring 151 feet long (46m) and 49 feet high (15m), the statue features large feet adorned with inlaid mother-of-pearl. Wat Pho is also known for its school of traditional Thai massage, founded in 1962.
Your tour ends at Wat Pho; you may want to continue on your own to nearby Wat Arun (the Temple of Dawn) or Chinatown.
Probably a better experience than hiring a longtail boat yourself. The guide did not have a loudspeaker he said it was broken. So only the people seated directly in foot of and behind him could hear what he was saying. Nothing was going on at the Artist House when we stopped there, but it was interesting to see. The orchid farm was pretty lame. But we encountered a vendor on the water selling amazing friend bananas and potatoes that were fantastic. Tour was kind of long for sitting on that hard plank boat seat.
Review by: kei man c, January 2018
poor experience and the price was a bit higher with only 3 dishes to try . the tour guide had tried his best but his english is not clear to be understood, nothing learnt from this tour... wont recommend...
Review by: Isobel b, August 2017
I really enjoyed this tour. It was well organised, and the guide was informative, helpful and friendly. The peaceful and calm backwaters were a far cry from the noise of Bangkok. We visited temples, an orchid farm and an artists village. This was a high point of my trip.
Review by: Malti S, January 2017
Good tour but would have preferred more time to walk around
Review by: daniel c, January 2017
We are really not totally enthused about this particular tour. While we were told to meet 15 minutes prior to the start time of 9 am, the other people did not show up until 9:30 and therefore the tour was cut short.
Review by: Mark J, January 2017
Great way to see the klongs. Tour included yet another temple Monty Python anyone? an artisans village not much evidence of any actual artisaning a lovely orchid farm, and catfish feeding. Bought some lovely banana fritters from a lady with a open fire deep fryer on her boat - worth 20 baht for her courage. Tour narration a bit mundane, lots of description of what we were looking at we know - we can see it! but not much explanation of life on the klongs or their social / cultural history._br/_ The hard seats on the boat got really uncomfortable after a while.
Review by: James B, October 2016
The tour was well organized and provides an interesting picture of the cultural contrasts of the city. It is a great way to introduce the less famous but equally interesting side of the city.
Review by: Sandra T, August 2016
A great tour of the old Bangkok, we enjoyed it very much and our guide was very informative.
Review by: Bryce H, July 2016
Good trip away from the shops and traffic.Our guide was full of information about all of the buildings and temples beside the klongs.Relaxing and informative.
Review by: Niro S, April 2016
Touring by boat was awesome, temple tour by foot was draining due to the 42 degrees Celsius weather! Otherwise highly recommended. You will learn a lot about Thailand's history.
Review by: Ronald H, March 2016
We had a wonderful time! The trip was informative, interesting and lots of fun. It was a great way to see a different side of Bangkok. I
Review by: Cyndy, March 2016
We had a wonderful time! The trip was informative, interesting and lots of fun. It was a great way to see a different side of Bangkok. I
Review by: Mario M, October 2015
This tour was amazing. You can see area of Bangkok that usually only locals got through. Most of all, you can see how people used to and still live around the canals surrounding Bangkok. The boat stopped at a few locations: a temple, a small village including the famous Artist's House, and at a orchid farm. We also got the change to feed the cat fishes that abound in the canals. I would definitively recommend if you want to see the real Bangkok outside of the usual tourist attractions. Tip: since the trip is on a boat, make sure you bring a raincoat to cover form some occasional splashes.
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