Wat Arun & Bangkok Yai

วัดอรุณ — The temple of dawn's parish

Wat Arun and the quiet temples and canals of the west bank, a few baht by ferry from Wat Pho.

Stay under Wat Arun and the city's most photographed silhouette is your corner shrine. The Wang Doem lanes behind it hold wooden houses, longtail piers and riverside cafés that face Wat Pho across the water for the price of a coffee. Khlong Bangkok Yai curls through the district carrying monks, mail and tourists in equal measure. It is small, sacred and slow — old Thonburi at its most photogenic.

Don't miss

• ๑Wat ArunTemple

  The porcelain-studded prang of dawn — climb it early.

• ๒Khlong Bangkok YaiExperience

  Longtail loop past stilt houses and lazy monitor lizards.

• ๓Wat KalayanamitTemple

  Riverside giant Buddha and Bangkok's largest bronze bell.