★★★Must-see·Temple
Wat Arun
วัดอรุณ
The porcelain-studded prang of dawn on the west bank.
The Temple of Dawn, its central prang studded with broken Chinese porcelain that catches first and last light like scales. Climb the steep lower terraces for the river view, then cross back at sunset to watch it glow from the opposite bank — the classic Bangkok postcard, earned honestly. The cross-river ferry from Tha Tien costs a few baht and takes two minutes.
Don Ramey Logan CC BY-SA 3.0 · Diego Delso CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized · tap to enlarge
Visiting
- Open
- daily
- Entry
- ฿200Foreigners; Thais free; cash at the gate. Covers the grounds and the climbable lower terraces of the central prang
- Dress
- Shoulders and knees covered
- Allow
- 45 min–1 h
No official opening hours published — check on the day.
Checked 10 Oct 2026 against openstreetmap.org, commons.wikimedia.org, bangkokpost-xkgxtn.cdn.byteark.com, thestandard.co. Things change: closures for royal ceremonies and holidays are common.
By train
- Itsaraphap (MRT BL32) · Exit 2 — Exit 2, turn left along Itsaraphap Rd, then right into Wang Doem Rd, about 1 km (MRT). In OSM the Itsaraphap entrances have no ref tags.
Exits from metro.bemplc.co.th, th.wikipedia.org · checked Oct 2026
Visiting a temple
- Shoulders and knees covered, for everyone. Sarongs are usually available at the gate, sometimes for a small deposit.
- Shoes come off before you step into an ordination hall — watch what everyone else is doing at the threshold.
- Most compounds open early, around 08:00, and close by 17:00–18:00; the major ones charge foreign visitors a small entry fee.
- Early morning is cooler, quieter and far better light than midday.
Check current entry fee and today's closing time when you arrive — we have no verified official site for this one.
Getting there
- Wat Arun pier·Cross-river ferries~2 min walk
- Wat Arun pier·Chao Phraya Tourist Boat~2 min walk
- Santa Cruz Church pier·Cross-river ferries~8 min walk
- Itsaraphap·MRT Blue Line~12 min walk
Typical times, not a timetable · rail, boat and BRT routing runs right in the atlas.
While you're here
- Ton Son Mosque·Mosque~7 min walk
- Wat Kalayanamit·Temple~8 min walk
- Wat Hong Rattanaram·Royal temple~8 min walk
- Kian Un Keng Shrine·Chinese shrine~9 min walk
The neighbourhood
Wat Arun sits in Wat Arun & Bangkok Yai — The temple of dawn's parish.