Which one to choose in Bangkok
Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) vs Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha)
Two temples in Bangkok. Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) has 46 tickets and tours to book; Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) has 45 tickets and tours to book. The table and the two notes below put them side by side; the full pages have what to see, the ticket and the timing for each.
Bangkok, Thailand
Wat Arun stands on the Thonburi bank of the Chao Phraya, opposite Wat Pho, and most people simply take the cross-river ferry from Tha Tien pier and buy a ticket at the gate. Thai nationals enter free; foreign visitors pay a small fee. No advance booking is needed, which makes the independent visit the obvious choice if you only want to see the temple itself.
Organised options fall into a few groups. The commonest are half-day or full-day guided walks around the old city that include the Grand Palace and Wat Pho and end with the ferry to Wat Arun; check whether the entry tickets are part of the price.
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Bangkok, Thailand
Wat Phra Kaew stands inside the walls of the Grand Palace, so there is no separate ticket: one Grand Palace ticket, bought at the official counter inside the main gate or online, covers the temple, the palace courtyards and the small museums in the grounds. The ticket on its own is the cheapest option and works well if you are happy to read the signs and rent an audio guide at the entrance.
Most of the tours sold online combine the palace with the two other great temples of the old city, Wat Pho with its Reclining Buddha and Wat Arun across the river, usually on foot with a short ferry crossing.
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