Bangkok: Private Ayutthaya and Bang Pa-In Summer Palace Tour

Excellent tour and history lesson

An excellent way to learn a bit about the history of Thailand and Siam and the first capital city. The tour was excellent with a knowledgeable tour guide and fantastic driver.

Top notch!

Jill was a fantastic guide sharing so much insight into Thai history and culture! She was so accommodating with the sweltering 106 degree heat. Do not miss this adventure!

A great tour with lots of additional information

After an average tour the previous day with a different guide and company, Jill, our guide for this tour was excellent. She provided us with much more of the background information I had wanted. Additionally she gave excellent descriptions on the tours themselves. I definitely felt by the end that I knew the story of these sites. The vans A/C was good but not great and given the hot weather this mattered but we managed ok. Overall a great day.

No complaints - 👍

Jill is a knowledgeable enthusiastic guide, ensuring a good, enriching experience. We enjoyed our day very much.

A great excursion from Bangkok

We had a marvelous guide, Ay. He was very knowledgeable about the temples and the summer palace and did a great job guiding us through the sites. The trip was very interesting.it was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, so if you can, go when it’s cooler, but our guide provided plenty of water.

Best way to experience the highlights of Ayutthaya

This was an amazing tour to see the highlights to the north of Bangkok! Anna Ninnate Polpicharn was a very funny, experienced and helpful guide. Together with the driver, she picked us up at our hotel in downtown Bangkok. After a trip of about an hour in a private and comfortable minivan, we arrived in Ayutthaya where we visited the Thai royal family’s summer palace gardens, the sitting Buddha temple complex where our guide explained the various rituals and customs to us, and some of the most beautiful temple ruins of the old town. Highly recommended!

Amazing history with a great guide

Amazing experience and Andy, our guide, was a true entertainer, offering us excellent insights into the history, culture and spirituality of the places we have visited in a theatrical and passionate way. We truly enjoyed this trip and highly recommend it!

Majestic

Great tour. We were able to see three main temples. Many more to see but enough time for three. We also saw the winter palace which is very different from the rest of Thailand. Our tour guide was informative and would take all our pics. Left at nine and got back to room at around five. Lunch was included.

Must See / Highly Recommended

It was a pleasure experiencing a fantastic tour of Ayuthaya, and I must say it exceeded all my expectations. The driver and guide provided exceptional service, making the entire journey truly memorable.

Great Experience

Extremely knowledgeable tour guide and breathtaking sites. I learned so much about Thai history- just great stories and tidbits about the sites and the arc of the Ayutthaya empire.

Memorable

The temples were absolutely stunning. What a wonderful tour! Nimmant (Anna) was such an amazing tour guide! Her & our driver made it such an easy & efficient day.

Great temple tour !

My guide Linda and the driver Pepsi !Linda explained the history of all sites we visited!Both were pleasant and friendly.We had a nice lunch break .Enjoyed authentic Thai food.Only wish I had taken a photo of Linda and myself.

An amazing experience!

Tim was our tourguide and she was amazing! We got picked up promptly on time and drove about an hour to the Summer Palace. Make sure you wear the appropriate clothes to go there. It was beautiful and she gave us a lot of information about the history. After that we continued on to some of the Temples and ruins in Ayutthaya. All of them were amazing and we didn't have to do anything, Tim took care of everything. Then we went to lunch at a local restaurant, my wife is gluten and soy free (difficult in many Asian countries) and Tim helped us out and coordinated with the staff to make sure we had a delicious meal that was ok for my wife to eat. Then we went to the last couple locations within Ayutthaya. All of them were amazing to see and amazing to hear her explain the history. She is also an amazing cell phone photographer, all of our pictures turned out amazing. Some of the best photos from our week long trip to Thailand. Highly recommend if you are looking for a private experience!

Great tour and even better tour guide

We had an amazing tour! Thanks to Jill and her driver (whose name I've sadly forgotten). We were taken care of from the moment we left the hotel. Jill knew everything and had answers to all the question we had. She’s such a sweet and knowledgeable person. Going to the sights with someone who can explain the history like Jill is amazing and I would recommend this tour to everyone wanting to know more about the the temples and the history of Thailand. Thank you from us and hope we see you again soon

Superb trip

Our guide Andy and our driver were very attentive and looked after us in the very hot and humid conditions. Andy was very informative and happy to answer our questions. The palace area was beautiful, dotted with lovely buildings showing the influence of the European and Asian countries the King had visited while still retaining Thai values. The Temple complexes were grand in scale and despite their ruined state retained a sense of awe. A wonderful trip. Thanks Andy!

Highly Recommend

Jill my tour guide was excellent and could go at my own pace. Highly recommend for anyone who wants to learn the history of Thailand.

Respect for an ancient city

The tour guide was so accommodating considering that the heat was almost unbearable. She went out of her way to make sure that I saw everything on the itinerary while keeping me as comfortable as possible. She provided insightful information on the history of Thailand's and you could clearly tell that she was passionate about her heritage. All in all, it was a wonderful tour.

Ayutthaya with Jill was #1

What a great tour! Jill was our guide and she was absolutely wonderful. So kind and knowledgeable. We learned so much history while on this tour. She was very attentive and was able to read social cues. The lunch spot was so good! Definitely recommend the shrimp and chicken pineapple fried rice. We were picked up from our hotel at 8:30am and dropped off by 3:00pm. We stopped at the stops and were relieved it didn’t take 8-9 hours since it was so hot and humid. Absolutely enjoyed our day on this tour with Jill. Thank you so much!

Enjoyable and easygoing historical and cultural tour to the ancient capital of Siam

Our guide and driver promptly picked up our group at our hotel. The van was comfortable for the 1 hour drive to Ayutthaya. We stopped at the Summer Palace and 3 temple sites. The pace was easy going as it was a hot day. The guide spoke English very well and described the sites and their history. She answered all our questions and was most pleasant. We ate lunch at a local Thai restaurant and she helped us select local dishes and beverages - all very tasty. The group enjoyed all the sites. We had an easy ride back to the city with a drop off at our hotel. The guide taught us a lot about Thai culture and history, besides the info about the sites. We enjoyed just talking to her about life in Thailand. Very good experience overall and highly recommended.

Beautiful and Interesting!

Maha our guide was excellent..Not only was his English very good, he was very, very knowledgeable about Ayutthaya and the Summer palace. We traveled with an 80 year old couple ..Renting golf carts for the summer palace a God send..Reduced the amount of walking necessary. Lunch was delicious and served in a local restaurant. The van, while clean and air conditioned, was very loose and rattled at all times..Ourdriver was helpful and drove with his foot in it at all times...hence the rattles! I'd book with this company again as their communication was excellent as was the itinerary.. Thanks to Maha, a very enjoyable trip..

Fun day in old capital of thailand

Wonderful, knowledgeable, humorous and friendly guide. Spoke English very well and easy to understand

Wonderful trip

The Bang Pa-In Summer Palace is really beautiful, glad that we saw it first, otherwise might have been too tired to enjoy it at the end. The Ayutthaya temples are impressive. Noy was a very good guide and was really helpful with showing the best places for photos.

Astounding temple and ruin day trip

This was a wonderful trip. Our guide was knowledgeable and pleasant. He made sure to give us detailed explanations of what we were seeing and answered all my questions. The Buddha’s head in the tree was memorable but everything else was just as (if not more) spectacular!! Make sure to eat in the morning though as you’ll be out there for quite a while. Bring clothes that cover you up to enter the temples and to protect yourself against the beating sun… oh and a hat!!

Ayutthaya

Our guide Noi was excellent!! Phenomenal tour all around!! From pickup to dropoff we had an amazing time!!

Private Ayutthaya Trip

Our tour guide Jill was very knowledgeable, she was patient in explaining many land marks on the way, she was very thorough at all the sites we visited and helpful throughout the trip. The drive was also nice and smooth.

Rushed through amazing sites and tour ended way to early

We felt rushed through places that carry a lot of history. The reason to book a private tour is to get more insight, more background and more in depth knowledge than if you would do it on your own - at least that is what we doused to get from past similar trips. On this tour however, we felt rushed through historic places, were directed to take pictures and our guide seemed surprised (and sometimes annoyed) if we wanted to explore a bit more. He often directed us to walk somewhere alone and he would wait for us in the shade. Maybe he had a bad day or is used to a different type of traveler. Also this was supposed to be a full day tour. Pick Up was at 9am and we got dropped of at pir hotel again close to just 3pm. Of it weren’t for us requesting „one more temple“ our guide would have returned even earlier to „avoid traffic“. It’s not a good sign when you have the urge to google the places you have just been to because you didn’t get enough historical context… The sites are beautiful and amazing though - I just hope you get a better guide or he has a better day…

My wife and I took a tour...

My wife and I took a tour with our own driver and tour guide. It was well worth the cost as we spent a lot of time at the sites and wasted very little time in between. In addition, we were picked up at 9am in our hotel lobby (very nice we could enjoy breakfast and apply sunscreen) and dropped back off at 1630 with plenty of time to prepare for dinner. We could hear the information well and ask as many questions as we wanted. Having a separate driver allowed the tour guide to provide information while the van was driven. Our guide, Rand, spoke very good English and had all kinds of info to share! He took several excellent photos of my wife and I. We were provided several bottles of water and an excellent lunch. We were offered the option to order several dishes for lunch, but were satisfied with one for each of us. Our tour guide walked leisurely while talking. We did not feel rushed at all. He also gave us our own time to explore and to take as long as we wanted. It was a hot day, even though we went during Thailand's winter season. Having an air conditioned van was a nice luxury to help cool off. What an excellent way to see such beautiful sites!

A day in Ayutthaya

Just my wife and I on this trip . The driver was very good and the van was reasonably comfortable , cool and very clean. Our guide was Noy. Noy was lovely and had a nice sense of humour. Her English was good but she was very quietly spoken and we had a bit of difficulty taking in everything she told us. We were regularly given cold water bottles on what was a hot day and we were given a say in what we had for the Thai lunch was very good. We saw lots of interesting sights and learned a good understanding of Ayutthaya although perhaps one less temple/ruin and maybe a short boat ride around part of the island or something different to all the temples would have added a bit of variety.

Ancient Capital City of Ayuthya: A Wonderful History Lesson, and a Charming Summer Palace

It was a private tour with only my wife and I. Our tour guide, Sirilak (short for Sri Lakshmi, and shortened further to Lucky), was very friendly, knowledgeable, and understanding. After an hour’s driver, we arrived in Ayuthya, the ancient capital of Siam. Our visit was on Jan. 22, 2024, the same day when the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, India, was being dedicated, so what a great coincidence that we got to visit the Thai Ayodhya the same day! Our first stop was the Summer Palace where we enjoyed the sights of the beautiful buildings and palace grounds. Then we visited various ruins of several temples, saw some large Buddha statues and many statues of Buddha which were decapitated by thieves. Finally, we got to see the giant Sleeping Buddha of Ayuthya. Taking into account our diet restrictions (including mild spiciness), our tour guide organized a delicious lunch at a local eatery: Tom aka Gai soup (chicken with coconut milk), all kinds of veggies in a stir fry, and chicken with cashew nuts. Overall, a very wonderful experience.

Good way to explore Ayutthaya.

Neru and Same were very good guides. They took us all over and were very patient as we took many, many pictures. They even added in a few other stops along the way to round out our experience. Definitely worth the time and money.

Excellent experience

Excellent tour, the sights are breathtaking. Our guide E was so much fun and incredibly knowledgeable, he made our day perfect. I truly recommend this tour to anyone seeking a fun day of sightseeing, souvenir shopping and lively conversation. The private transportation is very convenient for honeymooners wanting to avoid the crowds in favor of a more romantic experience. Cold water and refreshing towels are provided and much appreciated throughout the day as the weather gets quite hot during the afternoon. Overall excellent experience.

Ayutthaya

Private Tour of Ayutthaya and Summer Palace. Tour guide was very informative and very helpful. Helped us understand history of Thailand.

Best private tour in Ayutthaya

We had a wonderful day exploring Ayutthaya with our engaging guide Lucky. She shared the history of Ayutthaya and Bangkok and we loved visiting the ruins and learning about the history of the various sites. It was fun seeing the summer palace as well. She also took us to a really delicious lunch spot and the food was awesome! She also ensured we had plenty of water. We 10/10 recommend this private tour because you can go at your own pace and ask all of the questions you want to. What a fun day!

A very informative tour

The tour was very informative about the history of the city. We did the private full day tour and our guide was very good about our itenerary and keeping us ahead of most of the crowds. Excellent way to absorb some of the history of Thailand

Great educational tour

Great guide and driver, very professional and extremely knowledgeable. Lucky was great and we learned so much about Thai history from her. Highly recommend to do this and see where Thailand came from.

A good tour to cover the basics

Good tour - got a chance to see all the main temples in Ayutthaya that you would expect, and the summer palace was great. Traffic was reasonably light so we were ahead of schedule and asked if we could see one more temple, and our tour guide agreed, which was great. Some of the information shared was a bit repetitive, but it was nice to have the information and context to go with the temples.

Wonderful Tour

Tai and our driver were fabulous. My family and I had all the time we needed at each location. It was hot and humid and the water and cool wipes really was appreciated. Not to mention lunch at a Michelin rated place. Delicious! The highlight meal of our Bangkok trip. Thank you Tai! It was a memorable holiday…our brief Thailand interlude.

Worth the time and money

Our private transfer was on time and provided special accommodation to pick us up away from typical hotels. The tour guide Taim was extremely knowledgeable and her English was very good. I feel like I learned a lot about Thailand’s history from her. We stopped and toured several historical spots. She was very nice and took several photos of us which we really appreciated. I would recommend this tour for small groups or couples. It is fast paced, but it’s so hot you really are ok with getting in and out of the heat with haste. We were provided with a nice lunch. We got beer which we had to pay for on our own, which is understandable, no problem. Overall we had a good time and saw many beautiful things, the service was friendly and comfortable. Would recommend to friends and family.

It’s a long day but worth the effort

Plan for a very long day especially when trying to get back into Bangkok in the evening traffic. On Sunday it took us about 14 hours in total for the tour. That said it was a very good tour and very doable from Bangkok if you have limited time and can’t spend a day or two in the Kanchanaburi area. You’ll visit all the major WWII sights here and you can’t help but be in awe of those who somehow managed to endure this horrific suffering in unspeakable conditions. You’ll read many reports and see photos and other descriptions of what took place here and how 10s of thousands died at the hands of Japanese soldiers during the construction of the Burma railroad. The train ride adds little to the experience for some but does allow you to travel along a section of the actual tracks/passes laid by the POWs and perhaps feel closer to those who suffered here. On our train ride we struck a truck which abruptly ended our ride as the guide arranged for our driver who was to meet us later to drove to the wreck site and pick us up while officials cleared the track/train and removed the driver from the wreckage. Hope they survived but do not know for sure other than they were alive when we last heard. All in all I would recommend this tour and am glad we did it.

Simply Perfect Day Thanks

Everything worked perfectly. I Organised to be picked up at Port tour by operator Amazing Asia Tours (extra charge but not excessive; so happy) who were on the ball and kept in touch prior to pick up. Guide Mr A was great, very informative and full of enthusiasm. Long day but worth it to get around all the sights. Lunch was provided in a local Hotel which again was excellent.

Enthralling day!

Lucky and our driver (forgive me, can't remember his name) were terrific! Caring, informed and excellent all around! Thanks so much!

Highly recommended!

This is an excellent side trip from Bangkok if time permits. Our private guide Lucky was prompt, pleasant, and informative. The Summer Palace and grounds were wonderful, and the temples and ruins we visited in Ayutthaya were just amazing. The tour is in a luxury van and they provide drinks, cold towels and a lovely local Thai lunch. I am very glad I booked this excursion.

Great tour of historic sites

Wonderful step back into time and Thailand's history. Andy was a knowledgeable tour guide and our driver, Wat, was very pleasant.

Great tour guide and tour!

Great tour, tour guide was amazing! Great food (you’ll get full!) Took us to some beautiful locations and let us take as long as we wanted. thank you 😊

Great Private Experience!

Noi was a great tour guide! She was very knowledgeable and always watched for our needs, ensuring we did not get dehydrated (it was really hot) and making sure we were cared for at lunch. She personalized the tour for us since it was private and we go through pretty quick when we visit places. She also knew the best places to take pictures and bought us delicious Thai snacks (roti)! The sites are beautiful, must see!

Ayutthaya Kingdom precursor of modern Thailand

The two most memorable parts of this tour: 1. The understanding of the Ayutthaya Kingdom which is the precursor of the modern Thailand. 2. My tour guide Mr A gave me a basic understanding & connection of Buddhism religion.

Must Do your for those interested in Thai history

All around a wonderful experience. Highly recommend this tour for anyone interested in the history of Thailand and the surrounding countries. Our guide was very friendly and warm with the Thai smile, knowledgeable and accommodating. She knew all the great highlights to see and good vantage points for excellent photos.

Ayutthaya, displays the the Thai past.

About an hour outside Bangkok. Ayutthaya is a must. It’s hard to comprehend the size of the historic city and the magnificent ruins. Once the capital city it abounds in history. Well worth the experience.

Amazing Historical place

Beautiful Historical place. Must visit destinations. Our Tour guide was very friendly, knowledgeable and extremely patient. She and the Van driver were polite and respectful. 5 star service. The lunch buffet was yummy. Thanks

Fascinating day

This was a fascinating trip to see two sites away from Bangkok. The Summer Palace was beautiful and the old capital ruins amazing. It was quite a long day and could be hard work on a very hot day. If anything the second site at the old capital could be missed out. Pet was a very good guide - thank you for making our day so enjoyable. Our driver kept us supplied with cold water and face towels which was good.