The Grand Palace

Home of Siam’s kings since 1782, the Grand Palace is Bangkok at its most dazzling: gilded spires, mirrored mosaics and the Emerald Buddha, the most revered image in Thailand. It is the one ticket in the city that everyone queues for, and it earns it.

• Wat Phra Kaew, the royal chapel holding the Emerald Buddha, carved from a single block of jade.
• The upper terrace, a golden chedi, a model of Angkor Wat and mosaic-clad pillars, all in one frame.
• The Ramakien murals, two kilometres of painted epic running around the compound’s cloister walls.
• Chakri Maha Prasat, the throne hall that puts a Thai roof on an Italianate palace.

Gates open at 8:30am; be there for opening and do Wat Phra Kaew first, ahead of the tour groups. Anyone outside telling you the palace is closed is running a scam. Walk past.

Take the Chao Phraya river boat to Tha Chang pier and walk five minutes. Cover knees and shoulders, or rent a wrap at the gate. Wat Pho and its Reclining Buddha are ten minutes south on foot.