5 Days in Bangkok: Shopping, Food, Bars

As the last stop in our Thailand trip, we stayed in Bangkok for 5 days. This travel post will go beyond the main temples and show you some of the vibey restaurants, bars, and shopping available in this mega city. If you like to explore the local scene, this is the Bangkok travel guide to read!

Trip Time: November 2024
Trip Type: Couples Trip
Budget: $1,200 CAD

Where to stay in bangkok

It’s super important to stay near a subway station so we stayed at Sindhorn Midtown as it’s close to both Chit Lom (Sukhumvit Line) and Ratchadamri (Silom line) station. I love the modern design of the hotel and the location was great with a 7/11 just outside the door. The best part is their rooftop pool which has amazing views!

BOOK THIS HOTEL

Day 1: Arrive in Bangkok + Khao San/Rambutturi Road

We arrived in the afternoon from Phuket and took the Bangkok Airport Rail Link to the city! It was a very smooth ride but beware that lots of subway station exits do not have elevators, so you’ll have to carry your suitcase up and down stairs! For our first night, my partner really wanted to see Khao San road. It’s not a tourist destination that I’d recommend BUT if it’s your first time in Bangkok, it is really iconic and worthwhile to walk down to feel the energy. (Skip to day 3 if you are not interested in the main tourist attractions).

On our way to Khao San Road, we went to Pad Thai Fai Ta Lu and it was THE BEST pad thai of the whole Thailand trip! I was a bit apprehensive as I find Michelin recommended spots overrated sometimes. But the smoked meat on top was amazing and the pad thai itself was so flavorful. We went around 6pm and there was no line up at all!

Khao San Road is a chaotic street market experience. There are small pubs on both sides of the sidewalk with many vendors in the middle selling souvenirs and food. We did not stop at any but if you’re hungry, Myth is a very highly rated vendor. You’ll find a more vibey street called Soi Rambuttri and we had a delicious dinner at Olive Kitchen with fusion pizza and Nam Tok (grilled pork salad)

Day 2: Temples + Food Tour

Day 2 is the classic tourist day in Bangkok and we hit up all the main temples in old town! We also really wanted to do a food tour during our 5 days in Bangkok and had an amazing time exploring Yoawarat in the evening.

Start your day at Kor Panich for a mango sticky rice that’ll blow your mind. We had many mango sticky rice during our 2 week Thailand trip but this was definitely the best. We got here around 8am and there was no line up.

#1 Grand Palace

This is the top tourist attraction in Bangkok and the temple complex will leave you in awe with it’s grand, royal, and lavish exteriors. I wish I had a guide as we can only admire the appearance but not understand the historic significance. I especially loved the silk painting on the walls around the edges of the complex, the level of detail was astounding. Plan for 1-2 hours. Entrance fee ~$20 CAD (which I thought was a bit steep for Thailand)

#2 Wat Pho

A short walk away from Grand Palace is Wat Pho, where the lying Buddha is. The lying Buddha will only take you about 15 minutes to see but make sure to spend some time to explore the rest of the grounds. There’s actually more signage at this complex compared to Grand Palace to explain what the structures are. I really enjoyed my time here. Entrance fee ~$12 CAD

#3 Wat Arun

Wat Arun is a short ride across the river from the Tha Tien ferry station. You’ll get such a beautiful view while on the quick ferry ride. This seems to be the temple where a lot of girls got dressed up and took photos in traditional outfits. I thought the tile work at Wat Arun was really beautiful and it was definitely worth taking the ferry to see this. Entrance fee ~$8 CAD.

Places to Eat near the Grand Palace

Tana: We went here for lunch and 100% recommend! Such a flavor bomb
In Coffee: Got an iced latte which was perfect for the hot weather
Make Me Mango: It’s a really cute interior so best suited if you’re looking to take photos in an aesthetic cafe
A few other options that we didn’t eat at: The SIXTH, Rongros, Pad Thai Kratong

After a dip in our hotel pool to cool off and get changed. We headed back out for a food tour in Yaowarat (Chinatown). We did the food tour with the top rated Chef’s Tour and it did not disappoint. I have a whole blog post with my detailed thoughts so definitely go check it out. You get an amazing value on this tour as we tried 19 different items! You also get way more than just a bite so you’ll be absolutely stuffed!

Day 3: Shopping + World’s Best Bar

It’s finally shopping time! Bangkok is well known for the numerous malls around the city. As a tourist, you can’t hit them all but I did a lot of research for you! If you’re actually looking to shop for affordable fashion, start with Siam Square and Centralworld. If you want to just stroll around and look at beautiful malls, head to ICONSiam.

Best Places to Shop for Affordable Fashion in Bangkok?

Here are the stores I bought things at:

Other fun stores to browse:

After all the shopping, I worked up an appetite, and here are some of the top bars and restaurants in Bangkok.

What are the best bars in Bangkok?

I am working my way through the World’s Best 50 Bars list and luckily there are many award winning bars in Bangkok. We decided to visit Mahaniyom Bar as I loved the concept of their “resourceful” menu. Each of their drinks is based on one ingredient and will use that ingredient in many ways. Ex. Cow includes milk, cheese, and butter as part of the cocktail!

Other cocktail bars to check out:

Bar Us
Vesper
Sugarray, You’ve been Poisioned

After a drink at Mahaniyom, we had dinner at Charmgang. The restaurant choices are endless in Bangkok and with just a few meals, we had to make our choices carefully! I couldn’t quite justify the prices of the restaurants on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list (mostly ~$250 CAD per person for food only), but we did use Michelin’s Bib Gourmand to help narrow our choices.

There was a smoked pork jowl salad at Charmgang that still lives rent free in my head! We also ordered two of their curries and they were so bomb! I really loved the eclectic decor and the vibe was very much a locals hot spot.

Day 4: Thonglor + Night Market

We love visiting hipster neighborhoods when we travel and our research showed us that Thonglor is the hot spot! It was a big day of eating starting off with another mango sticky rice at Mae Varee. It wasn’t as good as Kor Panich but still delicious.

Bangkok has a great coffee scene and there are tons of options in Thonglor. We sat down for a morning coffee at Rise and enjoyed their specialty selections. A popular spot in Thonglor is called the Commons. It’s a really cute design forward space that combines restaurants and community events. I’d recommend coming here in the afternoon/evening as most shops were closed when we went at 10am.

We were really nostalgic for Japan and went to load up on snacks at Donki. In retrospect, we should have bought more Thai snacks but Donki is available if you want it!

Here’s how to eat the Tik Tok famous Crab omlette from Here Hai with no line up! Our best tip is to get take out and eat it at the Donki mall. You can skip the line and walk inside to order take out! The ambiance of the restaurant is not that great anyways and you’ll get to eat the delicious food much faster. We went at 11am and the lines to eat inside were already over 1 hour long!

Bangkok Night Markets

If you have 5 days in Bangkok, you’ll likely want to visit a night market! The most famous night markets in Bangkok is Chatuchak but we decided to stay closer to city center and visit Jodd Fairs. It’s easily accessible from MRT station and the perfect size. We already had dinner so we just got some smoothies but there were lots of snack options!

DAY 5: THAI MASSAGE + ROOFTOP BAR

Even though we had 5 days in Bangkok, it still felt so busy that I only managed to squeeze in a Thai massage on the last day! There are too many vendors to choose, but a general guideline is to pick one that is rated 4.5 and above, with a modern decor. I went to Nikko Thai at Siam Square as I was doing more shopping 🙂

Thai massage is usually the cheapest as the massage is done in a big communal room separated by curtains. If you’re looking for the traditional Western style massage, those are called oil massages and are usually double the price. Expect to spend about $20 CAD for one hour of Thai massage and $40 CAD for one hour of oil massage.

An iconic Bangkok moment is sunset on a rooftop bar. I had actually tried to go on both day 3 and 4 but because of traffic jams and timing logistics, I couldn’t make it happen. On our last day, we had a drink at Anju which is the rooftop bar of our hotel. See below for some other rooftop bar options!

So there you have it!! We had the best time ending our Thailand trip with 5 days in Bangkok. I hope this guide inspires you spend a little longer in this city so you can try all the amazing restaurants, shop the mega malls, and enjoy the views on one of many rooftop bars. Let me know in the comments what you’d be most excited to do!