Bangkok with Kids: Our 3-Day Bangkok Itinerary for First-Time Visitors

Wondering whether or not you should visit Bangkok with kids? In this post, we’re sharing all the reasons why you should!

After flying in from Canada, we started off our two-week Thailand family vacation with this 3-day Bangkok itinerary. We weren’t sure how our daughter was going to like this big, bustling city, but turns out it was more kid-friendly than we expected and she loved it!

In this post, we’ll cover the best things to do in Bangkok with kids, how to get around Bangkok with kids, and where to stay in Bangkok with kids. Let’s go!

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Bangkok with Kids: What You Need To Know

Table of Contents

Is Bangkok safe and worth visiting with kids?

When people ask us about our trip to Bangkok and I tell them how kid-friendly it was, they always seem surprised. Bangkok seems to have a bad reputation as a party city with lots of congestion, and most people head straight to the beach towns instead.

However, there were so many fun things to do in Bangkok with kids – it blew us away! From massive indoor playgrounds and themed cafes to kids clubs in hotels, Bangkok was like a giant playground for our daughter. It was definitely worth bringing her here to start off our trip.

The city felt very safe and we never felt at risk of being pickpocketed or getting sick. We ate all the street food with our daughter and had no issues. Public transportation made it so easy to get around as well.

And we can’t forget to mention the Thai people. They were all so kind with our daughter and truly seem to love kids. From hotel staff, to Grab drivers, even the monks walking in the streets – they all stopped and chatted with our daughter and made her feel so at ease. One kind motorcycle driver even blocked traffic for us when he saw us waiting to cross a busy street to ensure we could cross safely!

Is three days in Bangkok enough?

Yes, we found three days in Bangkok to be the perfect amount of time to get a good feel of what the city has to offer. In just three days, we got to:

Visit a local market
Explore famous temples
Enjoy a traditional Thai photoshoot
Take a day trip to Ayutthaya
Eat plenty of delicious street food
Shop at amazing malls
Visit a themed cafe
Play at one of the largest indoor playgrounds

Actually, we could have stayed there a week and not gotten bored, to be honest. Our daughter wanted to check out some more themed cafes and indoor playgrounds, and we wanted to visit more markets and eat more delicious Thai food.

However, with two or three days in Bangkok, you can definitely see enough of the highlights before moving on to your next destination.

Where to Stay in Bangkok with Kids

We’d recommend staying somewhere that is connected to public transportation so that you can easily get around Bangkok with kids and keep them out of the heat.

The majority of the hotels have pools, and some even have kids clubs, so you’re really spoiled for choice for places to stay with kids in Bangkok.

The hotel we stayed at was the Andaz One Bangkok and we highly recommend it!

Why Andaz One Bangkok Worked So Well for Our Family

Direct access to MRT
Direct access to One Bangkok mall
Walking distance to Lumphini Park
Free rollaway beds
Family-friendly staff

It’s so nice having direct access to the MRT when traveling with kids since it saves you from having to go outside in the heat and makes it so easy to get around the city. The fact that the hotel is also connected to the huge One Bangkok complex with a mall, food court (good for quick meals/snacks), and a huge indoor playground is another bonus.

One Bangkok Restaurants Din Tai Fung — Restaurant inside One Bangkok

Across the street is the massive Lumphini Park, which is a great place for kids to spot monitor lizards or enjoy a free swan boat rental on the pond.

We also appreciated that rollaway beds are provided free of charge, whereas many other hotels in Bangkok charge for them. The hotel staff were all so kind and love to interact with kids.

Check out our Andaz One Bangkok Review post for an in-depth review.

Other Family-Friendly Hotels in Bangkok

Two other kid-friendly hotels to consider, also coincedentally in the Lumphini Park area, are:

The Grande Centre Point Lumphini has an amazing Kids Club that is the highlight for many families. The hotel is also located across from the One Bangkok development.

The Sindhorn Midtown Hotel has its own HarborLand (a large indoor playground) on the ground floor, which is so convenient when kids are needing something fun to do out of the heat.

Both hotels are 5-star but priced below $200 USD/night.

Getting Around Bangkok with Kids

Grab

We primarily used Grab taxis to get around Bangkok with our daughter. If you’re not familiar with Grab, it’s Southeast Asia’s version of Uber. Honestly, we thought we’d mostly be using public transportation to get around, especially with Bangkok’s notorious traffic, but Grab ended up being the most convenient for us.

Taking a Grab taxi was a great way to take an air-conditioned break, especially when our daughter was too tired and hot to deal with the BTS/MRT. When we saw how affordable each Grab trip was, ie. 100 baht ($3 USD) for a 15-minute ride, we figured it was definitely worth it.

While car seats are not the norm in Thailand, and taxis are exempt from requiring children to be in one, you can opt to rent one from local company Tinytots or bring a travel booster seat, such as the mifold or BubbleBum.

BTS/MRT

The BTS skytrain and MRT subway have numerous lines with many convenient stops to reach the major tourist sites in Bangkok. Most importantly, they are air conditioned AND they bypass Bangkok’s terrible traffic.

Bangkok MRT with Kids — Our daughter navigating the MRT station

They can get crowded at times, which my daughter found a bit overwhelming, but when we rode it during off-peak times, she enjoyed it. People often gave up their seat so she could sit down.

If you’re visiting somewhere near a BTS or MRT station, it’s a quick and inexpensive way to get there with kids.

Tuk Tuk

When you think of getting around Bangkok, you probably picture the famous tuk tuks. They are indeed a novelty for kids and can be fun to take a quick ride on, but make sure you agree on a price beforehand.

Our daughter found them to be too loud so we skipped riding them.

River Boat

Another fun and unique way to get around Bangkok with kids is by river boat! There are many different routes and they are quite inexpensive. We had wanted to try riding one but didn’t get the chance, unfortunately.

Our 3-Day Bangkok Itinerary with Kids

We arrived in Bangkok after a long, but comfortable, overnight flight with Thai Airways. Our daughter actually celebrated her 7th birthday while on the plane so we were looking forward to continuing the celebration in Bangkok with some unique kid-friendly experiences.

This is the exact itinerary we followed during our three days in Bangkok before heading off to Phuket. It allowed us to settle in to the local timezone, enjoy family-friendly activities, and savour delicious Thai food. We hope this 3-day Bangkok itinerary inspires you and helps plan your Bangkok family trip!

Day 1: Arrival and Kid-Friendly Activities

Today is all about settling into Bangkok, adjusting to the new timezone, and getting the kids excited about being in Thailand with some fun kid-friendly activities!

Arrival at Suvarnabhumi or Don Mueang

The two main international airports in Bangkok are Suvarnabhumi (BKK) and Don Mueang (DMK). Most long-haul international flights arrive at Suvarnabhumi, which is where we landed at 6am after our overnight flight.

With our luggage in tow and a jetlagged child, we decided to take a Grab to our hotel rather than deal with public transportation.

Make sure to have data set up on your phone (we use and recommend Airalo!) and have the Grab app set up and ready to go. This way when you land, you can immediately order a Grab and go to the convenient Grab airport pick up spot.

At this time of day, traffic is not too bad so it’s worth paying for a Grab rather than public transportation. We only paid 409 THB ($12.50 USD) for the 48-minute ride to our hotel. The small extra cost is definitely worth the convenience.

Visit Lumphini Park

After dropping off our bags at the hotel and enjoying a coffee, we headed over to popular Lumphini Park. Just a quick walk across the road from the Andaz hotel, Lumphini Park is a welcome green escape in the middle of the city.

We recommend coming here early in the morning before the worst of the heat sets in. Thankfully there are trees offering some shady spots, as well as free public washrooms that even have flush toilets (just remember to bring your own toilet paper)!

There are nice walking paths, pretty gardens, playgrounds, outdoor gyms (Ryan was very intrigued by these!), food stalls, monitor lizards roaming by the pond, and free swan boats that you can rent.

Lumphini Park Monitor Lizard — Spotted our first monitor lizard

Tahani had lots of fun on the playground equipment, despite the heat. Unfortunately we were too early for the swan boats as they didn’t open until later in the day, but that is definitely something fun to do with kids.

Eat Lunch at the $2 Buffet

After walking across Lumphini Park, we were ready for some lunch (and a cold drink)!

I had learned about this very affordable street food buffet that was high up on my Bangkok bucketlist. It’s all you can eat Thai food for only 50 THB! Unbelievable. That’s only $1.50 USD for ALL YOU CAN EAT.

We asked for two plates, but the kind woman managing the stall gave Tahani her own bowl and spoon without charging us extra for it. Tahani was wary at first as she doesn’t like spicy food, but she saw the noodles and wanted to try them. She loved them and ended up eating a whole bowl!

Dining on the sidewalk was a fun experience, and mom and dad got their wish of eating delicious Thai food (for cheap)!

If you have an adventurous eater with you, this can be a great, inexpensive way to introduce kids to authentic Thai food.

Play at Mega HarborLand

After our al fresco lunch, we were feeling the intense Bangkok heat. It was time to get indoors, quick. We could have hopped on the MRT and rode it one stop back to One Bangkok, but our daughter wanted to order a Grab for immediate AC relief.

Now that we had some food in us and soaked up some sunshine, we were re-energized and ready for some fun! Our daughter was so excited to check out Mega HarborLand inside One Bangkok. It’s located on the 6th floor of the Parade mall and is massive!

You can find these indoor playgrounds across Bangkok, but this is one of Harborland’s biggest, and newest, locations. It’s great fun for all ages!

Inside you’ll find:

a foot-pedalled Sky Monorail
slides
climbing structures
pretend role-play town
toddler play zone
art zone
cafeteria
ball pits
interactive games
glow-in-the-dark shooting arena
…and so much more!

Entrance tickets buy you three hours of play, but it’s pretty easy to go over that!

We set ourselves a 3-hour timer and by the end of it, we hadn’t even checked out everything there was.

Our daughter (and us, to be honest) had a blast! We highly recommend this as one of the top things to do in Bangkok with kids.

Tips for HarborLand

Wear long sleeves – we didn’t and we all got friction burns on our elbows from the slides (I still have the scar from it months later..)
Water bottles are not allowed inside – leave them in the free lockers
No outside food is allowed – you can buy snacks, drinks and light bites inside and then pay upon exit

Ticket Cost

Babies 6 months and under: Free
Toddlers 65-80cm: 300 THB
Toddlers over 80cm/Kids/Teens: 690 THB
Adults 18+/Parents: 240 THB
Seniors 60+/Pregnant Women/Wheelchair Users: Free when purchasing one other admission ticket

Note: Kids under 10 years old must be accompanied by at least one parent or adult over 18. Kids 10-17 can play without adults but must be signed in and out by the parent (IDs/passports must be shown).

Dinner

After all that activity, you’ll be sure to have worked up an appetite. Stop in at the mall’s food court or one of the many restaurants throughout the mall for a quick and easy dinner with kids. We loved the food courts in Bangkok because we could find something to satisfy each of us: spicy Thai for Mom and Dad, and something less spicy and more familiar for our daughter.

However, today we decided to just head back down to our hotel as they offer a free daily happy hour for guests between 4-5pm.

After enjoying some snacks and drinks, we felt the jet lag creeping in. Still full from our buffet lunch, we decided to just call it a night.

Day 2: Markets, Temples and Local Food

After an early night and a good, restorative rest, it’s time for a full day of exploring! Today we’re starting our itinerary early to beat the Bangkok heat.

Visit Trok Mor Morning Market

Wake up before sunrise and head out to Trok Mor Morning Market. This is an authentic local market open only in the mornings from about 5am to 10am. You won’t see many tourists here.

Trok Mor Market with Kids in Bangkok — Arriving at Trok Mor Market

If you’re a foodie, you’ll be in for a treat. Just remember to bring cash – no cards accepted here.

We arrived at 6:15am and were surprised to see the market already bustling. By 7am, it was crowded and very hot. Make sure to bring cold drinks for the kids to keep them cool. We ended up buying some fresh watermelon juice for our daughter, which she enjoyed.

We got some traditional Thai milk tea and Thai coffee from a popular vendor – it was delicious! Make sure to give it a try. It was some of the best we tried in Thailand.

Trok Mor Market Thai Iced Tea — Delicious Thai Milk Tea and Coffee

It was hard to decide what to buy – everything looked so good. We tried to just go where we saw a lineup.

Our daughter enjoyed seeing the monks pass through and many of them stopped to chat with her.

Trok Mor Morning Market Monks — Monks passing through the market

Enjoy Famous Mango Sticky Rice

Everyone kept talking about how we must try mango sticky rice while in Thailand so we were excited to get our first taste of it this morning.

Just a couple blocks from Trok Mor Market is the Michelin Bib Gourmand-awarded shop, K. Panich, known for their amazing mango sticky rice. The shop is very famous so the wait can get quite long, but if you go when it opens at 7am, like we did, the wait won’t be bad.

There was no line when we arrived but our order of one mango sticky rice still took 15 minutes. It seemed they were making many orders for pick-up as well.

Note that there’s no seating here except for a few stools they put out along the sidewalk. So, be prepared to stand and eat or take your food elsewhere to enjoy.

We wished we had ordered three plates because it was SO GOOD. Even Tahani gobbled it up – she could have eaten a whole serving to herself! So, make sure to order a few instead of sharing 😉 It honestly was the best mango sticky rice we had in all of Thailand (and we ate mango sticky rice every day).

Hours

7am-5pm Monday-Saturday (closed Sunday)

Cost

130 THB

The price is higher than others but it’s well worth it!

Wat Arun Photoshoot

After that delicious sweet treat, take a Grab to Wat Arun. This is one of Bangkok’s most famous temples and a popular one for photoshoots. There are tons of shops just outside the gates that offer traditional Thai attire to rent at a very affordable price. Some even offer hair, makeup and a photographer as well.

While a number of shops do accept walk-ins, we recommend booking a timeslot at one of the more established shops, especially if you want your hair and makeup done.

We booked at Bangkok & Blush. They had a lot of good reviews and offered an early timeslot of 8am. This allowed us to have our photoshoot as early as possible before it got too hot at the temple. The shop also was nicely air conditioned, which you will appreciate while getting dressed! Some other shops on the street were just open-air.

Once we were all dressed, we met the photographer who was assigned to us and she walked us over to Wat Arun. She knew all the most photogenic spots to take us to and took hundreds of amazing photos of our family.

After the 1-hour photoshoot, you can choose to continue exploring the temple in costume if you wish.

If you’re looking to get some amazing family photos done at a very affordable price, this is one of the funnest things to do in Bangkok with kids. Your kids will feel like royalty. Just be sure to go as early as possible to avoid the worst of the heat!

War Arun Temple Ticket Price

Adult Foreigners: 200 THB ($6 USD) (“small” kids are free, we weren’t charged for our daughter)

Note that payment is cash only. A small bottle of water is provided at the ticket counter.

War Arun Temple Hours

8am-6pm (last entry 5:30pm) Daily

Enjoy a Local Lunch

Time to cool off over some delicious lunch. Catch a ferry from Wat Arun to Iconsiam Mall, just a 10 to 20-minute ride away.

Once at the gigantic Iconsiam Mall, make your way to the bottom floor where you’ll find the incredible Floating Market-inspired food hall! This is the perfect way to enjoy a ton of Thai streetfood-inspired dishes in one place. There’s sure to be something to please every member of the family here.

The floating market lunch at Iconsiam was on our itinerary but after our photoshoot, our daughter felt like taking an air-conditioned nap back at the hotel so we took an Uber back.

After a quick rest at our hotel, we rode the MRT one stop and headed back to the $2 buffet for lunch. It was just so good (and cheap!) that we had to go back a second time.

Visit the Unicorn Cafe

Take a Grab to the Unicorn Cafe. This magical unicorn-themed cafe is one of the best places to visit with young kids in Bangkok. If you have a unicorn-lover, you’ve got to come here.

Kids will have a blast wearing unicorn onesies, eating rainbow treats and taking photos with all the unicorn decor.

When anyone asks our daughter what her favourite thing to do in Thailand was, she says it was this place!

It’s a great place to visit when the kids are getting a bit tired and hot. The air conditioning and treats perked our daughter right up.

Unicorn Cafe Hours

12pm-8pm Tuesday to Saturday (closed Sundays)

Cool Off At The Pool

After a busy morning and afternoon, time to relax a bit by the pool!

Our daughter loved the rooftop infinity pool at the Andaz. It was the perfect spot to cool down and lounge after being out in the heat all day.

Eat at One of 22 Michelin-starred Stalls at Dusit Central Park Mall

Just one MRT stop away from the Andaz One Bangkok is Dusit Central Park Mall. This is one of the newest malls in Bangkok, having just opened in late 2025.

The biggest draw of this mall, in our opinion, is the amazing Parkside Market food court that offers an impressive TWENTY-TWO Michelin-starred stalls! Located on the very bottom floor (LG) of the mall, it is a dream for any food-lover looking to try many famous dishes in one place.

Having so much selection is ideal when traveling with a family in Bangkok as there are more than enough options to satisfy mom, dad, and the kids.

The mall is also home to Dusit Arun, a rooftop park which is a lovely place to enjoy a stroll after dinner.

Dusit Central Park Mall Hours

Mall: 10am-10pm Daily
Parkside Market: 8am-10pm Daily
Roof Park: 6am-10pm Daily

Day 3: Ayutthaya Day Trip

Today we’re heading outside of the city, and the journey there is part of the fun!

Enjoy an Early Breakfast

Begin the day with a traditional Thai breakfast at Kope Hya Tai Kee located inside the One Bangkok mall.

They offer a huge variety of traditional Thai-style coffees and teas, as well as a large selection of breakfast dishes.

I had the Green Curry with Roti and it was one of my favourite dishes I ate in all of Thailand!

Tahani had the roti with condensed milk and absolutely loved it.

Ryan loved his Pad Kra Pao with fluffy fried egg on top of rice.

Kope Hya Tai Kee Hours

7am-10pm Daily

Train Ride to Ayutthaya

After breakfast, take the MRT to Hua Lamphong station, just three stops from One Bangkok.

This historic train station is a destination in itself. It’s fun taking kids somewhere that feels like they are stepping back into time.

From here, buy a ticket for the commuter train to Ayutthaya. Note that these are not the fancy tourist trains. They don’t have AC, just fans, and there’s no assigned seating. But it’s a fun choo-choo train experience, as our daughter liked to call it! And it only costs 15 THB/adult ($0.50 USD) and 8 THB/child ($0.25 USD)!

Make sure to buy an iced drink at the station before you depart – you will want it to keep you cool for the ride.

At each stop, vendors jump onboard and sell all kinds of snacks, dishes, and drinks. They actually looked incredibly delicious! I would have bought something if I had smaller bills on me.

The train moves very slowly, so expect the journey to take about 1.5 to 2 hours. It’s definitely an authentic local experience and one you won’t forget.

If not having AC is a deal-breaker for your family, catch one of the trains from the new Krung Thep Aphiwat station as some of those offer AC. However, the ticket cost is more than 10x the price (but still cheap by Western standards).

Luggage Tip

If you are checking out of your hotel before your Ayutthaya day trip, use a luggage delivery service! There’s a few different companies in Bangkok that offer luggage pick up and drop off between your hotel and the airport. It’s very inexpensive and totally worth it!

We used Airportels and all we had to do was leave the luggage with the front desk of the hotel by 11am. Airportels then picked up the luggage and it was ready for pick up at Don Mueang airport (where we were flying out of the next day) by 6pm. Super easy and convenient!

Have the Famous Boat Noodles for Lunch

After your train journey, head to Pa Lek Boat Noodles, the famous Michelin Guide-recommended restaurant. From the train station, you can either catch an air-conditioned Grab taxi, or take the 5-minute boat ride across and catch a tuk-tuk.

The restaurant offers a simple menu of six different types of noodles with two different types of meat, and a small selection of cold drinks. Each bowl is only 20 THB so you might as well try them all!

That’s what we did and our daughter had fun sampling all the different kinds. If you ask her what her favourite thing she ate in Thailand was, she would say these noodles!

This is a great family-friendly spot for a quick and inexpensive meal. Service was so fast!

Note that it is cash only and there’s no bathroom on site.

Pa Lek Boat Noodle Hours

8am-5pm Thursday to Tuesday (closed Wednesdays)

Explore Wat Mahathat Temple and Ruins

Right across from Pa Lek Boat Noodle is Wat Mahathat, a Buddhist temple with ruins where you will find the famous Buddha head wrapped between tree roots.

Just outside the entrance is a clean public bathroom, an air conditioned cafe and some souvenir stalls. It’s a good place to stop and cool down between lunch and exploring the ruins.

The entrance fee is only 80 THB (about $2.50 USD), payable by cash only. It’s not a huge site so expect to spend no more than one hour there with kids.

Bike or Tuk-Tuk Tour

If your family is up for exploring more of Ayutthaya, it’s best to rent bikes or accept an offer of a tuk-tuk tour as the ruins are quite spread out.

There are many bike rentals and tuk tuks around the entrance to Wat Mahathat. Our daughter was tired and content with just exploring Wat Mahathat so we didn’t end up exploring the rest of the sites.

Spend the Night at a Homestay

We had researched staying at a homestay in Ayutthaya as it looked like such a fun local experience. However our flight was departing from Don Mueang early in the morning so we weren’t able to make it work.

The homestay we were going to book was T&N Home as they offer family rooms at an affordable price right in the center of town. There’s a pool, on-site Thai restaurant, and bike rentals as well.

If you can fit it into your itinerary, a homestay would be a unique thing to do with kids.

Budget for 3 Days in Bangkok with Kids

Accommodation	$677
Transportation	$65
Food	$100
Attractions	$161
TOTAL in USD	$1003

This is exactly how much we spent for the above itinerary. Of course, you could do it much cheaper by staying at a less expensive hotel and strictly taking public transportation.

Accommodation was our biggest expense as we stayed two nights at the Andaz ($299 x 2) and one night at the Amari Don Muang Airport Hotel ($79).

What to pack for Bangkok with Kids

Here are all the items we found very useful for our daughter during our trip (with links to the exact items we used):

Foldable umbrella for shade
Microfiber towel for sweat
Mini Electric fan (our daughter’s #1 must-have)
Kids Yeti insulated waterbottle
Lightweight kids cardigan (for cold AC indoors!)
Kids Sunglasses
Quick dry sunhat
Kids SPF 50 Sunscreen
Tissues (for public bathrooms as there’s often no toilet paper)
Crossbody Belt Bag
Pocket Hand sanitizer
Longsleeve Rash Guard for the pool
Quick dry shorts
Pedialyte Electrolyte Powder packets

Wat Mahathat Temple with Kids — The umbrella came in handy

What to wear in Bangkok

Wear breathable fabrics, such as linen, light cotton and quick dry polyester blends as you will be sweating a lot.

One Bangkok Shops — Light cardigan for indoor AC

However, it can surprisingly get quite cold indoors with the AC, so make sure to always carry a cardigan or scarf with you. This can also double as a coverup at temples where you need to cover your shoulders.

Thailand Digital Arrival Card

Make sure to bring your pre-filled Thailand Digital Arrival Card! This must be filled out online at least three days before arrival in Thailand.

Pack a paper copy in your carry-on and have it ready to show immigration officers upon arrival at the airport. We saw people in line ahead of us who were frantically trying to fill it out but the officers turned them away. They wouldn’t allow them to stand there while filling it out and had to go to the back of the line.

This is the official link to the Thailand Digital Arrival Card. All passengers arriving in Thailand must fill this out, but there are no fees to pay.

Tips for Visiting Bangkok with Kids

Get them excited for the trip with this Kids Thailand Activity Book!
Ask them what they would like to see. There’s probably a themed cafe to match their interests!
Plan for more breaks than expected. Heat can be very tiring.
Teach them how to say “I don’t want chilis”: “mai ao prik”
Teach them how to say hello and thank you in Thai

Final Thoughts on Visiting Bangkok with Kids

Thailand has long been on our bucketlist but we weren’t so sure about visiting Bangkok with a child. We worried it would be too chaotic and dirty, but it ended up being so kid-friendly! Our daughter (and us!) already want to go back.

We highly recommend visiting Bangkok with kids. There are so many fun things for them to do, the locals absolutely adore kids and are so great with them, and everything is just so inexpensive! Spending three days in Bangkok with kids is definitely worth it.

3 Days in Bangkok with Kids Itinerary Map

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