Ok, so if you’re adverse to sea travel, like me, then you may find this post useful. Even if you don’t get “seasick” you may want to consider this route and make Wat Arun your first stop of the day if you plan on visiting the Grand Palace and or Wat Pho since the ferry straight across the river will only cost you $4 Baht. However, I make that recommendation with mixed feelings having already visited Wat Pho (HERE’s the link to that post) and the Grand Palace (HERE’s the link to that post). I’ll post my trip to Wat Arun shortly. If you’re interested in taking public transport to Wat Pho / Grand Palace, I’ve posted about it HERE and HERE.
On with the directions. The final train station that you will need to get to is Itsaraphap MRT station (dark blue line) so if you’re already on the blue line or your closest train station is an MRT station, you won’t have to change train lines. If you’re on the light green line, which is the Sukhumvit BTS line, you will need to alight at ASOK station and make your way (roughly a 5 min walk) to Sukhumvit MRT station. When you get off the train, look for the blue signage and get to EXIT 3. Then look for the blue signs that point the way to Sukhumvit Station. The first sign you’ll see points to a stair case leading down (it’s outdoors) to Sukhumvit Station but if you walk past that sign you’ll notice there’s a second blue, Sukhumvit MRT sign and that one leads to the down escalators (which is indoors). Both converge at the escalators heading down to the MRT trains. Here’s some pics to help you out:
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Once you get down to the ticketing area, you’ll need to buy the train token. The ride cost me $37 Baht each way. I suppose if you have the MRT version of the BTS Rabbit card, you can use that instead. Anyways, tap your token on the gray part of the gantry below the lcd panel. Head down the escalators and check the signage to make sure you’re getting on the correct train, Itsaraphap MRT station should be around 9 stops away.
Alight at Itsaraphap MRT station and take EXIT 1 if you plan to walk to Wat Arun. Once you get onto the street, and if you’re facing the street, go right. By that I mean walk in the direction opposite traffic, see photo below. If you plan on taking transport then you should take EXIT 2 because traffic flows towards Wat Arun on that side of the street. I walked so I don’t know how long transport will take or how much it will cost. Walking to Wat Arun took me about 20 minutes which included me stopping to look at food and buying a drink. Here’s some pics:
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When you see the overhead pedestrian bridge, you need turn right at the T-junction just after it.
Then continue straight until you reach the traffic lights. You’ll have to cross the street still going straight. This intersection does not have pedestrian signals so be careful when you cross. I waited for 2 cycles of lights before I realized there’s no pedestrian lights and I only noticed because the locals just crossed when they could.
After you cross the street you’ll see the Navy base, just follow the road as it curves left and becomes a one way street. Looking down the street you’ll find shops on the left and people/vehicles turning into a lane on the right.
The taxi coming out onto the street in the photo below is where you need to go, so turn in there and walk down the lane and at the end you’ll find the back entrance of Wat Arun. This lane is narrow and vehicles use it too, so be careful.
The photo below shows the back entrance to Wat Arun and just inside the entrance on the right is the ticket booth where you’ll pay the $50 Baht entrance fee. There’s also a security guard there that checks that your attire is proper, if not, there is a booth to the right under the green umbrella’s (just visible in the photo below) where you can get what you need to enter.
Enjoy your time at Wat Arun ! ! !
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