Lopburi
A thousand-year-old town where Khmer prasats and a French-influenced royal palace share the streets with hundreds of resident macaques, an easy day trip or overnight two hours north of Bangkok.
Day Trip or Overnight?
Lopburi is one of the easiest escapes from Bangkok: a direct train drops you in the old town, and the main sights sit within walking distance of each other. It makes a very doable day trip, though a night lets you catch the ruins at golden hour and pair it with the sunflower fields or Ayutthaya.
Distance from Bangkok
Pairs naturally with Ayutthaya on the same rail line, an easy two-stop history run north of Bangkok.
Two eras in one town
Khmer prasats, a 17th-century palace and old Thai temples cluster in a compact, strollable old town.
A town run by macaques
Hundreds of crab-eating macaques hold court around the old town, especially at Phra Prang Sam Yot. Charming, and cheeky.
No car needed
A direct train and walkable sights make Lopburi one of the simplest independent day trips from Bangkok.
A Day in Lopburi
A walkable old-town loop you can do off the morning train: the monkey temple, the Khmer ruins, and King Narai’s palace, with a choice of the palace-era sights. Swap the order to taste.
The macaques are bold and organized. Carry nothing loose (sunglasses, phones, snacks, drink bottles), keep bags zipped and in front of you, and do not carry food through the old town. They are wild animals; do not feed or provoke them, and back away calmly if surrounded.
Into the Old Town
Take the morning train up from Bangkok and step straight into the old town. Drop bags and start on foot, before the midday heat and the boldest monkeys.
Phra Prang Sam Yot
The three-towered Khmer prasat that is Lopburi’s icon, and the monkeys’ headquarters. Watch your sunglasses and bags; the macaques are quick.
Wat Phra Sri Rattana Mahathat
A serene complex of Khmer and Ayutthaya-era ruins beside the station, a soaring central prang and rows of headless Buddhas. Quieter than the monkey temple.
A slice of the palace era
Both tell the story of King Narai’s 17th-century capital and its surprising French ties. Pick one, or do both if you are staying over.
Eat & Head Back
A coffee or an early dinner in the old-town lanes, then the train home, or stay over to add the sunflower fields or Ayutthaya tomorrow.
Make It a Night
A night turns a rushed day into a relaxed one and opens up the sights just outside town:
Sunflower season
In the cool months the fields around Pa Sak Jolasid Dam bloom bright yellow. An overnight lets you catch them on a morning drive out of town.
Pair with Ayutthaya
Lopburi sits one line north of Ayutthaya, so many travelers string the two together into a two-stop history trip from Bangkok.
About the Monkeys
Lopburi’s crab-eating macaques are the town’s mascot and its menace. Hundreds live around the old town and the prasats, and there is even a yearly “Monkey Buffet” festival laid on for them. They are wild, clever and organized, so treat them with respect and a little caution.
See our Animal Encounters guide for how to handle Thailand’s macaques the right way.
Lopburi is a Khmer capital, a royal palace and a monkey town, stacked on the same few blocks.
Off the Beaten Path
Most day-trippers see the monkey temple and leave. With a car or an extra day, the countryside around Lopburi adds sunflower fields, a hilltop footprint shrine and one of Thailand’s odder railway-market towns.
Official & Useful Sources
Opening hours, ticket prices and train times change, so confirm with the official sources before you travel.
More First-Timer Guides
Written by Belle, a Thai American who travels to Thailand every other year and has family in Bangkok. Everything here comes from my own visits unless the text says otherwise. Prices and journey times are typical cases rather than quotes, so recheck anything time-sensitive before you pay. Brand mentions are never paid placements, and the guide is reader-supported: some links may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
How we research →Photographs on this page that are not mine are used under the licenses below and hosted on this site rather than hotlinked. Uncredited photographs are my own.
- Macaques on the Khmer prasat towers in central LopburiSupercarwaar, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source
- Lopburi railway station / old townSuikotei, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source
- Phra Prang Sam Yot monkey templeDominic Nelson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source
- Wat Phra Sri Rattana Mahathat ruinsDdalbiez, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source
- King Narai Palace / Phra Narai RatchaniwetMr.Peerapong Prasutr, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source
- Baan Wichayen (Constantine Phaulkon residence)Mr.Peerapong Prasutr, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source
- Wide shot: Prang Sam Yot with macaques on the stoneworkAdam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source
- Pa Sak Jolasid Dam / sunflowersDon Ramey Logan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source
- Lopburi sunflower fieldAhoerstemeier, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source
- Wat Phra Phutthabat footprint shrineYakuzakorat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source
- Wat San Paolo observatory ruinViseua, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source
- Ayutthaya temple ruinsPatricia Young, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. View source