Lop Buri is an underrated destination. Only 150km from Bangkok, it offers Khmer-and Ayutthaya-style architecture in a small town environment. In terms of shopping or food, there’s not much to facebook home about, but it’s a fun overnight destination nonetheless. Here’s why: rather than visit old stones in a serene historical park, Lop Buri’s ruins are sprinkled around the city center. So you can stay and visit the whole town within walking distance of the train station—no sweaty bicycle rides, no haggling with tuk-tuks and plenty of town life to observe.

The Trip

Trains leave from Hua Lamphong (02-222-0175, 02-621-8701, www.railyway.co.th) at 7:05am and 8:30am (third class only; from US$2) and take 2.5 hours. Or you can take a bus from the Northern Bus Terminal for US$3.
If you’re going by car, you’ll get there much faster, and we suggest you use the extra time to make an extended pit-stop in Ayutthaya, which is on the way.
Noon: Leave Bangkok
12:45pm: Lunch by the river in Ayutthaya
2-4pm: Visit Ayutthaya’s Grand Palace and perhaps a couple nearby sites like Wat Phra Ram, Rachaburana and Mahathat (all within walking distance of each other).
4pm: Depart for Lop Buri.
6pm: You’re in Lop Buri. Check in, go grab some street food by the train station: you can visit the city tomorrow!

The Bed

The Lop Buri hotels you’ll find on internet reservation websites are charging a couple thousand baht for tired furnishings and basic comforts. The cheaper hotels in downtown Lop Buri, which aren’t online, are all old and depressing. We did find one compromise, Noom Guesthouse (15-17 Phayakamjad Rd., 036-427693. www.noomguesthouse.com). It’s dirt cheap (US$11.50 for a non air-con bungalow—don’t go in April) without being dirty. In fact, it’s kind of cute with its wooden bungalows and petite garden. And despite being busy with young backpackers who drink beer on the porch and then get tattooed in the VW van/tattoo parlor parked outside, it’s nice and quiet in the rooms.

The Old Stones

There are two main periods that can be observed in Lop Buri: Khmer-style ruins such as the Phra Prang Sam Yot and Wat Phra Si Ratana Mahathat, and Ayutthaya-period ruins such as the French ambassador’s residence (Luang Luang Wichayen). Of that era, the highlight is probably King Narai’s palace because it was restored in the 19th century and as such is the only building to not be in a state of ruins. There’s a 4-for-3 ticket (US$1 for Thais, US$5 for foreigners) to see the main four sites but the fourth site is 4km out of town (Kraisorn Siharat throne hall). Everything else is within walking distance of the train station. Ask for the map when you get your tickets and just walk around.

The Monkeys

Lop Buri is famous for its Monkey Festival (last Sunday of November), when residents put out thousands of kilos of food for the hundreds of monkeys living on and around Phra Prang Sam Yot. The rest of the year, the long-tail macaques are just as present though. Don’t get too close to them. They’ll climb on you and start trying to steal your stuff. When you try to get your stuff back, they will bite you. If you get too aggressive fending them off, they can gang up on you! If this sounds horrific, it happened to us, but we got way too close and let a cute little one get on our back. Keep your distance. Shop keepers even keep pump action pellet guns at hand to shoo them away and it’s pretty funny seeing an auntie taking potshots at inquisitive young monkeys.