Highlights & Hidden Gems With Locals: Best Of Bangkok Private Tour

What a fabulous tour I had with Saravanit. She made sure I had a wonderful time wandering around Bangkok while we chatted and she gave me her knowledge. We covered so much and she took her time and went over the 3 hours that were allocated to make sure that I had an enjoyable day. I learnt so much from her too. A great tour and a great tour guide. Thank you!

Zarut was incredibly flexible in accommodating our dietary and mobility restrictions, while also providing candid recommendations on how to avoid tourist traps, overcrowding, and inauthentic experiences. Highly recommend!

We took a a floating market and long tail boat ride tour with our guide Zarut. It was a day full of wonderful impressions and experiences. Zarot was incredibly flexible and accommodating to our wishes. He even adjusted the tour at short notice, despite the extra effort involved. The tour was very diverse and included market visits, tastings, the boat trip, a visit to an orchid farm, and much more. We all, adults and children alike, thoroughly enjoyed the day. Zarut's friendly, engaging, and humorous nature ensured that we felt comfortable at all times. Zarot explained many things to us and answered all our questions. We highly recommend the tour and the guide. Thank you so much, Zarut!

Our guide, Zarut was excellent. Very informative, very kind and friendly. It was very important to him that we felt taken care of. If you have anything specific you’d like to experience, Zarut accommodates.

Zarut is a smart and an exceptional guide. He truly elevated our experience with a great sense of humor, knowledge of locations and wisdom of how to navigate these crowded places. With excellent English, he guided us to and through many of the highlights of Bangkok, explaining what we were seeing and the cultural & historic background. He made the day interesting and fun with his caring & friendly personality. Spending the day with Zarut gave us the feeling of a long-time friend taking us to the Bangkok sights! We look forward to returning again to have Zarut guide us to more of Bangkok!

Zarut's Grand Palace and Reclining Buddha tours were fantastic for our young family. The history is amazing and Zarut knew all the key facts while also keeping things engaging for our 13yo and 8yo. Zarut had great tips for ice cream , lunch and shopping in between to keep us cool in the hot weather. The tour was great, but Zarut made it that much better! Highly recommend the Grand Palace and Reclining Buddha tour with Zarut!

Nok gave us a wonderful tour of Bangkok highlights including the 24 hour flower market, the Temple of Dawn, a tuk tuk and riverboat ride and more. She brought so much to us by sharing the city’s history as well as insights of Thai culture. I highly recommend this tour!

Fantastic tour with Zarut - he was very knowledgeable and really tailored his tour to suit our family of four including our four year old.. Highly recommended!

Book this tour! We spent several days touring Bangkok with Zarut at the beginning of a three-week trip to Thailand. It was our first time in Thailand and was an unforgettable way to start the trip! From when he picked us up at the airport to when we saw him again while passing through Bangkok on the final day of our trip, our time with him felt like we were exploring the city with a knowledgeable and incredibly kind friend, and not a tour guide. Zarut’s passion for sharing Thailand’s history and culture – from the temples and traditions to food and how to navigate the trains – was truly tireless! Even after we left Bangkok for other destinations within Thailand, he remained available for random questions, restaurant recommendations, etc… We would highly recommend a tour with Zarut to anyone visiting Thailand. He will also work with you before your arrival to build a custom itinerary based on the amount of time you have and your interests. This was a birthday celebration trip, and Zarut even arranged for an incredibly thoughtful and appreciated surprise in our room one evening. This isn’t a cookie-cutter tour with dozens of other people. It’s a small, personal tour with someone who has a genuine interest in making sure you have the most amazing trip possible! All total, we spent around 4 and a half days with Zarut. Here are some highlights from the places we visited together: Our first outing with Zarut in Bangkok was a food tour in Chinatown. It was a perfect introduction to the incredible variety of foods we would spend the next three weeks eating. Some of them were so tasty that it was genuinely exciting to come across them again later in our trip! We always had enough to eat and never felt rushed. Be sure to ask Zarut about the one-of-a-kind ice creams! Our first full day with Zarut started with a visit to Ayutthaya, the former capital of Thailand. This area turned out to be an interesting and engaging lesson in Thai history! We learned more from Zarut about the various temples and the different types of buildings there than we ever would have on our own. We ate an early lunch at a delicious noodle place around the corner from the temples. Be sure to ask questions and learn about the food! Zarut had a keen eye for knowing when to warn us about spicy dishes. That is arguably the most important skill any tour guide can have! After Ayutthaya was a stop at Wat Muang. This temple complex is noticeable from quite far away thanks to the absolutely massive Great Buddha statue. It’s a truly remarkable thing to see, both from afar and up close. Among the various temple buildings and gardens is the eerily vivid Garden of Hell. True to its name, it features dozens of statues arranged in graphic scenes depicting various punishments in the afterlife. I honestly don’t know how to further describe it, but if grotesque and impressive could ever be used to describe the same thing, it would be the Garden of Hell. On the way back to Bangkok we stopped off at a place on the river known for their giant river prawns. Zarut's restaurant recommendations were always excellent, and this one was no exception! Day two kicked off with a ride on the river and a visit to Wat Pho to see the Reclining Buddha. It was very crowded, but the enormous statue and the intricate artwork of the building surrounding it is quite a sight to see. From there we moved on to yet another delicious meal, then a relaxing trip by boat along Bangkok's canals. This was definitely a different way to see the city that we would not have thought of on our own. Spotting the giant monitor lizards while cruising through the canals made for some fun memories. Day three started early so we could drive out to the famous Maeklong Train Market. This market was as WILDLY unique as it was busy. The variety of sights and smells at Thai markets is already bewildering, and this one has the added bonus of a train running straight through it. Zarut gave us a fantastic recommendation; to walk through the market along the tracks to the train station at the end, then ride the train out and back through the market on the way out! Seeing the market while huddled along the tracks with everyone else inches away from a moving train is already seriously unique. Seeing those crowds from the inside of the train as you pass back through the market completes the experience. Next was a fun stop at a coconut farm to see (and sample) some of the delicious things they make with coconuts. Finally, we made a stop at the Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market. It was a welcome break from the crowds of many other places we visited, and was a fascinating glimpse into a way of life that feels somewhat threatened these days. And, just like everywhere else, the food was delicious, and Zarut made sure we didn't miss anything! On our final full day with Zarut we visited Lumpini Park and the Chatuchak Weekend market. The park, right in the middle of the immense hustle and bustle of Bangkok, is home to more of the huge monitor lizards that we saw a couple days before on the canal tour. Zarut’s lunch recommendation before visiting the market was the best of all the days we spent together! And the market...WOW! This feeling was quite familiar by this point in the trip, but this market was unlike anything we had ever experienced. The sheer size and variety of things sold here is mind-boggling. Admittedly, I was originally not super excited about this part of the tour because it was a very hot day at the end of a busy week. But, after a couple hours of wandering through the maze of shops, cafes, and massage parlors, I was really enjoying it. The awning covering the front of many of the tightly-packed stalls essentially created covered hallways in some places. Many of the booths were air conditioned, and the “halls” kept the cool air in and the sun out. Most importantly, this market wasn't just row after row of cheap tourist junk and knock-off luxury brands. It was a real spectacle to see something so massively huge and busy, but it was also a lot of fun. Zarut seemed to know exactly where to go and was eager to help us find anything we were looking for in the market. After this we said goodbye to Zarut but kept in touch over Whatsapp while spending the next two weeks seeing other places. As I noted above, Zarut was more than willing to help with anything we needed. Since we would be returning to Bangkok for one more day before flying home, we made arrangements to meet again for a tour of the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace was closed to the public when we visited Bangkok during the first week of our trip. Thankfully, it had opened back up by the time we passed through again. The crowds were intense and it was hot and humid, but it was quite a sight! The attention to every minute detail across such a large area is extraordinary. Every statue, painting, mural, sculpture, etc… has its own fascinating story among centuries of history and tradition. I probably don't need to mention this again, but I can truly say that our entire trip – Bangkok to Koh Samui to Chiang Mai/Rai – was better thanks to Zarut’s help. I can’t imagine doing this trip any other way! If you're on the fence about booking a trip with him, don't hesitate any longer! Book the trip and get to know Zarut. Your time not just in Bangkok but in all of Thailand will be better for it!

After spending time with Zarut for a tour of the temples, we quickly signed up for another! You feel like you’re handing out with a friend who has a wealth of knowledge. This tour was all about Chinatown, its history in Thailand and most importantly the food!! Come hungry as you will have several dishes and they are all delicious! Then we took a tuktuk ride to visit some sites and ended at the flower market. What a great experience and evening we had with Zarut!

It was a wonderful experience all the way! Nui, our guide, was gracious, kind, knowledgeable and planned a very interesting afternoon for us. She really went above and beyond! We highly recommend this tour and of course our guide, Nui!

Sammy was a wonderful guide. Excellent knowledge and very willing to share. He tailored the sightseeing and we covered the highlights in a short amount of time but it did not feel rushed. Definitely recommend.

Our guide, Artty, was fabulous!!! First off, he’s a fabulous photographer. Second, we were running 30 mins late and once we got there he promised he would make sure we would see everything, and not to worry. He stayed a half hour over to accommodate for our tardiness since he didn’t have anything booked for a couple hours. He was knowledgeable, spoke good English, funny, a good story teller and seemed to really enjoy his job:) I went with a group of 6 and we all loved him. Would recommend!

It was very interesting Enjoyable. Guild was perfect a lovely person. Showed me heaps of good things.

What an amazing tour! Andy, the tour guide was knowledgeable, fun to be around and took care of me when I started to feel overheated. His familiarity of the city and its history was astounding and I’m so glad that I took this tour!

We had a fantastic tour with Artty and can highly recommend him. He trained in the best Art College on the city and is a photographer so was the perfect choice for us. He did not bombard us with facts but kept us interested as we wove our way around a smaller temple, fabric and flower markets and across to Wat Arun. We travelled by boat, tuk-tuk and on foot and really felt we were truly seeing the Big Mango with an engaging, knowledgeable local person. We got so much more out of our time in Bangkok by opting for this tour with Artty. Thank you, Artty !

My husband and I had a wonderful few hours with Hnoi! She expertly lead us through beautiful sights, provided interesting information, and introduced us to delicious food. And she took great photos of us throughout that she shared at the end which was a really lovely gesture. She was flexible with where we wanted to go/ how long to spend at various places. Highly recommend!

The best way to understand another culture is doing this kind of tour. Feeding the turtles was amazing

Thoroughly enjoyed and hugely recommend our tour with Nui, who was lovely! Visited areas of Bangkok would never have seen without local knowledge. We’ll return home with great memories and photos!!

I booked a 3-hour walking trip of the highlights of Bangkok with Saravarint. She was an excellent companion, providing me with good instructions on how to reach the starting point using public transport and then leading me through a nice mix of places including markets (food markets, flower market) and the Wat Arun (temple of the dawn). Good company and excellent historical knowledge. Thank you

Tuangtip was a fantastic guide who made our day in Bangkok truly special! She took us to Wat Arun, the flower market, and several other incredible spots, ensuring we experienced both the beauty and charm of the city. Her warmth and attention to detail made the tour seamless and enjoyable. Tuangtip also helped us explore hidden gems we would have never found on our own. Highly recommend her for an unforgettable Bangkok experience!

Thank you Tuangtip for showing us around Bangkok was a great experience to walk around, hear stories about life in Bangkok, see the markets and Wat Arun and and and On our next visit to Bangkok - and we will come back - we will take a longer tour with Tuangtip Peter & Family

We had the best three hours with Tuangtip. She is so knowledgeable about her city and has a great sense of humor. We felt like we were visiting Bangkok with an old friend. It’s a day that we’ll never forget!

Just finished a fabulous walking tour around food flower markets and temples with our knowledgeable and friendly guide Hnoi . Hnoi was patient and very flexible and adapted to our needs . Would thoroughly recommend this tour

I loved my afternoon with Piyaporn. It was like visiting a good friend in their neighborhood. From the well traveled Arun Wat, through the many markets and trying local food, and finishing with a quiet & off the beaten track neighborhood tour, it all happened with a natural flow full of great information. There were so many things to see and talk about, all making this a very personal experience. Piyaporn was so easy to talk with and she brims with Thai history and lots of little known facts.

WOW ! Best idea ever to have a 3-4 hour tour with Tuangtip. We had an awesome time condensing a bunch of Bangkok highlights into a short time all made easy by Tai (Tuangtip) making things incredibly smooth and easy! She is such a lovely person, always smiling and helpful and ready for a giggle. It was a true highlight to spend time with her who answered our questions and explained all manner of things as we simply walked by and realised how much we could have missed out on if we were simply walking the streets by ourselves. When we started considering The "must sees" in Bangkok, we struggled to understand how to merge them together in a logical manner given how spread out over the city they are. Tai simply connected the dots either by us jumping with her on a local bus, using a tuk tuk, or walking through side streets as short cuts. She made plans up for us as we went seeing what interested us. We incorporated impressive temples, monks, flower markets, food markets, tried local vendors stalls food and even spontaneously invited to a stall owners own home to see her speciality being made by her mum. Tai negotiated and bought our purchases, sorted necessary transport and venue access tickets and paid for them etc. which was incredibly helpful. We had a magical time. I highly recommend anyone books with her for an experience that will be mot memorable for every possible great reason.

Great tour guide, saw many beautiful sights and even found great fruit, salak. We went to temples both touristy and empty, and great markets.

Our tour with Tony was truly enjoyable. He was friendly, funny, and well-informed. If there was something you were curious about, Tony had the answer. One thing that really impressed us was his excellent English skills, which were the clearest we encountered in Thailand. We requested to visit a temple not on the program and Tony was flexible and made it happen, even extending the tour to accommodate our wishes. After the tour, he accompanied us to a restaurant and patiently helped us with our order. We would definitely choose to tour with Tony again!

With only one day in Bangkok, we needed to find a tour that help us understand the capital city and Thai culture a little bit better. Akarin, our tour guide was the perfect fit. With him, we walked around Chinatown, Little India, the flower market and Wat Arun. Through his stories and anecdotes, we learned about Thailand, its cultural links to China and India, and the importance of Buddhism in Thai culture. We had a great immersive tour and a formidable introduction to Bangkok. Thank you, Akarin!

We booked Tony for our very first day in Bangkok and I am so glad we did. Tony gave us an amazing view into local Bangkok life and a fun overview of some Bangkok history! Tony was extremely accommodating and always was checking in on us and making sure we had a say in the things we did. He stopped many times to get us snacks and water. He helped us order some mango sticky rice that we were craving. Tony provided us with a lot of history in a really fun and engaging way. We had a lot of great laughs with Tony. He is very knowledgeable and kind. 3 hours felt like the perfect length of time especially given the heat. I would book Tony every time I am in Bangkok. 100% recommend, Thank you Tony!

The flower market was fantastic and so unexpected! And the temple decorated with broken China was spectacular. It was a holiday and many people were dressed in historical dress making it even nicer.

We arrived Bangkok at the end of Pandemic. Most of the places were closed but the guide was so happy we were there. He took us to the golden temple and helped us get our PCR tests from a local clinic so we can depart the following day. We enjoyed the tour as it wasn't busy.

This was a great easy walking tour. We went through the local flower Ang general markets. A great way to see a little bit of local life. Our guide Tuangtip (Tai) was very knowledgeable and exposed us to several local foods. This was an amazing 3 hour experience.

Bangkok can be a bit intimidating at first to foreigners with its endless skyscrapers, luxury malls and numerous temples it’s hard to know how best to tackle it. Answer- ask Artty! He took us out around his own neighbourhood for a nice relaxed and well- rounded tour we all enjoyed, 10 year old and 12 year old included. He gave us lots of information about Bangkok, Thai culture and history and showed us different types of architecture, pointing out interesting landmarks and little gems such as the best street food (rotis were delicious) rooftop bars, coffee shops and art galleries. We ended by visiting a temple with a great story attached- ask Artty, he tells it well…. Definitely book at beginning not end of your stay as you will want to revisit some of these spots. Highly recommend.

We had just one afternoon free to explore Bangkok and enjoyed a fantastic tour with Saravarint. She showed us a fun mix of local markets, delicious street food stops, and historic temples, which is exactly what we were hoping for. We had a lot of fun, learned many new things and really appreciated having her as our guide. She made everything very easy and was super knowledgeable. Highly recommend!

This was exactly what I wanted! My guide Tuangtip was amazing and really tailored the day to what I was interested in. I learned a lot from her and enjoyed our conversation. She was friendly and wanting to answer all my questions about Thailand. Highly recommend

Tuangtip was absolutely wonderful! She knew where and when to cool off, and get a bite. Great suggestions for snacks along the way. She has a history degree so knows her stuff on the important sites. The history was amazing and interesting. My son and loved her! So patient and kind and polite!! I can’t say enough about what a great experience we had! I Recommend her 100%

We were a family of 4 with 2 boys aged 12 and 15 and we did this 3 hour tour on our first day in Bangkok. I can't recommend it enough, we went to the flower market which was fabulous an Chatchai bought a bunch of lotus flowers which we took to the Royal Temple. He showed us how to prepare the flowers to offer them to Buddha which was a lovely experience. We then fed terrapins and snapping turtles. We had a couple of tuk tuk rides which were great fun. Please do consider doing this tour, it's great to be with a local, to ask them questions and for recommendations - it really was a great experience and it kept our boys engaged throughout. Thanks Chatchai!

Our tour was amazing. We did see all the hidden gems like the markets the locals attend. It was very hot and the tour was all walking no bus. The walking did save alot of time because everything was close to each other but it was very hot. Our guide Tony was amazing. He spoke almost perfect English and was so kind. It could have been a little shorter and we could have gone without some of the history but that is a personal choice. Definitely couldn't have gotten the full experience without a guide.

This truly was the easiest way for me and my wife to get expert guidance and tour within this large city. First of all I really appreciate our tour guide Moddy. She’s a real expert and she knows a lot. This really enhanced our experience in Bangkok. She knew where to take us she was flexible and I appreciate her guidance both I and my wife. This really is a legitimate business and they follow through with what they promise. We have friends back home that wants to know if this will work and I will definitely let them know that it is a good way to go. She really helped us with cultural information on the past of this great nation of Thailand. She also was helpful and taking us to shops that have all kinds of souvenirs and things to buy and even helped us with a discount. One thing is nice that she also is helpful to those that need the business. So she was the conduit that helped bring both sides together and it was a success for everyone involved. I would highly recommend a service to anyone. We will never forget it.

Seeing the flower market from inside was very interesting and learning how to open a lotus flower to present it at the temple was amazing! The explanation of our guide (Tonn) about every place was also very good and made the whole experience very interesting and fun.

Love it! I had only one day in Bangkok so decided to take some short private tour where I can ask all questions that I have. I’ve got answers for all my questions and spent a great time! Thanks!

I had a very great time with Moddy. I felt like a local with her. She answered all my questions in a very good english and told me a lot of interesting information. I learned a lot about Thai culture. Next time I'll book another tour with her again! Thank you so much Moddy!

We spent the afternoon going through the flower market and the famous temples by the river. our guide, Piyaporn, was very knowledgeable and that made all the difference learning about the insights that sit behind the history. Great afternoon. We had to reschedule and the tour company was very good in assisting.

We had a great tour with Whetchayan (Ton). He was very knowledgeable, shared lots of history with us and entertained our two young boys (6 and 8) with stories and activities. It was great to see may of Bangkok's most impressive temples and sights and also get to sample the hustle and bustle of Chinatown. Highly recommend the tour and Whetchayan!

Great experience saw all sites we wanted and more,shown all round temples and many other places of interest would definitely use again

Our guide Artie was terrific! If you want background on temples, culture, and what makes Bangkok tick, check it out.

Thailand has so many facets and Donald is the perfect guide to show you around. The customized tour was an amazing experience, we will never forget. Donald took us on a ride outside of Bangkok to the Maeklong Station, a swimming market and to a special boat ride through a mangrove forest. We would book Donald in a heartbeat and you should too.

We had the most amazing day with Artty! He is the best tour guide we have ever experienced...knowledgeable fun and excellent English, he is the best!. Be sure you book well in advance to avoid disappointment: )