As we traveled north from Bangkok to Chiang Mai we paid a visit to one of Thailand’s most important historical sites, Sukhothai, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an important place in Thai history. We explored the ancient city of Sukhothai by bicycle which was great fun.
Sukhothai is located six hours from Bangkok by road or a one hour flight on Bangkok Airways. We flew and landed at the smallest, prettiest airport, complete with ponds filled with lotus flowers and elephant statues.
The Sukhothai Historical Park, the site of the ancient ruins, is best explored on bikes. We rented bikes at the park gate, which is cheap and easy to do. There are numerous bike rental shops outside the park gates.
CYCLING IN THE SUKHOTHAI HISTORICAL PARKSukhothai was the first capital of the kingdom of Siam, dating back to the mid-thirteenth century. This kingdom flourished until late in the fourteenth century. This period is often referred to as the golden age of Thai civilisation, and the religious art and architecture of the era are considered to be the most classic of Thai styles. The remains of the kingdom, today known as the Old City of Sukhothai, feature around 45 square kilometres of ruins, divided into several regions. We toured the two most popular regions, the central and northern regions.
We loved cycling around the ancient city stopping to wander amongst the ruins and giant Buddha’s.
Wat Mahathat and Wat Si Sawai were our favourite, both in the central area. The boys loved playing hide and seek at Wat Mahathat whilst Dave and I wandered amongst the ruins. Wat Si Sawai was beautiful and there was nobody there when we visited so we took some fun photographs.
In the northern zone we paid a visit to Wat Si Chum, to see the giant sitting Buddha, famous for its long, elegant gold painted fingers.
WHERE WE STAYED
To visit Sukhothai, we stayed two nights at Foresto Sukhothai, located in New Sukhothai. We were 12 km from the Historical Park, easily accessible by tuk tuk or bus. We had a two bedroom suite, which gave us two bedrooms and a living area with sofas and flat screen TV and two bathrooms. Our accommodation at Foresto Sukhothai was great but our advice would be to base yourself near the Historical Park so that you have easy access to the main attraction. Bikes are rented for twenty four hours so you could easily do sunset one day and then tour the park the next, all for the princely sum of 30 baht (70 pence).
