Ayutthaya

Where to stay

Most budget travelers stay on the island, within easy reach of the ruins, along Naresuan Road or U-Thong Road near the western temple cluster. The island is small enough to bike end-to-end in under 20 minutes, so there's little reason to book across the river and deal with the bridge crossings every time you want to see something.

Getting around

• Rent a bicycle from the shops on Naresuan Road cheaply by the day. It's faster than tuk-tuks for temple-hopping and the only practical way to reach outlying sites like Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon without negotiating fares each time.
• A modestly priced day pass covers the main ruins cluster around Wat Phra Sri Sanphet. Buy it at the first checkpoint you hit and keep it in your pocket, because guards at every other site will ask to see it.
• The train from Bangkok's Bang Sue Grand Station to Ayutthaya costs next to nothing in third class and takes about 1.5 hours. Skip the tourist minivans from Khao San Road, which charge ten times as much for roughly the same travel time.

When to go

Hostels are cheapest from June through October when rain keeps crowds thin. December through February is the coolest stretch and fills up fast, especially on weekends, and Songkran week in mid-April hits the island hard with domestic tourists.