Sukhothai
Sukhothai is the better-kept of Thailand's two ruined capitals and the quieter one, where the Thai script and its sculpture began. You cycle it at opening, and the old city empties by late afternoon.
Sukhothai in a nutshell
Sukhothai: what to expect
Counted across 1,756,000+ planned stops in Thailand on Stippl, this is how the old capital sits.
Sukhothai is the older of Thailand's two ruined capitals and much the quieter one, and you see it from a bicycle. The park is flat, spread out and built for riding: the Central zone at opening for Wat Mahathat's rows of columns and seated Buddhas, then the Northern zone for Wat Si Chum, where a vast seated Buddha is seen through a narrow slot in the ruined hall around it and the elongated fingers are the detail everyone photographs. Most travellers give it 2 nights on Stippl.
Sukhothai is a stop on the way between Bangkok and Chiang Mai rather than a place people travel to. Well under one in a hundred Sukhothai stops planned on Stippl open a trip, and the trips that carry it run 25 days. The town sits roughly six hours from each city, which makes it the natural break in a journey most people otherwise spend a night on a bus doing.
One night covers the park and two lets you ride further out. Half a day does the Central zone and a full day does it properly, so arrive in the afternoon and be at the gate when it opens. The Western zone is hillier, emptier and skipped by the tour groups. With a second day, Si Satchanalai is the sister park an hour north with effectively nobody in it. Come in November if you can, because Loi Krathong began here and is staged among the lit ruins rather than on a river.
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History-minded travellers
The older and better-kept of Thailand's two ruined capitals, and the one where the country's script and sculpture began.
Cyclists
Flat, green and spread out, with bike stands at the gate, and there is no better way to see it.
Overlanders from Bangkok north
Sukhothai is the obvious and almost the only worthwhile break in the six-plus-six-hour run to Chiang Mai, and most people give it 2 nights.
Children who are templed out
Children who have had enough of ruins on foot tend to enjoy Sukhothai because they can cycle and climb it.
Anyone wanting UNESCO in peace
Sukhothai is quiet for its importance, and the old city empties by late afternoon.
Maybe not for you: anyone already saturated with temples; travellers on a two-week beach-focused trip; and visitors who arrive by tour bus mid-morning in April, which is the hot, crowded, worst version of the place.
The best time to visit Sukhothai
Cool and dry
November to February
The season every source and our own data point to: comfortable riding and clear light on the stone.
Hot
March to May
The northern plains at their most extreme, and the park has little shade between temples. Early morning becomes mandatory rather than advisable.
Wet
June to October
The park is green and near-empty and the rain is mostly afternoon; the mornings are the best of the year for cycling it.
- Loy Krathong in November is the one time this quiet town is busy. Sukhothai claims the festival as its birthplace and stages it among the lit ruins of the historical park; the date moves with the lunar calendar and the rooms go early.
- The hour matters more than the month. Be in the park at opening, before the heat and before the tour buses, in any season; by late morning in April the stone is too hot to touch.
- The old city empties by late afternoon, all year. Sunset over Wat Mahathat is the quietest hour, and the reason to stay a night rather than day-trip from the bus station.
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Things to do in Sukhothai
Photo by Alberto Capparelli via PexelsThe Central zone by bicycle at opening
Ride into the ceremonial core at half past six, when the park opens, and have Wat Mahathat's rows of columns and seated Buddhas before the heat and the buses. About €2.50 for the zone and €1 for a bike at the gate.
Wat Si Chum
See the vast seated Buddha in the Northern zone through the narrow slot in the ruined hall around it, its elongated gilded fingers the detail everyone photographs. A separate zone ticket, and ten minutes by bike from the centre.
The Western zone
Ride out to the hillier, emptier zone the tour groups skip, with the forest temples and the giant standing Buddha at Wat Saphan Hin up a slate ramp. Allow two hours and carry water; there is no shade on the climb.
Si Satchanalai
Take the sister park an hour north on a second day, effectively without visitors: elephant-ringed chedis, a hilltop temple and the old kiln sites. About €2.50, and a hired songthaew for the day from New Sukhothai.
The park after dark
Walk or cycle the lit ruins of the Central zone on a Saturday evening, when the park stays open late and the temples are floodlit. Free on the night, and the one evening plan in Sukhothai.
The New Sukhothai night market
Eat the local Sukhothai noodle soup, thin rice noodles with pork, green beans and a squeeze of lime, at the night market in the new town for about €1. It opens at six and it is where the town spends its evening.
The neighbourhoods of Sukhothai
New Sukhothai
Living town, night market
The working town twelve kilometres east: the bus terminal, the night market, most guesthouses and restaurants and the cheapest beds, with no ruins. For budget travellers and anyone who wants a Thai town in the evening.
The night market and the cheapest rooms, and a songthaew to the park at dawn.
Old Sukhothai
Park gate, dawn ruins
The handful of guesthouses and resorts immediately outside the historical park, so you wake up beside the ruins and are inside them before the buses. For early risers and cyclists; the evening is quiet.
Inside the park before the crowds, and nothing to do after dark.
The park hotels
Resorts along the road
The resort hotels along the road between the two towns, with pools and bicycles, halfway to both. For families and couples who want a pool after the ruins and a driver to the market.
A pool and quiet, and a ride to reach either town.
Si Satchanalai
Sister ruins, almost nobody
The sister historical park an hour north with a couple of homestays and guesthouses in the village beside it, and almost no visitors. For a second night of ruins without the day-trippers.
The ruins to yourself, and an hour's ride from everything else.
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Where to stay in Sukhothai
Stay at the park gate in Old Sukhothai: you wake up beside the ruins and are cycling through them before the buses arrive, and the town is twelve kilometres away for dinner. Most people give Sukhothai 2 nights on Stippl. Booking pressure barely exists outside November, when Loi Krathong is staged in the park and fills every room in both towns.
New Sukhothai
Family guesthouses and small hotels at provincial prices, €10 to €35, with family suites for little more.
Old Sukhothai
A handful of guesthouses and small resorts outside the park wall, €20 to €70, with bicycles to borrow.
The park hotels
Resort hotels with pools and bikes on the road between the towns, €50 to €120.
Si Satchanalai
A couple of homestays and village guesthouses beside the park, €12 to €30, with almost no other visitors.
What to eat in Sukhothai
The town's own noodle soup: a sweet-sour pork broth with green beans, peanuts and dried chilli, distinct enough to carry the town's name nationally
Street grilling, the staple of the night market
Green papaya salad
The province's fruit, our own data's own description reaches for it
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Sukhothai customs and what not to do
Buddhist ruins, not archaeology
The Buddha images are objects of veneration whether or not the halls around them still stand; temple dress and the no-feet-toward-the-Buddha rule apply inside the park.
Thais come here too
Sukhothai is the origin of the script and the first kingdom in the national story, so Thai families and school groups visit as pilgrims; give the images the same space they do.
Climbing is not permission
Guides sometimes wave people up onto the plinths for a photo; it is not allowed and the rangers act on it, and it is why the Ayutthaya heads are now roped off.
The park is not the town
The historical park is twelve kilometres from New Sukhothai, so the guesthouses by the gate are the ones for an early start; a songthaew runs between the two for about €1.
Do
- Be at the gate when it opens, 06:30 for the ticketed zones
- Rent the bicycle; it costs almost nothing and it is the visit
- Buy the zones you will actually ride, not all three by default
- Dress as you would for a working temple
Don't
- Climb on the ruins
- Arrive mid-morning in April
- Assume the park is next to the town; it is twelve kilometres away
- Come in November for Loy Krathong without a room booked
What a Sukhothai trip costs
Budget
€15–25
Guesthouse in New Sukhothai, night-market food, bicycle, one park zone.
Mid-range
€35–60
Guesthouse at the park gate or a hotel in town, restaurant meals, all three zones.
High-end
€90+
The small resorts near the old city, a car and driver for Si Satchanalai.
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Fun facts about Sukhothai
The Thai alphabet descends from a script attributed to King Ramkhamhaeng in 1283. The stone inscription that records it was found in Sukhothai, and the kingdom's period is treated as the golden age of Thai art.
Loi Krathong, the floating-lantern festival, is said to have started here. November is the town's one moment of national attention, with the ruins lit and the lakes full of candles.
The name Sukhothai is usually rendered Dawn of Happiness. It was the first capital of a Thai kingdom, from the mid-thirteenth century, before the court moved south to Ayutthaya.
The historical park holds over 190 temple ruins. They are spread across five zones, three of them ticketed and two free, among trees, moats and lakes 12 kilometres from the modern town.
The walking Buddha was invented in Sukhothai. The elongated face, the flame-shaped crown and the walking posture are treated as the high point of Thai Buddhist sculpture, and they began here.
Sukhothai sits almost exactly halfway between Bangkok and Chiang Mai. About six hours from each, which is the practical reason most travellers stop here at all.
Local tips for Sukhothai
Phitsanulok is the hub
Sukhothai's airport exists and almost nobody uses it; the trains and most buses go through Phitsanulok, fifty-five kilometres away, with a bus on to New Sukhothai for about €1.50.
The bicycle is not optional
The ruins are spread across zones, some outside the walls, and a bike from the gate for about €1 is the way round. The tuk-tuk does the twelve kilometres from New Sukhothai to the park.
The park opens at half past six
It closes at half past seven in the evening, which is what makes the pre-heat morning ride and the lit evening possible. Be at the gate at opening.
How long to stay
Most people give Sukhothai 2 nights on Stippl, halfway between Bangkok and Chiang Mai: one for the central zone, one for the outer zones or Si Satchanalai.
Heat is the hazard
This is the inland northern plain and the park has long open stretches between temples. Go early is a heat measure as much as a crowd one; two litres of water on the bike.
Stay in the old town
New Sukhothai has the bus station and the night market; the guesthouses by the park gate have the ruins at dawn without the twelve-kilometre ride. Split the difference with one night each.
Sukhothai questions, answered
Roughly in the middle, about six hours from each, which makes it the natural break in a journey most people otherwise do overnight. Lay it into the route in Stippl as the night between the two rather than as a detour off it. Then ask people who broke the trip there, in subreddits like r/ThailandTourism.
By bicycle, and it is not really optional. The park is flat and spread across three zones on separate tickets, and hire shops sit outside the gate. Ride the Central zone at opening, before the heat and before the coaches, then take in the Northern zone for Wat Si Chum on the same morning.
It is older, quieter and much further from Bangkok. Ayutthaya is an easy train ride from the capital and takes the crowds that follow from that, while Sukhothai is six hours north. Only 2.94% of Sukhothai stops planned on Stippl carry no night, because nobody day-trips six hours.
For the park, yes: 22.6% of Sukhothai stops planned on Stippl are a single night and most of the rest are two. Half a day covers the Central zone and a full day covers it properly, so arriving in the afternoon and riding from opening the next morning works cleanly.
Because it began here. The festival falls in November and is staged among the lit ruins of the old capital rather than on a river, which is a different thing from the version everywhere else. 60.1% of the trips carrying Sukhothai on Stippl start in the high season.
If you have the day, yes. It is the sister park an hour north with effectively no visitors in it, which is the one thing the main park cannot give you even at opening. Ride it the same way, and take the Western zone of the main park on the same trip, since the groups skip that too.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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