On the tour we're taking, we'll have one free day in Bangkok and would like to take either the Ayutthaya day tour or the Bridge over the river Kwai day tour. Would love to hear the pro's and con's of both from those who have taken these tours. I think it would mean a lot to my husband to see the river Kwai area, but is it really worth it? And what sort of tours are available and are better?.......bus, train, boat, etc.

It's closer and easier to go to Ayutthaya than the Bridge . . . we did both 'cause we had the time and we would have been really disappointed to have gone to Thailand and NOT seen the bridge (we're WWII buffs).<BR><BR>A friend took us to the bridge in his car, the traffic was horrendous, took almost 2 hours to get out of BKK. We visted the cemetery, the small museum (very sad), and the bridge, we were lucky to have the Orient Express train come by while we were on the bridge.<BR><BR>One of the funnest things we did was walk across the bridge and go to the gem market that is under the bridge . . . the gems were only $5-$10 for huge dime-size and larger stones, don't really know what they were but our jeweler at home said they were VERY nice and well worth having set. We bought "emeralds," "rubies," amethysts. We should have bought more!<BR><BR>We took the train to Ayutthaya and there were lots of guides waiting at the A train station to show us around. We went to as many sites as we wanted (there are lots but we got tired, and it was July . . . therefore HOT). This is well worth a day trip and the train only takes about 1 hr, there were lots of trains, too.<BR><BR>Hope this helps and have a great trip!<BR>Sandy

Brenda, I did both trips on different stays in Thailand, though. We took the boat from and back to Bangkok to Ayutthaya and that was very pleasant and relaxing. I real change from the sticky and hot city.<BR>I did not particularly like the River Kwai trip. We walked over the bridge and took the train for about 1 hour or so to another town before having visited the cementary and the museum. I am probably too young to care very much about these sites, so this did not mean that much to me.<BR>Enjoy, whatever you decide to do!

TTT

Have done both. Do them as a package, don't try top do them independently, the extra hassle is just not worth it. Tour East a local agent or the hotel concierge can help you <BR><BR>I'd personally say the Kwai is the better trip. Boats, trains and coaches.<BR><BR>The day trip to Auyuthya overdoses a bit on temples before a long boat cruise back to bangkok, which is rather nice but the scenary is a bit flat.<BR><BR>You won't go seriously wrong with either though

Hi Brenda! I've been to Tahiland 10 times and am really impressed with the history. Because I'm 50ish, I had to do the River Kwai tour, I thought it was fantastic - just for the imformation alone. That part of the country is beautiful. I was very glad that I was educated on the fact of how horrible the situation was and exactly how the bridge was built. I was also not aware that it wasn't anything like the movie. If your are older you would probably appreciate it more, especially if your Australian.

In February I took both trips on separate days. I liked the Ayutthaya trip better in hindsight - took a boat up (which I really enjoyed seeing the different temples/homes/office buildings along the river - very relaxing - and then a bus back). I couldn't pass up the tour to the River Kwai as I'm a WWII buff but was very disappointed. You come into a tourist area with many tour busses, of course the bridge isn't the real one, the museum is not very interesting and the cemetary is large but I couldn't handle reading more than a couple of tombstones before leaving. Any questions, please feel free to e-mail me directly.