Is Petchaburi worth it?
 

Could all of you in the know tell me if going to Petchaburi for the day is worth the time and trouble? We only have 4.5 days in BKK and I'd hate to waste a minute of our stay. Please let me know. Thanks ou there.

with only 4.5 days i think it would not be a good use of your time unless you have some extreme interest in this place..

Phetchaburi ( there are many spellings ) is about 2 hrs or 2 hrs 15 south of Bangkok by car. There is an old hilltop Palace which you can reach by cable railway. Around the town are quite a few temples. Apart from a main road Shopping Mall that 'is it'. I have been thru the place so many times and a couple of times stopped there to look around.

If you were on vacation in Cha Am or Hua Hin and asked the same question I would say 'sure', as it'as only 30 mins from Cha Am 50 mins from Hua Hin so it's really just a short trip. But I wouldn't make the journey down from Bangkok.

In the same journey time you could have a day in the Kanchanaburi and River Kwai area and that has a large range of things to do, the bridge on the River Kwai (WWII fame ), the Museums, the river iteslef with kayaks and lots of soft adventures and things to do.

Thanks for your replies. Now that I have your ears, so to speak, I'm wondering if you could help me with Phimai and Sukhothai? And what about Khao Yai? I don't like animals "on display" and I'm also wondering if going to a nature preserve is necessary, when I'll be spending a week on Koh Naka Yai with plenty of nature trips available.

Sukhothai is well worth a visit if you are into archeological sites. I much prefer it to Ayyuthya. Phimai is Khmer architecture. If you've been to Angkor Wat or are planning on goint there it's not something that I would put as a must see.

Quite a few years ago, we stayed in Cha Am for a couple of weeks. One of the days we took a tour to Petchaburi. It happened to be on the day of the Sound and Light Festival (i think that is what it was called), anyhow it was absolutely amazing..The Temple on the hill was all lit up and there was fireworks and lights and singing and dancing. It is funny how you run into these things that you didn't plan and they end up being the most interesting and cultural thing that you have ever done..Anyhow reading this post just reminded me of it and it certainly brought back memories!