Sights of Phetchaburi - what to see

Sights, this is exactly what is forPhetchaburi is visited. With a large number of temples and palaces, Phetchaburi is a bit like Ayutthaya, although, of course, there are much fewer temples and palaces here than in the ancient capital. Two cave temples stand out especially from all the sights, the likes of which are not even in Ayutthaya.

You can easily spend 2-3 days exploring local attractions, although one will be enough to explore the most interesting places.

Phra Nakhon Khiri Historical Park

The historical park is the largest attraction of Phetchaburi. Almost in the very center of the city, on a hill 92 meters high, there are several temples, pagodas and other interesting historical places at once. It should be included in your city tour program without fail. This is the only place in Phetchaburi where they charge an entrance fee.

The hill on which the historical park is located is called Khao Wang or Palace Hill. King Rama IV liked this place so much in the nineteenth century that he gave the order to build one of his vacation residences here. In 1859, the construction of the palace in a mixed European-Thai style was completed, and, of course, temples "grew" around it. It is said that here the king satisfied his passion for astronomy in the breaks of rest between state affairs.

If you want to see everything in the historical park, you will have to allocate more than four hours for this. Everything can be viewed in two hours. All the sights on the hill are connected by footpaths, there are signs. During the walk you will see many different buildings of the former royal palace. All of them are available for inspection inside, but there is nothing to do there, since they are all empty and abandoned. It's much more interesting to inspect everything from the outside. On one of the hilltops there is a large white stupa, inside which you can and should enter. The Royal Museum of Rama IV and Rama V is organized in one of the palaces.

Learn more about the historical park Phetchaburi and photos here...

Wat Kampang Lang Temple

This temple, also known as Wat Kamphaeng Laeng, is one of the oldest attractions in the city. It was built in the twelfth century by the Khmer People in their traditional style with towers in the form of cob. Those who have been to Angkor in Cambodia will immediately recognize familiar motifs in architecture.

The temple is quite small, consists of only four towers. Despite the fact that it is a historical monument, the temple is operational. In the daytime there is practically no one here, even tourists rarely appear. You can explore everything here in 10-20 minutes.

Wat Mahathat Worawihan Temple

This is perhaps the most important and central temple of the city. Its beautiful snow-white prang is visible from anywhere in Phetchaburi, and is the most recognizable local architectural structure. Khmer motifs are easily recognizable in its architecture, which is not surprising, since it was originally erected 800 years ago. It has the status of a royal temple.

In general, this is a fairly large complex-monastery, and there are always a lot of people here, mostly locals. There is even a playground where you can leave the children while the parents ask for blessings from the Buddha. You can walk freely throughout the complex and enter any buildings, but you should show respect and take off your shoes when entering the temple, be appropriately dressed: do not enter the temple in a miniskirt, shorts and with open shoulders. To get to the central prang, and it is necessary to get closer to it, because there are a lot of interesting things around it, you need to enter the main building of the temple and go through it. On the opposite side of the building you will see the footprint of the Buddha.

A full inspection of Wat Mahathat Worawihan will take at least half an hour.

Learn more about Wat Mahathat Worawihan Temple and photos here...

Tham Khao Luang Cave Temple

Tham Khao Luang Cave Cave temple is one of the brightest sights of Petchaburi. Sometimes people even come to the city just to visit this place.

The cave of the temple is located inside the hill Khao Luang (translated as royal hill) with a height of 90 meters. You will see a spacious cave, inside which there is a large statue of a reclining Buddha, a large sitting Buddha, and a huge number of small statues. As in any temple, there are several small stupas here. A good paved road leads to the very entrance to the cave, and you can get there by transport. At the entrance there is a large parking lot, where there are several shops selling religious paraphernalia.

This place should not be confused with the caves in the highest mountain of Thailand, Khao Luang, which is located far to the south.

Tham Khao Bandai Cave Temple-it

Learn more about the cave temple Tham Khao Bandai-it and photos here...

Another, no less exciting than Tham Khao Luang Cave, cave temple-monastery is located next to Phetchaburi on a hillside a couple of kilometers from the city center. For some reason, Khao Bandai-it is less well-known and less popular with tourists than Khao Luang, but in vain. This place may not be as spectacular as the view of the huge vault of the Khao Luang Cave, but it is definitely more ambitious and interesting. Another advantage is just the unpopularity of this place, so almost certainly you will find yourself here alone. This is used by rare tourists from among the admirers of oriental traditions, meditating in the deserted and quiet halls of caves.

The whole complex includes a temple building (viharn, there are several of them here at once); several ancient (at least in appearance) stupas; a large, still unfinished, statue of a giant sitting Buddha on top of a hill; excellent view from the top of the city and the surrounding area; a museum of some famous monk in the main the viharne of the complex (what this monk became famous for, we never managed to find out); actually the caves themselves. It will take almost an hour to inspect everything here.

Phra Ram Ratchaniwet Palace

If you want to get to know the royal family of Thailand even more closely (of course, not in the literal sense, not everyone can afford it), then you can visit the summer royal palace Phra Ram Ratchaniwet, also known as Ban Peun Palace.

Its construction was started by order of King Rama V in 1910. The king never saw his palace, because he died almost at the very beginning of construction, but the style of the palace was set by him personally: it was designed by a German architect in the European style. The palace never became a haven for Thai kings. Rama VI used the palace to accommodate guests of the kingdom from other countries, later used as a school, and even as a military headquarters during the Second World War. In 1987, the palace was renovated and opened to the public as a museum.

To say that the palace will delight anyone who visits it will not be true. the territory of the palace is also quite modest, there is practically nothing to see. We would advise you to watch it only if you are really interested in the life of the royal family, or you just have nowhere to spend your time. What's bad, it's forbidden to take pictures inside the palace.

Wat Yai Suwannaram Temple

This is one of the most important temples-monasteries in the city, and the largest in the territory. It was originally built in the 17th century, and renovated during the reign of King Rama V in the 19th, early 20th centuries. Currently, the temple is again in the stage of global reconstruction, which is why some of the facilities on the territory are inaccessible.

The territory of the temple is large, and there is even a pond here. Its main attractions are the frescoes of 300 years ago, and rich wood carvings. According to one version, the main hall of the temple used to be located in the great palace of Ayutthaya and then was moved here, but this is definitely not proven.

In general, this place is interesting and worth a visit. His examination will take about half an hour.

Scenic route and salt fields

The road No. 2048, passing along the coast and connecting Phetchaburi and Cha-am in the south, and leading north almost to Bangkok, is a very interesting route, which is marked with signs as Scenic Route or "scenic route". As the signs say, the queen herself had a hand in creating this route. If you have the opportunity to drive along this road in a rented vehicle, we strongly recommend that you do so.

Along the way, you will meet several observation decks right by the road, from which you can observe the wildlife of these places. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that you will be able to see something really alive from these sites, since constantly moving vehicles have long scared away all animals and birds, but beautiful species do occur. Also, picturesque salt fields are scattered almost all along the coast.

Approximately in the middle of the way between Phetchaburi and Cha Am there is a beach with dark sand and a small resort area Puk Tian (also Puek Tian), which is known for giant statues installed right in the sea quite far from the shore. These statues are the heroes of a famous Thai poem. At low tide, they can be reached on foot. As for the beach itself, this is not the best place for swimming.

Photos of Phetchaburi attractions