The high-desert city of Sedona offers both the ultimate escape and a sensory overload, whether you're visiting a vortex site to feel the Earth’s energy or trekking to a natural sandstone bridge with vertiginous views.
16.04.2024 - 22:12 / lonelyplanet.com
To put it bluntly, Bangkok is a behemoth.
There are 50 districts and more than 2000 communities within the Thai capital. Factor in the round-the-clock energy and red-hot dining and nightlife scenes, and it can be hard to know where to focus your time and attention. While cheap taxis can tempt you to cross the city on a whim, persistent gridlock can sink itineraries. Bangkok is easier to love when you focus on just one or two neighborhoods at a time. It also rewards visitors who escape Ratanakosin’s temple touts and Khao San Road’s backpacker bar life.
Whether you want to party with the upper crust in Thonglor or go on a laid-back photo walk in Talat Noi, here are five neighborhoods you can’t miss in Bangkok.
Best for bougie nightlife
Few districts embody Bangkok’s rapid development better than Thonglor and neighboring Ekkamai. In the early 2000s, the city’s young money convened at its indie bars and clubs. Condos, office towers and upscale restaurants have polished out the rough – and most interesting – edges, but the neighborhoods remain among the best places to see and be seen in Bangkok (and get a good drink).
Start at the Commons, a four-storey community mall boasting more than a dozen restaurants and bars. Grab an IPA at the Beer Cap or a negroni at Sugarray Apartment, then pick your poison from the many other bars within stumbling distance.
Go for the music at vinyl-haven Bar Marco. Try one of 26 signature drinks at Rabbit Hole or a “super classic” (a fusion of two classic cocktails) at Dry Wave. Plug into the city’s underground at vintage shops-slash-dive bars Tuba and Shades of Retro. Pick from 30 taps of beer at Mikkeller. After midnight, let loose at 12 x 12 – the place to go for alternative electronic music – or high-energy MU:IN, a Korean club brand and favorite among young Thai party people.
Afterward, fill up on Thai-Chinese food at late-night spot Sangchai Pochana, before crashing at Hotel Nikko or an Airbnb – there are many affordable options in the nearby condos.
On a budget? Here are the best free things to do in Bangkok
Best neighborhood for creatives and photographers
One of Bangkok’s oldest communities, Talat Noi was once the city’s hub for spare auto parts. Today, this district wedged between Chinatown and the Chao Phraya River is known for the photogenic cafes that have cropped up between shrines and shophouses spilling over with second-hand engines.
Follow camera-toting cafe-hoppers to Mother Roaster, a drip coffee specialist set above a room full of auto parts. Then dodge the sputtering Vespas rumbling down the narrow alleyways to Timo and Tintin for iced lattes and designer keepsakes. For single-origin coffee, don’t miss Danish import La Cabra.
Bangkok’s creative community flexes
The high-desert city of Sedona offers both the ultimate escape and a sensory overload, whether you're visiting a vortex site to feel the Earth’s energy or trekking to a natural sandstone bridge with vertiginous views.
The Netherlands is a treasure chest of exquisite art-filled cities and towns, canals, windmills and tulip fields, along with shiny-new sustainable urban environments, and glorious natural landscapes, coastlines and islands. While it’s one of Europe’s smaller nations (you can cross the entire country in a handful of hours), choosing where to spend your time takes planning.
In many ways, the Netherlands is a year-round destination, with each season offering its own charms. Spring sees fields full of tulips in bloom. Summer spells long days at sandy beaches along the coast and on the Wadden Sea islands, and as autumn turns to winter, the darkening chill invites you to embrace the Dutch quality of gezelligheid (conviviality, coziness) at atmospheric cafes. Cycling is a Dutch way of life, while festivals fill the calendar throughout the year.
The culturally rich city of Copenhagen has plenty to keep visitors busy for many days, but it’s also ideally situated for day trips to a variety of other interesting and scenic destinations in Denmark and beyond, bringing to mind knitted wool sweaters, colorful snow-topped houses and warm hygge vibes.
Over the past few years, Copenhagen has become a wildly popular destination. Some come to visit the Little Mermaid and walk in the footsteps of Hans Christian Andersen, others to have a bite of the famous food scene, but all are impressed by Denmark's capital.
The traditional foods of Indonesia never quite get the credit they deserve. Thousands of islands spread across three time zones ensure a culinary diversity like no other nation.
Often called Thailand’s “Capital in the North,” the mountainside city of Chiang Mai is an idyllic destination with bundles on offer across its rich and varied neighborhoods.
Mom may have a daily skincare routine that she follows religiously at home but packing a variety of creams, gels and serums can be challenging when traveling – especially if she doesn’t want to check a bag.
The world’s most prestigious contemporary art exhibition, the Venice Art Biennale opened last week and runs until 24 November in two main locations, the Giardini and the Arsenale, as well as throughout Venice, in museums, foundations, galleries, churches and palazzos. These “collateral events” are free and are mostly open through the fall. From stunning painting shows to sculptural installations, here are ten must-see exhibitions dotted throughout the city nicknamed "La Serenissima."
Often packed with as many visitors as there are roadside hawkers, Chiang Mai is one of Thailand’s most-loved destinations, offering a cool respite from the beaches and busy cities further south.
Venice, a city of history and mystery, is once again at the forefront of the global art scene, hosting the 60th International Art Exhibition, titled "Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere." Curated by Adriano Pedrosa, this year’s Biennale extends beyond just an art exhibition; it is a profound narrative on cultural exchange, environmental sustainability, and the interwoven fabric of global identity. From April 20 to November 24, 2024, the Biennale transforms Venice into a canvas of multicultural dialogue, showcasing works that provoke, inspire, and unite. Here are the 10 pavilions and exhibitions that stand out in this year's compelling lineup.
I moved to Bangkok in 1999, a time when most visitors to Thailand reluctantly did a night in this megacity before beelining to an island or the north. Synonymous with traffic jams, pollution and urban sprawl, the Thai capital was largely seen as an unwanted but obligatory stopover.