Detailed itinerary of DIY one-day trip to Maeklong Railway Market and Amphawa Floating Market from Bangkok by local transportation for adventurous travelers visiting Thailand. If you will be staying in Bangkok on weekend, this is the day trip that is definitely worth to make for a change from the capital city.
Maeklong Railway Market & Amphawa Floating Market Itinerary
This one-day itinerary is exactly the same like we have completed, when visiting Maeklong Railway Market and Amphawa Floating Market from Bangkok and exclusively using local transportation along the way. It wasn’t the easiest and fastest but definitely the cheapest and most enjoyable way to visit these two famous markets in Thailand. The journey itself is also a wonderful adventure you won’t experience when joining a tour or going to Maeklong Railway Market and Amphawa Floating Market by a private car.
7:00 Wongwian Yai BTS Station
We arrived at Wongwian Yai BTS Station (S8). We were taking BTS SkyTrain from Victory Monument Station (N3) and it took us 20 minutes to get here. The current fare is 47 THB, making it the most expensive part of the trip.
Then we walked towards the Taksin Intersection and continued our way on Somdet Phrachao Taksin Road to Wongwian Yai Railway Station. The total distance between the stations is about 1 km, so you can easily cover it on foot and it won’t take long.
7:16 Wongwian Yai Railway Station
We arrived at Wongwian Yai Railway Station. At the railway station we bought train tickets from Wongwian Yai Railway Station to Maha Chai Railway Station. The tickets cost 10 THB per person.
We had our breakfast at the railway station and got some food for our trip from the market scattered around the station.
7:40 Train Wongwian Yai - Maha Chai
The train departed from Wongwian Yai Railway Station. It took us about 1 hour to reach Maha Chai Railway Station.
8:44 Maha Chai Railway Station
We arrived at Maha Chai Railway Station. The train was surprisingly on time – arrived only 5 minutes later than the scheduled time. However, don’t expect it to be like this every time and give yourself enough time for possible train delays when planning.
As we still had more than 1 hour before departure of our next train, we took our time to walk around and explore Maha Chai Market. Here we grabbed some freshly cooked seafood to eat and continued our trip towards the Tha Chin River.
9:05 Maha Chai Pier
We crossed the Tha Chin River by the ferry running from Maha Chai Pier to Tha Chalom Pier. The fare was 3 THB per person.
9:10 Tha Chalom Pier
We arrived at Tha Chalom Pier and walked to Ban Laem Railway Station which is only 450 meters away from the pier. It’s possible to speed up your trip by taking Sam Lor (tricycle) from the pier to the railway station but we had plenty of time and kindly refused the offer.
On the way to Ban Laem Railway Station. we’ve visited a local temple and big Buddha statue that was seen sitting on the bank of the river from the distance.
9:30 Ban Laem Railway Station
We arrived at Ban Laem Railway Station. At the station we bought our tickets to Maeklong Railway Station, which is located just behind the famous Maeklong Railway Market (Talad Rom Hub). The fare was 10 THB per person.
At Ban Laem Railway Station, we had some time to relax and eat our seafood brought from the market on another side of the river. For a dessert we enjoyed a surprisingly cheap coconut ice-cream. What can be better on a hot summer day than eating perfect ice-cream for as little as 10 THB?
10:10 Train Ban Laem - Maeklong
The train departed from Ban Laem Railway Station to Maeklong Railway Station. The train journey on this route also takes about one hour.
11:04 Maeklong Railway Market (Talad Rom Hub)
We were on the train passing through Talad Rom Hub Market. It was a really great experience to see the market from a completely different perspective than we saw in photos taken at Maeklong Railway Market.
11:11 Maeklong Railway Station
We dropped off at Maeklong Railway Station and walked back to the market to explore and prepare for taking photos of the departing train.
11:30 Maeklong Railway Market
The train departed from Maeklong Railway Station. We’ve stayed in the middle of Maeklong Railway Market as it’s one of the best places to capture photos of the train passing the market and vendors pushing their stuff off the track and closing their big umbrellas for the train to pass.
12:12 Songtaew to Amphawa
We walked around the area for some time and went to 7/11, where the blue songtaews going to Amphawa Floating Market are parked. The songtaew from Maeklong to Amphawa Floating Market cost 8 THB per person.
12:30 Amphawa Floating Market
We arrived at Amphawa Floating Market and enjoyed our lunch by the canal. Amphawa Floating Market is large and you can easily spend few hours here shopping and trying various snacks.
You can also take a boat tour along the canal for 50 THB but you need to arrive earlier. if you want to take the last train from Maeklong, which departs at 15:30.
Note! If you are not on a tight schedule, you can choose to overnight in Amphawa and fully experience the atmosphere of the traditional local life by waterfront. The best places to stay in Amphawa are listed here: Where to Stay in Amphawa?.
15:00 Songtaew to Maeklong
We left Amphawa Floating Market and went back to Maeklong Railway Station on the same blue songtaew for the same price from the point they dropped us before. The trip back took us a bit longer as the traffic conditions were worse. However, we still made it to the last train.
15:30 Train Maeklong - Ban Laem
The train departed from Maeklong Railway Station to Ban Laem Railway Station. This time we bought a ticket on board as there was no time for getting one from ticket counters at the station. The ticket cost 10 THB per person.
We were surprised to see the train being packed full of people but most of them turned out to be Chinese tourists taking a one stop ride through Maeklong Railway Market as part of their group tour. At the next station the train emptied and we got our seats.
The trip back was full of surprises as at one point the train slowed down and local people started throwing bananas through the windows to the monkeys who appeared from the forest. It looked like they were waiting for this train!
16:29 Ban Laem Railway Station
The train arrived at Ban Laem Railway Station. Again, it arrived pretty much on scheduled time even if monkey feast slowed it down a bit.
We walked to Tha Chalom Pier to take a ferry. The fare was the same - 3 THB per person.
16:54 Maha Chai
We arrived at Maha Chai Pier and grabbed some food at Maha Chai Market before reaching Maha Chai Railway Station. We got our train tickets here and again paid 10 THB per person.
17:35 Train Maha Chai - Wongwian Yai
The train departed from Maha Chai Railway Station to Wongwian Yai Railway Station in Bangkok.
18:45 Wongwian Yai Railway Station
The train arrived at Wongwian Yai Railway Station and we walked back to Wongwian Yai BTS Station to take BTS SkyTrain to our hotel.
Tips
More detailed information about traveling from Bangkok to Maeklong Railway Market by train can be found here: How to get to Maeklong Railway Market.
If you’re on a tight budget but still want to see the famous Maeklong Railway Market and Amphawa Floating Market, go on this one day trip from Bangkok and you will have a wonderful day full of excitement and unique experience!
In case this DIY day trip itinerary seems too complicated, you can visit these two famous markets on a tour that can be booked online here: Maeklong Railway Market and Amphawa Floating Market tour.
As Amphawa Floating Market is open only on weekends, on weekdays you can combine a visit to Maeklong Railway Market with Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, which is located a bit more far from Maeklong than Amphawa.
To visit Maeklong Railway Market and Damnoen Saduak Floating Market on the same day, it is best to join one of the available tours such as this day trip from Bangkok, which takes you to see a market located on the railway tracks, the Maeklong Railway Market, and a market that floats on the canals at the Damnoen Saduak Market.