Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha)

Wat Pho, officially Wat Phra Chetuphon, is one of Bangkok's oldest and largest temple complexes and sits directly south of the Grand Palace. A temple stood here before Bangkok became the capital, but its present form dates from King Rama I's rebuilding from 1788 and King Rama III's major expansion from 1832. Rama III wanted it to act as a public place of learning, and the marble panels and inscriptions he installed on medicine, history and literature are now listed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.

The great draw is the Reclining Buddha, a gilded figure 46 metres long and 15 metres high that fills its hall almost to the walls. Walk to the far end to see the soles of the feet, three metres high and inlaid with mother-of-pearl in 108 panels. Along the wall runs a line of 108 bronze bowls into which visitors drop small coins for luck. Outside, four tall chedis covered in coloured tiles honour the first four kings of the Chakri dynasty, and the cloisters hold long rows of seated Buddha images; the complex contains more than a thousand in all.

Wat Pho is also the historic home of Thai traditional medicine and massage, and its massage school still trains practitioners and offers treatments to visitors in the temple grounds. Booking is not usually needed for a massage, but queues build in the afternoon.

The temple suits first-time visitors, families and anyone combining it with the Grand Palace, as it is quieter and more spread out. Allow at least an hour and a half. Foreign visitors pay an admission fee, and tickets can also be bought online through the temple's website. Cover shoulders and knees, remove shoes inside the halls and keep your feet pointed away from Buddha images. Early morning and late afternoon are the coolest times.

The temple faces Sanamchai Road in Phra Nakhon. Sanam Chai MRT station is a few minutes' walk away, and Tha Tien Pier (N8) on the Chao Phraya Express Boat is just to the west, where a short ferry crosses to Wat Arun. Museum Siam is opposite the southern wall, and the Grand Palace entrance is about ten minutes' walk north.