The Bangkok National Museum

The museum occupies the Wang Na, the palace of the deputy king, which was handed over for public display in 1874 and has grown outward ever since. The collection runs from Ban Chiang pottery and Dvaravati stone wheels of the law through Khmer bronzes, Sukhothai walking Buddhas and Ayutthaya woodcarving to the funeral chariots of the Chakri kings, kept in a hall of their own. The best single room is the Buddhaisawan Chapel, built in 1787 to house the Phra Phuttha Sihing image, its walls covered with murals of the Buddha's life that have never been moved. Labelling is uneven and the older galleries are dim, but volunteer guides run free tours in several languages on set mornings.

What you actually see

• The Buddhaisawan Chapel - the 1787 shrine with its original murals.
• The funeral chariots - gilded carriages the height of a house.
• The sculpture galleries - Dvaravati, Khmer and Sukhothai in sequence.
• The Wang Na buildings - the deputy king's palace as the museum's frame.

When to go

The museum is closed at the start of the week, so check the day before you go. Volunteer-led tours in English and other languages run on set mornings and are worth timing a visit around. Cool-season months make the walk between the open-air pavilions bearable; in April the courtyards are brutal by eleven.

Honest expectations

Several galleries are unair-conditioned and the labelling ranges from thorough to a single line in Thai. Renovation has closed one building or another almost continuously for years, and there is no reliable way to know which in advance. It is a large, slow, old-fashioned museum, and without a guide much of it passes as unexplained objects in cases.

Nearby

Sanam Luang, the Grand Palace and Wat Pho are all within a walk.