Amphawa Floating Market and Maeklong Train Market Tour
Description
Visit Thailand's famous market on this Afternoon. Watch a train pass through the middle of a bustling market at Maeklong Railway Market which is an amazing scene, take a boat along the realistic Floating Market Amphawa. Buy plenty of unique and inexpensive traditional Thai snacks a perfect souvenir! Learn about the history and culture of these iconic markets thanks to your informative guide.
Tour Options
Itinerary
The Maeklong Railway Market has been around since 1905. It is found in the province of Samut Songkhram, located on the Gulf of Thailand. Fishing was (and still is) one of the main livelihoods of the people who lived here, and the market was another way in which to sell their goods. Officials decided to build a railway in order to better deliver these goods to provinces around Thailand, including the capital. The market remained, however, despite the new tracks that cut through it. You will hear the train long before you see it. Vendors and merchants collectively begin to coolly move their belongings and umbrellas away from the tracks as the train barrels forward, laying on its horn every now and then to warn people of its inevitable passing. Baskets of goods are dragged away from the tracks, the overhead tents are drawn back, and the tracks are cleared, making way for the train.
Amphawa is frequented primarily by Bangkok weekenders. While visually, its historical accuracy may not be as comparable, this evolution of a centuries-old trading style into modern day is unique in and of itself. Along the 50-kilometre stretch of the Amphawa Canal, Buddhist monks still paddle in the morning to accept alms from villagers, residents patronize the floating markets for their produce and other groceries, and those settled along the waterfront continue to rely on its resources within routines of their daily lives like cleaning and bathing. We take a boat along the realistic Floating Market Amphawa. Buy plenty of unique and inexpensive traditional Thai snacks a perfect souvenir! Learn about the history and culture of these iconic markets thanks to your informative guide. Before returning to Hua Hin have dinner at the Local Restaurant
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Please wait in the Lobby or at your house. The guide will contact you.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(9)
Tour as such was ok, but the guide did not at all talk about whet we were seeing - talked for less than 10 min on a 9 hour tour ( incl 5 hours in the van) and then mainly on that we meet here again.....
An ok tour, but our guide was not very attentive. First of all, she was poor in English, but it wasn’t really a problem, because she said virtually nothing, other than telling us which direction we should go and what time we should be back. Trainmarket was a really good experience, and definitely not something you see every day. The floating market was a great disappointment, and in no way responded to the photo that sells the trip. We had a very delicious dinner before the trip again went the long way back to Hua Hin.
Would have been excellent, however the floating market was not as expected. Train market was excellent! Good dinner at the waterfront.
The experience itself is not to be excluded if you come to visit these places .. but the level of tourist attraction has made it much less local and too devoted to the scene and the scenery to accompany tourists.
The timing (start and finish) was not mentioned anywhere while booking or later. The pick up time was conveyed a day before and the number mentioned was not reachable throughout. We asked for a change in pick up hotel (from what was booked). The message was not passed to the tour guide and the coordinator refused to share the guide's name/number. In the process I had to rush and run for 15 minutes to reach the pick up point. This was a day tour and I had a dinner planned with our local hosts. On boarding the bus I asked the guide for return time and she said late in the evening/night. I got off the bus with a bitter experience with this tour company. Other than this tour that I didnt take, Hua Hin is a lovely place with wonderful people. Ideally, the tour operator should give a refund as they wasted my time and I couldnt take the tour due to their lack of communication of timings and unreachability.
Thank you for sharing your experience. We appreciate feedback as it helps us improve. While travel plans can be stressful, we apologize for any inconvenience caused. To clarify, the itinerary and original pickup time were confirmed via email beforehand. When you changed your pickup location from Cha Am to Hua Hin 1.5 hours prior by phone call, the updated pickup time was shared. At the scheduled time, you weren't at the pickup location, and efforts to reach you finally succeeded. You were asked to remain at the location while we picked up other guests before returning. Unfortunately, you had gone shopping, causing a 20-minute delay for the group. Shortly after departure, you disembarked due to a scheduling conflict, further interrupting the tour. You later requested a full refund, falsely claiming you weren't picked up.
Awesome tour and guide. The itinerary was full and perfectly timed. The railroad is a unique experience to say the least! Loads of shopping opportunities aon the river portion of the tour and our guide, Bobby, was truly excellent. Insightful, knowledgeable, funny, and excellent English language skills. The complete package.
What a fantastic way of spending 8hrs of your holiday. The whole experience was very enjoyable. We were picked on time from our hotel and reached the train market about 1.75hrs later. We had time to buy stuff we did I know we needed before the train came through at about 14.30. We were then taken to a long boat where had a relaxing time cruising the Mekong river and the back rivers where the market was. Following this we had time, about an hour to buy yet more goodies from the floating market, before we were taken for dinner which was included in the price. We returned to our hotel at about 20.00, with fond, happy memories of the day!
