Is it worth staying a few nights in Kanchanaburi to see the sights or are we better off to stay elsewhere and do day trips to the River Kwai, Tiger Temple etc.

Go to Kanchanaburi

I'm always talking warmly about Kanchanaburi where I've been staying for almost eight years now, so I would say it's definately worth staying a couple of nights in Kanchanaburi!

You should, of course, visit the Bridge on the River Kwai, but also the War Cemetary with the 7000 headstones from POWs from Australia, England, Holland and other allied countries who died during the building of the bridge and the Death Railway during World War II. You might also want to visit the War Museum next to the cemetary and the Hellfire Pass museum 60 km north of the city, which in fact you could do on the way to the Tiger Temple 45 km north.

Take a trip on the 'Death Railway' and enjoy the beautiful landscape along the River Kwai. Go visit the beautiful Erawan Waterfalls and hike the seven steps of the falls and have an refreshing swim and feel the small fish nipling air at your legs in one of the ponds at the bottom of each step.

In the evening you should have a walk on the promenade by the riverside and enjoy a nice and cheap meal at one of the restaurants there while you are looking at the lights from the party rafts sailing up and down the river. Later you might want to visit the night market by the railway station where you can shop and make a good bargain.

Lots of other things to see and do in this minor and quiet provincial city only two hours away from Bangkok.

Thanks for that. Do you have any suggestions on somewhere nice to stay? We're not backpackers or budget travellers, we like our comforts and staying somewhere central within walking distance to restaurants.

More comment from me as Flebo said, It is worth to be a couple nights at Kanchanaburi. There my attraction in city itself and amazing waterfalls and ofcourse other attraction like Mon Bridge

As to where to stay I would personally recommend "River Kwai Hotel" which to me is a really good hotel located on the main street, but a little bit retreated from the street noise. At the same time it's in walking distance from almost all of the local tourist sights like the War Cemetary, the river promenade, the railway station, "the strip" with most of the tour agencies, the local department store and 3 km from the bridge (which is easily reached by tuk-tuk). Other nice hotels and resorts are located a little bit out of town which means that you will be needing some kind of transportation to get to the city and back. Website: kanchanaburi-info.com - Kanchanaburi hotels and resorts - River Kwai Hotel - Pictures and Facilities

More nice onformation about the city on this web: Kanchanaburi-info.com: destination guide to Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand

Hi, we stayed at the Felix River Kwai Resort which is on the river right beside the bridge. It is a modern hotel and very pleasant esp if you get a room over looking the river. It is a bit out on town but it was not a problem getting around. Nice pool, rooms, lovely gardens, friendly staff and a pleasant, restful place to stay after a busy day seeing the sites.

Hi Linda,

We visited Thailand earlier this year and stayed at Kanchanaburi for three nights. Loved it, nice change of pace from Bangkok where we had first arrived, the food was great and plenty of places to eat. We stayed at Ploy Guesthouse, we like staying in Guesthouses if we can, just a personal choice. They have a website so google them to see if it suits you, very cheap as well and we found the rooms and facilities clean and neat. From Ploy you could walk up and down the main street to cafes and shops. We organised tours from the guesthouse to take us to the Erawan Waterfalls which are a knockout, not to be missed and we also did Death Railway, travelled on the train, Tiger Temple (another experience all together) and the Bridge. We hired bikes ourselves and went to a temple and visited the buddha in the cave and just generally looked around. We caught the bus from Bangkok which was easy and cheap but drivers will take you there from Bangkok. Back to Bangkok we caught a mini bus with other travellers which was fine. Throughly recommend it!