Best Road Trips From Pattaya
What are the best road trips in Pattaya?
Thirteen road trips in and around Pattaya, Thailand, compared on rating, price and area. Ayutthaya Historical Park is the highest rated at 4.7★ from 90 Google reviews, with Koh Kood close behind at 4.7★. They spread across Chanthaburi (3), Trat (3) and Kanchanaburi (2). Every entry carries a first-person verdict from Rob, who lives in Pattaya.
These are the trips that don't fit into a day. Everything here is within about 350km of Pattaya, which is a comfortable weekend on a bike or an easy drive with visitors in the car. They are listed nearest first, so you can pick by how much road you want. Distances are by road rather than as the crow flies — Hua Hin looks close across the gulf and is 323km once you go round it — and where a ferry is involved the distance shown is the driving leg only.
| Place | Rating | Price | Area | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Khao Chamao-Khao Wong National Park | ★ 4.5 | — | Rayong | Layered waterfalls and cool swimming pools, still flowing even in the dry season |
| Chanthaburi Old Town | ★ 4.4 | — | Chanthaburi | Peaceful and relaxing; an hour or two is enough to take it in |
| Khao Khitchakut National Park | ★ 4.5 | — | Chanthaburi | Lush, green forest scenery and rangers described as polite and helpful |
| Phlio Waterfall National Park | ★ 4.5 | — | Chanthaburi | Short, easy walk to the falls — around 500 m of shaded, mostly paved path |
| Khao Yai National Park | ★ 4.5 | — | Khao Yai | Widely called a must-visit for nature lovers; easy to fill a full day |
| Ayutthaya Historical Park | ★ 4.7 | — | Ayutthaya | Ruins are spread far apart — most hire a bicycle, motorbike or tuk-tuk rather than walk |
| Amphawa Floating Market | ★ 4.3 | — | Samut Songkhram | Evening is the main event, and the firefly boat trips are the highlight for most |
| Ko Chang | — | — | Trat | — |
| Kanchanaburi | — | — | Kanchanaburi | — |
| Ko Mak | ★ 4.5 | — | Trat | Quiet and unspoilt, valued as an escape from busier beaches and city crowds |
| Koh Kood | ★ 4.7 | — | Trat | Clean white-sand beaches and clear water, consistently called quiet and unspoilt |
| Hua Hin | — | — | Hua Hin | — |
| Erawan National Park | ★ 4.6 | — | Kanchanaburi | Seven tiers of emerald swimming pools, with each level offering different scenery |
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“The nearest of the waterfall parks worth the drive, and doable in a day at just over two hours out. The climb past the tiers is steeper and rockier than the photographs suggest, so wear proper shoes and take one of the walking sticks left at the trailhead. Water still runs in the dry season, and the pools are cold enough to justify the effort. Gates shut mid-afternoon.”
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“A single riverside lane of French-influenced shophouses, and an hour or two covers it — so don't drive three hours for this on its own. Pair it with the Phlio waterfall for a proper day, or stay over and do the gem market in the morning. Pick up a walking map at the community learning centre halfway along; it's in English and it's free.”
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“Come for the road rather than the park — the run out to Chanthaburi is one of the best rides in this part of Thailand and the surface is smooth the whole way. The waterfalls are thin outside the wet season and several of the upper trails are closed, so don't build the day around them. Buy food before the gate, because nothing is sold inside.”
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“The easiest waterfall trip on this site — a flat 500-metre walk through shade to cold clear pools full of mahseer barbs that nibble your legs while you swim. That accessibility is why it's heaving at weekends, so come midweek, or walk one of the longer forest trails and have the place to yourself. Pairs neatly with Chanthaburi old town.”
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“Thailand's first national park, and the best chance you'll get of seeing wild elephants from a road — three hours from Pattaya, so either start before dawn or stay over in Pak Chong. Go early: the animals move at first light and the viewpoints are clear before the haze builds. Haew Suwat is the waterfall to aim for. Never feed anything, whatever it does to your bonnet.”
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“The old Siamese capital in ruins, and genuinely moving in a way nothing in Pattaya is — the Buddha head held in the tree roots at Wat Mahathat is the image you'll take home. The site is far too spread out to walk, so hire a bicycle or a tuk-tuk for the day. Be there at opening, because by eleven the heat off the brick is punishing.”
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“Five hours each way from Pattaya, so this is an overnight paired with Bangkok or nothing at all. Come for the evening rather than the afternoon, when the stalls are all trading and the longtail boats run out to see the fireflies, which is the bit people actually remember. It's more fixed seafood restaurants than food boats these days. Closed Thursdays.”
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“Thailand's second-largest island and a long day's travel each way, so give it three or four nights or leave it alone. The west-coast beaches are the draw, with a mountainous jungle interior behind them and waterfalls worth the walk in. It's the closest thing to proper island Thailand you can reach by road from Pattaya, and better still paired with Ko Mak or Ko Kood on the same trip.”
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“The Death Railway and the war cemeteries, and a place that deserves more than a rushed day — it's over 300km, so stay the night on one of the floating raft guesthouses, which are half the reason to come. Fold in Erawan's waterfalls to the north and you have a proper two-day trip rather than a sightseeing dash.”
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10Ko Mak
“Quieter again than Ko Chang and reached from the same Trat piers — flat calm water, near-empty beaches and very little to do, which is the entire point. Most people fold it into an island-hopping run rather than travel five hours for it alone. Hire a motorbike or a golf cart when you land, because nothing here is walkable.”
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11Koh Kood
“The pick of the eastern islands, and the one I'd happily travel five hours for — white sand, clear water, waterfalls inland and almost no cars. It's ferry-only from Trat with no public transport on the island at all, so hire a motorbike the moment you arrive. Go in the dry season, allow three nights minimum, and accept that it will spoil Pattaya's beaches for you.”
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12Hua Hin
“Round the head of the gulf and about five hours by road, which makes it an overnight or a long weekend and never a day trip. It's the anti-Pattaya: a royal resort town that has stayed sedate, with a long beach, the old wooden railway station and a seafood night market. Worth doing once for the contrast, if only to see what this coast chose not to become.”
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“The best waterfall within reach of Pattaya, and also the furthest thing on this site from it — 340km, which makes it an overnight in Kanchanaburi rather than a day out. Seven tiers of emerald pools you can actually swim in. Be at the gate for opening, because the lower three fill fast, and push on to the fourth and above where almost nobody bothers.”
Common questions
- How many road trips are covered in this guide?
- Thirteen, chosen and written up individually rather than scraped from listings. Ratings and opening hours come from Google and are refreshed periodically; the verdicts are Rob's own.
- Which is closest to Pattaya?
- Khao Chamao-Khao Wong National Park, about 133 km from central Pattaya by road. Distances are driving distances, not straight lines.
- Where in Pattaya are they?
- Across Chanthaburi (3), Trat (3), Kanchanaburi (2), Ayutthaya (1), Hua Hin (1), Khao Yai (1), Rayong (1) and Samut Songkhram (1). Pattaya here means the greater Pattaya area of Chon Buri province, which stretches from Naklua in the north to Bang Saray in the south.
- When was this list last updated?
- September 2026. It is maintained by Rob, who lives in Pattaya, and revisited as places open, close or change.
Top of our list: Khao Chamao-Khao Wong National Park, rated 4.5★.
Curated in Pattaya · Last updated September 2026