Phuket Travel Guide and Blog
This Phuket Budget Travel section of Phuket 101 combines all the tips and hints we gathered along the time to help you reduce the cost of your trip. Best hostels, best street food and where to get the best exchange rates once in Phuket, we try to cover as much as we can and keep adding as we explore. Phuket has become an expensive island, but there are many ways to spend a great holiday without spending a fortune.
Where to find Phuket night markets? [toc] Night markets in Phuket are always fun; from the new Chillva Market to the giant Naka Weekend Market or the Sunday Walking Market in Phuket Town, almost everyone loves to browse the incredible array of things you don't need. Night markets in Phuket are intense, colourful, surprising, fascinating, puzzling, smelly, messy, confusing and overwhelming. But night markets all have one thing in common,
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Where to stay in Phuket Town with a small budget? [toc] Finding a good budget hotel in Phuket town is very easy and there are many to choose from. On our page, we list the most beautiful ones, often set in renovated Sino-Portuguese shophouses, and a few others with great value for money and creative design. Here we only list hotels at short walking distance from Thalang Road, the most
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Where to stay in Patong Beach with a small budget? [toc] Finding the right budget hotel in Patong Beach can be a real challenge. Cheap and affordable hotels can be surprisingly good, especially if you plan to spend more of your day (and nights) outside, exploring and partying. We know Phuket well and we keep searching for the best value for money, as close as possible to the beach when
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How to use Phuket Smart Bus? [toc] Update: The Phuket Smart Bus rate is now 100 baht for any destination and you can pay cash on the bus (or use QR code) The Phuket Smart Bus is a very comfortable and affordable way to go from beach to beach for a very reasonable price. It is doing pretty well on the islands, and visitors love it. There are several ways
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Phuket most iconic landmark [toc] The Phuket Big Buddha is a 45-metre-tall white marble statue visible from anywhere in the southern part of Phuket. This impressive landmark is probably at the top of everyone's 'Must-Do in Phuket' and is jaw-dropping. The panoramic views from up there are breathtaking. Koh Samui always had a very popular Giant Buddha, and Phuket wanted a bigger one. In addition, it is free to visit
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Where to eat the best local food in Phuket in 2023? [toc] The list of local restaurants in Phuket keeps growing, and it is truly amazing how great local food can be here. No tourist places and no trendy venues here; it's all about local food and only local food! Here are some of Phuket's most popular (very) local Thai restaurants. They are not fancy, and all are cheap: they
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Where to get the best exchange rates in Phuket? [toc] Where to exchange money in Phuket and where to get the best currency exchange rates? If you are on a budget, exchange rates can make a difference in your holiday. We try here to list the different options available on the island, and we try our best to gather useful information. Of course, things vary a lot, but these guidelines
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What are the cheap things to do in Phuket with a small budget [toc] What are the cheapest things to do in Phuket with a mall budget? Of course, it's not easy to travel cheaply as, in general, Phuket is more expensive than anywhere else in Thailand. But if you start with these few suggestions, you will be able to make the best of your holiday without spending a fortune.
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What to Do in Old Phuket Town [toc] Our Old Phuket Town and Old Street Walking Guide will save you time and effort! The historical part of Phuket is not huge but is rich and exciting enough to explore in half a day. On this page, we break it down by streets and describe the main points of interest, significant landmarks and, of course, the best places to eat Thai
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Travelling to Phuket on Budget [toc] Phuket is not cheap, we all know that, but if you travel on a very tight budget, there are still many things you can do to save a bit and have a great time. These tips rely on real and personal experience. For the short story, I arrived in Thailand with little money and no job, so I had to learn how to make
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What to eat in Phuket? [toc] Phuket street food is fun, cheap, and a great way to experience simple real Thai food. It definitely is more authentic than in tourist restaurants you find in Patong Beach. It’s fast and a lot cleaner than you might think. If you have a sensitive digestive system or allergies, you might want to skip this, but I think it’s as safe as eating in
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What is the best way to go from Phuket airport to my hotel? [toc] Phuket airport transfers are pretty much hassle-free, and there are many ways to get from the Airport to your hotel, wherever your hotel is. We get daily questions about Phuket Airport Transfers on our Facebook page, and we try to answer them as well as we can. The most popular seems to be the shared mini-bus
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Amazing mansions of old Phuket [toc] There is more to Phuket than just the well-known Thalang Road, where everyone goes on a Phuket exploration. If Old Phuket Town's Old Sino Portuguese Mansions fascinate you, you are in for a treat. Yes, it's a nice walk and a must-do, but if you too have a passion for old houses, you might want to explore a bit further where some fabulous mansions
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Where to take the best selfies in Phuket? [toc] Photography has become fully part of holidays, and the young generation of travellers is always searching for the best selfie spots in Phuket. Local restaurants, businesses and beaches are taking full advantage of this trend by adding many special features to the island's natural beauty. Of course, as you can expect, these backgrounds don't always come for free, and in some
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What to do on Dibuk Road? [toc] Dibuk Road is one of the famous old streets of Phuket town you should add to your list while exploring. It's very colourful and easy to find, with plenty of casual cafes, shops and restaurants to enjoy. Dibuk road is parallel and not far from the famous Thalang road (where you'll find the Sunday Walking Street Market). It stretches for 800 meters, from
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Exploring Thalang Road [toc] Thalang Road is the most famous street in the historic part of Old Phuket Town. The municipality and owners managed to revive most of the old Sino-Portuguese shophouses and bury the ugly cables Thailand is so famous for. Thalang has become selfie heaven. The street is lined with small cafes, traditional or fashionable boutiques and a few restaurants. All have one thing in common: A few
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Amazing Buddhist temples of Phuket [toc] Phuket temples, or Wats, are always worth a visit; from the temple hidden inside a cave to the famous Wat Chalong, a visit to Thailand would not be complete without exploring a few of these magnificent and beautifully ornamented buildings ('Wat' means 'Temple', you guessed it). Phuket has many temples; we will probably list them one by one, but many are difficult to find or
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Phuket's most important temple [toc] Wat Chalong, or Chalong Temple (officially Wat Chai Thararam), is the largest, most revered and most visited Buddhist temple in Phuket. According to some sources, it was built at the beginning of the 19th century, 1837. Chalong Temple is one of the Must-See places in Phuket, and the nearby Big Buddha of Phuket, as they are relatively close. Wat Chalong Video The central temple
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Where are Phuket fresh markets and what to expect? [toc] Fresh markets in Phuket are always a great way to get close to real, local life with minimal effort. Markets are everywhere around the island, every community and every village has one, small or large, permanent or occasional. Some are daily markets, often open until the end of the afternoon, some are available only certain days of the week. Only
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What exotic fruits can you find in Phuket? [toc] Exotic Thai fruits in Phuket range from the well-known pineapple or even watermelon to the most surprising ones like the weird-looking Dragon Fruit, the huge pungent Durian or the enormous Jackfruit. The choice of fruits in Thailand is endless and visiting a local market in Phuket is a chance to try as many as you can. Some of the best fruit
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