Bangkok to Sukhothai

Every bus to Sukhothai leaves from Mo Chit 2, the Northern Bus Terminal, and the morning ones are the ones I'd take. Win Tour, which 12Go and other booking sites list as Sukhothai Thani, runs the most departures. Its VIP coaches leave at 08:00, 09:30, 10:00 and 11:00 for ฿439–460 and arrive about seven hours later, and its cheaper intercity buses at 13:00, 14:00 and 15:00 cost ฿376. Phitsanulok Yanyon Tour has an intercity bus at 07:00 that arrives at 14:30 for ฿365 and an express at 12:00, and Cherdchai Tour North runs an express at 11:30 that gets in at 19:00.

The state-run Transport Co. buses are cheaper at ฿378–407, but their standard buses on this route stop often, and 12Go times them at about 11 hours. A 12Go reviewer on a Phitsanulok Yanyon "express" in August 2026 wrote that it stopped all the way and changed bus in New Sukhothai. If you want the shortest ride, book a Win Tour VIP. Booking sites add a fee, and you can also buy at the operators' counters at Mo Chit 2 on the day, which is fine outside the November to February high season and the Loy Krathong week.

The night buses look like the classic backpacker move, but Bangkok to Sukhothai is too short for them. Win Tour's 20:00 VIP arrives at 03:00, and Cherdchai's 20:20 and 20:40 arrive at 03:50 and 04:10, hours before any guesthouse will let you in. The slower Transport Co. buses at 18:10 and 19:30 get in around 05:00 and 06:30, and one 12Go reviewer in June 2026 booked a bus due at 08:00 and was put off at 04:00. If you take one, book your first night's room from the evening before so you have somewhere to sleep when you arrive.

The railway north to Chiang Mai passes Sukhothai 60 km to the east, so the nearest station is Phitsanulok. The train I'd book is Special Express No. 7, the day train, which leaves Krung Thep Aphiwat at 07:30, calls at Don Mueang at 07:43 and reaches Phitsanulok at 11:48. It's second-class air-conditioned seats only, ฿397, and the fare no longer includes a meal, so bring food. Rapid No. 111 leaves at 07:50 and takes two hours longer, and the evening sleepers reach Phitsanulok between midnight and 04:30, which leaves you waiting for the first bus.

From Phitsanulok station, a tuk-tuk or motorbike taxi to Bus Station 1, about 2 to 2.6 km east, costs about ฿60. Buses to Sukhothai leave frequently between about 05:30 and 18:00 and take about an hour, and you buy the ticket at the counter. Richard Barrow's tip is the one that matters. Instead of a bus to Sukhothai town, take one heading to Tak, marked Muang Kao (old city), which passes the historical park entrance. Off No. 7, that puts you at the ruins in the early to mid-afternoon, before the morning buses from Bangkok reach the new town.

No. 7 sells out in high season, and by SRT's booking rules a Bangkok to Phitsanulok ticket on it should open about 30 days ahead, so book as soon as the window opens. The State Railway's D-Ticket site sells it in English. Our Bangkok to Chiang Mai guide has the rest of the Northern Line timetable.

Sukhothai is two places. New Sukhothai is the modern provincial town on the Yom River, with the bus terminal, most of the cheap guesthouses and the night markets. The old city, Mueang Kao, is the walled capital inside the historical park, 12 to 13 km to the west, with its own small cluster of guesthouses and resorts by the gates. A bus ticket to Sukhothai almost always ends at the bus terminal at Ban Kluai, about 1.5 to 2 km outside the new town. A few departures, such as Phitsanulok Yanyon's 07:00 and Transport Co.'s 18:10, are sold through to the historical park, so check the arrival stop on your ticket.

From the terminal, a tuk-tuk or songthaew takes you into the new town or out to the park. The blue songthaews between the new town and the old city run through the day for about ฿30–40 and take about half an hour. I'd sleep near the old city if the point of the trip is the ruins at dawn and cycling them before the heat, and in the new town if you want more food and cheaper rooms. Bicycles rent near the park gate for about ฿30–50 a day, and entry is ฿100 for each zone of the park. Our Sukhothai page has the places to stay in both.

Ayutthaya, the later capital, sits on the same railway an hour north of Bangkok, so it makes an easy first night. Take any of the fast trains from Krung Thep Aphiwat, see the ruins, and board No. 7 at Ayutthaya the next morning to continue to Phitsanulok. Ayutthaya to Phitsanulok is most of No. 7's run to Phitsanulok, so by SRT's rules that ticket should also open about 30 days ahead. By bus, 12Go lists departures from Ayutthaya to Sukhothai at 09:30 and 11:30 that take about six hours. Our Bangkok to Ayutthaya guide has the trains, and Ayutthaya vs Sukhothai compares the two old capitals if you only have time for one.

A private car is about six hours with a stop, and it's the one way to go straight from a Bangkok hotel to a guesthouse in the old city. On 12Go, cars from Bangkok start at about ฿4,400 and a nine-seat van at about ฿6,300, which works out close to the flight for a group of three or four. A driver can also stop at Ayutthaya or Kamphaeng Phet's ruins on the way.

By bus, leave in the morning from the bus terminal outside New Sukhothai. On 12Go, Win Tour's VIP coaches leave at 08:00, 08:20, 10:00 and 10:30 and arrive at Mo Chit 2 between 16:00 and 17:30 for ฿439–504, its intercity buses at 08:45, 11:10 and 11:40 cost ฿376 and take about seven hours, and Cherdchai leaves at 09:05. The evening buses between 19:00 and 21:10 reach Bangkok between about 04:00 and 06:00. One 12Go reviewer found the 20:30 Transport Co. bus only reached Sukhothai at about 22:00, because it starts its run elsewhere, and still arrived in Bangkok at 04:50. If you're staying in the old city, Barrow says tickets for the Bangkok buses are sold at a shop opposite Wat Traphang Thong, so ask there before riding out to the terminal.

By train, take a morning bus to Phitsanulok, about an hour, and a tuk-tuk to the station. Special Express No. 8 leaves Phitsanulok at 13:26 and reaches Krung Thep Aphiwat at 17:40, Rapid No. 112 leaves at 10:43 and arrives at 17:10, and No. 102 leaves at 13:42 and arrives at 20:05. There are night trains too, Nos. 108 and 52 at 22:05 and 23:03 and the Chiang Mai sleepers Nos. 14 and 10 just after midnight, all arriving between 04:30 and 06:30.

By air, Bangkok Airways flies back to Suvarnabhumi twice a day, about 08:50 and late afternoon around 17:30 to 17:50, landing about 1 hour 20 minutes later. Ask your hotel to book the airport shuttle or a car the day before, because the airport is 40 to 45 minutes out.