Phuket is the largest island in Thailand and the most popular destination for those looking to incorporate the beach into their days in the country. Phuket offers many places worth visiting.
In Phuket there is everything, you can visit places of cultural interest, national parks, beautiful beaches and do all kinds of excursions.
In this post you have a complete guide to Phuket Town: what to see and do, and some accommodation recommendations.
WHAT TO SEE AND DO IN PHUKET TOWN
Undoubtedly one of the main attractions of Phuket are its beaches. But as soon as you arrive you will realize that Phuket is huge and has a wide variety of places to visit. And Phuket Town is an essential stop.
The historic center of Phuket Town is really small. Although once you get to know the historic area, get to know its surroundings, look at the Thai architecture that blends perfectly with Chinese-Portuguese architecture, eat at one of its restaurants and visit its local shops. I recommend that you start on Thalang Street, in the historic center.
Thalang Road
This beautiful street has houses on the ground floor with shops open to the public and on the upper floors are the houses. They are all of different intense colors.
Something that caught my attention about this street is that there are no electricity cables hanging in sight, as in the rest of the island. At the time that the renovation of the historic center began, they began to pass the wiring underground, thus clearing the streets and making the surroundings more beautiful.
When night falls, the restaurants fill up with people, and the small shops on this street and others in the surrounding area set up little stalls with handicrafts, clothing, souvenirs, and cooked food.
Phuket Town Temples
In Phuket Town there are some Buddhist, Christian and Chinese temples that are beautiful and worth visiting:
Wat Wichit Sangkaram
This beautiful Buddhist temple in the historic center. Some say it has similar architecture to the Royal Palace in Bangkok. Using the same architectural details on roofs and fronts.
Jui Tui Shrine
The Jui Tui Shrine is a Chinese temple of worship, and is one of the most important on the island of Phuket. This temple is dedicated to Tean Hu Huan Soy, god of artists and dancers.
Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church
We found this Catholic church by chance and it is beautiful. It is painted in white and light blue and is very simple and tiny.
It has masses every Sunday, at 9 am in Thai and at 11 am in English.
It is a bit far from the historic center, but if you get to know the city a little more you can come here.
Bang New Temple Phuket
It is one of the most popular temples in Phuket. It is a Taoist temple and stands out for its Chinese architecture. With dragons in gold on its roof, its lanterns and its structure in red.
Wat Khao Rang
Located at the top of Khao Rang hill, this temple is a hidden gem. It is not a small complex and despite this it is not very popular. The road to get here is not well signposted and being on the outskirts of Phuket Town many travelers pass by. It's worth getting here. Apart from having spectacular views of the city and the sea, here is a huge golden Buddha.
Chinese-Portuguese architecture
Phuket was never conquered or part of any foreign empire. The Sino-Portuguese architecture stems from the fact that at that time, due to its strategic location in Phuket, many Chinese merchants used this place as a key point for their maritime trade. There were so many who fell in love with Phuket, who decided to settle here and build their houses.
The houses have a Portuguese touch since at that time, the Portuguese country had colonies in Southeast Asia. As a symbol of prosperity and economic prosperity, as well as Western exoticism, the wealthier people copied the colorful style, the arched columns, the wooden windows and the stylish facades as a sign of their economic power. On the outskirts of the city it is possible to see mansions with Sino-Portuguese architecture.
If you have time, there are many of these mansions that are open to the public as house museums and some of them, although you cannot visit the interior, you can access their entrance to see their gardens and the exterior.
Many of these stately homes and mansions today are public buildings, such as the library, post office, town hall...
Street art in Phuket Town
During 2016, the art appeared all over Phuket town and some other places on the island also in the form of gratuits.
If you go to the tourist office they can give you a map with the route to see all the graffiti, but if you walk through its streets you will find it naturally. There are many graffiti in the city that are worth knowing, I personally loved these two:
WHERE TO STAY IN PHUKET TOWN
Personally, I do not advise you to stay in Phuket Town, it is very close to many beautiful beaches, so renting a car can get you there quickly, if you are interested in walking around the city at night. Visiting the entire city will not take you more than a day, so you can make a day trip to get to know it. Phuket Town is a good option to stay if you have a tighter budget. You can have your base here and get to know the Island and its beaches during the day.
If you are still interested in staying in Phuket Town, there are very cheap options that are great:
PLAN YOUR TRIP STEP BY STEP
I hope you enjoy your trip to Thailand very much and that this article has been useful to you. You can continue reading many more related articles on the blog.
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A hug and see you soon!