This bicycle tour has been designed to present some of the seldom seen ruins hiding inside of urbanized areas of Ayutthaya’s main city island. These
historic sites can be found at government offices, public schools, private businesses, and residential zones. Guidebooks and travel agencies rarely
promote them, and even locals can be quite surprised to discover such ruins near their neighborhood. It is easy to drive by these sites without noticing
they exist. Therefore, the fun of this particular biking route includes your effort in spotting them from their hiding places.

Ayutthaya is a living city that has risen, like the mythological Phoenix bird, from the ashes of an ancient kingdom. Burmese invaders destroyed
Ayutthaya in 1767 and forced thousands of local residents to relocate to Burma as war captives. Historic sites such as former Buddhist monasteries
crumbled into ruins for decades afterward. However, a modern city population gradually returned to the area and established a new city. They
constructed schools for their children, hospitals for their sick, police stations for their protection, and government offices for administration. New
neighborhoods sprouted up around ancient temple whose names had been forgotten.

brick walls and fortresses were torn down to help build the new capital in Bangkok. Many of the ancient sites in Ayutthaya were
further destroyed and
old canals buried to construct roads for the city’s prolific motor traffic. As a result of this damage, the Thai government decided
to launch a master plan to protect the country’s national heritage in Ayutthaya, which was registered with
UNESCO in 1991 as a World Heritage
Site. Approximately 221 historical structures in Ayutthaya have been registered as cultural heritage sites, and a large number of these ruins are highly
concentrated in the
Ayutthaya Historical Park, which covers 1/3 of the city island. However, the other 2/3 of the main city island is also full of historic
sites that have fallen into ruin. These are worth protecting and appreciating as well. This bike tour has been designed to raise consciousness about
these little-known historic sites and to advocate that they also be shielded from unchecked urban growth.

The tour will take 5-6 hours depending on the time spent at each location point. A few highlights on this itinerary have been listed more for the sake of
according to their own tastes and time constraints. None of the historic sites listed on this route charge any admission fees.



Historical signboard in situ is marked as (*)
Entry fee required is marked as ($)
(Downloadable pdf-files)