Bangkok

Bangkok has no gentle introduction. You step out of Suvarnabhumi into heat that feels like a physical object, and the city immediately starts making demands: tuk-tuks, incense smoke, a temple around every corner, a street cart selling something you can't identify but absolutely need to try. It is overwhelming in the best possible way.

When to go

November through March is the sweet spot: cooler, lower humidity, and almost no rain. April and May are brutal. Songkran festival in April is worth the heat if you're prepared to get comprehensively soaked. The wet season from June to October isn't the disaster it sounds: showers are intense but usually short, and the city empties of tourists.

What it's actually like

Bangkok rewards the wanderer. Wat Pho and the Grand Palace are legitimately extraordinary — not tourist-trap versions of something that used to be special, but the real thing. The city moves on two speeds: rooftop bars and air-conditioned malls where everything is slick and expensive, and street level where pad see ew costs 50 baht and comes off a wok that's been in the same family for thirty years. You want both.

The neighbourhood you want

Base yourself in Silom or Sathorn. The BTS Skytrain makes the whole city legible, you're walking distance from Lumphini Park for early morning runs before the heat hits, and the surrounding restaurants are excellent without trying to be. Avoid Khao San Road unless you specifically want Khao San Road.

Don't miss

Take the express boat along the Chao Phraya at rush hour: ฿18, no tourists, the entire city sliding past you at water level. It's the best thirty minutes in Bangkok.