Private Tour: Floating Markets of Damnoen Saduak Cruise Day Trip from Bangkok

Greetings,

The tour guide was very knowledgeable and engaging. The driver was also very professional and safe. The trip to the Floating Market in the long boat was very fun. Once at the FM, we needed to pay for the paddle boat for a 1/2 ride through the channels. This was also very fun. For the price we paid for the tour, this should have been included and for a longer period.

We took a traditional long boat to the markets and got out upon arrival. The traditional means of selling local product was amazing. Great place to eat a traditional Thai meal made and served off of one of the boats. While very touristy, this added to the overall chaos. Watching the multitude of boats vying for space on the canals was very entertaining. Definitely recommend.

We took a traditional long boat to the markets and got out upon arrival. The traditional means of selling local product was amazing. Great place to eat a traditional Thai meal made and served off of one of the boats. While very touristy, this added to the overall chaos. Watching the multitude of boats vying for space on the canals was very entertaining. Definitely recommend.

From start to finish, very good and informative tour guide excellent.. floating market, long boat excellent.

This was an excellent private tour, which was also incredible value. Both the guide and driver were first class.

This was an excellent private tour, which was also incredible value. Both the guide and driver were first class.

It is just an experience to have. It is over rated and over priced. The tour operator pretty much picked us up from the hotel and dropped us by the floating market. Everything was additional. The stop to the coconut grove was not necessary and just to add activity to dull trip. If you have to just visit it for the experience. It is not what it was supposed to be where local used to buy and sell but more of a tourist hustle market

Everything about this tour exceeded expectations. First, this company is very professional. We received confirmation of our pickup time and contact information for the guide the evening before the tour, as advertised. Our guide arrived at our hotel early and ready to go and spoke fluent English (not always the case, as we discovered). Throughout the tour, our guide provided lots of interesting information about Thailand, but was also very attuned to our specific interests and didn't try to push any of the tour options that didn't appeal to us. We arrived early enough to enjoy the floating market before the crowds showed up. We were primarily interested in taking photos and being there early permitted us to get some great shots! Since we weren't really there to shop, we didn't need the extra time to hang out in the town after doing the canal boat part of the tour. We were able to easily locate our guide and had no problem coming back to Bangkok early. Definitely worth it for the private tour!

Everything about this tour exceeded expectations. First, this company is very professional. We received confirmation of our pickup time and contact information for the guide the evening before the tour, as advertised. Our guide arrived at our hotel early and ready to go and spoke fluent English (not always the case, as we discovered). Throughout the tour, our guide provided lots of interesting information about Thailand, but was also very attuned to our specific interests and didn't try to push any of the tour options that didn't appeal to us. We arrived early enough to enjoy the floating market before the crowds showed up. We were primarily interested in taking photos and being there early permitted us to get some great shots! Since we weren't really there to shop, we didn't need the extra time to hang out in the town after doing the canal boat part of the tour. We were able to easily locate our guide and had no problem coming back to Bangkok early. Definitely worth it for the private tour!

Really enjoyed this trip, boats around the market was good, although it appears that all the stalls have been to the wholesalers. Elephant riding on the way back to Bangkok was super.

This tour started early however after seeing what it entailed we could’ve definitely started later and slept in. The coconut farm is something that could be left out all together. This floating market definitely reads as a tourist trap...although I do not regret going, it’s one of those things you do once for the experience and never have to do it again.

This tour started with a ride on what they call long tail boats. It takes you through canals/waterways where you can see the homes of Thai people. The river itself is murky and looks dirty though the tour guide claims it is not. Then you transfer to a paddle boat. If you want to ride on a shared boat, you have to wait in line. If you want your own private you will still wait in line and costs Bhat 600.00. It is not included in the price of this very expensive tour. There is nothing special about the Floating Market. The vendors are lined up to the side of the canals, and if you show interest, the paddler will stop. We went on a Sunday which I highly recommend you dont do, also not on a Saturday. It was so crowded we waited a long time for a boat and it is like bump car city. You can get hit by another boats front or end and you have to pay attention and either push or kick another boat if you are at risk of getting hit. NEVER put your hands on the boat edge. At the end our paddler, a woman was screaming and crying because the traffic on the canal was so bad and it took us almost 45 minutes just to get off. There are food vendors also on boats. I can imagine a long time ago where one might be comfortable buying food from the boat vendors and eating. That is the fun part of the floating market and thats basically it. However, if, like me, you have doubts about sanitation, follow your instinct. If you want to eat Thai street food that is unbelievably cheap, go to the 5th floor of Terminal 21 in Bangkok. I promise your head will spin with all the choices available and under much more sanitary conditions. If you must go and experience the market save money and join a group tour. The tour guide has a very heavy accent and I did not understand most of what she said. My recommendation is to skip this event. We asked to stop for an elephant ride. One, it is quite costly, BHAT 600.00 per person. The place where the elephant goes is full of elephant dung, it is not kept up. Two, do not forget that elephants can be mercurial creatures. We had an episode and the elephant almost crushed my husband against a tree and I was certain we would fall off. Luckily we did not. Be careful. It was at a place called Damnoen Saduak Elephant Park.

Incredible experience ask for Ni, she was amazing! The only problem was that we had to buy tickets to get onto a smaller boat at the floating market, which I thought was cover under the advertised entrance fee

Worth to go. Tour Guide is informative and professional. Driver is very kind and good.

Worth to go. Tour Guide is informative and professional. Driver is very kind and good.

Floating market was quite touristy but nonetheless a very worthwhile visit to something quite unique and novel. Getting there speeding down a canal in a long tail boat was really exciting. We then had to pay a little extra to take a smaller row boat around the market itself. although we bartered on the price offer one-third asking price and settled for half we still found same items a quarter of the price in Chiang Mai walking street market a couple days later. But hey ho it was a really fun experience. Stopping at the orchid farm on the way on the way could have been missed - essentially a large and expensive souvenir shop although it was interesting to see all the things they make from coconuts. Our guide was fun and jolly but didn't really tell us much about the floating market, settling instead just to chaperone us around. Guide arrived promptly at 8am and we were back at hotel Lebua State Towers in central Bangkok for around 4pm. Journey time each way around 1 hour. Very interesting and novel day out which I'd recommend.

Was a pretty cool tour. Anyone going to Thailand should experience at least one floating market. Pricing on the items are a little high compared to the in town markets, but still relatively cheap. Only reason I didn't give it 5 stars, the actual fee for the boat in the floating market was not included. Other than that it was overall a good experience.

Our guide Peter and our driver were very accommodating as to take us to the elephant camp to let my sister from the States a 1st timer to Thailand to experience the elephant ride... Peter was quite fluent in English... We had fun haggling with the locals in the floating market of Damnoen...it was a different experience.

Our guide Peter and our driver were very accommodating as to take us to the elephant camp to let my sister from the States a 1st timer to Thailand to experience the elephant ride... Peter was quite fluent in English... We had fun haggling with the locals in the floating market of Damnoen...it was a different experience.

I highly recommend doing the private tour! Pearl, our guide, was funny and very knowledgeable about everything. Her accent was a bit thick but she will still make you laugh.

Hotel pickup was prompt and the drive out is about 1-1:15 hrs. We went on a Sunday so traffic was quite light. From there, we did the optional boat to shop around 600 baht, which is so worth it even though we didn't even buy anything.

This trip is quite the trek but it was the BEST part of Bangkok for us!

I highly recommend doing the private tour! Pearl, our guide, was funny and very knowledgeable about everything. Her accent was a bit thick but she will still make you laugh.

Hotel pickup was prompt and the drive out is about 1-1:15 hrs. We went on a Sunday so traffic was quite light. From there, we did the optional boat to shop around 600 baht, which is so worth it even though we didn't even buy anything.

This trip is quite the trek but it was the BEST part of Bangkok for us!

This tour is a must try, the tour guide was so nice and she even accompany us to the Jewelry Factory per our request after the tour and waited for us to make sure that we get back in the hotel safe.
The market is one of a kind, my husband enjoyed shopping because the prices were so reasonable. Highly recommended.

This tour is a must try, the tour guide was so nice and she even accompany us to the Jewelry Factory per our request after the tour and waited for us to make sure that we get back in the hotel safe.
The market is one of a kind, my husband enjoyed shopping because the prices were so reasonable. Highly recommended.

Interesting to see

Our guide came 1 hour late... she told me on the phone the previous day that she might be 20mn late but will try her best to be on time, but after all she had a full hour delay on the tour day and after that she was rushing us during the floating market and did not allow us to visit the shops we wanted to because it seemed that our driver had another appointment he had to go to... so we start 1 hour late, but we need to finish earlier???
but then after getting in the car she kept on pushing to take us to an elephant ride?? so we did not have the time for the market but we had time for the elephant ride? and of course the elephant ride required additional fees... we just declined and went back to our hotel

Would have been much better to do a group tour for less money. Instead of providing us with an in-depth history and discussion about the floating markets and th surrounding areas, our personal tour guideopted to nap instead. No joke - he slept most of the way there and pretty much all of the way back, with my fiancée and I sitting in the backseat wondering where we were and what we were seeing. Even the driver nudged him awake a few times only for him to return to his state of slumber. Upon our arrival to the market, he essentially left us to go and eat at every opportunity, giving us virtually no insight as to what we were seeing. He was not so much a tour guide as he was a mediocre usher. We are giving it one star simply because we got to and from the floating market safely, got to ride on a boat through the market, and our guidewas at least friendly when he was awake - otherwise it would have been zero stars.

Long drive out to the markets, that are pretty much a tourist trap. Still we got some good pictures, understood more about the local culture and learned a lot about the history from our tour guide.

I am very very happy i went to the floating markets -- it was a great experience and i definitely wouldnt miss it, and really the private tour was the perfect way for us to do it. BUT i give it 3 stars because you really dont need that much time there, and you really dont need a guide. The guide explains some things on the way there, which is interesting, but you are left on your own once you get to the market which we didnt mind at all, but you should know. Also, you really dont need a lot of time there -- we were give 2-2.5hours to roam around and after an hour we found our guide and headed back to Bangkok. Its amazing to see, but theres not much to do there other than take a boat ride and shop, but the markets/stands are all the same throughout. Paying for this private tour is worth it for the ride there and back and freedom to stay as long as you want vs. going w a big bus group.

Great tour. Worth the extra for a private tour, especially the day I went because it was so busy. The guide and driver also went off script and added an additional stop at an elephant pavilion.

Great tour. Worth the extra for a private tour, especially the day I went because it was so busy. The guide and driver also went off script and added an additional stop at an elephant pavilion.