Phuket, Thailand’s largest island, is famous for its Andaman Sea beaches, but it has far more to offer than sun and sand. Its old town is full of colourful shophouses and family-run eateries, its local cooking blends Thai, Chinese and Peranakan influences, and in 2015 UNESCO named it a Creative City of Gastronomy. Add a world-class sunset viewpoint, beaches for every mood and easy boat trips to nearby islands, and it’s easy to see why Phuket suits almost every kind of traveller.<\/p>\n
Start in Phuket Town, the island’s historic centre. Streets such as Thalang Road are lined with Sino-Portuguese shophouses, with pastel facades, shuttered windows and shaded walkways, built when tin mining brought wealth and Chinese traders to the island. Small lanes like Soi Romanee are perfect for a slow wander with a camera. Between the photo stops you’ll find old coffee shops, noodle houses, dessert shops and modern caf\u00e9s in restored buildings, so it’s worth arriving hungry.<\/p>\n
Phuket’s food has its own character, shaped by the island’s Hokkien Chinese and Peranakan (Straits Chinese) heritage. Dishes to look out for:<\/p>\n
Local breakfasts and noodle shops are part of everyday life in Phuket Town, and seafood is excellent across the island.<\/p>\n
Every Sunday, from around 4pm to 10pm, Thalang Road becomes a pedestrian market known as Lard Yai. Stalls sell southern Thai street food, grilled snacks, noodles, desserts and fresh fruit alongside handicrafts and clothing, with occasional live music or dance. Entry is free; just bring cash and an appetite.<\/p>\n
Promthep Cape (Laem Phromthep), at the island’s southern tip near Rawai, is Phuket’s most popular sunset viewpoint, about 20 km from Patong. Headlands drop into the sea and the sun sinks over the Andaman. Next to the viewpoint is a shrine surrounded by hundreds of elephant figures, plus a small lighthouse. It gets busy, so arrive at least 30 minutes before sunset to find a good spot.<\/p>\n
Patong<\/strong> is Phuket’s busiest beach town, packed with restaurants, shops, bars and nightlife, ideal if you like to be in the middle of the action. For something calmer, Ya Nui<\/strong> is a small, quiet cove a short drive from Promthep Cape on the road towards Nai Harn, good for a peaceful swim and a lazy afternoon.<\/p>\n Ferries and speedboats leave from Rassada Pier, near Phuket Town, for Koh Phi Phi. Ferries take about 1.5 to 2 hours and speedboats roughly 45 to 60 minutes, depending on the sea. The islands belong to neighbouring Krabi province; see our Krabi guide<\/a> for more on the area’s islands and lagoons.<\/p>\n Phuket really does offer every flavour: Hokkien-style noodles and braised pork in a historic old town, a Sunday night market, sunsets at Promthep Cape, lively and quiet beaches, and island trips on the doorstep. Start planning with our Phuket travel guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mee hokkien and moo hong in Phuket Old Town, the Sunday walking street, sunset at Promthep Cape and a day trip to Phi Phi: Phuket for food lovers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5144,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[],"province":[173],"class_list":["post-5105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-en","province-phuket-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5105"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5145,"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5105\/revisions\/5145"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5105"},{"taxonomy":"province","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/songkran.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/province?post=5105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Day trip to the Phi Phi Islands<\/h2>\n
Good to know<\/h2>\n
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Summary<\/h2>\n