Hua Hin is far more than a beach. Within a short drive of the town you will find lively night markets, hilltop temples, royal palaces, waterfalls, vineyards, national parks with limestone caves, and plenty of family attractions, from water parks to elephant sanctuaries. That variety is what keeps visitors coming back year after year.
This guide lists the top things to do in Hua Hin, each with the approximate drive time from town, so you can plan realistic days out. Some are in the centre and easy to reach on foot or by songthaew; others, such as national parks and floating markets, are best visited with a private car and driver who waits while you explore.
Getting there from Hua Hin
Right in Hua Hin. A taxi with driver saves you looking for songthaews and parking — call one when you are ready to go back.
1. Hua Hin Beach Guide
In Hua Hin town — Hua Hin Beach is the long, gently curving strip of sand that made this town Thailand’s first seaside resort, running for roughly five kilometres from the old fishing…
2. Hua Hin Night Market Guide
1 km · about 5 min from Hua Hin — Hua Hin Night Market, often called Chatchai Night Market, is the town’s classic evening stop, stretching along Dechanuchit Road in the centre. Every evening the street fills with…
3. Cicada Market Hua Hin
6 km · about 15 min from Hua Hin — Cicada Market is a weekend evening market on the south side of Hua Hin, known for handmade crafts, local art, a lively food court and live performances in…
4. Khao Takiab Hua Hin
7 km · about 15 min from Hua Hin — Khao Takiab, often called Monkey Mountain, is the rocky headland at the southern end of Hua Hin Beach, about 7 km from the town centre. It is crowned…
5. Phraya Nakhon Cave from Hua Hin
60 km · about 1 hour from Hua Hin — Phraya Nakhon Cave, in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park about an hour south of Hua Hin, is famous for the royal pavilion that stands inside a collapsed…
6. Koh Talu Day Trip from Hua Hin
180 km · about 2.25 hours from Hua Hin — Koh Talu, sometimes spelt Koh Thalu, is a small island off Bang Saphan in southern Prachuap Khiri Khan, famous for clear water, coral reefs and a natural rock…
7. Vana Nava Water Jungle Hua Hin
5 km · about 10 min from Hua Hin — Vana Nava Water Jungle is Hua Hin’s big water park, with tall slides, a wave pool, a lazy river and dedicated children’s areas, set on the south side…
8. Black Mountain Water Park Hua Hin
12 km · about 20 min from Hua Hin — Black Mountain Water Park sits inland from Hua Hin, about 12 km from the centre near the Black Mountain golf course, with a backdrop of green hills. It…
9. Zucata Sheep Farm Cha-am
20 km · about 25 min from Hua Hin — Zucata Sheep Farm, on Phetkasem Road between Hua Hin and Cha-am, is a family attraction styled like a little alpine village, where children can feed sheep, meet other…
10. Wat Huay Mongkol
15 km · about 25 min from Hua Hin — Wat Huay Mongkol is one of the most visited temples around Hua Hin, famous for its enormous statue of Luang Pu Thuat, a monk revered across Thailand. Rising…
11. Kaeng Krachan National Park
90 km · about 1.5 hours from Hua Hin — Kaeng Krachan National Park is Thailand’s largest national park, a vast sweep of rainforest, mountains and reservoir in Phetchaburi province, around 90 km from Hua Hin. It forms…
12. Pala-U Waterfall
60 km · about 1.25 hours from Hua Hin — Pala-U Waterfall is a multi-tiered forest waterfall in the southern part of Kaeng Krachan National Park, about 60 km west of Hua Hin near the Myanmar border. Clear…
13. Hutsadin Elephant Foundation Hua Hin
10 km · about 20 min from Hua Hin — Hutsadin Elephant Foundation is a small elephant rescue project just outside Hua Hin, about 10 km from the town centre, where visitors can learn about the animals in…
14. Maruekhathaiyawan Palace
15 km · about 20 min from Hua Hin — Maruekhathaiyawan Palace, also written Mrigadayavan Palace, is a graceful seaside summer palace built for King Rama VI in the 1920s, about 15 km north of Hua Hin on…
15. Hua Hin Railway Station
1 km · about 5 min from Hua Hin — Hua Hin Railway Station is the town’s most recognisable landmark, a charming wooden station with a red-and-cream royal waiting pavilion that recalls the days when the railway turned…
16. Cha Am Beach
25 km · about 30 min from Hua Hin — Cha Am Beach is a long, gently curving stretch of sand about 25 km north of Hua Hin, lined with shady casuarina trees and beach chairs, and backed…
17. Khao Tao Hua Hin
12 km · about 20 min from Hua Hin — Khao Tao is a quiet seaside area just south of Khao Takiab, about 12 km from central Hua Hin, where a small fishing community, a hillside temple, a…
18. Pranburi Forest Park
25 km · about 30 min from Hua Hin — Pranburi Forest Park protects mangrove forest and a casuarina-shaded beach at the mouth of the Pranburi River, about 25 km south of Hua Hin. A wooden boardwalk winds…
19. Sam Roi Yot National Park
60 km · about 1 hour from Hua Hin — Sam Roi Yot National Park, officially Khao Sam Roi Yot or “the mountain of three hundred peaks”, is one of the most rewarding day trips from Hua Hin.…
20. Damnoen Saduak Floating Market
130 km · about 1.75 hours from Hua Hin — Damnoen Saduak Floating Market is the image many people have of Thailand: wooden boats piled with tropical fruit, vendors in wide straw hats and narrow canals lined with…
21. Maeklong Railway Market
140 km · about 1.75 hours from Hua Hin — Maeklong Railway Market in Samut Songkhram is one of the most surprising sights near Hua Hin. Stalls of fish, fruit and vegetables line the railway tracks, and when…
22. Amphawa Floating Market
140 km · about 2 hours from Hua Hin — Amphawa Floating Market is a weekend favourite with Thai families: a canal-side town where wooden shophouses glow in the evening and boats grill fresh seafood right at the…
23. Phetchaburi Day Trip from Hua Hin
65 km · about 1 hour from Hua Hin — A Phetchaburi day trip is one of the easiest and most rewarding outings from Hua Hin. This historic provincial town has a royal palace on a hilltop, a…
24. Pansuk Food and Farm
45 km · about 50 min from Hua Hin — Pansuk Food and Farm is a roadside stop in Phetchaburi where you can eat, shop for local sweets and let the children meet farm animals — all in…
25. Prachuap Khiri Khan Day Trip from Hua Hin
90 km · about 1.25 hours from Hua Hin — Prachuap Khiri Khan is a charming seaside town on a sweeping bay framed by limestone headlands, and a relaxed day trip from Hua Hin. Expect a calm beach…
26. Ban Krut Beach Guide
160 km · about 2 hours from Hua Hin — Ban Krut is a peaceful beach town in southern Prachuap Khiri Khan province, loved for its long, uncrowded shoreline and the golden chedi gleaming on the hill above…
Need a ride?
Private car with a local Thai driver, fixed price agreed before you travel.
