TRAVEL/ 8 hotspots to visit in Hua Hin (Thailand)

If you have read my previous blogpost, you might already have had an introduction or an overview about how my holiday in Hua Hin this year looked like, why I chose Hua Hin and more (if not, it would be interesting to first read that blogpost).
Like I have said before, this time was my second time visiting the surroundings of Hua Hin in Thailand, a very nice and calm place between the North and South of Thailand.
It is an ideal environment to go to for a beach holiday since the beach is quite nice and calm, also if you like nice and luxurious resorts, this is the place to be.

Anyway, the first time I visit a completely different country and culture, I want to experience a little more than just sitting at the beach. The first time I visited this beautiful place and country was last year, so there I went to a lot of touristic hotspots.
I have to admit, this year that wasn’t really the case since I had already seen most of the things in the neighbourhood last year and I was just looking for a holiday with relaxation and not so much more than that (I am currently visiting Bangkok, though!).
However, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to show you something more than just the resort I have been staying at in Hua Hin. I want to persuade you of the beauty in this region and show you all the nice places you can visit here next to sitting relaxed at a pool or a beach! 😉
Note that MOST of the pictures have been taken last year when I didn’t have my DSLR camera yet and just clicked every picture with a phone or a bad quality camera. Just an FYI since the quality of the pictures is really below level, but atleast it gives some visuals to my explanation. 😉

MY 8 HOTSPOTS TO VISIT IN HUA HIN:

1)  CICADA MARKET (and Evening market)

Cicada market is not the regular type of market. It gets organised every weekend and the way the market looks is already very beautiful. What they sell here is not just clothing and food, but it has more of an artistic vibe. You can find handmade gifts and art made by creative people and artists. Next to that, there are also a lot of expositions and you can watch music concerts and dance shows. I think it is the ideal way to spend your Friday, Saturday or Sunday evening out! At least I thought it was very cozy.

Oh, and then you have the typical evening market. I think the evening market is there almost everyday and it is the ideal place to find a cute bikini or some souvenirs for a good price.

 

Cicada market full of atmosphere…

Me at the evening market at Hua Hin. (old outfit: dress from Hollister, shoes from Tommy Hillfiger)

 

2) VANA NAVA WATERPARK

This waterpark is something I visited during this holiday and not last year. Since I stayed in Intercontinental, I got free entrance into the waterpark. It was a long time ago I had visited a waterpark, but this one was really big and had some impressive big slides. It was really a nice day out, but for some reason I didn’t really see a lot of tourists. It was mostly visited by Thai people when we were there. Oh, and another thing I thought was quite nice is that you could have your own little space in the shadow with some cozy and comfortable pillows in a couch sort of thing (you had to pay an extra fee, though.) It gave you a way to relax in all luxury when you were not in the water!

Such a fun waterpark at Hua Hin! You also got the option to rent a small place for yourself for the day in the shadow with comfortable pillows in the couch. That is of course what I did, what did you expect? 😉

3. PHRAYA NAKHON CAVE

I remember visiting this cave last year when I finally saw the amazing Phraya Nakhon Cave after a very long and though climb. I remember my boyfriend (who had been visiting this cave before) saying that it wasn’t such a big climb and that we could take a boat and then it would be just a short climbing to get to the cave. Well, that was true that we normally could take a boat but apparently this day there were too many waves so we had to walk the whole trip. OMG, that was quite a tiring trip! Even though I was sweating like crazy, I was really amazed by the beautiful view when I finally reached the temple/cave. It is really a stunning cave with a small temple in the middle.

4.  HUAY MONGKOL TEMPLE

One of the things I wanted to see atleast when I visited Thailand was a temple. The Wat Huay Mongkol temple is really a beautiful temple to visit at 15 kms west of Hua Hin. It is famous for its enormous statue of one of Thailand’s most famous monks, named Luang Phor Thuad.

On each side of the giant statue, there is a huge wooden elephant were local people walk in circles under the belly of the elephatns wishing for good luck. You also find a Buddhist temple with a statue of King Taksin the Great on horseback and shops were Buddhist amulets can be bought.

The temple (dress: ASOS.com, sunglasses: Rayban)

 

5. THE VINEYARD

Even though, Thailand is not so known for its wine, they still have some big vineyards to offer. I thought this was a very beautiful place to visit and that is also why me and my boyfriend have celebrated Valentine’s day here. The Vineyard has a very cozy and nice restaurant on the top of the hill where you can dine at the terrace with an amazing view over the vineyard. Ofcourse, you can also taste several kinds of wine here. 😉
You can have a look into the wine making process if you want and next to that, you can also have a tour on an elephant while going through the fields. Really one of my top places to visit in Hua Hin!

What I also love to do is renting a scooter. We did that last year and we explored the whole region of Hua Hin like that. I find it better than going by car because for some reason it gives you that adventurous feeling with a lot of freedom. That way you can also have a better look at your surroundings and especially the road from Hua Hin to the vineyard is really beautiful itself.

 

6. KOH TALU ISLAND

This Island is not really located in Hua Hin but it is one of the trips that can be done when you are staying in Hua Hin. Even though I like the beach in Hua Hin, there are still places that have even more blue water and white sand and where you can snorkle to see the corals. To see and do that, you can take a trip to the closest island which is Koh Talu.
You have to get up early since it is quite a long drive to there but it is really worth it! First it is quite some driving and then you have to take a boat to Koh Talu. Don’t forget to take some car sickness pills with you because the boat trip also takes some time and there were quite a lot of waves on the water so I got a little sea sick. However, that soon passed when I saw this amazing looking Island. We mostly snorkled there to see the variety of fish and coral riffs. I remember going to Spain some years ago and going with a boat to some place where we could also snorkle but it was not as beautiful as the snorkling trip at Koh Talu. Really something everyone should do!

 

7. PRAN BURI FOREST

The Pran Buri Forest is actually mainly mangrove. The only time I had seen a mangrove forest was by looking at the Robinson Expedition programme on the television so I already had some thought of how it would look like, but I would say it looked better in real life. Maybe it was more because of the fact they always showed some ugly big spiders in that programme and that I directly thought being in a mangrove is something dangerous (or in my case just scary since I suffer under arachnophobia). However, it was totally not the case. I thought it was a really cozy 20 minutes walk through the mangrove forest, where you could -indeed- spot a lot of  different animals (I didn’t see creepy spiders :p). That walk we finished with a very lovely boat trip on the river that goes through the mangrove forest. There you could see some special lizards – oh, I am sorry for my lack of precision- and a very authentic Thai fisherman’s village.

First a walking trip through the mangrove forest of 20 minutes. After that an interesting boat trip on the river while seeing exciting animals and a fisherman’s village. I don’t know if the details of my outfits are interesting, lol. It is not my style anymore but for people interested: skirt and top of Hollister and sandals of Michael Kors.

8. SHOPPING MALLS (Market village & Bluport)

I might already have been talking about Bluport in my previous blogpost, anyway for me shopping is always a hotspot. Bluport is the shopping mall connected to Intercontinental resort where I stayed and is also more high end in terms of the fact that you can buy expensive and well known brands there, which ofcourse needs a little higher budget.
I personally really liked Market Village, it is a shopping mall that has more typical Thai clothing stores and at the basement there are all small boutiques where you can really score some deals. Market Village is a little cheaper but also sells more typical Thai clothing style and has less European chains.

Me in front of Market Village.

Bluport shopping mall