Banglamphu is the old riverside quarter immediately north of the royal island, best known to travellers as the home of Khao San Road. For decades this single lane of guesthouses, bars, tattoo parlours, and pad thai carts has been the gravitational centre of Southeast Asian backpacking, and it still throbs with neon and music well past midnight.
Step a few streets away, though, and Banglamphu turns quiet and genuinely old. Phra Athit Road runs along the river past shophouse cafes and the leafy grounds of Phra Sumen Fort. The National Gallery occupies a former royal mint, and the Golden Mount at Wat Saket offers the best free view over the old city from its hilltop chedi.
The neighbourhood is an easy walk or river-boat ride from Rattanakosin, making it a convenient base for sightseeing -- provided you can sleep through the Khao San soundtrack.