Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat — universally known as Wat Yai — is Phitsanulok's main reason to stop. The temple, founded in 1357, houses the Phra Phuttha Chinnarat, arguably the most beautiful Buddha image in Thailand and certainly the most copied. The late-afternoon light filtering through the wihan onto the gilded bronze figure is the moment photographers wait for.
Across the Nan River, the Sgt Major Thawee Folk Museum is an exceptional private collection of rural Thai material culture. Nearby, the Buranathai Buddha Image Foundry is a still-active workshop where you can watch sculptors casting Buddha images in bronze using traditional methods. In the evening, head to the riverfront for the night market and the raft restaurants floating on the Nan.