Temple junkies will be satisfied for days with the town itself but the highlight is definitely the mountain.

• Khao Wang, the famous old royal palace complex on the mountain has a huge, very elegant stupa, some caves with bats, shrines and animal sacrifices, a well-scuplted, vast gold-plated reclining buddha and a museum. Depending on the entrance you take you may be charged a tourist tax. The main entrance is infested by extremely chubby and impertinent monkeys. You can buy bananas for them from numerous small retailers.

From Bangkok, the blue express bus from Bangkok's Southern Bus Terminal will take you directly to Phetchaburi's bus terminal, which is adjacent to a night market. The express buses leave Bangkok at least every hour, and you should allow three hours for the journey, which will cost 100-150 baht. Take care to avoid the blue and orange bus, as this will stop many times and will take much longer to reach Phetchaburi.

You can also reach Phetchaburi by train from Hua Lamphong; the journey normally takes around four hours, but can occasionally take longer. This will cost 100-250 baht, depending on the type of train.

A taxi from Bangkok should cost no more than 2000 baht and should take around two hours.

Phetchaburi itself is blissfully free of traffic snarls, except on the main North-South highway that bisects the Province but by-passes the town.

There are no meter taxis. There are tuk-tuks, motorcycle taxis, and for a slow cruise around the market area, plenty of traditional two-seat pedal-power tricycle taxis. Whatever your means of transportation, it would be a good idea to have your destination written down in Thai for the driver.

For longer journeys around the Province there are local buses (trucks with benches) available from the market area, but you need to ask the drivers for their destinations (you will quickly be directed to the correct bus).

Most of the important temples (except Khao Wang) are within walking distance of the market area.

In Phetchaburi you can buy all of the staples of daily life as a Buddhist in Thailand with great convenience, but as regards souvenirs, there are just a few small but adequate shops around the base of the cable car that serves the Khao Wang palace. For Thai silk and clothing, the Big C hypermarket on the main highway carries a modest selection, as do a handful of shops in the market area.

Serious souvenir-hunters might wish to head South about 40 miles to Hua Hin, where there are plenty of high class souvenir shops.

Phetchaburi province is famous throughout Thailand for its Thai desserts - Khanom Thai - delicious candy-like finger food made from egg, palm sugar, coconut, and a binding agent, usually crushed beans or flour. The main North-South highway is dotted with large stores offering a bewildering variety of such sweetmeats, if your waistline can cope.

Like all Thai cities, Phetchaburi has hundreds of restaurants and cafes, serving almost every variety of Thai food. Many of them specialise in just a few menu items, so the trick is to decide what you want to eat before you decide on where to eat. There is almost no English language signage, so specific recommendations are not especially helpful. On the other hand, whichever of these cafes or restaurants you choose to frequent, your chances of not being served a wholesome Thai dish are very low.

If you wish to be "safe," the two hotels mentioned below have restaurants that will likely not disappoint you. In addition, the Big C has several Western-style franchises under its roof (e.g., Chester's Grill, KFC), with air conditioning and English language menus. But be advised this establishment suffers from severe noise pollution.

Apart from a few Chinese restaurants, the aforementioned Big C franchises, and two pizza parlors in peripheral locations, anything other than Thai food is almost impossible to find in Phetchaburi city.