Chiang Mai

Arriving in Chiang Mai

After spending a couple of weeks in South and Central Thailand, we were very keen to explore the North as well. We arrived in Chiang Mai after a quick flight from bustling Bangkok – the city immediately felt much more tranquil and had a more traditional-historic vibe.

Things to do

Chiang Mai has so much to offer, we could have spent weeks and weeks exploring the countless temples, the traditional houses tucked away in nooks and crannies, the cool bars and, of course, all the restaurants. So let’s dive in and see what you can do in one of Thailand’s most popular destinations!

Wat Pha Lat Hike (Monk’s Trail)

This is a very nice hike of about 20-30 minutes along a well-shaded uphill path. At the top, you reach the peaceful forest temple Wat Pha Lat, historically known as Wat Sakadagam, and you are treated to amazing views of the city from above! The path was quiet and empty, and we only saw a few other people hiking with us. The Buddhist temple is surrounded by beautiful greenery, and the area felt very relaxing. The locals also call this temple “The Monastery of the Sloping Rocks”. There was a lot to discover by walking around, such as stone sculptures, an antique shrine hall, and a little stream with a small bridge crossing it. This temple gets far fewer visitors than its neighbouring siblings.

Location of the trailhead: Google Maps

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

This is Chiang Mai’s most famous ancient temple – surely not a coincidence; it is definitely one of the most impressive ones we saw in Thailand! The complex consists of multiple golden pagodas and temples in typical Lanna architecture, such as the crossed wooden finials at roof peaks (Kalae). You can even get a personal blessing from a monk. The temple offers a spectacular view of the city. As it is located on a hill a little far from the old town, there is a public bus you can take from the city centre. We did this on the way there and for our ride back, we booked a taxi via Grab. The ride was extremely unpleasant, as the winding road down the mountain has many turns and Isi started to suffer from motion sickness. This seems quite common and is also often mentioned in reviews, so be aware. As this is a popular tourist attraction, it does get very crowded, and we would recommend getting there early in the morning. This also allows you to escape the heat, which we found almost unbearable in March.

Why not join a spiritual sunrise tour guided by an ex-monk? Even though we did not do this exotic tour ourselves, two friends of ours did and enjoyed it very much! You will get many interesting insights into a monk’s life and hear all about the temples from their perspective. There are multiple tours available, here is the one they booked specifically: Link to Viator

Location: Google Maps

Aromdii Cooking School

Thailand has one of the best cuisines in the world (in our opinion, at least), so we were very keen to learn how to prepare some traditional Thai dishes. This is a very popular activity, so finding a good cooking school can be a bit tricky. We found Aromdii, an incredible cooking school that we can wholeheartedly recommend! We heard stories from friends about cooking schools where classes run as big as 30-40 people, and instructors rush through basic recipes at incredible speed. Luckily, Aromdii was nothing like that! Unlike many cooking schools in the city, this is not a mass event but only a small group of 6-8 people.

Before the cooking begins, you are picked up in the city by bus and, once the group is complete, you visit a small market (Kad Kom, to be precise) selling meat and fresh produce. Here, you learn about flavours and the pairing of different ingredients, as well as how to pick good & fresh produce for your meals.

The cooking is done in an outdoor kitchen in a great atmosphere and takes about 4 hours altogether. We cooked a 5-course meal each and had far too much food to finish! It was just so delicious, though, that we just kept eating until we were completely stuffed… In case of leftovers, you can learn how to wrap them the proper Thai way, just like you see at food markets – in an inflated plastic bag sealed with a rubber band. 😀

There are a lot of dishes to choose from. We cooked soups for starters; green curry, pad thai, pad see ew and spring rolls for mains, and mango sticky rice and pumpkin pudding for dessert.

You can book the cooking experience directly on Aromdii’s website and pick the dishes your heart desires from their menu in advance.

Location: Google Maps

Walk around the old town and shop for artisanal goods

Another thing we loved was simply exploring the old town and its many restaurants, traditional architecture, small temples, and souvenir shops selling handmade items. Chiang Mai has a long tradition of handmade crafts, such as items carved from wood, silver jewellery, paper lanterns, and handwoven textiles. You won’t have a hard time locating the old town – it is basically the area encircled by a rectangular outer road. You can, for example, start at Chiang Mai Gate in the south and work your way up north, taking small detours here and there from the main road.

Chat with a monk about anything

Keep an eye out for the many monks around the city offering free consultation at temples! Speak to them about anything you like! This might turn out to be a holiday experience you will never forget.

Kalm Village Art Centre

If you have some spare time, explore this art complex housing multiple smaller exhibitions showcasing traditional Thai pieces, a cute café and small boutique shops.

Location: Google Maps

Visit an elephant sanctuary

Chiang Mai is famous for having a number of ethical elephant sanctuaries where you can experience elephants up close. There are, however, plenty of institutions that put profit first and do not act in the animals’ best interests. To find out if a sanctuary is ethical, research their efforts on conservation and animal care in advance. Here are some good starting points for finding a proper sanctuary: World Animal Protection, Responsible Thailand, Responsible Travel. We also found that simply reading first-hand reviews on Google Maps can shed some light on the ethical standards of different sanctuaries.

We had a fantastic time at Le Cher Elephant Home and highly recommend it! The founder, Jack, grew up in the Karen community, an indigenous tribe from Myanmar and Northern Thailand. Elephants played a significant role in his and his family’s life as a child, and now he owns a large piece of jungle land where the elephants he adopted can roam around freely. His main goal is to guide these elephants (often born in captivity) back to their natural habitat by teaching them how to forage for food, find shelter and live without human support.

While most sanctuaries schedule several group tours per day, Jack only accepts 3 groups of a maximum of 5 people per week, so that the elephants get enough time alone in nature. It comes across immediately, just how much he loves and cares for these animals and being able to learn from his immense knowledge was very exciting! He also has a fantastic campsite and homestay with comfortable rooms. As the place is a little far from Chiang Mai old town, we definitely recommend staying at least one night and allocating enough time for a full-day elephant tour. If you contact him in advance, he might even be able to pick you up from Chiang Mai center. He has a 5-star rating on Google and it is completely deserved.

You can contact Jack and book your stay or tour directly on his website: Le Cher Elephant Home

In our case, we did a one-week volunteering program at the homestay and had so many incredible experiences! We were treated to the most delicious home-cooked food that we still talk about to this day. One of our most treasured memories from Thailand!

Location: Google Maps

Yi Peng Lantern Festival

This is a popular festival taking place in November. The city’s streets and temples are decorated with colourful lanterns, and the three-day festival used to culminate in people releasing thousands of lit lanterns into the sky (this activity has been officially banned for a couple of years now). Lanterns are believed to carry wishes to the heavens and take away bad fortune.

Bo Sang Village

Another popular tourist destination, Bo Sang is a village known for its handcrafted umbrellas and parasols, which are also part of Chiang Mai’s cultural heritage. You cannot only marvel at the beautiful sa paper umbrellas but also take part in a traditional umbrella crafting workshop here.

Location: Google Maps

Visit Chiang Rai

If you are in the northern regions of Thailand, you might as well consider visiting Chiang Rai. Many people opt for a daytrip from Chiang Mai to visit the White Temple and the Blue Temple. We do think it’s worth spending a couple of days in Chiang Rai though! The city has a more relaxed Thai vibe with much fewer tourists, beautiful nature and great food spots. If you want to know more about how to best spend your time there, make sure to check out our guide about Chiang Rai!

Food

Chiang Mai was a true food heaven for us, and we found plenty of delicious and affordable food options. The Northern Thai cuisine, shaped by the Lanna culture, is distinctive in taste, as it is influenced by neighbouring regions such as Myanmar and Yunnan. Here are some of the dishes we tried and loved:

• The best-known dish from the region is undoubtedly Khao Soi, a spicy coconut curry noodle soup. It is a must-try! We had it at a small restaurant run by a lovely elderly couple, called Huan Sao Kam. Location

• Mango sticky rice is a popular dessert throughout Thailand, and especially in Chiang Mai, as the required type of rice is widely grown in the region. You’ll find it at every market and most restaurants in the city.

• Hotel & Restaurant U: while the bar upstairs did not convince us, the restaurant downstairs has excellent food. Location, Website

• Coco Mango: delicious ice cream and desserts with fresh mango and coconut. There are multiple locations across Chiang Mai, here is one of the branches.

• Chiang Mai Gate market: a cool local market with delicious food in the evening. We visited a couple of times and had superb pad thai, pad see ew and other Thai classics like mango sticky rice for just €1-2. Location

• Auntie Mon’s Delicious Flavors: a spontaneous find near the train station – the pictures might not look inviting, and we were a bit skeptical too, but Auntie Mon’s food is super delicious! All the locals gave us curious looks as we were the only tourists eating here. 😀 Location

• Eat lots of mangoes! They are so fresh and rich in taste compared to the ones imported to Europe. We were completely blown away, never tasted mangoes like these before.
• Another thing we fell in love with is banana/plantain chips. You’ll find them in many countries around Southeast Asia, but the ones in Thailand were especially delicious.
• The White Rabbit: if you are into cool bars, this one was recommended to us multiple times. They are supposed to have delicious cocktails in a fancy-speakeasy setting. We did not get to visit this time, but here is the location.
• There is also a number of cafés catering more to Western tourists and to the city’s growing expat community. We did not visit any, but were recommended the Single Origin Store Tha Pae for creative takes on classic coffee drinks. Location

Hotels & Accommodation

We would recommend staying in the old city. This way, you can reach many attractions on foot. We had a fantastic stay at a boutique hotel called U Chiang Mai Hotel for Adam’s birthday and particularly enjoyed the breakfast here. We were surprised how upscale the hotel was and definitely felt a little embarrassed arriving straight from the elephant jungle with our muddy trekking shoes and backpacks, melting in sweat from the insane heat.

While researching accommodations, we also considered the following options, which all seem great as well:

• Parasol Inn ($)
• Chinda Boutique Hotel ($)
• Fav Inn Town Hotel ($$)
• Estia Chiang Mai ($$)
• Patra Phrasing Boutique Hotel ($$$)

They are all conveniently situated in the old city and have great reviews across various booking platforms.

Transportation

Getting to Chiang Mai

The quickest way of getting from Bangkok to Chiang Mai is by plane. The flight takes around 1 hour 15 minutes and the route is served by multiple airlines like VietJet, AirAsia and Thai Airways. You can score a ticket for as low as €15 (excluding luggage) if you book in well in advance. From Bangkok to Chiang Mai was actually the only journey we did by flight, and we managed to do everything else by bus and train during our 6 weeks in the country.

Another option is taking the train, which is what we did on our way back to Bangkok. The journey takes between 10h30m and 12h30m, depending on which train you book. There is also an overnight sleeper option with foldable beds. We found them to be clean, punctual and quite comfy, actually, and were glad we saved some sightseeing time by travelling during the night. Make sure to bring earplugs and a sleeping mask though, as the tracks can be a bit rattly from time to time, and lights in the carriage are kept on during the entire ride. Tickets sell out very fast, so it is best to book in advance as soon as your trip plans are set! We payed around €25 per person for a berth in the overnight special express train.

The cheapest but probably least convenient option is taking the bus. The ride takes around 11 hours either overnight or during the day, and tickets sell for as low as €18. It is recommended to check the schedules on 12go.asia. We would only consider this option if train tickets are already sold out and flights are way too expensive.

Getting around in the city

Walking in the old city is the probably the best way to explore Chiang Mai. However, if you are in need of a ride, Grab works well here for taxis and motorcycles. Prices are also very affordable. Tuk-tuks are also available, but they looked more like a fun ride for tourists rather than an efficient mode of transport. Many accommodations offer rental bikes (which we couldn’t take advantage of, sadly, due to the scorching heat).

Best time to visit

Chiang Mai’s cooler climate offers a nice escape from the hot southern shores of Thailand. The months from November to January mark the main season for tourism, and while it is still sunny during the day, evening temperatures can drop to 15°C.

The “smoky season” lasts from February to April – during this time, the air often becomes polluted with smoke, which is the result of slash-and-burn agricultural practices in the surrounding regions. We were lucky enough to not experience any of this in March, but still take this as a word of caution. You can often find Reddit posts about the current situation, so make sure to check the Thailand Tourism community for updates.

April deserves a special mention – this is peak summer with the hottest weather, but also the time for the Songkran festival, a three-day water fight!

The rainy season, brought by the southwest moonsoon, lasts from June until October. Showers usually occur in short bursts, and flash floodings are also common in the region.