CHIANG MAI · NORTHERN THAILAND
A 700-year temple city in the cool, green north.
King Mangrai's old Lanna capital: a moated grid of gold temples beneath the sacred peak of Doi Suthep. Ethical elephant sanctuaries, market-to-wok cooking classes, hill-tribe valleys and day trips out to Doi Inthanon and the painted temples of Chiang Rai.
A World Heritage nominee
Inside the seven-hundred-year-old walls.
Founded in 1296, the old city is a near-perfect square of moat and brick gates holding more than thirty temples in walking distance of each other. Together with Doi Suthep it forms Thailand's bid for UNESCO World Heritage listing. Start at Wat Phra Singh and Wat Chedi Luang, then lose an afternoon in the lanes between them.
Walk the old city temples →What the north is known for
Three things people come to Chiang Mai to do.
Temples and markets you will find across Thailand. The ethical elephant day, the farm cooking class and the climb to the mountain temple are the experiences this city is built around.
Ethical sanctuaries
A Day With the Elephants
Chiang Mai is the centre of ethical elephant care in Thailand. At the sanctuaries in the hills around town you feed, walk and bathe rescued elephants in the river. No chains, no riding, no circus tricks.
- 1 From Chiang Mai: Elephant Care Program and Nursery Tour
- 2 Chiang Mai Elephant Sanctuary, Bamboo Rafting and Waterfall Tour
- 3 From Chiang Mai: Kerchor Eco Elephant Park Tour
Market to wok
Cook the Northern Kitchen
Start in a local market learning the herbs and pastes, drive out to an organic farm, then cook your own khao soi, curries and som tam over a flame. Half a day that travellers rate above almost anything else here.
- 1 Chiang Mai: Cooking Class with Market and Pickup
- 2 Chiang Mai: Cooking Class with Organic Farm at Mama Noi
- 3 Full Day Thai Cooking at Farm (Chiang Mai)
The sacred mountain
The Temple Above the City
Wat Phra That Doi Suthep sits high on the mountain that shares the World Heritage nomination with the old city. Climb the 306-step naga staircase to the gold chedi, then look back over the whole Chiang Mai valley.
- 1 Chiang Mai: Wat Pha Lat & Wat Phra That Doi Suthep Tour
- 2 Wat Phra That Doi Suthep spiritual Sunrise Tour with an Ex-monk
- 3 Chiang Mai – Doi Suthep Temple & Wat Pha Lat Hike
Start with the standout
The single most booked experience in the city.
More travellers build a Chiang Mai trip around this one day than anything else on the site.
The classics
Chiang Mai's Most Popular Days Out
Elephants, cooking classes, Doi Suthep and the day trips into the mountains. The experiences most travellers come north for.
Where to begin
The experiences a Chiang Mai trip is built around.
The temples inside the moat, the elephant sanctuaries, the cooking classes, the highest mountain in the country and the painted temples up at Chiang Rai. The handful of days most trips are planned around, and the best way to do each.
Worth the early start
Three day trips out of the valley.
Chiang Mai is the base, but some of the best days are a drive away. Mountains to the south, painted temples to the north, and a waterfall you climb in between.
After dark
The city comes out at night.
When the heat drops, the streets fill up. Sunday turns Ratchadamnoen Road into a mile-long walking street of crafts and food carts, the Saturday market runs the silver quarter on Wualai, and the Night Bazaar trades every evening of the week. Pull up a plastic stool for khao soi and grilled river fish.
See the markets & street food →The roof of Thailand
Two thousand five hundred metres above the heat.
Doi Inthanon climbs to 2,565 metres, the highest point in the country, where the air turns cold and the forest hangs with moss. Below the summit are the Wachirathan falls, hill-tribe coffee farms and the two royal chedis built for the king and queen, ringed by terraced flower gardens.
Doi Inthanon tours →By place
The old city, and the country around it.
The walled centre for the temples. Doi Suthep for the mountain shrine. Doi Inthanon for the high forest. Chiang Rai for the painted temples. Mae Kampong and Chiang Dao for the quiet hills.
By activity
Pick how to spend the day.
A wok and a market. A morning with the elephants. A trek to a hill-tribe village, a downhill cycle, a raft on the Mae Taeng, or a Khantoke dinner with northern dance.
Plan it
Three perfect days.
First time in the north? Here is a long weekend that covers the temples, the elephants and the mountains without a wasted hour.
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