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Chiang Mai, Thailand, top 10 things to do (Wimup travel guide)

▶ Video · Chiang Mai on Foot

Video guide · 1:12:31

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Top 10AsiaThailand

Top 10 Things To Do in Chiang Mai

Country

Best months

Nov · Dec · Jan

Population

~1.2M

Language

Thai

Budget / day

$40–85

Quick answer

Give Chiang Mai four days. One belongs inside the walls, where Wat Chedi Luang and Wat Phra Singh sit within a fifteen-minute walk of each other. The second climbs Doi Suthep, with Wat Pha Lat and the forest trail on the way. The third goes to Doi Inthanon or an elephant sanctuary. Keep the fourth for the markets and Nimmanhaemin. Come between November and February.

Chiang Mai on Foot

▶ Video guide

Chiang Mai was built to be a capital and has never quite stopped behaving like one. King Mangrai laid out the square walled city in 1296, and seven centuries later that grid is still the map: 1.6 km a side, a moat around it, and roughly thirty working temples inside. Around it is a second city of coffee roasters and mountain roads.

The 10 best things to do in Chiang Mai

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai, Thailand

1

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

Temple· Suthep, Mueang Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai

The temple every visit is measured against, and the one you can see from the city. Legend puts its founding in 1383, when a white elephant carrying a relic climbed the mountain and lay down. The road only arrived in 1935, so for five centuries the way up was the 306-step naga staircase. The upper terrace is the point: a gilded chedi and the whole Ping valley.

Time2–3 hrs

CostTicketed

Best atEarly morning

TipSongthaews leave from near Chiang Mai University

Wat Chedi Luang, Chiang Mai, Thailand

2

Wat Chedi Luang

Temple· 103 Prapokkloa Rd, Si Phum, Mueang Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai

The ruin at the centre of the old city, and the most affecting thing inside the walls. The chedi was finished in the fifteenth century as the tallest structure in the Lanna kingdom, and an earthquake in 1545 took the top off it. Nobody has rebuilt the crown, which is why it still reads as a monument rather than a restoration. Come at dusk.

Time45–60 min

CostTicketed

Best atLate afternoon

TipMonk chat tables run in the compound most afternoons

Sunday Walking Street, Chiang Mai, Thailand

3

Sunday Walking Street

Market· Ratchadamnoen Rd, Si Phum, Mueang Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai

Every Sunday the old city's main axis closes to traffic and fills, from Tha Phae Gate west toward Wat Phra Singh, with a market that spills into four temple courtyards. Those courtyards are the reason to persevere: the street is shoulder to shoulder by eight, while the food sits inside the wats at half the price.

Time2–3 hrs

CostFree

Best atFrom 5pm

TipEat in the temple courtyards, not on the street

Doi Inthanon National Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand

4

Doi Inthanon National Park

Nature· Ban Luang, Chom Thong, Chiang Mai

Thailand's highest ground, 2,565 m, about two hours southwest. The summit is an anticlimax, a car park in cloud forest, so the day is about what sits below it: the twin royal chedis, the Ang Ka boardwalk through moss and rhododendron, and three waterfalls on the way up. It is genuinely cold at the top in December and January.

TimeFull day

CostTicketed

Best atNovember to February

TipBring a fleece, the summit runs 10–15°C below the city

Map ↗ Website

Wat Phra Singh, Chiang Mai, Thailand

5

Wat Phra Singh

Temple· 2 Samlan Rd, Phra Sing, Mueang Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai

The city's principal temple and the best surviving Lanna woodwork in it. Skip past the modern assembly hall and go to the Wihan Lai Kham behind it: a small fourteenth-century structure with gilded stencil work on red lacquer and murals whose real subject is everyday Lanna life. The compound anchors the Sunday market.

Time45–60 min

CostTicketed

Best atMorning

TipThe Wihan Lai Kham is the small hall at the back

Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand

6

Elephant Nature Park

Wildlife· Kuet Chang, Mae Taeng, Chiang Mai

The sanctuary that changed what an elephant visit in northern Thailand looks like. Lek Chailert founded it in 1995 in the Mae Taeng valley, and it takes in animals retired or injured out of logging and trekking camps. No riding, no bathing circus, no performance. Read the operator's own page: the word sanctuary is used loosely here.

TimeHalf or full day

CostTicketed

Best atBook weeks ahead

TipTransport from the city is arranged by the park

Map ↗ Website

Warorot Market, Chiang Mai, Thailand

7

Warorot Market

Market· Wichayanon Rd, Chang Moi, Mueang Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai

Kad Luang, the great market, and the one Chiang Mai actually shops at. Three floors on the riverside edge of the old town: dried chilli and coils of sai ua below, fabric above, and a flower market along the lane toward the Ping. It opens early and thins by late afternoon, which is the opposite of the night markets.

Time1–2 hrs

CostFree

Best atBefore noon

TipBuy sai ua by weight from the stalls on the ground floor

Wat Umong, Chiang Mai, Thailand

8

Wat Umong

Temple· 135 Suthep, Mueang Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai

A forest monastery at the foot of Doi Suthep, built around brick tunnels cut into the base of a chedi in the fourteenth century. The tunnels still carry traces of painting, and the temperature drops as you go in. Above them the grounds run to woodland, a lake and a field of broken images left where they were gathered.

Time1 hr

CostFree

Best atMid-morning

TipCombine it with Wat Suan Dok, ten minutes east

Nimmanhaemin and One Nimman, Chiang Mai, Thailand

9

Nimmanhaemin and One Nimman

Neighborhood· Nimmanhaemin Rd, Suthep, Mueang Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai

The university side of town, and where the city's coffee reputation was made. Nimmanhaemin runs north from the Suthep road with numbered sois off it, each carrying roasters, small restaurants and design shops. One Nimman anchors the north end. The easiest place to eat well without planning anything.

TimeHalf day

CostFree

Best atLate afternoon

TipThe numbered sois are quieter than the main road

Map ↗ Website

Wat Pha Lat and the Monk's Trail, Chiang Mai, Thailand

10

Wat Pha Lat and the Monk's Trail

Temple· Suthep, Mueang Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai

The half-way temple on Doi Suthep, and the reason to walk rather than drive. The Monk's Trail starts behind the university's back gate and climbs through forest for about forty minutes, marked by strips of orange cloth. What it arrives at is a compound built into a stream, with almost none of the crowd further up the road.

Time2–3 hrs

CostFree

Best atEarly morning

TipTrail shoes, the stone is slick after rain

7 of the 10, mapped

Chiang Mai · 7 spots

AllLandmarksMuseumsFoodFree

Chiang Mai travel FAQ

How many days do you need in Chiang Mai?+

Four is the honest answer. One day covers the old city temples on foot, one goes up Doi Suthep, one goes out to Doi Inthanon or an elephant sanctuary, and one is for the markets and Nimmanhaemin. A fifth buys Mae Kampong or Chiang Dao. If you are stopping for a week, the city rewards it.

When is the best time to visit Chiang Mai?+

November to February. The air is dry and cool, the mountain views are clear, and Loy Krathong and the flower festival both fall inside it. Avoid late February through April, the burning season, when smoke pushes air quality to some of the worst readings in the world.

How do you get from Bangkok to Chiang Mai?+

Three ways. Flying takes about seventy minutes into CNX, 4 km from the old city. The overnight sleeper takes twelve to thirteen hours and is a better experience than a cheap flight. Coaches take nine to eleven hours. Book the train well ahead in the cool season, when berths sell out.

Which elephant experiences in Chiang Mai are ethical?+

The test is simple: no riding, no bathing on demand and no performance. Elephant Nature Park in Mae Taeng is the reference, founded in 1995 to take in animals retired out of logging and trekking camps, and several smaller projects follow its model. The word sanctuary is unregulated here, so read the operator's own site.

Do you need a scooter in Chiang Mai?+

Not for the old city, which is walkable end to end, and not for the night markets, where songthaews and Grab cover everything. You want one for Doi Suthep and the valleys either side of the city. Rentals require a licence that covers motorcycles, and the mountain road is not the place to learn.

Temples

Best temples in Chiang Mai

Ten worth the stop, from the gold chedi on the mountain to the tunnel monastery in the forest.

All 10 temples →

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

Doi Suthep

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

Lanna · Ticketed

The mountain temple, founded in 1383 and reached by 306 naga steps or the 1935 road. Gilded chedi, and the view back over the Ping valley.

Wat Chedi Luang

Old city

Wat Chedi Luang

Historic · Ticketed

The fifteenth-century chedi an earthquake cut short in 1545, left unrestored at the centre of the walled city.

Wat Phra Singh

Old city

Wat Phra Singh

Lanna · Ticketed

The city's principal temple. The Wihan Lai Kham behind the main hall holds the best Lanna murals in Chiang Mai.

Wat Umong

Suthep

Wat Umong

Forest · Free

A forest monastery with brick tunnels cut under its chedi, a turtle lake and proverbs hung in the trees.

Wat Phan Tao

Old city

Wat Phan Tao

Teak · Free

All teak, assembled from dismantled palace panels next door to Chedi Luang. Small, dark and the warmest interior in the old city.

Suthep

Wat Suan Dok

Sunset · Free

The flower garden temple, with a field of whitewashed royal mausoleums that turn silver at sunset and a Lanna Buddhist university attached.

Wua Lai

Wat Sri Suphan

Silver · Ticketed

The silver temple of the Wua Lai silversmith quarter, panelled inside and out in beaten aluminium and silver. Men only in the ordination hall.

Wat Chiang Man

Old city

Wat Chiang Man

Oldest · Free

The oldest temple in the city, begun by King Mangrai in 1296 while the walls were still going up. Its chedi stands on carved elephants.

Doi Suthep

Wat Pha Lat

Forest · Free

The half-way temple on Doi Suthep, built into a stream and reached on foot by the Monk's Trail.

Chang Phueak

Wat Lok Moli

Historic · Free

A heavy brick chedi and a teak hall just outside the north wall, holding ashes of the Mangrai dynasty. Rarely busy.

Markets

Best markets in Chiang Mai

Eight markets, and the day of the week matters more than the address.

All 8 markets →

Sunday Walking Street

Old city

Sunday Walking Street

Sundays · Free

Ratchadamnoen closes to traffic every Sunday from late afternoon. The food is in the temple courtyards off it, not on the street.

Saturday Walking Street

Wua Lai

Saturday Walking Street

Saturdays · Free

The Wua Lai version, in the silversmith quarter south of the moat. Smaller, calmer and stronger on craft than souvenirs.

Warorot Market

Chang Moi

Warorot Market

Daytime · Free

Kad Luang, the market the city shops at. Dried goods and sai ua downstairs, fabric above, flowers in the lane toward the river.

Chiang Mai Night Bazaar

Chang Klan

Chiang Mai Night Bazaar

Nightly · Free

The Chang Klan strip that has been running since the Yunnanese caravan trade. Heavy on souvenirs, useful for a late meal.

Jing Jai Market

Chang Phueak

Jing Jai Market

Weekends · Free

A weekend farmers and craft market north of the old city, built around organic produce, small growers and a permanent shop courtyard.

Chiang Mai Gate Market

Old city

Chiang Mai Gate Market

Daily · Free

The southern gate market: produce by day, a dense grilled-food and curry stall row by night. Where the old city eats.

Ton Payom Market

Suthep

Ton Payom Market

Daily · Free

The university market on the Suthep road, cheap and fast, with a good fruit row and northern snacks to take away.

Somphet Market

Old city

Somphet Market

Mornings · Free

A small fresh market on Moon Muang inside the north wall, useful for fruit, curry paste and breakfast.

Restaurants

Best restaurants in Chiang Mai

Ten kitchens, weighted toward the northern dishes the city is judged on.

All 10 restaurants →

Ratchamanka

Huen Phen

Northern Thai · Old city

The old city's northern Thai standard, in a room stacked with Lanna antiques. Order nam prik ong, sai ua and kaeng hang lay.

Tha Phae

Kiti Panit

Northern Thai · Heritage

A restored nineteenth-century shophouse on Tha Phae serving northern recipes with unusual care. The most polished version of this food in town.

Santitham

Huen Muan Jai

Northern Thai · Local

A local favourite in Santitham, strong on the relishes and the curries, and busy with Chiang Mai families rather than tour groups.

Khao Soi Khun Yai

Sri Poom

Khao Soi Khun Yai

Khao soi · Lunch only

A lunchtime khao soi counter beside Wat Kutao that sells out and shuts. Cash, plastic stools, no menu to speak of.

SP Chicken

Samlan

SP Chicken

Grilled · Casual

Rotisserie chicken over charcoal near Wat Phra Singh, with som tam and sticky rice. Order the whole bird.

Nimman

Tong Tem Toh

Northern Thai · Garden

A garden restaurant on Nimman Soi 13 doing northern classics at volume. Put your name down and wait.

Cherng Doi Roast Chicken

Nimman

Cherng Doi Roast Chicken

Grilled · Casual

A small Nimman room built on one dish, charcoal-roast chicken, with northern sides and a queue at seven.

Blackitch Artisan Kitchen

Nimman

Blackitch Artisan Kitchen

Tasting menu · Reserve

Chef Phanuphon Bulsuwan's tasting counter above Nimman Soi 7, built on fermentation and northern producers. Reserve.

Ginger Farm Kitchen

Nimman

Ginger Farm Kitchen

Farm to table · Family

Farm-to-table northern cooking from the family farm in Hang Dong, with a branch in the One Nimman courtyard.

Meena Rice Based Cuisine

San Kamphaeng

Meena Rice Based Cuisine

Northern Thai · Rural

Naturally coloured rice, garden setting and northern dishes, out in the fields southeast of the city. Worth the drive.

Coffee

Best cafes in Chiang Mai

Six roasters, in a city that grows its own beans an hour up the mountain.

All 6 cafes →

Nimman

Ristr8to

Espresso · Nimman

The Nimman bar that put Chiang Mai latte art on the map, run by a competitive barista and still the benchmark for espresso in town.

Akha Ama Coffee

Old city

Akha Ama Coffee

Single origin · Social

A social enterprise founded in 2010, roasting beans grown by Akha families at Mae Chan Tai. Two Chiang Mai rooms and a farm behind them.

Map ↗ Website

Graph Cafe

Old city

Graph Cafe

Signature · Old city

A tiny old-city room doing signature coffee cocktails rather than flat whites. Standing space, strong ideas.

Wat Ket

Khagee

Bakery · Riverside

A Japanese bakery and coffee room in Wat Ket, across the river. Sourdough, hand drip, and a queue for the bread.

Woo Cafe

Charoenrat

Woo Cafe

Garden · Gallery

A cafe, florist and gallery in one Charoenrat shophouse, planted wall to wall. Better for the room than the roast.

Old city

Roastniyom

Roastery · Thai beans

A small roaster in the old city working Thai beans, with the grinders and the sample roaster in the room.

Craft

Best crafts & workshops in Chiang Mai

Five places where the making is the point, all inside a half-hour of the moat.

All 5 crafts & workshops →

Baan Kang Wat

Suthep

Baan Kang Wat

Studios · Workshops

A purpose-built artists' village at the foot of Doi Suthep: ceramics, printmaking and weaving studios around a courtyard, with drop-in workshops.

San Kamphaeng

Bo Sang Umbrella Village

Umbrellas · Bo Sang

The hand-painted parasol village east of the city, where saa paper is stretched over bamboo frames and painted while you watch.

Wua Lai

Wua Lai silversmiths

Silver · Wua Lai

The silver quarter south of the moat, still working repoussé by hand. Wat Sri Suphan at the end of it is panelled in the same metal.

San Kamphaeng

San Kamphaeng handicraft road

Workshops · Road 1006

The old workshop road running east: lacquerware, celadon, teak carving and silk, each with a working floor behind the shop.

Mae Rim

Studio Naenna

Textiles · Natural dye

Natural-dye weaving in Mae Rim, founded to keep northern textile technique alive. A small shop and an exhibition room behind it.

Neighborhoods

Best neighborhoods in Chiang Mai

Six quarters, and where you sleep decides what your Chiang Mai is.

All 6 neighborhoods →

Si Phum

Old City

Historic · Walkable

The square inside the moat: temples, guesthouses, the walking street and everything within fifteen minutes on foot. Loud on Sunday.

Suthep

Nimmanhaemin

Modern · Coffee

The university side, and the coffee and design district. Numbered sois, One Nimman at the top, the best eating per square kilometre.

Wat Ket

Wat Ket

Riverside · Quiet

The east bank of the Ping, an old trading quarter of teak shophouses, a small local museum and the quietest riverside walking in the city.

Chang Klan

Chang Klan

Nightlife · Hotels

The night bazaar strip and the hotel belt around it. Convenient and commercial rather than characterful.

Chang Phueak

Santitham

Residential · Cheap

North of Nimman and much cheaper, where a lot of long-stay residents actually live. Street food and no sightseeing.

Outskirts

Hang Dong and Mae Rim

Rural · Resorts

The valley suburbs either side of the city, where the farm restaurants, resorts and craft studios sit. A vehicle is not optional.

Day trips

Best day trips in Chiang Mai

Eight trips out, from an hour's drive to the far end of the province.

All 8 day trips →

Doi Inthanon National Park

Chom Thong

Doi Inthanon National Park

2 hrs · Ticketed

Thailand's highest point at 2,565 m, with the twin royal chedis, the Ang Ka boardwalk and three waterfalls on the way up.

Map ↗ Website

Mae On

Mae Kampong

1.5 hrs · Free

A tea and coffee village at 1,300 m in the hills east of the city, wooden houses stacked along a stream, with homestays and a waterfall.

Mae Taeng

Bua Thong Sticky Waterfalls

1 hr · Free

Limestone falls you can climb barefoot, the mineral crust giving enough grip to walk straight up the water. Free, and busy at weekends.

Chiang Dao

Chiang Dao

Chiang Dao

1.5 hrs · Ticketed

A limestone massif north of the city with a cave temple at its foot and the third-highest peak in Thailand above it.

Lamphun

Lamphun

40 min · Ticketed

The former Mon capital of Hariphunchai, half an hour south, built around one of the oldest and best-proportioned chedis in the north.

Lampang

Lampang

Lampang

1.5 hrs · Free

A horse-cart town on the Wang river with Wat Phra That Lampang Luang outside it, the finest surviving wooden Lanna temple.

Doi Suthep–Pui National Park

Suthep

Doi Suthep–Pui National Park

30 min · Ticketed

Beyond the temple: Huay Kaew waterfall, the Pha Lat trail, the Hmong village at Doi Pui and the summit road above it.

Chiang Rai

Chiang Rai

Chiang Rai

3 hrs · Overnight

Three hours north by Green Bus, and a different trip: the White Temple, the Blue Temple and the Golden Triangle. Better as an overnight.

Map Chiang Rai guide

What's on

Festivals & annual events in Chiang Mai (2026)

Time your trip around the city's biggest dates.

Jan

Bo Sang Umbrella Festival

The umbrella village east of the city hangs its work along the main road for a weekend, with a parade and lit streets.

Feb

Chiang Mai Flower Festival

Three days on the first weekend of February, built around a float parade into Suan Buak Hat park.

Apr 13–15

Songkran

The Thai new year, and Chiang Mai runs the largest version in the country. The moat becomes the water supply.

Mar–Apr

Poy Sang Long

The Shan novice ordination at Wat Pa Pao. Boys are dressed as princes and carried on shoulders through the compound.

May–Jun

Inthakin city pillar festival

Six days at Wat Chedi Luang around the pillar said to protect the city, with flower offerings carried past at dusk.

Sep–Oct

Vegetarian Festival

Nine days of meat-free eating across the Chinese quarter near Warorot, with yellow flags over the stalls that are keeping it.

Nov

Loy Krathong and Yi Peng

The city's biggest date. Krathong floated on the Ping, lanterns released, and a parade down Tha Phae Road.

Dec

Chiang Mai Design Week

Nine days run by the Creative Economy Agency, with installations and open studios across the old city. Free to walk.

Getting around

Chiang Mai transport & airports

How to arrive and move around the city.

CNX

Chiang Mai International Airport

Thailand's fourth-busiest airport sits about 4 km southwest of the old city. Domestic services run all day to both Bangkok airports, and a taxi into town takes fifteen minutes.

Map ↗ Website

SRT

Trains

Chiang Mai station is the end of the northern line, 3 km east of the moat. Overnight sleepers from Bangkok take twelve to thirteen hours, and are a far better journey.

Map ↗ Website

Arcade

Intercity buses

Long-distance coaches use the Arcade terminal northeast of the centre. Green Bus runs the northern network, including Chiang Rai, Pai and Mae Hong Son.

Map ↗ Website

In town

Songthaews, tuk-tuks and Grab

The red songthaews are the city bus network: flag one down, say where you are going, share the ride. Tuk-tuks handle door-to-door hops and Grab works reliably.

Traditional food

Must-try dishes in Chiang Mai, Thailand

The classics to order before you leave.

Khao soi

Curried egg noodles in coconut broth under a nest of fried noodles, with pickled mustard greens and lime.

Sai ua

Northern pork sausage with lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaf and chilli, grilled in coils.

Kaeng hang lay

A slow Burmese-influenced pork belly curry with ginger and tamarind, and no coconut milk.

Nam prik num

Roasted green chilli relish with garlic and shallot, eaten with sticky rice and steamed vegetables.

Nam prik ong

The milder red relish of minced pork and tomato, cooked down long and scooped with sticky rice.

Larb mueang

Northern larb, dry-spiced rather than sour, built on a house blend of roasted spices.

Khanom jeen nam ngiao

Fermented rice noodles under a tomato and pork broth built on soybean and dried cotton flowers.

Tam kanun

Young jackfruit pounded with chilli paste, tomato and pork, served warm. The northern som tam.

Chiang Mai fact sheet

Chiang Mai at a glance

The essentials worth knowing before you go.

Country

Thailand

Region

Chiang Mai Province, northern Thailand

Population

About 1.2 million in the metropolitan area

Founded

1296, by King Mangrai

Nickname

Rose of the North

Language

Thai, with Kam Mueang widely spoken

Currency

Thai baht (THB)

Time zone

ICT (UTC+7)

Calling code

+66, area code 053

Airports

Chiang Mai International (CNX)

Power

220V, 50Hz, plug types A, B and C

Emergency

191 police, 1669 ambulance, 1155 tourist police

Ideal length

4–5 days

Getting around

Songthaew or scooter

Tourism board

Interesting facts

King Mangrai founded Chiang Mai in 1296, and the name simply means new city. He is said to have planned it with two allied kings.
The walled square is about 1.6 km on each side and the moat still carries water. The four corner bastions and five gates fix the grid.
Wat Chedi Luang's chedi was the tallest structure in the Lanna kingdom until an earthquake in 1545 brought down its upper section.
Doi Inthanon, 2,565 m, is the highest ground in Thailand, and it sits inside Chiang Mai province.
Chiang Mai and its Lanna monuments have been on UNESCO's tentative list since 2015, submitted as a group.

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