The Old City takes a morning. The mountains take the rest of the week.
Which elephant camp keeps its groups small. What a cooking class costs once the market run is in the price. Whether Doi Inthanon beats Chiang Rai when you have one spare day. Reviews of every tour you can book in Chiang Mai.
Doi Suthep, an elephant valley, a wok and the road to Chiang Rai.
The four days a first Chiang Mai trip hangs off, and what each one costs.
01The one everyone takesHalf-Day Thai Cooking Class at Organic Farm in Chiang MaiA morning at an organic farm outside the city: the market run first, then five dishes and the recipes to take home.
02The valley dayElephant Sanctuary, Waterfall & Bamboo RaftingElephants in the morning, a waterfall and a bamboo raft after lunch, an hour north of the city.
03The mountain morningDoi Suthep Temple & Wat Pha Lat HikeUp to the golden chedi on Doi Suthep, with the forest wat at Pha Lat on the walk down.
04The long day eastChiang Rai White Temple and Blue Temple Day TourThe White Temple and the Blue Temple at Chiang Rai. Three hours out, three hours back, and worth the seat.
Chiang Mai has more wats inside the moat than you have days.
The valley is up early and the halls open before the heat does. Three kinds of temple day, what it costs to join each one, and how far out of town it takes you.
Chiang Mai is a small city with a very big mountain behind it.
Inside the moat you walk. Everything else is a songthaew, a minibus or a highway: the chedi on the ridge, the elephant valleys north, the high road up Doi Inthanon, the falls you climb barefoot and the long run east to Chiang Rai.
Chiang Mai teaches you to cook before it feeds you.
Nearly every class opens in a market, working through galangal, holy basil and four kinds of chilli, and closes over a khao soi you made yourself. Book the evening sitting and the mountain still has your mornings.
What everyone books first in Chiang Mai.
Every Chiang Mai review →The days out more travellers take than anything else in the valley, and what earns each one its place.
1
Half-Day Thai Cooking Class at Organic Farm in Chiang Mai
You’ll visit a Chiang Mai market, explore Smile Organic Farm’s herb garden, then cook curry paste, curry, stir-fry, soup, and spring rolls. Guides such as Lily, Luna, K, Love, and Cici lead small groups, with vegan and vegetarian menus available.
From · $29
Read our review →
2
Elephant Sanctuary, Waterfall & Bamboo Rafting
from $60
3
Doi Inthanon National Park Eco-Friendly Tour
from $46
4
Elephant Sanctuary & Waterfall Group Tour
from $50
5
Chiang Rai Temples, Karen Tribe and Hot Springs
from $35
6
Cooking Class, Market & Thai Herbs Garden Tour
from $31
7
Authentic Cooking Class with Market & Farm Visit
from $34
8
Elephant Sanctuary Feeding Program Half-Day Tour
from $27
The elephant question, answered an hour north of Chiang Mai.
The camps up the Mae Taeng and Mae Wang valleys sell mornings rather than rides: feeding, a mud pit, a walk to the river and lunch before the drive back. Group size is the thing worth checking before you book.
Three things that only happen around Chiang Mai.
Night markets and massage happen all over Thailand. A waterfall you climb barefoot, a novice monk practising his English and frost on a Thai mountain do not.
The Bua Thong Sticky Waterfall
The rock at Bua Thong is limestone furred with mineral deposits, and it grips a bare foot well enough that people walk straight up the falls against the current. Ropes are bolted in for the steep sections and there is a spring at the top cold enough to hurt. It sits about an hour north of the city and costs nothing to enter.
- 1Elephant Sanctuary, Long Neck & Sticky Waterfall★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 2,262 reviews
- 2Sticky Waterfall & Angel Waterfall Park Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 1,371 reviews
- 3Bua Thong Sticky Waterfall & Huge Cave & Buffet★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 1,049 reviews
Monk chat and the alms round
Several wats inside the moat run an open monk chat, where novices practise their English on whoever sits down and answer questions about the robes, the rules and the exams they are studying for. The alms round is earlier still: barefoot lines at first light, rice handed over without a word, and the whole thing finished before the traffic starts.
- 1Wat Phra That Doi Suthep spiritual Sunrise Tour with an Ex-monk★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 798 reviews
- 2Spiritual Sunrise Wat Doi Suthep, Pha Lat, Alms & Meditation★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 674 reviews
- 3Evening Chanting & Meditation★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 69 reviews
Doi Inthanon
At 2,565 metres this is the highest ground in the country, and cold enough near the summit in January for frost on the grass. The road up passes Wachirathan falls, the twin royal chedis on the ridge and Karen villages growing coffee and strawberries on terraces, and the Kew Mae Pan trail shuts for the whole rainy season.
- 1Doi Inthanon National Park Eco-Friendly Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 6,667 reviews
- 2Doi Inthanon Waterfall and Royal Project Chiang Mai★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,735 reviews
- 33-in-1: Doi Inthanon Tour, Elephant Sanctuary, and Trekking Trail★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,087 reviews
What a day out of Chiang Mai actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by what it costs a head. A good number of the best days here come in under the price of dinner at home.
Temple mornings, walking tours in the Old City, cooking classes and the red songthaews up the mountain.
The full-day standards: Doi Inthanon, the elephant valleys, Chiang Rai and the zipline courses.
Private cars with a driver, overnight treks and the long runs as far as the Golden Triangle.
Four Chiang Mai bookings that will not wait.
Most of this city can be arranged over breakfast on the day. These four run on trail closures, capped groups and a drive that starts before seven.
- 01Doi Inthanon National Park Eco-Friendly TourThe Kew Mae Pan ridge trail closes for the rainy season, roughly June to October, and the summit is cold at dawn even in April.
- 02Elephant Sanctuary, Waterfall & Bamboo RaftingThe camps cap how many people join each session, so the morning half-days go first and high season empties them days ahead.
- 03Half-Day Thai Cooking Class at Organic Farm in Chiang MaiThe classes that start at the market take a fixed number of aprons and leave on time. Walking in on the day rarely works.
- 04Chiang Rai Temples, Karen Tribe and Hot SpringsChiang Rai is three hours of highway each way. Pickups start before seven and the day is gone by the time you are back.
When the valley fills with smoke, Chiang Mai moves indoors.
From late February into April the fields around the valley are burned off and the haze sits between the hills for weeks. The mountain views go and the air stings. The answer is the same one the rainy afternoons call for: a kitchen, a workbench, a massage table or a ringside seat.
The Chiang Mai week almost everybody ends up doing.
The Old City
Mae Taeng
Bua Thong
Doi Inthanon
Chiang RaiBy place, from the moat out to the Golden Triangle
By kind of day, in and around Chiang Mai
The newest Chiang Mai tour reviews.
Keep going →
Chiang Mai InterContinental Afternoon Tea & Teresa Teng Room
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Hike on Monk’s Trail and Doi Suthep Private Tour
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Sticky Waterfall by Local Truck with Market Stop
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