Chiang mai how many days

But you can take comfort in the fact that your entry fee goes to providing a comfortable conclusion to life for abused older elephants, and a fighting chance at a wild future for younger ones. Many travelers who have longer than 2 or 3 days in Chiang Mai head to the town of Pai in Mae Hong Son province, which is beautiful but also chock full of white people with dreadlocks and far too many pairs of elephants pants for comfort.

Spend your first day inside the city walls and your second amid the mountains that surround it, concluding your 3 days in Chiang Mai with an animal encounter—an ethical one, I hope. Chiang Mai is the new Bangkok, but what that means is up to interpretation.

Read Privacy Policy or view sitemap. With the rise of ethical animal encounters in recent years many of the elephant riding centres in Chiang Mai have been converted to the ENP approach. On the Elephant Nature Park you can choose which program to visit. ENP is the famous one with over 80 elephants, however it can get quite busy. We went to Elephant Green Hill always part of the ENP project and were the only three people there with three elephants.

Spending time with the elephants at Elephant Green Hill. The day visit costs 2, THB and includes hotel pick up and drop off, and lunch. The tours start around AM and finish around PM. There are other elephant sanctuaries around Thailand that offer similar experiences, however ENP is one of the most famous.

A great way to end your second day in Chiang Mai is to visit the night market. The famous and most busy one is the Sunday Night Market.

This one has the most stalls by far and will swipe you off your feet with its crazy mix of smells, colours and noises. The younger elephant that we spent the day with at Elephant Green Hill. You have now seen most of the main attractions that Chiang Mai has to offer! If you have an extra couple days to spend in the area I definitely recommend going beyond Chiang Mai.

Many people visit Chiang Rai on a day trip from Chiang Mai. If you have the time, I would spend at least one night in Chiang Rai. That will give you the opportunity to break up the travelling and really enjoy the atmosphere of Chiang Rai. Even after all the temples I had seen in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, I still found these unique and breath taking. Pai is around a 3-hour drive from Chiang Mai. You can visit Pai on a day trip from Chiang Mai , or spend a night there.

There are some beautiful temples also in Pai, amongst which the White Buddha, the most famous and striking of them. However Pai is also famous for its beautiful nature. Another cool option is doing a day trip to Lampang emerald pool and waterfalls. We stayed in two different places while in Chiang Mai, in different areas and budgets. Here are my recommendations for where to stay in Chiang Mai.

Click here to book your stay at Leaf Hostel! Located in the heart of the Old City this hotel has spacious rooms and a pool where you can chill after a long day exploring Chiang Mai.

Click here to book your stay at Le Meridien Chiang Mai! Enjoying the sunset from the rooftop pool of Le Meridien in Chiang Mai. There are a lot of temples on this itinerary, and you need to be dressed appropriately for them. However the little walk from where you leave your shoes to the inside of the temple can be quite long and burn your feet!

Read the reviews of this tour on Viator. Visitors who would rather see the temples on their own can use our detailed Chiang Mai Temples guide , which includes specific information about our top-recommended temples and a walking route to see the best temples in Chiang Mai Old City. The spicy soup is a combination of noodles, meat and herbs that simmer in a coconut milk broth. Each stemming bowl is topped with crispy noodles — then diners add a squeeze of lime, pickled cabbage and shallots to create their own version of perfection.

The makeshift restaurant is located on the north side of the Old Town conveniently near Wat Lok Moli — one of the best temples in the city. Only open limited hours — am until pm Monday through Saturday closed Sundays , make sure to keep an eye on the clock if you want a bowl of their famous Khao Soi! Getting a Thai massage in a Chiang Mai is must!

The art of Thai massage has been used for thousands of years as a method of healing and rejuvenation. Rather than soothing or tranquil, Thai massages use a technique of pressure, stretching and pulling. It can feel somewhat like visiting a chiropractor…and I think they are fabulous.

There are hundreds of places to get a massage in Chiang Mai. Every massage parlor and spa in the city offers a 1-hour Thai Massage, but other services — like foot massages, oil massages and other spa treatments — are also available. Even though all three of the Chiang Mai markets are geared toward tourists, we find them highly entertaining.

Most of the items for sale are souvenirs some handmade and local eats. Vendors begin setting up around pm — and the markets are in full swing by pm.

Of the three, the Saturday Walking Street Market is, by far, our favorite. The market takes place along Wualai Street, just outside the south city gate. After perusing the goods, we recommend dining on local fare from a market vendor near the Pratu Gate.

Although more congested than the Saturday Market, having a meal on the grounds of Wat Pan On is one of the market highlights. Offering similar goods as the Saturday and Sunday markets, the Bazaar has a large area for food vendors and sometimes live music. One of the great things about Chiang Mai is its proximity to nearby nature, sights and cities. Tours from Chiang Mai take visitors into the mountains and to play with elephants, to famous temples and tea plantations, and to northern cities and hill tribe villages.

Deciding which tour — or tours — to take can be overwhelming; there are just so many options! There are half-day, full-day and multi-day tours; big bus tours, small group tours and personalized tours; cheap, mid-range and expensive tours.

We think the best way to wade through all the options is to read reviews from fellow travelers. Websites like Viator and Get Your Guide allow visitors to sort through the massive number of tours, clearly see inclusions, exclusions and read through the reviews. We have only taken one Chiang Mai tour, an all-day trekking trip that included numerous activities, like playing with elephants, bamboo rafting, visiting a hill tribe, hiking through the forest and swimming at a waterfall.

In the end, the tour fell short of our expectations — and, in hindsight, we would have chosen a different tour. To avoid the same mistake we made, read about the details of our hiking day trip — and find out which tour we would have taken instead — in our Chiang Mai Trekking Trip blog post.

While elephant camps have long been a Thailand attraction, the poor treatment of the animals has come to light in recent years. Finding an ethical elephant sanctuary can be difficult — but not impossible! The Lanna Kingdom Elephant Sanctuary allows visitors to get up-close and personal with the gentle giants, but does not allow participants to ride the elephants. Find out more and book it!

Get the details and book it! Top Tip : Rather than seeing the city on a day trip, we stayed in Chiang Rai for a week. Numerous day trips from Chiang Mai explore the mountain that is known for its lush nature, dazzling temples and incredible adventures.

Some of the top activities include visiting the iconic Doi Suthep Temple, going to a hill tribe village and hiking to hidden waterfalls and stellar viewpoints. After you return to the city from your day trip, indulge in a scrumptious meal of stewed Pork Leg Rice from a famous food vendor, the Cowboy Hat Lady.

The pork is simmered to perfection. Some say the Cowboy Hat Lady makes the absolute best stewed pork in all of Thailand; the stall is so well-known that even the late Anthony Bourdain dined at the stall. Watch the clip here. Use the last day of your three days in Chiang Mai, to learn more about the local culture…and eat more delicious food. One of the best ways to get a glimpse of local life in any city is to visit the markets where residents do their daily shopping.

In Chiang Mai, the most popular day market is Warorot Market in Chinatown, which is just a short walk or Grab Taxi ride northeast of the walled city. The massive shopping complex offers everything under the sun. Freshly ground spices overflow from barrels. Flies buzz around the piles of exotic produce and raw meat. Clothing, jewelry, electronics and luggage are crammed into small shops that are navigated by narrow lanes. The heat is oppressive and the scents are potent…and we love it!

Top Tip : Prepared market food is a great opportunity to try several different local dishes. Look for food vendors that have the longest lines and order what the locals are ordering! Participating in a cooking class is another way to understand the market, food and eating culture of Thailand.

Back at the school, guests are guided through the process of making an incredible array of local eats. Lunch is guaranteed to be a feast! Read the reviews and book it now! In the afternoon, spend time chatting with a monk, taking a class on meditation or visiting one of the Chiang Mai museums.