Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai is the largest city in northern Thailand, full of charm and character. The coffee scene is thriving, with trendy cafes and latte art advertised on almost every corner. The street food is cheap and delicious, sometimes even better than what you can find in the restaurants. Don’t knock it til you try it, you’ll be happy you did!
How to get to Chiang Mai?
We flew into Chiang Mai International Airport. Depending on where you are in Thailand, you can either get a bus, train, or plane to Chiang Mai. For flights, we use Skyscanner to get the cheapest and most convenient flights. For bus or train travel, we use 12GoAsia.
Where to stay in Chiang Mai?
We stayed outside the city in an Airbnb, which had a kitchen, gym, and pool. It was very affordable, but slightly inconvenient to get into the Old City and main parts of the city, unless you rent a scooter. **Tip: Make sure you have an International Driver’s License if you are renting a scooter in Chiang Mai. There are checkpoints set up around the city where they check for this, and if you don’t have one, you’ll be charged 400/500 baht.** We highly recommend Bamboo Bikes, located in the Old City. The staff are incredible, super friendly, and the prices are affordable for travelers. We rented long-term with them (2 weeks), and even took one of their bikes 130km to Pai! If you’re not planning on renting a scooter, Download Grab (similar to Uber) for getting around the city.
Budget: Big&O’s House 2
Luxury: Rachamankha Boutique Hotel
Where to eat in Chiang Mai?
Ploen Ruedee Night Market: Multicultural night market with traditional Thai, Western, Sushi, and vegetarian/vegan options. They also have live music and traditional Thai dancers. One of the only night markets we found that allows alcohol to be sold, as most of the night markets are close to temples.
Khao Soi Khun Yai: Amazing and cheap place to try Khao Soi! Khao Soi was one of our favorite dishes that we discovered in Northern Thailand. Our first question was, “why have we never heard of this before now?!”. Khao Soi is like a curry but with noodles, and topped with even more fried noodles.
Chang Puak Night Market: Daily night market that is considered one of the best in the city! The prices are cheap, and the food is delicious. There are small seating areas to grab food and enjoy.
A few of our favorite things:
Doi Suthep-Poi National Park: We were shocked that there wasn’t more information about this online. Located about 35 minutes outside the city of Chiang Mai, you could spend a day here exploring everything there is to offer. The most famous is probably Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, which is a sacred mountain-top temple with amazing views of Chiang Mai. Around the temple, there are cute coffee shops and restaurants. On the way to the temple, you will pass Huaykew Waterfall. Further up the mountain, there is a nature trail that you can do to a viewpoint. The drive to the National Park is steep but manageable, just be careful if you’re getting there by scooter.
Bua Tong Waterfall (Sticky Waterfall): Sticky Waterfall is about an hour and a half scooter ride away from the hustle and bustle of Chiang Mai. The drive itself is exciting, through the rural rice paddy fields of Thailand. Sticky Waterfall got its name from the limestone deposits in the rock, which gives the waterfall its weird, bubbly appearance. The rocks are also porous, like hard sponges, which provides a good grip and makes it easy to climb up. We made sandwiches, brought our own water and snacks, and spent the whole day at this waterfall. Bring a lock and you can use the lockers they provided for your valuables. Otherwise, you can rent one for about $US1.
