Chiang Mai Travelers Recommend

As the ancient capital of northern Thailand, Chiang Mai is resplendent with temples and historic sites. Spend your first day in Chiang Mai exploring the historic heart of the city. Within the crumbling old city walls are more than 30 Buddhist temples plus parks, museums, and monuments. Visit the gold-encrusted Wat Phra Singh to see the city’s most revered Buddha statue then Wat Chedi Luang to see the ruins of a 15th stupa carved with stone elephants. If you’re curious about the saffron-robed monks you see on the temple grounds drop by the “Monk Chat” at Wat Suan Dok. If you love Thai cuisine, why not enroll in a Thai cooking class? There are more than a dozen cooking schools in Chiang Mai where you can learn to make favorites like phat Thai and green curry plus northern Thai specialties like papaya salad and khao soi (noodles in curry soup). After two days in the city it’s time to explore Chiang Mai’s countryside.

The verdant hills surrounding cosmopolitan Chiang Mai have long been dotted with hill tribe villages of Thailand’s many ethnic minorities. Visiting one or more of these rural outposts has become a quintessential Northern Thailand experience. The seven main ethnic groups that make up the hill tribes of Chiang Mai — Karen, Hmong, Lahu, Lisu, Mien, Akha and Padaung — have migrated to Northern Thailand from other parts of the Asian interior over the years, yet they all retain much of their traditional way of life. Many of these agricultural communities welcome visitors and the economic opportunities they bring with them. The two most populous tribes in the Chiang Mai area are the Karen, known for their woven turbans and tunics, and the Hmong, famous for their intricate embroidery work. Typically a visit to one (or more) of these hill tribe villages is combined with various adventure activities — everything from jungle trekking to white water rafting.