Chiang Mai, Thailand: Top 5 Things to Do and More
We’ve decided we’re moving here. We’re half joking – no plans have been put in motion, but we fell in love with this place the second we arrived. Chiang Mai is a more manageable city in comparison to Bangkok with beautiful scenery, a lot of expats, and a friendly vibe. It was also much cooler than Bangkok given that it is situated in the North of Thailand at the foot of Doi Inthanon mountain. We felt like this could be a home away from home. In fact, we had a Friendsgiving (a Thanksgiving celebration with friends) with a group of Americans who had been living in Chiang Mai for a year and they had nothing negative to say about the place. Chiang Mai left such an impression, that we decided to celebrate my birthday there after finishing the Mae Hong Son Loop by motorbike (more to come about that in the next post).
I suggest staying in Chiang Mai for 2-3 nights, at a minimum; however, you may fall in love with the place like we did so you could spend up to a week here and not be bored.
Getting There
We took Win Tour Bus from Sukhothai to Chiang Mai. It was a no-frills, basic bus that was designed to get you from point A to point B. There was a night and day difference from the bus that we took from Bangkok to Sukhothai, but it got us there with no problems. We paid around 400THB ($13) total and the bus ride was 6 hours. Once we arrived at the bus station in Chiang Mai we took a songthaew, which is their open-air public bus that is the cheapest option.
Accommodations
On our first trip to Chiang Mai, we stayed in Mickey House, because we booked last minute and many of the cheaper, better options had already been taken given that it was the weekend. The only redeeming qualities about the place was that it was clean, in a good location, and Cookie, the owner, was very friendly and helpful. Perhaps because it was during the high season and Chiang Mai is a popular tourist destination, you’ll want to make sure that you book in advance. We paid 473THB ($15). We would recommend staying somewhere in or near the Old City, which is in the center of the city and has many affordable accommodation options.
We used Booking.com for our accommodation – use our referral link so that you can get a $25 reward! https://www.booking.com/s/43_8/roxyba87
On our second trip to Chiang Mai, Mike surprised me with a two-night stay in a little boutique hotel called Ruen Come In. It was a great birthday treat. The teakwood design (Lanna style) hotel was featured in The Telegraph so Mike knew it would be a good choice. The hotel was a welcome break from the hostels and budget hotels that we had been staying in for the past month. It had all the luxuries that we had taken for granted and missed – a comfortable bed, a bathtub, a shower with good water pressure, slippers, and a pool. They also decorated the room beautifully.
Food
Chiang Mai also has as variety of different foods, particularly European food, so we mixed things up and ate Italian for my birthday dinner. We ate at Italics in the Akyra Manor Chiang Mai and decided to indulge so we got a good bottle of wine, which can be very hard to find in Thailand unless you want to pay a lot of money. I got a beef tenderloin, which was cooked to perfection and accompanied by roasted veggies and potatoes. It was a nice comfort food that I had missed while traveling.
Top 5 Things to Do in Chiang Mai
1. Tour the Old City – The Old City is nested in the middle of town within remnants of a wall and moat that were designed to protect the city in the 13th century. Within the walls are 38 wats and places to get a massage, eat, and drink. This is where many of the tourists stay and visit.
2. Go to the Night Market – The night market is just outside of the old city and comes to life at 6pm when the vendors open up their stalls and start bargaining for the best price. If you are in need of the quintessential harem pants (of course we have our own pair) or want some knock-off designer sunglasses, this is where you go.
3. Listen to Jazz at a Club – Chiang Mai is known as the New Orleans of Thailand, and where you can go to listen to some pretty good jazz. We went to Thapae East Jazz Club with a few friends, sipped on the best mojitos we’ve had in Thailand while listening to a group of musicians play jazz in a chill club that had a speakeasy vibe. There are many other nice spots that you can go to in Chiang Mai as well.
4. Walk around Nimmanhaemin and Do Some Shopping – Nimmanhaemin is part of the “new city” and has a bit of a different atmosphere from the old city. It has a flashy new mall called the Maya Mall and some higher-end restaurants and shops. It’s well worth the visit, and you can maybe do some shopping here. This is where Mike got my birthday presents. 😊
Chiang Mai is also a spot where you can do some more serious shopping. This is where I purchased a very cheap travel hair dryer at Electronic Plaza. We also bought a second-hand drone (Mavic Pro) at DJI Chiang Mai by BEV-Store to take our photography/video game to the next level. Mike also got his broken iPad fixed at a three-story mall, Pantip Plaza, that was dedicated to electronics repairs.
5. Rent a Scooter and Conquer the Mae Hong Son Loop – at Friendsgiving, our friends convinced us to rent a scooter and ride the Mae Hong Son Loop since we had the luxury of time. Some people do the loop in four days, but we decided on seven days so that we could spend a couple of days in Mae Hong Son and Pai. We rented a Honda PCX 150 bike from M25 Motorbike Rental in the Old City. We highly recommend renting a bike from them – they were professional and price competitive. Pro Tip: make sure that you take pictures of the bike before riding it in case you need proof of any preexisting damage at the end of your journey. We spent X THB for seven days.
Check out our next blog post for information on the Mae Hong Son Loop.
Visiting Chiang Rai and hiking up the Doi Inthanon are also things that you can do, but we ran out of time and will plan to do it on the next trip later in the year (that’s right, we plan to go back because we couldn’t get enough of the place).
Our Key Takeaways and Tips
Chiang Mai captured our hearts. Consider spending more time here than you maybe originally planned or include it in your travel itinerary if you visit Thailand. There’s something for everyone here – exquisite cuisine for the foodies, prime shopping for the shopaholics, beautiful scenery for the nature buffs, and great jazz for the fans of scat.
1. Rent a motorbike and conquer all or part of the Mae Hong Son Loop. For those who may not want to make the trek, opt for a quick trip Doi Inthanon.
2. Go to a jazz club and sip on a cocktail.
3. Make an overnight trip to Pai or Chiang Rai.
4. Take time to really enjoy everything that this city has to offer! You won’t be disappointed.