Chiang Mai, Thailand – Where to Stay ? What to Visit ? How to Arrive from Bangkok ?

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Page 2
- What to Visit in Chiang Mai ? (hint: temples…)
- Guided Tours in Chiang Mai

How is Chiang Mai ?

Good, very good. Chiang Mai is a pleasant city, probably the best in Thailand.
Chiang Mai is a big city but not huge like Bangkok (it has about 1 million inhabitants with the surroundings). People are much more relaxed and friendly compared to Bangkok. The old city is nice and easy to visit by walking. There are cute cafés, good restaurants, nightlife and many beautiful temples. From Chiang Mai, you can later travel to Chiang-Rai and Pai.

Chiang Mai – Orientation

Look at the following map. Click to enlarge :

It’s very easy to get oriented in Chiang Mai because the old city is surrounded by a water canal (see the canal in the following photo). The old city is a square of 1.6 Km wide, you can walk from one side to the other in about half hour. The old city is the main attraction and life center of Chiang Mai with beautiful temples and cafés.
At both sides of the water canal, there are roads. In the external road the traffic is clockwise and in the internal road, counterclockwise, and there are lots of U-turns points, so riding a motorcycle is very easy in Chiang Mai.
To the right of the old city is the river Ping, and between them is the main nightlife of Chiang Mai with the night market (night bazaar).
The Airport is at a very short distance to the south-west.
At a short distance from the old city to the west, there are mountains and the famous attraction Doi Suthep is there at 8 Km (15 Km on the road).

See this interactive Google Map :
In red marks : Airport, Train and Bus central stations
In orange marks : Shopping
In green marks : The mountain with Wat Suthep (famous temple)
In blue marks : Temples and other Tourist attractions

How to get from Bangkok to Chiang Mai ?

Chiang Mai is at 600 Km (aerial) distance from Bangkok.
By plane : There are lots of flights between Bangkok and Chiang Mai and the prices are really fine for a flight, less than 2000 Baht on some dates. It takes just 1 hour of flight. Some flights go from Suvaranabhumi airport and others from Don Muang airport in Bangkok (see them on Map).
See flights to Chiang Mai (from Bangkok or choose another origin).
By train : It takes around 12 hours between the two cities. There are day trains and night trains with sleeping coaches and they are quite pleasant. Prices are around 900 Baht. You can buy the ticket at the train station or at travel agencies with a small commission.
You can also reserve a train online.
See the location of the train station in Bangkok.
See the location of the train station in Chiang Mai.
If you want more details about the trains in Thailand, see the excellent site Seat 61.
By Bus : Cheaper than the trains, around 600 Baht. It takes around 12 hours, There are day and night buses. The regular buses are going from Mochit, the central bus station in Bangkok for northern destinations. There are also private bus companies that collect the passengers from the hotels (at the Khaosan area, for example).
You can also reserve a bus online.
See the location of the bus station in Bangkok (Mochit, northern destinations).
See the location of the bus station in Chiang Mai (Arcade station).

How to get from the airport of Chiang Mai to Town Center ?

As you can see from the photo above, the airport of Chiang Mai is very close to the city center, the old town. It is less than 2 Km from the west side of the old city, so you can even walk it, but you better don’t do it with suitcases.
Taxi : There are Taxis with a fix price of 160 Baht that takes to any point in the old city. There are also Taxi-meter with about the same price.
Minibus : They cost about 40 Baht to the old city, but you will have to wait that they get filled with people before they leave and till then you will probably give up and take a Taxi, because they are not very expensive, after all.
City Bus (blue bus) :
Note Service suspended during Corona era, maybe will be reinitiated.
It costs just 20 Baht and the frequency is every 20 minutes. The bus arrives to the old city after a small detour. The major problem is that you will not find the bus easily at the airport, because there are no clear signs and because all the employees of the airport will somehow encourage you to take a taxi (so ask at the information).

How to get from the Train and Bus stations of Chiang Mai to Town Center ?

Look at the following map. Click to enlarge :
(Or see on the interactive map above)

The train station (and the bus station) are located to the east of the old city at a distance of about 3 Km.
You can arrive to the city center with a shared SongTaew (the red trucks) for 30 Baht (this price if you are very lucky) or a private ride with them, probably 100 Baht.
There are also Tuk-Tuk (the 3 wheels vehicles), also probably 100 Baht.

How to move inside Chiang Mai ?

The SongTaew – the shared Red trucks – Pick up truck

The ones that are running inside the old city are red (yes, they also exist in other colours). They pick up passengers along the way and they modify the trajectory according to the people’s need.
So you will have to explain to the driver in a fast way, before the ride, where you want to arrive and you better choose a well known spot in order to simplify things, for example, choose one of the gates of the old city or a famous temple.
The normal tariff is 30 Baht, unless the driver is trying to take advantage that you are a tourist and that you are not used to SongTaew in your country.
These trucks can also take you as a private ride, in that case you will have to negotiate a price.

Tuk-Tuk

These are the funny 3 wheels vehicle of Thailand. There is place for 2 or 3 persons on the back. It is a private ride, so you’ll have to negotiate the price.

Taxi

In Chiang Mai, somehow, you cannot stop a Taxi on the road. You have to reserve them by phone or be at the airport. They have a Taxi-meter.

Rent a motorbike

This is the coolest way to explore Chiang Mai (unless you do an accident).
It is easy to ride a motorbike in Chiang Mai, you always know where you are thanks to the square shape of the old city (and the GPS on your smartphone). With a motorbike you can explore the nearby mountains and the famous temple Doi Suthep.
The rent price is usually 200 Baht per day. Gasoline is cheap.
See about the motorcycle licence issue in Thailand in the Transport page.

City bus (blue bus)

Note Service suspended during Corona era, maybe will be reinitiated.

This is new in Chiang Mai. The frequency is every 20 minutes. There are not many lines and the system is still not popular relative to the other ways of transports. One line is starting from the airport. The facebook page.

Rent a Bike

There is now a bike-sharing system in Chiang Mai, belonging to the Chinese company Mobike. You can download their application and use the service, even as a tourist.
You can also rent a bike from a private store, of course.

Where to Stay in Chiang Mai ?

Let’s look again at the orientation map :

You want to be in the old city and you want to be close to the main nightlife zone, so the ideal (theoretical) point is the Phae gate, the gate on the right side of the old city (a green star on the map).
Note: the right side of the old city is more animated than the left side.
If you plan to rent a motorbike you will not have a problem to live anywhere, the distances are not huge in Chiang Mai. Also, if you can walk, it will not be a problem to live anywhere inside or close to the old city.
I stayed at the top part of the old city and I was very happy.

How is the weather in Chiang Mai ?

About the same as in Bangkok, maybe slightly cooler. At day time around 32 Celsius. At night, the average is 21 Celsius.
There is the dry season from November to May and the rainy season from June to October. If you visit the mountains around, it is definitely cooler.
Here the average temperatures in Celsius :

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Day	30	33	35	37	34	33	32	32	32	31	30	29
Night	15	16	20	23	24	24	24	24	23	22	19	16

Where is the main nightlife zone of Chiang Mai ?

Look at the following map, click to enlarge :
(Or see on the interactive map above)

Nightlife zone 1 : The main nightlife zone of Chiang Mai is the night bazaar (night market), that operates every evening and is located between the river Ping and the old city.

The zone has many places to drink and restaurants and of course a lot of stands with textiles and souvenirs. Don’t forget to take a look at the nearby Ping river at dusk, it has nice illuminated bridges.

The horizontal road that goes from the old city to the night bazaar (Loi Kroh) is very animated with “red bars”.
The Phae gate and its surroundings are also animated and there are some good Italian restaurants.
Nightlife zone 2 :
Another nightlife zone is the street Nimaan, that starts where the Maya shopping center is located. There are less tourists here and more expatriates and Thais. It’s a street with many modern bars.

Nightlife zone 3 :
Inside the old city itself there are excellent bars and restaurants operating at night, but they are usually appearing one at a time, among quiet streets. The upper right side of the old city has more bars, than the other parts.

Where to do Shopping in Chiang Mai ?

Look at the following map, click to enlarge :
(Or see on the interactive map above)

Night Bazaar

You will be at the night bazaar anyway, because it is the main nightlife zone of Chiang Mai. In the night Bazaar you can buy products of this style :

Or art :

The Sunday Market

It is an evening market, it starts at 16:00 and only on Sundays.
It has about the same products as the night bazaar but some of the items are more original.

One of the sides of the market is at Phae gate, the eastern gate of the old city. Here in the photo, the Sunday market as seen from an Italian restaurant where I had a Pizza and a beer :

Waroros Market

A day market beside the Ping river for food and textile. It is oriented to locals, not with products for tourists. Part of the market is covered. The area is nice, because it is beside the river.

Maya mall and Central Airport mall

If you want a big modern mall, then go to one of these malls. Maya is especially new. In the following photo the view from the terrace at Maya mall.

Umbrella Village – Bor Sang

It is not in the town center. You have to travel 10 Km to the east (see it on the interactive map above).

It is a sort of village with a lot of small shops selling handicrafts. You can find the same products also in the night market, in the center of Chiang Mai, but here is the source. At the beginning of the Bor Sang village, to the right, there is a building with umbrella manufacturing where it is possible to buy stuff and also ask the painters to paint a unique drawing on a personal item that you have, like a t-shirt, bag etc.

I personally know a tourist, who asked a painter to draw on his backpack a picture of his dog, because he was desperately missing his beloved dog who couldn’t join the trip to Thailand.

Chiang Mai – The Vegetarian food paradise

Chiang Mai is a pleasant city and there are many expatriates who choose to live for a period of time in this particular town and apparently many of them are Vegetarians.
Once you arrive to Chiang Mai, you notice immediately the many Vegetarian signs in the restaurants, even without searching for particular places. This is in big contrast with Bangkok which is not good to Vegetarians (see the Bangkok Veg page).
In Chiang mai, in addition to the pure vegan and vegetarian Thai restaurants, there is also a lot of International cuisine with Vegetarian options. I’m talking mainly about Italian restaurants which are everywhere and also Indian restaurants. The quality of the Food is very good in Chiang Mai and restaurants usually costs less than in Bangkok.
Here in the photo you can see an excellent Veg breakfast I had inside a nice garden (yes, I do eat eggs).

Use the excellent Happy Cow smartphone application to find vegetarian restaurants near where you are at the moment. Here in the photo, one plate I received in a Vegan restaurant in Chiang Mai. It was the first time I ate leaves.

This is a Tofu burger. In my opinion, they really exaggerate with Tofu in Asia. The burger in this picture is a big Tofu piece. There are many other ways to do a Vegetarian burger.

A known local Thai dish (a soup) is the Khao Soi Kai, there is also a Vegetarian version of it. Here in the picture a stand selling Khao Soi in the night Bazaar.

Here is a Vegetarian Khao Soi that I received in an excellent restaurant. There are “egg noodles” inside. The sauce is made with curry that gives the soup a peanut taste.

You can read my page about being Vegetarian.

Continue to Page 2 – What to Visit in Chiang Mai ?

Other Stuff :

Info about 2 more cool cities: Barcelona and Tel-Aviv
What to Pack ? the visual list that will help you prepare the suitcase.
Visit my Vegetarian Page. Why be Vegetarian ? What to eat ?
Visit my Salsa Dance Page. Salsa main Styles. Why Dance Salsa ?
Listen to nice Songs with translation in French, Spanish, Italian, Hebrew.
Listen to basic Words In Spanish, French, Hebrew

star If you find incorrect data on this page, like a restaurant that has closed or a big river that has moved or you want to tell me something, please write me to contact.

A Visit in Thailand