How to Explore Chiang Mai in 3 Days

After being blessed to see the Taj Mahal in all of its glory, Candace and I made our way to Thailand to continue our Southeast Asian adventure!

Our first stop was Chiang Mai, which means “new city” in Thai. Situated 435 miles north of Bangkok in a mountainous region called the Thai highlands, Chiang Mai is the second largest city and one of the best places to visit in Thailand.

Steeped in history and brimming with breathtaking temples, lush greenery, traditional markets, and rich culture, the city is often referred to as the “Digital Nomad Capital” of Thailand, making it one of the top places in Thailand to workation as well. It’s also renowned as a center of Thai handicrafts, like silverwork, wood carving, pottery, etc.

This blog post focuses on the three days we spent in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where we stayed, what we did, where we ate, and more.

*P.S. this post contains some affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase.

How to Get to Chiang Mai

To optimize our time, we chose an overnight flight from Delhi to Chiang Mai, with an early morning layover in Bangkok. We arrived at Chiang Mai International Airport around 10:00 am and took a short cab ride from the airport to our boutique hotel in Chiang Mai.

A Broad Recommendation: Be sure to get some local currency before your ride, as cab drivers might not accept credit card. If you coordinate your cab beforehand, even better, but it’s not necessary for this airport.

Where to Stay in Chiang Mai

We chose to stay at an adorable, boutique hotel in Chiang Mai called Rinn Boutique House. From the moment we booked, the staff were very helpful and accommodating! Since they don’t normally have 24 hour counter service, I reached out to them via Facebook to request an early check-in (or at least luggage storage), so we could explore Chiang Mai luggage-free upon arrival.

They quickly quickly responded—within a few hours, despite the 12 hour time difference between Houston and Thailand—and said that they could accommodate our request. All I had to do was share our flight details!

When we arrived, we were able to freshen up in the downstairs bathroom, which was very convenient. However, we quickly realized that the luggage storage was in the lobby, which we weren’t overly comfortable with, considering we were leaving our computers. Noticing this, the staff went above and beyond to make sure we felt comfortable and allowed us to leave our bags in a back room that could only be accessed by employees.

3-Day Chiang Mai Itinerary

My goodness, Chiang Mai is cool! It’s different from anywhere else we’d ever been, and we were blown away by its beauty the minute we stepped out of the hotel.

Due to Chiang Mai’s location in northern Thailand, the city offers lots of outdoor activities, like hiking, waterfall hunting, zip-lining, and elephant sanctuary visits. The city also boasts more than 300 Buddhist temples, is steeped in history and culture, as evidenced by its ancient city walls and preserved architecture, and hosts several vibrant festivals throughout the year, like the Songkran Water Festival and the Yi Peng Lantern Festival.

For these reasons alone, Chiang Mai attracts millions of visitors from all over the world each year. Here’s the 3-day itinerary we followed in Chiang Mai. Two of these days were spent directly in Chiang Mai, while one was spent at the Elephant Nature Park outside of Chiang Mai:

Day 1: Exploring the Temples of Chiang Mai

• Wat Chetlin
• Wat Fon Soi
• Lunch at B. Sam Cook
• Check-In to Rinn Boutique House
• Wat Chedi Luang
• Wat Chiang Man
• Tha Phae Gate
• Dinner at The Good View
• Tuk-Tuk Ride
• Night Market
• Thai Hexi SPA

Day 2: Hanging Out with Elephants Outside the City

• The Elephant Nature Park
• Dinner at See You Soon

Day 3: Hiking in Chiang Mai

• Monk’s Trail
• Wat Phra That Doi Suthep
• Norn-Nanta House
• Thai Hexi SPA

Day 1: Exploring the Temples of Chiang Mai

Wat Chetlin

We began meandering from our hotel and almost immediately stumbled upon several temples right along our path! At first, we were hesitant to go inside, but everyone was so welcoming and kind, so eventually, we felt comfortable enough to enter.

Wat Chetlin caught my attention, as it sits beside a lake with lotus flowers and lily pads and has bamboo pavilions to sit at and relax. The bamboo walkway is colorfully decorated, leading to the monks’ quarters.

Wat Fon Soi

Wat Fon Soi, the temple closest to the Chiang Mai Gate market, boasts a white stucco chedi, and was another cool temple that we just so happen to stumble upon.

Lunch at B. Sam Cook

Walking around in Chiang Mai in the middle of July can be hot, humid and draining. Basically, solely due to the fact that they had air conditioning, we made our way to the cutest restaurant, B. Sam Cook. We were instantly enamored by the coy pond and elephant display outside, as well as the adorable wooden swing at the entryway, which we totally played on.

When we walked in, we were treated like royalty! The waiters immediately brought each of us some free bottled water and a refreshing beverage on the house—obviously, this was a cheersing boomerang opportunity.

Our meals could have fed an army, the portions were so large, and the prices were very affordable. Naturally, I ordered the yellow curry, which not only looked amazing but also tasted amazing! At the end of our meal, our waiters brought us ice cream bars also on the house. I’m not sure if they serve everyone in this way, but our experience of the service here was over the moon!

We were so giddy from our amazing stroll and then even more so after our experience during our first meal in Chiang Mai—a true treat!

Check-In to Rinn Boutique House

After lunch, we wandered a bit more before heading back to officially check into our room. Our room was clean, bright and white, with two twin beds, a desk, a wardrobe, a full bathroom, and a fridge. Note that we didn’t realize that the fridge didn’t stay on when we left the room, so our leftovers from lunch sadly went bad while we were out later in the evening.

Wat Chedi Luang

That evening, we naturally checked out a ton more temples, a couple of which are must-sees in our opinion!

Wat Chedi Luang, a Buddhist temple in the Historical Center of Chiang Mai, was one of our favorites. An earthquake substantially damaged the chedi, and UNESCO and the Japanese government worked to restore the temple and to stabilize the site to prevent further damage.

However, the top was never reconstructed, as there wasn’t a clear idea of how it originally looked. Wat Chedi Luang is also famous for once housing the Emerald Buddha, one of the most important religious relics in Thailand.

The entrance fee was 40 TBH (~$1.26 USD) at the time, and luckily, it stayed open until 5:00 pm, so we were able to fit it in.

Wat Chiang Man

Wat Chiang Man is a Buddhist temple located in the Old City and is the oldest temple in Chiang Mai, going all the way back to the founding of the city in 1296. We just walked in; there was no admissions charge, and, of course, we immediately fell in love with all of the elephant statues.

Tha Phae Gate

Next, we passed by the Tha Phae Gate on the eastern side of the Old City. The gate is part of a crumbling wall that once acted as a fortress back in the 13th century and is located near a bustling public square filled with souvenir, book, and food vendors.

A Broad Recommendation: Check out the Tha Phae Gate on a Saturday evening to see a live band perform in front of the gate.

Dinner at The Good View

Similar to the rest of the day, we strolled all the way over to the Riverside area, which was a bit of a trek, before heading to dinner at The Good View. In my opinion, this one was nothing to write home about. We were mainly concerned with finding air conditioning again and ended up here after being disappointed with The Riverside Bar & Restaurant’s AC situation.

After doing some quick research, it turns out that The Good View is actually a popular restaurant in Chiang Mai, overlooking the River Ping. Indeed, the restaurant is large, with an indoor section and an outside terrace with seating down towards the riverbank. I think, perhaps, since we requested to sit in the bar area, we may have missed out on some of the allure of this place. Plus, I personally just didn’t like the dish I ordered and thought the service was subpar in the area we sat in.

Tuk-Tuk Ride

By this point, we were pretty worn out, so we hopped into our very first Tuk-Tuk to head back into the main part of town. We had such a blast zipping around Chiang Mai, and it felt similar to the Rickshaw I had driven around in in Delhi.

A Broad Recommendation: Tuk-Tuk pricing varies from driver to driver, so make sure you have cash/exact bills on hand to negotiate if you feel it’s too pricey.

Night Market

Back in town, we found a neat night market with well-priced handmade goods and artwork. The market filled the streets with vendors and was a cool sight to see even without purchasing anything.

Thai Hexi SPA

Almost as quickly as we’d started our walk through the market, we found ourselves caught in a torrential downpour—don’t forget to pack your rain jacket!—and spent some time hiding from the rain before finding a place to get foot massages. 

Thai Hexi SPA was located just a couple streets away and offers exceptional massage services. A 1-hour foot massage on special was 199 TBH (~$6.25 USD) plus 40 TBH tip (~$1.25 USD), and it was the best foot massage I’d ever had. 

Naturally, we found ourselves chatting with some folks from the U.S. in the lobby and learned that some of them were from Seattle, where Candace lived at the time, and had friends in Houston, where I lived. Not only that, but they’d just been in Phuket and were able to give us some advice on where to stay and what to do, since that was one of the places in Thailand we were headed to later on our trip.

Day 2: Hanging Out with Elephants Outside the City

The Elephant Nature Park

Our next day in Chiang Mai was absolutely amazing. And, it was one we’d been anticipating for a long time! We were picked up from our hotel and taken to spend a full day at the Elephant Nature Park, before coming back to the city for the rest of the evening.

Not only was this an amazing experience for us, but with all of the work the park does in the community and the opportunities they provide, we can’t recommend this place enough.

I also think we took more than 1,000 photos on this day alone, and Candace is NOT a photo taker by nature, so that’s saying something!

Dinner at See You Soon

When we got back from our day trip, we freshened up a bit before meandering our way to See You Soon. See You Soon is not only a cute dinner spot with a vast menu but also an adorable boutique with fashionable clothing, jewelry, and small souvenirs!

After our yummy meal, each of us picked out a cute top (or a few!) and had an interesting time in the dressing room together—they didn’t have mirrors! So, we took some pics to figure out which outfits looked best, and we ended up landing on a cute crop top for me and a sweater for Candace.

We decided to call it an earlier night after a long, fun-filled day and headed back to the hotel to do some planning for the remainder of our trip.

Day 3: Hiking in Chiang Mai

Monk’s Trail

For our last day in Chiang Mai, we decided to hike the 6-mile trek along Monk’s Trail up Doi Suthep mountain to see Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, since this was boasted as another Chiang Mai must-see temple.

We used the Grab app, which is similar to Lyft or Uber, to call a driver to drop us off at the mysterious trailhead just past Chiang Mai University. This cost us 305 TBH (~$10 USD). Considering we couldn’t read the signs, we made the bold assumption that the drop-off location was correct and started our journey with some strong positive vibes.

We didn’t have to go too far before we arrived at Wat Pha Lat, a smaller temple nestled among the trees. We stopped to meditate at the first lookout, reflecting and enjoying the serenity. It was truly magical sitting in silence among the trees and thinking about how blessed we were to be in Thailand!

After 15 minutes or so, we started exploring and thankfully, found some bathrooms.

A Broad Recommendation: Always carry tissues or toilet paper and hand sanitizer wherever you go. There was no toilet paper or soap in the bathrooms here nor was there either of those in many of the other bathrooms we stopped at throughout Thailand.

After a bit of exploring and taking pictures, we continued our trek up the mountain; this is where things got pretty strenuous, as the remainder of the hike was mainly uphill, with just few places to stop and rest (or to use the restroom).

A Broad Recommendation: pack lots of water. There was a small café at Wat Pha Lat, but you’ll go through several water bottles on the way up from there—like at least three each. And, we were still very thirsty when we reached the top. There are shops and cafés at the top of the mountain, but I can’t speak to what types of food they offer, as we just got waters.

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

We ended up climbing 5,500 feet in elevation, which was totally worth it for the spectacular 360 degree views at the top. You can even see downtown Chiang Mai!

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep is a Buddhist temple that serves as a sacred site to many Thai people. Entrance to the temple costs 50 THB (~$1.50 USD) per person, and as with most temples, you’ll need to be dressed conservatively with shoulders covered. You’ll also need to leave your shoes outside of the temple. Don’t worry! Shoes can be worn everywhere else on the premises.

Upon entering the temple, you’ll immediately notice the jaw-dropping golden chedi, as well as the five-tiered umbrella, which marks the city’s independence from Burma and its union with Thailand. Lotus blossoms and other offerings are left at the shrines surrounding the chedi.

Other than hiking, there are several alternatives to getting to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, including car, motorbike/scooter, or catching a ride in a red songthaew (red trucks that act as shared taxis throughout Chiang Mai). If hiking isn’t your thing, it may be best to check out some of these alternatives.

The descent down, of course, was much less exciting, albeit a bit easier but still taxing on our knees. We were both yearning to make it back and get some food. When we finally made it back to the beginning of the trail head, which seemed to take so much longer in our minds than in reality, we called another Grab Taxi, which was only 160 TBH (~$5 USD) this time.

Norn-Nanta House

For lunch, we went right next-door to the Norn-Nanta House, where we had frequented for Thai Tea during our stay. If you have never had Thai Tea, you NEED to try it in Thailand.

The food was just okay, and I think I only managed to finish half of the curry I ordered, as the portions were huge. I will say, we only spent 300 TBH, or ~$10 USD, total between our meals and the Thai Teas, so that was a steal for sure.

Thai Hexi SPA

As it was nearing the end of our stay, we took the afternoon to relax and to prepare for our last night in Chiang Mai.

Then, we took a Tuk-Tuk for 80 TBH, or $2.50 USD, (no more walking for us!) back to Thai Hexi SPA and each had absolutely fabulous three hour massages. Let me tell you, Thai massages are where it’s at!

We paid 3200 TBH (~$50 USD) each, and the massages were better than any massage we’d ever gotten in the U.S. We also tried to tip well (100 TBH, or ~$3.15 USD, per person), but the owner was so overly grateful and wouldn’t accept the full amount. This was an amazing way to end our visit to Chiang Mai, and again, we highly recommend Thai Hexi SPA for their wonderful services.

After massages we ate at some random vegetarian place with air conditioning that we found near the spa and took another Tuk-Tuk home for 150 TBH (~$5 USD) to start packing and relaxing before our next leg of our journey.

Have you visited Chiang Mai? What else would you recommend doing here?

XOXO Sara at Travel A-Broads