22 Things to Do In & Around Chiang Mai, Thailand

Sawatdeekah! (Hello)!

When I was 16, I spent a month in Thailand traveling with the Experiment in International Living (EIL). This global nonprofit specializes in experiential learning and has been connecting students with host families abroad since 1932. You can learn more about The Experiment here.

During my time in Thailand, I spent about 2 weeks in Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is a medium-sized city located in the picturesque mountains of northern Thailand. This region boasts numerous day trip possibilities to Chiang Mai’s surrounding areas. You can visit nearby mountains, jungles, and waterfalls! Here are 22 things to do in and around Chiang Mai:

Wat is Thai for temple and phra singh means lion buddha so this temple’s name translates to ‘Lion Buddha Temple.’ Wat Phra Singh is located in Chiang Mai’s ‘Old City’ or Old Town. It’s a popular tourist attraction and one of the first places I visited in Chiang Mai.

This wat, or temple, is another iconic tourist attraction. It’s named after the mountain it sits on, Doi Suthep, on the outskirts of Chiang Mai. Nearby Bhubing Palace is popular with tourists and a MUST SEE if you’re in Chiang Mai. When you visit, don’t forget to have your picture taken on the majestic serpent staircase!

Enjoy a wide variety of delicious Thai food, served family style, while watching traditional Thai dance performances.

Family style Thai dinner

Performance

Say goodbye to singing in front of strangers at a bar! In Thailand (and South Korea) you can rent a private karaoke room for you and your friends and then shamelessly belt out the lyrics to all your favorite hits!

Every Saturday San Kampaeng Road turns into an 18km outdoor market. This is a great place to purchase souvenirs for family and friends back home or to walk around and admire local artisans’ handmade pottery, jewelry, and wood carvings. Don’t forget to use your newfound Thai language skills to haggle a good price with the local vendors!

The first thing you need to know about Thai food is that there is ‘spicy food’ (think: your local Mexican restaurant), and then there is *Thai* spicy. I usually asked for dishes with mild or medium spice, and vendors always toned down the spice for me anyway because they knew I was a tourist.

Next, I noticed that dishes in Chiang Mai are less spicy than those in Bangkok and there are more rice dishes in Chiang Mai and more noodle dishes in Bangkok. I loved the spicy street food in Bangkok, but I also enjoyed Chiang Mai’s less spicy alternatives. If you’re interested in visiting Thailand but fear spice, then Chiang Mai is perfect for you.

Chiang Mai street food – Not spicy

Note on allergies: If you have a food allergy, I recommend learning how to say, “I cannot eat (i.e. shrimp)” in Thai. It’s important to say ‘cannot eat’ instead of ‘allergy’ because in some rural (and urban) communities, locals may not understand what you mean by ‘allergy.’

People with peanut allergies need to be EXTREMELY careful since many Thai dishes are cooked in peanut oil. If you have an EpiPen, keep it on you at all times.

Riding in a tuk-tuk is super touristy, but it’s also a fun and inexpensive way to get around the city. I preferred tuk-tuks to taxis because they’re open air, and if you ever felt unsafe, you could just jump out. (We never did, though).

Thai tuk-tuk

After all that sightseeing, treat yourself to a Thai massage! Massages are far more affordable in Chiang Mai than in the States.

If you enjoy creating art, consider taking a Thai pottery class. I decorated a ceramic plate when I went to Chiang Mai in 2012, and I still have it! That plate brings me joy every time I use it.

Ceramic cup and saucer

I visited Chiang Mai in the summer, and it was HOT. Luckily, there are plenty of delicious Thai drinks you can enjoy to help you cool off. I drank milkshakes, smoothies, and iced coffee, but my favorite drink was cold milk tea with boba pearls.

It goes a long way when you know a few basic phrases in a country’s local language, and Thailand is no exception. Learning ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ shows that you care about the local culture. If you don’t have time to take a language class, download a free app like Babbel or Duolingo and learn on your own.

Along that vein, show your respect and appreciation for Thai culture by learning how to make some of Thailand’s most iconic dishes, like Pad thai or Pad see ew. I enjoyed the cooking class I attended, and the food we made was delicious.

Thai cooking class

7-Eleven is everywhere in Thailand. There’s one on every street corner, and it’s not uncommon to see a 7-Eleven directly across the street from another 7-Eleven. I don’t know why there are so many of them in Thailand, but be sure to stop in and buy some flavored potato chips to get the full Thailand experience. Our favorites included Nori seaweed and ‘extra barbecue.’ Each bag of chips is less than 1 USD, so try them all!

For lunch at Huay Tung Tao Lake, we were served crickets as an appetizer, a classic Thai snack. They were fried, crunchy, and sprinkled with salt, which made them taste like potato chips!

Fried crickets

At Chiang Mai’s outdoor food courts, you’ll find street vendors selling a variety of Thai cuisine and plenty of picnic tables for seating. If you’re dining with others, I recommend everyone order a different entrée from a different food vendor, and then you can try a little bit of everything. The best part? Most Thai dinners cost about 30 baht, which is equivalent to 1 USD.

Chiang Mai street food

See giraffes, capybaras, baby hippos, and more at the Chiang Mai Zoo!

Baan Chang Elephant Park is an elephant sanctuary. The park rescues elephants from inhumane conditions and rehabilitates them. These elephants enjoy a good quality of life, which was really important to me. I recommend researching elephant parks before you go because not all elephant parks are as ethical. For more information about the Baan Chang Elephant Park, check out my blog post here.

This photo was featured in a Thai magazine!

Bua Tong means ‘sticky.’ These waterfalls are sticky because they’re not covered in algae and slime so you can stick to the rocks. They’re easy to walk around on, but still use caution.

Sitting on the Bua Tong waterfalls

I loved flying through the jungle on a zip line! We booked a day trip with Flight of the Gibbon and had an amazing time.

Unlike typical white water rafting, these rapids were small, and the ride was so peaceful that we floated down the river on bamboo boards. 

River rafting

If you’re looking to cool off from the heat and spend some time in nature, consider visiting Huay Tung Tao Lake, just a 20 min drive from downtown Chiang Mai. Keep in mind that Chiang Mai is in the mountains, and there aren’t any beaches in northern Thailand.

Luckily, Huay Tung Tao Lake is the next best thing! We enjoyed swimming in the refreshingly chilly water and then ate lunch at picnic tables beside the lake. After more swimming, we enjoyed Thai crepes lakeside before returning to the city.

View of the lake

Whether you’re a city slicker looking to broaden your horizons or a seasoned ranch hand, I recommend visiting a farm. I don’t know the name of the farm we visited, but while we were there, we saw water buffalo and learned how to plow the rice paddies.

Water buffalo

Idyllic pond at the farm

What’s your favorite thing to do in Chiang Mai? Comment below!

– Travel Alli