So you’ve decided to go to Thailand and somehow, Chiang Mai made it onto your list of places to visit (great choice!).  It’s time to start planning, but where do you even begin?  I was in your shoes up until the week before I traveled to Chiang Mai and had planned only one thing in advance.  I KNOW! This is so unlike me!  I was so busy with work and life that I didn’t have time to sit down and do my research or make my plan until the last minute.  I pulled together a long list of things that I wanted to do and places that I wanted to eat but was so worried that I was going to try to do more than I really had time for.  Somehow, though, I managed to plan everything out so perfectly that I was able to do it all, but also didn’t completely overwhelm myself by planning too much.  IT’S A MIRACLE!
So here I am, sharing with you my perfect Chiang Mai four-day itinerary for the traveler that wants to do it all (and I mean ALL) in your short four days.  I did this itinerary traveling by myself, but it would also be great for a couple or a group!
So first things first…

Where to Stay

I will start by saying that you can find somewhere to stay on any budget when traveling to Chiang Mai, with hotels or hostels for as low as something like $15 USD per night up to, well, a whole lot more than $15 USD per night.  I highly recommend staying in Old Town regardless of your budget so that you are right in the middle of everything!
I stayed at the most amazing little place called the Baan BooLoo Village, which is right in the heart of Old Town Chiang Mai. I didn’t book very far in advance and many of the rooms were already booked up by the time I contacted the hotel. It was recommended by a friend, and I had fallen in love with what I had seen on the website, so I decided to splurge and stay in one of the larger rooms anyways. I stayed in the Mountain View Suite, in which “the upper floor has a tree house feeling with a sunny veranda and viewing area raised over the rooftops of the lower house.”  This description was spot on and the view and the room did not disappoint. It also included an amazing outdoor bathroom and shower, which I think might have been my favorite part of the whole room!  It was meant for a family of four, so I did spend a little more than planned, but I think if you book far enough in advance, there are several more options available! Breakfast was also included, which was very convenient each morning and saved me some time (and it was delicious!).

As an added bonus, the hotel has a kitty cat on site that is just the cutest little guy you’ve ever seen!  He is a rescue and his back legs don’t work, so you’ll see him pulling himself around the lobby with his front legs and playing in the rocks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting Around

The great thing about staying in Old Town Chiang Mai is that the entire city of Old Town is walkable if you want it to be!  There are also songthaews, tuk-tuks, and taxis, all of which are taxi-like services that are easy to catch from most areas of Chiang Mai.  Bike and motorbike rentals are a very popular method of transportation and both are relatively inexpensive (I saw daily motorbike rentals for as low as $20 USD a day).  The last option (and my go-to option) was the app “Grab,” which is essentially the Uber equivalent for Southeast Asia.  I used Grab since I could call a car in the app and pay with either my card through the app or cash.  There were also long-term options (see below) where you could book a car for an extended period of time, which ended up being extremely helpful for me on one of my trips. I also read that many of the taxi drivers would try to up-charge you, especially Americans, so using Grab also helped me to avoid paying more just for being a tourist.

What to Do

My itinerary assumes that you have three full days and one-half day, which is really required if you want to do everything on this list. I took a red-eye and traveled in early on the morning of Day 1, which was a Saturday and actually left on an early morning flight on Day 5, Wednesday morning. If you are traveling in late at night and then leaving during the evening of your last day, you can switch the Day 1 and Day 4 itineraries to fit your schedule.

Day One

Check-in and lunch – As I noted, this is going to be the “half-day” itinerary, which you would likely want to do on one of your travel days. My flight came in around 10:00 am and I got to the hotel around 11:45 after going through customs and getting my luggage. The airport is very close to Old Town, so it was just a quick 15-20 minute drive into the city. Since the Baan BooLoo is more of a boutique hotel, they had a small welcome reception for me and spent time talking to me about different things to do while I was visiting. By the time I got into my room and changed and on my way, it was after 1:00. I went straight to the Tikky Cafe to grab lunch, which luckily was right around the corner from my hotel!
Explore Old Town and the temples – Once my stomach was full, I set off to explore the Old Town, including some of the most famous and popular temples Wat Pra Singh and Wat Chedi Luang. I walked most of the perimeter of Old Town and saw several of the gates of the city. I also stopped along the way to look at several of the other temples and stumbled across the Wat Rajamontean, which ended up being one of my favorites! Chiang Mai is known for its hundreds of temples, so there is no shortage to see as you make your way around the town.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Thai massage – Another must-do thing while you visit any town in Thailand is to get a Thai massage! If you’ve never had a Thai massage before – just prepare yourself because it’s not the exact same thing as getting a massage in the States. There are massage parlors all over the city, but I choose to go to the Lila Thai Massage, which employs women who are ex-inmates and teaches them the skill of Thai massage. A one hour massage costs 250 baht, which is about $8 USD. I went in right around dinner time, which is apparently a very popular time to go. Once I was all checked in, I was to the back and given a top and pants to put on. The changing rooms were all full, so she took me into the room where they do the massages – let me point out that it was a very dark room. I was shocked to walk past 8 full beds before we arrived at my empty bed. She closed the curtain and told me to change and she’d be back shortly. She came back to find a very flustered Lauren struggling with the clothes. She giggled and told me that my Thai pants were on backward so I had to take those off and flip it so she could tie me in. Then she giggled even more and told me that my top was also backward. It was very hospital gown-esque, so I had put it on with the opening to the back (as one would…right?!). So I pull the shirt off and flip it. If I wasn’t feeling like an idiot already, at this point, she pointed out that there were buttons on the shirt that I hadn’t seen. BUTTONS. I felt like a fool, but I was finally dressed and it was time to start my massage. I won’t give much away, but I was shocked when she climbed right up onto the bed to do my massage. I left after that hour feeling like a million bucks (but did I mention I spent only $8?).
Dinner – At this point, you’ll likely be hungry and tired. Take the rest of the evening to grab dinner wherever you’d like. I ventured outside of Old Town to try Mango Tango, a mango dessert restaurant, which was AMAZING. Then I went back to the hotel to get some rest to prepare for the next couple of busy days.

Day Two

Sunrise trip to Doi Suthep – While it will be a very early morning, I highly recommend taking the ~45 minute trip up the mountains to visit the Doi Suthep Temple for sunrise. I later found out that there are some day tours that will pick you up and take you for the sunrise, but I did on my own. I booked the Grab chauffeur option, which was a flat rate for a 4-hour trip anywhere within city limits with an extra hourly rate for each additional hour over the first four hours. I thought this was a great option and my driver was waiting for me when I came back down from the temple. I hadn’t felt the need to rush at all. I am so glad that I did this because once we got up to the temple, I had no cell reception and have no idea how I would have called a car to get back home! If you’re really ambitious, you can use your driver to stop and see some other sights, but at this point, I went back to the hotel to shower and prepare for the rest of the day.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Tiger Kingdom – After breakfast, I called a car to head back out to the Tiger Kingdom. For those of you who know me (or have read my bio), I am a huge cat lover, so this is an opportunity I was NOT going to pass up. I bought the big cat pass to see all five of the big cats, and it did not disappoint. There are lots of different options if you only want to walk around or just go in to “meet” one or two animals. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a little big scary – I mean these are huge wild animals, but I never felt unsafe. I was taken into each cage with two handlers who helped to lead me around and make sure that I was safe at all times. It was such a surreal experience to be so close to wild cats like that. I was able to pick up one of the tiger’s tail and foot and they were so heavy! A little bit of a change from my 10ish pound babies. Despite their large size, they acted a lot like house cats. There were three sisters that kept playing and finally one just sat on the other to end it. They jump and try to catch “cat toys” (or big branches with leaves in this case) and love lounging and sun-bathing.

Lunch and free time – I did the lunch buffet at the Tiger Kingdom, which was okay. I would probably recommend eating elsewhere if I had to do it again. After lunch, this is a good opportunity to see anything else that only takes a little time, as you have a bit of a break. On my ride back to the city, I made a pit stop at Coco Corner, a coconut dessert restaurant for some ice cream. After dessert, I went back to the hotel to relax for about an hour before being picked up for the next adventure! *This is a good time for another massage if you’re trying to sneak those in!*
Zabb-E-Lee Cooking School – Let me start by saying that I really don’t like cooking and I’m not that good at it, but this ended up being one of the coolest experiences! I was picked up around 4:00 and the group was first taken to a local market to pick up ingredients to make our five-course meal that night. We were given the option of several different appetizers, soups, stir fry dishes and curry dishes to choose from. I chose to make spring rolls, chicken pad Thai, Tom Kha Kai soup, and Panang curry. Mango sticky rice was made for dessert for the group. We were given detailed instructions on what to prep, what ingredients were needed, and how to cook each of the meals. Our instructor, Kiss Kiss, was watching over us at all times to make sure that everything was going the way it should, and kept things light with her sense of humor. I learned a lot about the different ingredients we were using and the different dishes and somehow successfully made all of my food. I was introduced to some new dishes that I wouldn’t have tried and ended up really liking everything! We left with a cookbook, so I’ll eventually have to pull that baby out to see if I’ve still got it when I don’t have the instructor looking over my shoulder! The cooking class was quite long and went until almost 9:00, but I had one more stop before heading home.

Sunday night market – If you happen to be in Chiang Mai on a Sunday, you can’t miss the Sunday night market. Ratchadamnoen Road, which crosses from east to west of the city is completely shut down and all of the vendors set up along this 1k stretch. Even if you have no intention of buying anything, it’s worth taking the stroll and just taking it all in. The market opens at 4:00 and goes until midnight. It was recommended to go after 7:00 when I did my research and things were still in full swing when I got there after 9:00. There are music and food and mini massage stands set up along the road, along with anything you could possibly wish to buy (and all relatively cheap too!). My favorite thing at the market was when I stopped to listen to a band playing my childhood favorite song “Achy Breaky Heart,” which if you didn’t know, goes something like this in Thailand: “don’t kill my heart, my achy breaky heart.” 😂😂😭😭
After the markets, I was exhausted and went back to the hotel to rest up for another big day!

Day Three

Elephants, elephants, elephants! – This day meant so much to me that I wrote an entirely separate post on it. I spent the day with the Sun Native Karen Tribe and learned how to care for their elephants and it was magnificent! HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend to anyone visiting! This trip lasted from about 7:00 until 5:30 and included pick-up and drop-off to the hotel.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Night bazaar – After a long day of work, I came back to shower and clean up and headed out to the night bazaar for dinner and more shopping. Similar to the markets, there are tons of vendors selling everything you can imagine. I stopped and did one of those fish foot spas which was weird as can be! I was also planning to get another massage before heading home but had to go to the bathroom and couldn’t find one ANYWHERE so this sent me home early. Maybe I was just struggling or maybe there were really none – go at your own risk (or just plan better than me (: ).

Day Four

Doi Inthanon National Park – I planned this last-minute and was so glad that I did! I booked the day tour through Wonderful EcoTours and had an amazing experience. I was picked up from my hotel around 7:00 and we set off on the hour and a half drive to the national park. We saw the Wachirathan Waterfall and Rak Jung Waterfall, went on a two-hour trek through the forest, spent some time in one of the local Karen Tribe villages (including a delicious lunch made by the tribe!), visited the highest spot in Thailand, the peak of Doi Inthanon, walked through the very green the Angka Nature Trail, the amazingly picturesque cloud forest, and visited the Pagodas of the King & the Queen. The tour concluded around 4:00 and we were driven back and dropped off at our hotels!

 

Free time and dinner – For a couple of minutes, I thought about calling it a night at this point, but since it was my last night, I had a few things left to do! I got another massage after the tour, which felt great after the two-hour trek! I then got ready and headed out to a later dinner with some new friends that I met on the tour! We went to the Woo Cafe, which is a full menu restaurant and art gallery. My only recommendation for the Woo Cafe is to go early because they run out of entrees and desserts! The food was still delicious and time is always great when spent in good company.

North Gate Jazz Co-Op – As the night was coming to an end, I had one last stop that came highly recommended online (who would have known?). I headed to the North Gate Jazz Co-Op for the open mic night and saw some unbelievable talent. I’m not the biggest jazz fan, but everyone that I saw perform was so talented! The posts online said that the crowd would be spilling out into the street and they didn’t lie. The bar was packed! It was definitely more of a tourist attraction (likely thanks to Trip Advisor), but that doesn’t change the fact that the performers were incredibly talented! I didn’t get to stay too long since I was beat and had to get ready for an early flight, but was so glad that I made the stop! I would recommend any night, but if you happen to be in town on a Tuesday, it’s worth a few minutes of your time.
Are you tired just reading through this itinerary?!  It’s a lot, but it’s totally worth it to do and see everything on your visit.  And, yes, these call for long days, but I was still able to get sleep each night to rest up for the following day’s adventures!