Itinerary: 3-Day Weekend in Chiang Mai

    Chiang Mai is one of the more popular cities among travelers in Thailand located in the North and after visiting, I can attest that it is for good reason. The Old City of Chiang Mai is an incredible weekend getaway with plenty of options to satisfy any traveler's desires. From temples, to national parks, to great food, and gorgeous pools, Chiang Mai is truly a city for everyone.

I was lucky enough to be able to go on a long weekend for Father’s Day, also known as the King’s Birthday, as well as many of the other CIEE teachers and probably could have spent weeks there seeing all of the sites. After visiting, I compiled a list of all the awesome places I saw, and also some places I wish I got to see during my travels there, including travel tips, accommodation, food recommendations, sightseeing spots and more! 

Travel

    Being placed at a school close to Bangkok, travel is super easy for me. I personally took an overnight bus into Chiang Mai and decided to fly home just to give myself some more time there. I have booked all of my buses through https://www.busonlineticket.co.th/ which makes it so easy to view all the options for destinations and time of departure. The overnight bus is super comfortable and allows you to fully recline. It also is way cheaper than buying a flight, which is why I opted for the bus over flying both ways.  

I flew home at the end of my long weekend from Chiang Mai to Don Muang (DMK) which is the Northern Bangkok airport closer to where I live. If you get overwhelmed by big airports I would definitely recommend using DMK as your airport as it is way less stressful than going to BKK! If you don’t live close to Bangkok, it is also simple to just fly to Chiang Mai from your closest airport or to get a bus to Bangkok and travel from there as options will be more abundant!

 I book flights using the Hopper app which is incredibly helpful in finding the cheapest options for flights and also notifies you when prices change. Travel in Thailand is made super easy with all the options for buses and a multitude of airports to fly to and is very inexpensive in comparison to other countries. 

Accommodations

    Accommodation is also abundant in Chiang Mai as it is a popular spot for backpackers and world travelers. Several of my teacher friends and I stayed at The Hidden Garden Hostel which was an incredible experience. This was my first time staying at a hostel and I was slightly nervous being in a shared dorm-style room. Little did we know that other CIEE teachers booked here too and were in our room which made it loads more comfortable! Hostels are awesome options for accommodation because they are very inexpensive at around 300 Thai baht per night. This is only around $8.80 USD per night. You also get to meet other travelers from all over the world! We met people from Australia and countries all over Europe while staying there! The hostel also offered tons of information on sights to see and places to visit while in Chiang Mai which was very helpful and kind of them.

    Other teachers in our program stayed at different hostels such as Hostel Lullaby or The Smile Robotist and also gave great reviews from their experiences! All of these options can be booked through HostelWorld which is a website and app to securely book your travel accommodations. Now we can get onto the fun stuff, sights to see, places to eat, and things to do!

Day 1:

    I took the overnight bus, got into Chiang Mai at around 5:30 am and headed straight to Into the Wild Elephant Camp at 6:30 am. The owner, Pai, and his brother rescued these elephants and you can tell they really love them with all of their hearts and consider them their sons and daughters. The sanctuary is super ethical and allows visitors to feed the elephants, hike with them, scrub them with mud and bathe them. You get to spend a lot of time with the elephants and the money you pay to go helps pay for their food and care. We opted for the half-day option which was more than enough time, and they provide you with transportation from your accommodation, a stop at a market for breakfast and a lunch before leaving! I cannot recommend this place enough and seeing the elephants so happy was pure joy and so good for the soul. 

    Head to Aum Vegetarian for a relaxing lunch. This place is so cool and has plenty of options for all your vegetarian/vegan needs! You get to sit on cushions on the ground which are so cute and comfy after a morning with the elephants. Try the traditional Northern Thai dish, Khao Soi, and enjoy a fresh fruit smoothie here! It is also quite inexpensive which is clearly a trend here in Thailand.

    After eating lunch, head to Walking Street and peruse the market stands. There are plenty of items and different foods to purchase here such as clothing, tote bags, jewelry, accessories, trinkets, Chiang Mai merchandise, ice cream, smoothies, deserts, street meat … you name it, they have it. If you stay at The Hidden Garden hostel, you will have no issue getting to Walking Street because it is right outside your door! 

    One thing I found to be great about Chiang Mai was the food options. You can take a Grab or taxi over to Salsa Kitchen, a Mexican restaurant, where you can get an amazing margarita or sangria. They had plenty of options for Mexican meals and appetizers, and were very inclusive to gluten-free eaters, vegetarians and vegans. Not to mention, chips with salsa, queso, and guacamole to share! What more could you want! 

    Go see a cabaret show at 6ixcret. Entry is free with the purchase of two drinks (which is not too difficult) and you get to enjoy an AMAZING show with plenty of fun surprises from the LadyBoys themselves. If you are an English language speaker, you will likely know a good amount of the songs they use too which is a huge plus and makes it really fun for you and your friends. This is a great spot for your night out, but prepare to pay 5 baht to use the bathrooms!

Day 2:

    Start day 2 with a trip to Doi Inthanon National Park. I did not get the chance to go there while I was in Chiang Mai which I completely regret, but it is notable for its temple and that it is the highest point in all of Thailand! You can spend most of the day above cloud-level and see Chiang Mai from a bird’s eye view. Doi Inthanon is about 3-hours from the Old City of Chiang Mai, so it is recommended to hire a tour guide and prepare to spend a lot of your day there. Most tours will have meals included. 

    If you are looking for something slightly closer to the city of Chiang Mai and don’t want to stray too far away, Sticky Waterfall is another great option! It is about an hour away by Songtau and the limestone underneath the falls allows you to climb all the way up them slip-free! This was really cool as most waterfalls you wouldn’t be able to climb up at all. The park has four waterfalls and a nature trail that you can hike on. I recommend hiking down to the last waterfall via the trail and then climbing your way back up through the waterfalls. 

    For dinner, go to Goodsouls Kitchen, a completely plant-based vegan restaurant. This place is beautifully decorated and has a great ambiance. I had the Philly Cheesesteak and could not even tell that there was no meat or real cheese in it. They also have an array of desserts and sweets which are to die for. The tiramisu and carrot cake were both incredible options. 

    If you think that Walking Street is a cool market, just wait until you see the Sunday Night Market. You could walk this market for hours on end and still not see all of it. It has all the same options as Walking Street, but goes on for so, so long. There are so many twists and turns to this market with more behind each corner. Food options are also more plentiful in this market than other markets. I personally have never seen anything like it and could not recommend it more. 

    For a night out on the town head to Zoe in Yellow, a popular bar among backpackers. This place was hugeeeeeeee with a double-sided bar and was packed with people from all over the world. They have amazing drinks, play amazing music, and have tons of TVs for sports lovers. When we were there, the FIFA World Cup was on and crowds were standing around the TVs watching the games. This place fostered a great environment for making connections with new people or just having a fun time among your friends!

Day 3: 

    Grab a coffee and breakfast at a local market and head to Grand Canyon Water Park. I did not get to go to this park and I am so bummed about it. The water park includes tons of inflatables that sit on top of a small body of water. The park includes inflatable obstacle courses, slides, a small zip-line, and wakeboarding. If you are a fan of water sports or just swimming in general, this is definitely the place for you.

    When you return from the water park, grab some lunch at the Fern Forest Cafe. Similarly to Goodsouls Kitchen, this place is beautifully decorated and has an amazing ambiance. With outdoor/indoor seating and live music, you could not go wrong here. We went to this cafe in search of a bagel which we have not been able to find since being in Thailand, so it was definitely a treat to have one again!

    Last but not least, go temple hopping through the Old City of Chiang Mai. We stopped at several just walking through the city but the ones that were notable are Wat Chedi Luang and Wat Sri Suphan. Wat Chedi Luang was a ruin-styled temple which was originally made up of three temples, although this is the one that still stands today. Wat Sri Suphan is known as the silver temple which has very intricate designs circling the temple. These two temples were recommended to us by a very kind local, so we knew they were must-see spots. 

    After temple hopping you can head to the site of your transportation method to home! Chiang Mai is definitely  a must-see destination during your travels to Thailand and left such an impact on me. So much fun was had here and the memories made here will last a lifetime. It is for sure a place that I want to go back to during my travels here and I hope this itinerary is useful to see all it has to offer too!