5 Days in Chiang Mai

A day-by-day itinerary for Chiang Mai, Thailand: real activities, restaurants and hotels with prices and booking links. Copy it and make it yours.

Chiang Mai, Thailand · 5 days · 18 activities · free to copy and customize

Day 1 — Old city bearings

13:00 Grab from Chiang Mai airport (CNX) (150 THB). ≈150 THB, 15 min — the airport is practically in town.
14:30 Old-city boutique hotel, 4 nights (6,000 THB). ≈1,500 THB/night inside the moat square — temples, markets and khao soi all on foot.
16:00 Wat Chedi Luang & Wat Phra Singh (100 THB). ≈50 THB each. The ruined brick chedi at Luang held the Emerald Buddha for a century; cover shoulders and knees.
18:30 Khao soi for dinner (70 THB). ≈60–80 THB. Curried egg noodles with crispy noodles on top — Chiang Mai's dish, and the trip's recurring theme.

08:00 Red songthaew up Doi Suthep (100 THB). ≈50 THB each way shared from the zoo stop; agree before boarding. 306 naga-flanked steps at the top, or the funicular.
09:00 Wat Phra That Doi Suthep (50 THB). 50 THB. The gold chedi above the city haze — legend says a white elephant chose the spot. Go early; it's a working temple first.
12:30 Lunch back in town (120 THB).
15:00 Monk chat at Wat Suan Dok. Free. Young monks practise English on you; you get Buddhism 101 with tea. Genuinely one of the best free hours in Thailand.
18:00 Chang Phueak gate night market (100 THB). ≈100 THB. The cowboy-hat khao kha moo lady is the queue worth joining.

07:30 Ethical elephant sanctuary half-day (2,500 THB). ≈2,500 THB with pickup. NO RIDING, no shows — feeding, mud, river. If a place offers rides or hooks, it is not a sanctuary; book one with observation-first policies (Elephant Nature Park model).
14:30 Old-city massage (300 THB). ≈300 THB/hour. The ex-inmate rehabilitation centre (Women's Massage Center) is skilled and the story is the point.
18:00 Riverside dinner at the Ping (400 THB). ≈400 THB. Fairy lights, river breeze, and the day's elephant photos to sort.

07:30 Doi Inthanon day trip (1,800 THB). ≈1,500–1,800 THB group tour incl. park fee (300 THB alone). The twin royal pagodas in cloud forest, Wachirathan falls, and the Karen coffee villages — pack a layer; 2,565 m is genuinely cold at dawn.
17:30 Khao soi, the comparison round (70 THB). Same dish, different shop — by day four you have opinions. This is correct.
19:30 Night bazaar or Saturday/Sunday Walking Street (200 THB). The Sunday Walking Street on Ratchadamnoen is the great one — close-packed crafts from the moat to Wat Phra Singh. Haggle gently; margins here are real.

09:00 Thai cooking class (morning course) (1,200 THB). ≈1,200 THB incl. market tour. You will make khao soi. The circle closes.
13:30 Nimman coffee crawl (150 THB). ≈150 THB. Chiang Mai's café district runs on local mountain beans — the baristas take it seriously so you don't have to.
15:30 Grab to CNX (150 THB). 15 minutes back; Bangkok is a 70-minute hop — this trip chains onto our Bangkok itinerary neatly.

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