Must-see attractions in Chiang Mai

Reached via a steep naga stairway through the forest, this handsome wát looms above the city from the hillside above Royal Park Rajapruek. With its gilded…

A handsome wooden complex dotted with terracotta sculptures, this is one of the most attractive wát outside the city walls. It is thought to have been…

Operated by the Fine Arts Department, this museum is the primary caretaker of Lanna artefacts and northern Thai history, covering everything from the…

Behind the Muang Chiang Mai sports stadium, photogenic, 1631 Wat Ku Tao incorporates many Burmese and Confucian elements. The distinctive chedi is said to…

South of the flower market on Th Praisani, the Pung Tao Gong Ancestral Temple was founded in 1876, but the shrine fell into ruin as the city's Chinese…

Set in the former Provincial Hall, dating from 1927, this museum provides an excellent primer on Chiang Mai history. Dioramas, photos, artefacts and…

Housed in an airy Lanna-style building behind the Chiang Mai City Arts & Cultural Centre, this appealing museum covers the history of Chiang Mai Province,…

This sprawling formal park has 23 themed gardens donated by international governments, along with nine Thai gardens and six 'corporate' gardens. It sounds…

The old city’s only public park is a delightful spot to unwind, particularly as the afternoon sun slides towards the horizon. In the mornings and evenings…

Chiang Mai's main wholesale fruit market is a riot of activity every morning, when enormous cargoes of mangoes, durians, rambutans, longans, watermelons,…

A brand new culture centre, gallery, coffee shop, bookstore and immersive theatre space south of the old city, where you can attend a performance or just…

Just a whole lot of fun, this museum has a range of 3D optical-illusion art displays, from cliff faces and movie sets to a levitation room and a magic…

Another unique local temple is 16th-century Wat Chiang Yeun, just northeast of Pratu Chang Pheuak. Besides the large northern-style chedi here, the main…

This friendly wát was used for the coronation of Lanna kings in the 16th century; today you can see a collection of giant gongs, a big old mon·dòp-style…

Formerly owned by prince Jao Maha In, this handsome mansion built in a hybrid Lanna and European style between 1889 and 1893 houses a small education…

Fringed by gilded Buddhas, the stately chedi at this prosperous wát is visited by scores of locals after dark. There's a coffee shop and massage pavilion…

One of the gates to Chiang Mai's old town that bustles with a lively fresh market in the early morning and is set up with food stalls every evening.

The biggest of Chiang Mai's ancient gates is lively with tourists snapping photos and feeding the pigeons.

The area dominated by the Warorot and Ton Lam Yai markets doubles as the city's small Chinatown, marked by a flamboyant Chinese welcome gate across Th…

Housed in a striking stucco chapel resembling a mon·dòp (a spire representing a Thai adaptation of a Hindu shrine) at Wat Chedi Luang, the Làk Meuang was…