Exploring the magic of Chiang Mai in 3 days

Chiang Mai is a beautiful mountainous region in northern Thailand that offers a variety of places for travelers to explore. From Buddist temples, to mountain hikes, to waterfalls, and lantern festivals, this is one place you don’t want to miss! In this 3-day guide to Chiang Mai, I’ll cover everything you need to know to plan a perfect trip based on my experience.

Let’s get started!

Chiang Mai Basic Information

Chiang Mai is the mountainous northern region of Thailand that offers a different perspective of Thailand than the capital of Bangkok. A few key things to know before visiting are:

Cash is king in Thailand. While some places will accept credit cards, many smaller vendors will only accept cash. The currency is the Thailand Baht (pronounced “bot”).
Most bathrooms don’t cater to Western visitors and will have a hose or a bucket rather than toilet paper. Plan ahead and pack some travel toilet paper wipes.
Be prepared when visiting temples. Shoulders and knees must be covered and shoes must be removed to enter. Some also require a face mask to enter.
Thailand uses type A, B, and C plug types. While some places will use US outlets, come prepared with a universal travel adapter that converts to European plugs.
If you can, I highly recommend that you visit Chiang Mai during the first full moon in November to experience the Loy Krathong festival where they launch floating lanterns into the sky. While other towns in Thailand celebrate Loy Krathong, this is the best place to experience it and the only place where launching your own lantern into the sky is allowed.

The Perfect Three Day Itinerary

Day One: Mountain Temple & Loy Krathong Festival

For your first day, you can choose to arrive by plane in the morning or come in the night before. If you’re flying to Chiang Mai, you’ll likely fly into Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX). The airport is only about 10 minutes from the city, so it’s easy to get to your accommodations.

Start your day directly from the airport or your hotel and head to Doi Suthep Mountain. Once here, stop and visit the Wat Phra That Doi Suthep temple. Be prepared, there are 306 steps to get up to the temple but you’ll get to walk next to a giant dragon sculpture leading you up the stairs. Plan to spend a couple of hours walking around the golden temple. There are also overlook spots next to the temple where you can see out towards Chiang Mai.

Next, make your way to a local village in the Doi Suthep Mountain region and enjoy a delicacy of the northern region, Khao Soi. This is a traditional Thai noodle soup dish that is delicious. However, I tend to be a wimp with spice so I found this incredibly spicy, so if you have a low tolerance for spice like me, make sure you have some napkins or tissues nearby!

Loy Krathong Lantern Festival: Floating Lanterns

After exploring the Doi Suthep region, head back into the city of Chiang Mai. If you haven’t already, you can check into your hotel or walk around the city. If you’re visiting during the first full moon in the month of November, you can experience the beauty of the Loy Krathong festival. I highly recommend timing your visit to coincide with this incredible festival as it’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

While other towns in Thailand celebrate Loy Krathong, this is the best place to experience it and the only place where launching your own lantern into the sky is allowed. The festival is held over 2 days, and I’d recommend being in Chiang Mai on both of those days this way you can experience all the festival has to offer. Plan ahead though as this festival is quite popular and hotels can sell out quickly over this time and flights in and out of the area are more limited because of airspace restrictions from the lanterns in the sky.

For your first day in Chiang Mai, I’d recommend enjoying the festival along the Ping River just outside the main square. Here, there’ll be numerous local vendors selling food and handmade lanterns you can float down the river. Pick up a lantern and find a good spot along the riverbank to light the candles and watch it float down the river. There are a few spots where locals have lighters and help you float away your lantern, just plan to give them a couple of dollars as a tip. Also, walk over to the iron bridge for a fantastic view of all the lanterns floating down the river.

Trekker Tip: Do NOT launch a sky lantern on your own! If you want to participate, join an organized event. It is illegal and punishable by death to launch a sky lantern outside designated areas as it poses a risk to all air traffic.

Day Two: Elephant Encounters & Yi Peng Festival

Elephant Encounter

Today, get ready to tick off the very top of your bucket list - interacting with elephants and participating in the sky lantern festival! This was the most incredible day of our entire time in Thailand and cannot recommend this enough!!!

Start your day early so you can have all the incredible experiences this day. We booked a tour to Elephant Dream Valley and the name was quite fitting. With the tour we booked we got to the sanctuary early and had over 30 minutes with two elephants just to ourselves. First, we put on a traditional Karen Hill Tribe shirt that the elephants were more used to. Then, we got some grass and bananas and hand-fed the elephants. The elephants allowed us to pet them and even touch their slimy tounges!

Trekker Tip: If you get a guide for your tour, they can take lots of incredible photos of you interacting with the elephants. But also make sure to take a few selfies, or in this case “elphies”.

After ~30 minutes another couple showed up, but then the 4 of us were the only ones at the sanctuary. A third elephant had then joined the group and we went on an easy hike with the elephants. We got to continue interacting and petting the elephants as well as take lots of photos during the hike.

When we returned from the hike, we were able to feed the elephants again, receive elephant kisses, and take even more photos. We then changed into our swimsuits and joined the elephants for a bath. We walked with the elephants to the river and were given buckets we could fill with water to toss on the elephants to give them a bath. The elephants then picked up water with their trunks and sprayed us with the water, giving us a bath as well!

After a few hours, it was time to say goodbye to the elephants and head off to our next place loaded up with tons of photos and great memories.

Trekker Tip: Make sure you do your research and only book a tour with an ethical elephant sanctuary. These places allow elephants to roam freely without any baskets, hooks, or chains. Please do NOT support places where elephant riding is allowed.

Waterfall and Bamboo River Rafting

Just a short distance away from the elephant sanctuary we went to visit Mae Sa Pok waterfall. It was about a 10 min walk to get to the base of the waterfall, and when we arrived, we were the only people there. We took serval photos of the waterfall and then walked for another couple of minutes to climb behind the waterfall.

We then headed to grab some lunch overlooking the Mae Wang river. After lunch, we walked down to the river and met a local villager, and climbed onto his bamboo raft. We had about a 30 minute leisurely float down the river as the local guided us along. We had an opportunity to steer the raft, and it was a lot harder than it looked!

After departing the bamboo raft, we met up with our guide who drove us back to our hotel where we had about an hour to shower and change before departing again for the Loy Krathong festival.

Yi Peng Lantern Festival: Sky Lanterns

The Yi Peng sky lantern festival is something unique to northern Thailand and is a must-see experience! You are not allowed to release the sky lanterns on your own as it can have a large impact on flights. As such, plan ahead and reserve a spot for one of the organized mass lantern release events. The official website where you can purchase your tickets to a mass lantern release event is here.

The meeting point for transportation to the event is at the Maya Shopping Mall. I recommend booking the VIP ticket which comes with van transportation rather than red truck transportation. The line for the red trucks appeared to be an hour long whereas we got on a van within 5 minutes of arriving at the mall. This let us spend more time enjoying the festival’s activities. Locals were performing traditional dances on a stage and others were selling souvenirs. After walking around for a bit, we grabbed food from the area designated specifically for those with VIP tickets. There were numerous options of local cuisine to choose from with everything clearly marked and multiple options for vegetarians.

Finally, it was time for the main event. With the VIP tickets, we were only a few rows back from the stage and had a great view of all the performances. The grand finale of the night is launching your own lantern up into the sky. Each person was given two lanterns which gives you a couple of opportunities to get photos and videos of yourself lifting up your lantern. After lighting your lantern, hold onto it for longer than you might think until it feels like it’s starting to pull out of your hands and into the sky. We saw numerous people let go of lanterns too early just to have them fall back down and land back on the ground. So keep a lookout for rouge lanterns! After launching your own lantern, take a few minutes to enjoy the beauty of all the lanterns floating away in the sky.

To finish the night, head back to the vans to get driven back to the Maya Shopping Mall. Once again, the line to get on a van was much shorter than the red vans. The overall experience of the festival is something you won’t ever forget!

Trekker Tip: Reminder, do NOT launch a sky lantern on your own! If you want to participate, join an organized event. It is illegal and punishable by death to launch a sky lantern outside designated areas as it poses a risk to all air traffic.

Day Three: Doi Inthanon

Today, start your day early and take a drive to Doi Inthanon National Park. Your first stop should be at the highest point in all of Thailand. Take a picture at the sign and then take a couple-hour hike through the mountains. Along the hike, you’ll walk through the dense forest and have panoramic views overlooking the Chiang Mai valley.

Next, head to the King and Queen pagodas and spend an hour or two walking around the area. Take some time to visit both pagodas and also explore the grounds. The gardens in the area are beautiful and have an abundance of flowers.

Next, take a short drive to a Hmong village and grab some lunch. Then stop at a local market that offers a variety of fruits, nuts, and drinks for purchase. Everyone was willing to let you sample anything so try some of the local fruits. The dried strawberries and the wine were delicious!

Our next step was at a local Karen village where we walked alongside the rice fields. We then made our way to a coffee plantation where you could grind up your own coffee beans by hand and sample some coffee and tea. We purchased a couple bags of coffee to bring back with us before setting off to our final destination.

Our final stop was at Wachirathan Waterfall. It’s only a short walk from the parking lot to the base of the falls. Stop here for a bit to take some incredible photos of the falls, just be careful as the walkway can get pretty slippery due to the spray from the falls.

End your day by returning back to Chiang Mai. We walked to a night market to grab some dinner and shop for souvenirs. There were hundreds of shops selling a variety of things from clothes to vases to small trinkets so you can easily find something for anyone on your souvenir list.

Where to Stay

During our visit in 2022, we stayed at the Anantara Chiang Mai, which is situated right along the Ping River. We had a room with a balcony overlooking the lush gardens and the river.

During our stay, we left the hotel early each day before breakfast was served so we got to-go breakfasts prepared daily. There was an abundance of items offered on the to-go breakfast list including breakfast sandwiches, fruit, yogurt, and coffee or tea.

The hotel had a large pool as well as a rooftop bar and restaurant. We went to the restaurant one night and the indoor portion was quite full and required a reservation, so we opted for the rooftop version of the restaurant. The rooftop doesn’t have as extensive menu as the indoor portion but had great views of the river, making it well worth it.

What to Pack

Bring some Thai Baht to pay local vendors since not all places accept credit cards.
Pack a universal power adapter so all your electronics remain charged.
Sunscreen is a must as you’ll spend a lot of time outside.
Pack pants or long skirts as knees must be covered to enter the temples.
Also, back a shawl as shoulders also must be covered to enter the temples.
Always bring a water bottle so you stay hydrated.
Take a camera so you can capture every moment!