Wat Bupparam

Chiang Mai

　　This highly ornate temple shows the clear influence of the Burmese teak merchants who immigrated to Chiang Mai during the 19th century. The eye-catching dharma hall has a mon·dòp (library) downstairs and a large prayer room above, but the most striking feature is the gorgeous, wonky wí·hăhn (sanctuary), built from...

Wat Umong Maha Therachan

Chiang Mai

　　This historic wát is in the heart of the old city. Though it was first constructed in 1367 and boasts some very old, Lanna-style chedis, it's also worth a look for for the more recent renovations exemplifying 20th-century Lanna temple art. These include intricately carved wooden doors and windows, stucco...

Wat Suan Dok

Chiang Mai

　　Built on a former flower garden in 1373, this important monastery enshrines one half of a sacred Buddha relic; the other half was transported by white elephant to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. The main chedi is a gilded, bell-shaped structure that rises above a sea of white memorial chedi...

Talat Ton Lam Yai

Chiang Mai

　　Adjacent to Talat Warorot, Talat Ton Lam Yai morphs from a covered household market into an animated flower market (gàht dòrk mái), flanking the river on Th Praisani. Florists here are almost architects, assembling blooms and banana leaves into fantastically elaborate sculptures for festivals and home shrines. 　　The smell of...

Riverside Bar & Restaurant

Chiang Mai

　　Almost everyone ends up at Riverside at some point in their Chiang Mai stay. Set in an old teak house, it feels like a countryside reimagining of a Hard Rock Cafe, and bands play nightly until late. Stake out a claim on the riverside terrace or the upstairs balcony to...

Saturday Walking Street

Chiang Mai

　　The Saturday Walking Street takes over Th Wualai, running southwest from Pratu Chiang Mai at the southern entrance to the old city. There is barely space to move as locals and tourists from across the world haggle vigorously for carved soaps, novelty dog collars, woodcarvings, Buddha paintings, hill-tribe trinkets, Thai...

SP Chicken

Chiang Mai

　　Chiang Mai's best chicken emerges daily from the grills at this tiny cafe near Wat Phra Singh. The menu runs to salads and soups, but most people just pick a half (90B) or whole (170B) chicken, and dip the moist meat into the spicy, tangy sauces provided. ...

Chiang Mai Night Bazaar

Chiang Mai

　　Chiang Mai Night Bazaar is one of the city’s main night-time attractions, especially for families, and is the legacy of the original Yunnanese trading caravans that stopped here along the ancient route between Simao (China) and Mawlamyaing (on Myanmar’s Gulf of Martaban). Today the night bazaar sells the usual tourist...

Akha Ama Cafe

Chiang Mai

　　Akha Ama serves locally harvested, sustainable, direct-trade beans from the jungles north of Chiang Mai, but – perhaps most importantly to some – the coffee's just plain good. Come also for tasty baked snacks and the wi-fi. ...

Wat Srisuphan

Chiang Mai

　　It should come as no surprise that the silversmiths along Th Wualai have decorated their patron monastery with the same fine artisanship shown in their shops. The 'silver' ubosot (ordination hall) is covered with silver, nickel and aluminium panels, embossed with elaborate repoussé-work designs. The effect is like a giant...

Sunday Walking Street

Chiang Mai

　　On Sunday afternoon Th Ratchadamnoen is taken over by the boisterous Sunday Walking Street, which feels even more animated than Th Wualai's Saturday Walking Street because of the energetic food markets that open up in wát courtyards along the route, in addition to the usual selection of handmade items and...

North Gate Jazz Co-Op

Chiang Mai

　　This compact jazz club tends to pack in as many musicians as it does patrons, with local and visiting instrumentalists offering nightly sets and experimental jam sessions that tend to go long. The performances are so inspired that a crowd regularly gathers at tables set up on the sidewalk; arrive...

Baan Kang Wat

Chiang Mai

　　Though a little out of the way, Baan Kang Wat is worth the trip simply to coo over the cute architecture and picturesque ambience. The open-air artists enclave is home to several small art and handicraft shops and studios, intimate cafes, a community garden and plenty of potted succulents. 　　Along...

Wat Umong Suan Phutthatham

Chiang Mai

　　Not to be confused with the small Wat Umong in the old city, this historic forest wát is famed for its sylvan setting and its ancient chedi, above a brick platform wormholed with passageways, built around 1380 for the 'mad' monk Therachan. Keep an eye out for the Sri Lankan–style...

Lanna Folklife Museum

Chiang Mai

　　Set inside the former Provincial Court, dating from 1935, this imaginative museum re-creates Lanna village life in a series of life-size dioramas that explain everything from lai·krahm pottery stencilling and fon lep (a mystical Lanna dance featuring long metal fingernails) to the intricate symbolism of different elements of Lanna-style monasteries....

Wat Pha Lat

Chiang Mai

　　A hidden jungle temple tucked into the mountain along the way to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. Old stone structures, intricate carvings, naga-flanked stairways and Buddhist statues dot the serene grounds, and a walkway over a sheetrock waterfall affords postcard-pretty views of Chiang Mai. The temple was seldom visited before...

Wat Phan Tao

Chiang Mai

　　Without doubt the most atmospheric wát in the old city, this teak marvel sits in the shadow of Wat Chedi Luang. Set in a compound full of fluttering orange flags, the monastery is a monument to the teak trade, with an enormous prayer hall supported by 28 gargantuan teak pillars...

Talat Warorot

Chiang Mai

　　Chiang Mai's oldest public market, Warorot (also spelt Waroros) is a great place to connect with the city's Thai soul. Alongside souvenir vendors you'll find numerous stalls selling items for ordinary Thai households: woks, toys, fishing nets, pickled tea leaves, wigs, sticky-rice steamers, Thai-style sausages, kâab mŏo (pork rinds), live...

Wat Phra Singh

Chiang Mai

　　Chiang Mai's most revered temple, Wat Phra Singh is dominated by an enormous, mosaic-inlaid wí·hăhn (sanctuary). Its prosperity is plain to see from the lavish monastic buildings and immaculately trimmed grounds, dotted with coffee stands and massage pavilions. Pilgrims flock here to venerate the famous Buddha image known as Phra...

Wat Chedi Luang

Chiang Mai

　　Wat Chedi Luang isn't as grand as Wat Phra Singh, but its towering, ruined Lanna-style chedi (built in 1441) is much taller and the sprawling compound around the stupa is powerfully atmospheric. The famed Phra Kaew (Emerald Buddha), now held in Bangkok's Wat Phra Kaew, resided in the eastern niche...

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

Chiang Mai

　　Overlooking the city from its mountain throne, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep is one of northern Thailand's most sacred temples, and its founding legend is learned by every schoolkid in Chiang Mai. The wát is a beautiful example of northern Thai architecture, reached via a 306-step staircase flanked by naga...