Chiang Mai: the slow northern city of temples, noodles, and hills

There’s a small shop on the corner of Ratchaphakhinai Road, inside the old moated centre of Chiang Mai, where a Thai woman called Khun Aew has been making khao soi — northern Thai curry noodles, the dish you came north for — since 1989. She charges 50 baht. The broth is the colour of paprika. There’s a fried-noodle crown on top of the soft-noodle bowl, a small dish of pickled mustard, a wedge of lime, raw shallots. You sit on a plastic stool. The next stool over is a tuk-tuk driver having his second bowl of the morning. This is Chiang Mai.

Why I keep coming back

Chiang Mai is the rare Asian city of significant size that has resisted being remade by skyscrapers and expressways. The old city, a 1.5 km-square moated rectangle laid out in 1296 when the Lanna kingdom was founded, is largely intact at human scale. Three hundred Buddhist temples — the Lanna tradition is distinct from the central Thai tradition, gentler in its golden tones — are within walking distance of each other. The northern Thai cuisine is, in my view, the country’s most underrated food region.

The city is also Thailand’s slow-travel capital. It’s been a long-term-stay favourite of expats and digital nomads for fifteen years. The slow pace is part of what the city sells.

Where to base yourself

Inside the old city walls for the temples and the walking; small naga (dragon-headed) gates at each direction.

Nimmanhaemin (Nimman) west of the old city for the contemporary cafés, design shops, and student-area energy.

Wat Ket or the east bank of the Ping river for a quieter, slightly more residential base.

What to actually do

Walk the temples of the old city. The big three: Wat Chedi Luang (a vast partially collapsed 15th-century chedi at the centre of town), Wat Phra Singh (the most active temple, with the most exquisite Lanna-style viharn), Wat Chiang Man (the city’s oldest, founded with the city in 1296). Each can be done in 30 minutes; together in a single morning.

Climb to Wat Doi Suthep. The mountain temple above the city, accessed by a 305-step naga-balustrade staircase. The gilded chedi is the most important pilgrimage site in northern Thailand. Songthaew shared minibuses from the old city are the standard transport; the cab fare is about ฿200.

Take the Sunday Walking Street. From around 4 p.m. Sunday, Ratchadamnoen Road in the old city closes to traffic and becomes a vast night market. Excellent for street food, less interesting for shopping (largely tourist-tier). The Saturday Walking Street on Wualai Road is the older, more local version.

Visit an elephant sanctuary, not a riding camp. Elephant Nature Park in the Mae Taeng valley north of the city is the original ethical sanctuary that rescued working elephants from the logging and tourism trades. A full-day visit is around ฿2500 and supports the operation.

Hike or ride the hills. Day rides into the surrounding hill country — Mae Sa Valley, Doi Inthanon (Thailand’s highest peak), Pai (a small hippie town a winding three-hour drive away) — are easily arranged. Pai is overrun; Chiang Dao, two hours north, is the calmer alternative.

Where to eat

Northern Thai cuisine is distinct: less coconut, more fermented dishes, freshwater fish, sticky rice, mountain herbs.

Khao Soi Khun Yai — Famous khao soi, around ฿50; queue at 11 a.m. Tong Tem Toh — Northern Thai dining-room restaurant in Nimman, the nam prik ong (chilli-tomato dip) with crudités. Huen Phen — The traditional Lanna restaurant, the gaeng hung lay (Burmese-influenced pork belly curry). Kao Soy Mae Sai — Smaller, slightly more local khao soi. SP Chicken — Roasted spice-rubbed chicken (gai yang) and somtam papaya salad. Cheap, excellent. Lemontea & Lemongrass — Modern Thai-fusion in Nimman, the kind of place that does pad krapao with sous-vide pork. The morning markets at Warorot or Somphet for the best fresh fruit on earth.

When to come

Mid-November to February — the cool, dry season. Days 26–28°C, nights cool enough for a sweater.

Avoid March and April — the burning season (agricultural slash-and-burn in the surrounding hills), when air quality plummets to dangerous levels. Genuinely unpleasant.

May–October is rainy season; less disruptive than the burning season but with daily afternoon storms.

Yi Peng / Loy Krathong in November (date varies with lunar calendar) is the famous floating-lantern festival; book everything months ahead.

Practical notes

• Visa: Same as Bangkok — visa-free or visa-on-arrival for most Western passports.
• Money: Thai baht; ATMs everywhere.
• Transport: The old city is walkable. Songthaew shared minibuses (red trucks) are the local transport — flag one, tell the driver your destination, ฿30–50 for a ride. Grab is also available.
• Burning season: March–April. The PM2.5 readings in Chiang Mai during these months are routinely in the unhealthy range. Don’t come unless you have to.
• Cooking schools: Chiang Mai has more Thai cooking schools per capita than any other Thai city. Many are excellent. Half-day courses around ฿1000–1500.

A final thought

Chiang Mai is the Thai city that has, over twenty years of visits, changed least visibly. The old town is still the old town. The moat is still the moat. The 700-year-old temples are still 700 years old. The smaller streets — Nimmanhaemin Soi 9 in the morning, the lanes around Wat Phan Tao in the evening — still have the smell of charcoal and lemongrass that I remember from 2007.

What has changed is the city’s role in the global travel economy: from a brief stop on a backpacker circuit to a long-stay destination for remote workers and a culinary pilgrimage for serious Thai-food enthusiasts. The infrastructure has caught up — there are better coffee shops, more international restaurants, more co-working spaces. The street-level cooking has, against expectation, mostly survived.

Go for a week minimum. Eat khao soi every other day. Walk the temples in the early morning. Take a cooking class. Hire a scooter and ride into the hills. Come back. The northern Thai version of the country’s hospitality — quieter, slower, less performed — is one of Asia’s quiet pleasures.