The Relaxed Guide to Enjoying Chiang Mai

We spent a total of 10 days in Chiang Mai during our road trip around Northern Thailand. Wow, we spent a lot of time in Chiang Mai, come to think of it. It’s easy to use Chiang Mai as a hub for travel into Chiang Rai, Fang, Pai, and Mae Hong Son. A lot of people only think of the beach when they think of traveling Thailand – but Thailand has so much more to offer! Especially for those who like a good adventure!

Our time spent in Chiang Mai was a little more untraditional than most – we had our dog with us, we rescued another dog, and we centered our stay around doing field research for John’s PhD. I didn’t mind that we weren’t doing traditional tourist type excursions – I’m usually plenty happy with just exploring. I also wanted to save some things to do with my friend Beth when she comes to visit in November! We had no itinerary, and just let everyday unfold. And it was perfect.

We considered moving to Chiang Mai. I fell in love with the relaxed little city – with its slower pace, abundance of vegetarian options and cute coffee shops. But ultimately, after spending 10 days there, I really missed my life in Bangkok. For now, I think I’m just happy with some long term visits up to Chiang Mai.

Here are our top tips after spending 10 days hanging out in Chiang Mai:

Eat at Free Bird Cafe

We only ate there once and I’m actually really sad about that because the food was so good.

Free Bird Café is part of Thai Freedom House – whose motto is, “No one is free while others are oppressed”.  It’s a café with a cause, feeding your belly, heart, and mind. 100% of the proceeds from eating at Free Bird Café goes to helping Burmese refugees and indigenous people from Thailand.

Free Bird Café is 100% vegan! If you’re not vegan, don’t let this discourage you from eating there. The food is AH-mazing, and it gives you the chance to give back to the local community. What tastes better than giving back?

We ordered the Khao Soi, the sesame noodle salad, hummus, and samosas. If you read my earlier blog post on Mae Sot, you know how much I love samosas. The food was crispy, fresh, and flavorful. The atmosphere is relaxed – be ready to take off your shoes upon entering. It’s definitely a great place to grab lunch before exploring the rest of Chiang Mai!

Take a Cooking Class

Chiang Mai has an abundance of different cooking classes for various skill levels! If you just Google cooking class in Chiang Mai, a bunch of them will pop up! Even if you don’t know your way around the kitchen, I highly recommend taking a cooking class. It’s a fun way to see how the food you love in Thailand is made and what ingredients are used. The ingredients in Thai food are so different than ingredients found in Western food, it’s an eye-opening (and delicious) experience. The best part? You eat what you cook!

Since John and I know our way around the kitchen, we were looking for a more intermediate to advanced cooking class. After getting phenomenal reviews, we booked a class at Smart Cook Thai Cookery School. They were very accommodating to teaching vegetarian recipes! I learned a lot, and now I can make a mean vegetarian Pad Thai. My favorite dish that I learned how to make was Tom Kha, which is a spicy and sour coconut soup. The basic stock is made from coconut milk, galangal, lemon grass, and kaffir lime leaves. From there, you can add your protein. It’s not a vegetarian dish but can easily be made vegetarian by removing the chicken and subbing mushroom stock for chicken stock.

The best part of this cooking class is that you get to take home a recipe book of the recipes you made in class. I actually used this recipe book a few days later when we were up in Fang, Thailand and we cooked in the outdoor kitchen of our homestay.

Go See Boxing at Thapae Stadium

Even if watching sports aren’t your thing, you have to go see Muay Thai boxing at Thapae Stadium. If you’re not familiar with Muay Thai, it’s a martial art style that originated in South East Asia. It’s extremely popular in Thailand and its popularity is growing in Western countries – especially with MMA on the rise.

A little fun fact: we’re actually in Thailand because my husband is doing field work for his PhD studying the music that goes along with Muay Thai. Never heard of the music before? Here’s a quick video he put together:

Watching boxing at Thapae Stadium is so much fun and I prefer it to Rajadamnern Stadium in Bangkok. It’s only 500 baht to watch the fights, and there are plenty of little bars inside serving drinks. The atmosphere is exciting, and a lot of the fights end in knock-outs. The fights start at 9PM, so you have plenty of time to get dinner beforehand!

Eat Breakfast at the Hideout

I’m not even embarrassed to admit that we had breakfast here 4 times during our stay in Chiang Mai. We tried breakfast from several places, and the Hideout had the best Western style breakfast food! It’s kind of a smaller place, but we never had trouble finding seating. I’m sure this changes during high season, so I recommend going earlier rather than later if you choose to visit!

When you go, I recommend that you absolutely get the banana bread and share the French toast. Their breakfast sandwiches are great too! They are also very vegetarian friendly.

Visit Doi Suthep at Sunset

Doi Suthep is one of the bigger attractions in Chiang Mai. You can take one of the red trucks (Songthaews) to get up there. If you’re sensitive to motion sickness, I highly recommend that you drop by a pharmacy and get some motion sickness medicine to take before the ride up. There are a lot of twists and turns and the truck drivers don’t take it easy on the turns.

When you do visit Doi Suthep, try to visit at sunset if you can. The view from the top is incredible, it’s less crowded and hot, and the monks do a special prayer at 6PM inside the temple that you can watch.

Walk Around One Nimman Road

Nimman Road itself is full of trendy little clothing shops, art galleries, and coffee shops and is worth spending an afternoon exploring. The square at One Nimman Road and very pretty and has a food hall for hungry foodies. For my Instagram friends, it’s very Instagrammable! #eatingfortheinsta

We decided to grab an afternoon dessert at Melt Me. If you’re a Hokkaido fan, get the Hokkaido chocolates. The truffles, while very pretty, were not as good as the chocolates themselves! The chocolates melt in your mouth…hence the name, Melt Me. Ha!

Get Pancakes Shaped Like Your Face…or Your Dog’s Face

This is something quirky and different, but AS Personalized shop creates pancakes that are shaped like your face. We were walking around one day, and stumbled upon this shop, and couldn’t resist the gimmick. The staff looked at us a little funny when we asked if they could do dogs, but they did it anyway. We gave them a photo of Daisy and it came out perfect!

If you decide to go, I recommend getting the strawberry ice-cream to go with your pancake! It was divine!

If you’re traveling with a dog, stay at Ketawa Pet Resort

I know that traveling with a dog in Thailand is not common practice, but we live here and wanted to bring our dog with us on our road trip. We stayed at Ketawa Pet Resort for all 10 days in Chiang Mai and it was phenomenal. The staff love animals and truly care about your dog. The rooms are clean, tidy, and affordable. There’s a pet-friendly café at the resort – which was great, and we took full advantage of it. I spent a few afternoons doing work, drinking a latte, and having Daisy relax right by my side. It was nice to be able to sit somewhere with my dog while I did work!

They also have a special pet pool! Daisy hates swimming, but we threw her in anyway. I know, animal abuse. She looks miserable in these pictures. Sorry Daisy!

Bug Spray Is Your BFF

The second you get out of Bangkok proper, it gets buggy. Bug spray is your friend! Bring your favorite one from home, and if you run out or forget, you can get it at any 7/11. You can get almost anything at 7/11. 7/11 is your best friend in Thailand!

Have Plenty of Cash On You

You can use your card at some places, but most places are cash only. Do yourself a favor and take out plenty of cash before you visit Thailand!

Take the Red Trucks (Songthaews) to Get Around

You won’t see many traditional taxi cabs in Chiang Mai. Instead, you’ll see red trucks. They’re everywhere. They’re shared taxis. They drive around, pick people up, and everyone can ask the driver to bring them somewhere.

Normally, red trucks cost 30 baht. Sometimes the driver will charge more depending on how far it is. You can absolutely haggle the price.

You’ll also see tuk tuks, but they’ll often charge more than the red trucks. Be prepared to haggle with your tuk tuk driver!

Here’s a great blog post by Go Backpack Go on How to Use the Red Trucks in Chiang Mai.

If you ride a motorcycle, rent one and plan to stay a few days in Pai

Pai is a cute little backpacker town happily nestled between rice fields and mountains. If you ride a motorcycle, I recommend renting one and taking the ride to Pai. It’s a very popular ride to do on a motorcycle because the views from the switchbacks along the mountains are incredible.

We had Daisy with us, so we drove to Pai in our car. If you’re sensitive to motion sickness like me, I recommend going to a pharmacy beforehand and picking up some motion sickness medicine. There are 762 turns on the way to Pai! Beautiful but vomit-inducing.

Even if you don’t ride a motorcycle, you can get a van up to Pai from Chiang Mai on the cheap! I recommend spending at least one full day in Pai to take in the rice fields and the mountains. I’m planning on going back in November when my friend Beth comes to visit!

If you miss Mexican food, eat at Miguel’s

This is just a quick little pro trip – but if you’ve been traveling for a long time and you miss Mexican food, Miguel’s in Chiang Mai is great to satisfy the urge. It’s owned by a Canadian. Canada is kind of far from Mexico…but…the food is good. That’s all that matters, right?

BONUS TIP: Don’t Waste Your Time Going to the Chiang Mai Zoo

You’ll see the Chiang Mai Zoo being advertised, but don’t waste your time unless you truly have nothing else to do. We were tired one afternoon and wanted to do something low key, so we decided to check out the zoo. It was very sad, all the animals looked sad, and the park itself looked unkept and abandoned. I wouldn’t waste my time (or money) going to the Chiang Mai Zoo!

Overall, Chiang Mai is a must-see when visiting Thailand! It’s definitely a different pace than Bangkok, with lots of culture and things to do. Have you been to Chiang Mai? Do you have a tip or must-see place I missed mentioning in my blog post? Let me know in the comments or drop a link to your blog post below!

Hope this post help give you some tips for when you visit Chiang Mai!