Northern Thailand Grand Explorer: Chiang Mai, Pai & Chiang Rai (8D7N)

Itinerary

Chiang Mai Arrival / Doi Suthep Temple & Old City Temples

Arrive at Chiang Mai Airport, meet your local English-speaking guide, and transfer to your hotel for check-in.

Depart to Wat Chedi Luang, built in the late 14th century and once home to the Emerald Buddha, Thailand’s most sacred religious relic.

Continue to Wat Phra Singh (1345), renowned for its stunning Lanna-style viharn and fine scripture repository.

Depart to Doi Suthep Temple, one of Northern Thailand’s most sacred temples, perched 1,050 meters above sea level with panoramic views over Chiang Mai. Ascend the 306-step Naga staircase, or take the tram to the summit. Afterwards, return to your hotel.

Chiang Mai / Doi Inthanon National Park - the Highest Peak of Thailand

Pick up from your hotel lobby and depart to Doi Inthanon National Park, Thailand’s highest mountain, offering evergreen forests, dwarf rhododendron groves, rare bird life, and impressive waterfalls. Visit the summit and walk along the Angka Nature Trail.

Continue to the Twin Royal Pagodas, built in honor of His Majesty the King and Her Royal Highness the Queen of Thailand.

Lunch is provided at a local restaurant.

Depart to a Karen Hill Tribe Village to experience their traditional lifestyle, and visit Vachiratharn Waterfall, plummeting around 100 meters into a deep pool below. Afterwards, return to your hotel.

Chiang Mai / Elephant Camp, Bamboo Rafting, Hot Spring & Pai Town

Pick up from your hotel lobby and depart to Mae Taman Elephant Camp (1½ hour drive) through breathtaking mountain landscapes. Enjoy an elephant show and elephant ride, followed by a relaxing bamboo rafting cruise along the Mae Taeng River.

Lunch is provided at a local restaurant.

Depart to Pai Town by mountain road (2½ hours’ drive). Visit Tha Pai Hot Springs, where naturally heated waters reach around 80°C, and continue to Wat Mae Yen, offering a peaceful panoramic view over Pai town. Afterwards, transfer to your hotel for check-in and leisure time.

In the evening, enjoy free time at Pai Walking Street (18:00–22:00), featuring handicrafts, souvenirs, hill tribe products, and street food.

Pai Town / Lod Cave, Pai Canyon & Chiang Mai

Pick up from your hotel lobby and depart to Santichon Village, a Chinese community that migrated from Yunnan, showcasing traditional clay houses and tea-tasting sessions.

Continue to Lod Cave, one of Thailand’s most impressive caves, explored by bamboo raft through two connected caverns, one containing prehistoric deer paintings.

Lunch is provided at a local restaurant.

Depart to Pai Canyon, known for its narrow red ridges and steep-sided valleys with 50-meter drops on either side.

Continue to the World War II Memorial Bridge, built in 1942 by Japanese troops who established Pai as a strategic military base. Depart to Chiang Mai (3 hours’ drive) by road. Arrive and transfer to your hotel for check-in and leisure time.

Chiang Mai – Chiang Rai / Handicrafts Center & White Temple

Pick up from your hotel lobby and depart to the San Kamphaeng Handicrafts Center, where skilled artisans craft silk textiles, silverware, jade, and gem carvings.

Depart to Chiang Rai (3 hours’ drive) by road along picturesque scenic routes. On the way, visit the local Hot Spring at Mae Ka Chan Town, watching locals boil quail’s eggs.

Lunch is provided at a local restaurant.

Arrive at Chiang Rai and visit White Temple (Wat Rong Khun), designed by a celebrated national artist, its distinctive white main building decorated with fragments of reflective glass.

Continue to Wat Huay Pla Kang, home to the tallest statue of Guan Yin, standing 79 meters tall, and the Nine-Story Pagoda. Afterwards, transfer to your hotel for check-in and leisure time.

Chiang Rai / Blue Temple, Mae Sai Border, Golden Triangle & Chiang Saen

Pick up from your hotel lobby and depart to Blue Temple (Wat Rong Suea Ten), its striking blue main building reflecting a new philosophy of Buddhist art.

Then visit Black House (Baan Dam Museum), home to eerie sculptures crafted from horns, bones, reptile skins, and traditional woodcraft across 32 Lanna-style pavilions.

Continue to Mae Sai Town, the Thailand–Myanmar border and northernmost point of Thailand, with local markets selling Myanmar goods.

Lunch is provided at a local restaurant.

Visit the Golden Triangle, where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet, and the Opium Museum. Depart to Chiang Saen Town, an ancient city dating to around 1328 with ruins of temples and the old city wall and moat. Afterwards, return to your hotel.

Chiang Rai / Long Neck Tribe, Doi Mae Salong & Doi Tung Royal Villa

Pick up from your hotel lobby and depart to Long Neck Karen Village, home to women who wear brass rings around their necks, a tradition originating from Shan State in Myanmar.

Depart to Doi Mae Salong and visit Santikhiri Village (Yunnan Chinese Community), home to tea plantations and a co-op store selling homemade wines and medicinal herbs.

Lunch is provided at a local restaurant.

Drive up to Doi Tung, 2,000 meters above sea level, once degraded by slash-and-burn cultivation and restored under the Doi Tung Development Project.

Visit Mae Fah Luang Garden, home to seasonal blooms, and continue to the Royal Villa of the late Princess Mother, blending northern Thai and Swiss chalet architecture. Afterwards, return to your hotel.

Chiang Rai / Departure

Check out from the hotel and transfer to Chiang Rai Airport for your flight to the next destination.