For Thanksgiving, we spent the holiday week in Chiang Mai with an overnight trip to Chiang Rai. I am sharing our complete itinerary which has built in day time nap breaks for two children, ages two and one. Obviously if you aren’t traveling with littles who require a mid day break then you can see a lot more, but the afternoon breaks in the pool were quite refreshing to recharge. We visited a lot of temples (there are over 300 in the city), so you can easily get temple fatigue but we wanted to see as many as we could while we were there.

Map courtesy of Wanderlog, the best trip planner app on iOS and Android

Day 0: Evening direct flight from Seoul to Chiang Mai via Korean Air

We arrived late in the evening and took a shuttle van from the airport (they provided car seats) that our Air BnB host arranged for us. Upon arrival at the Air BnB, we put the kids to bed and then were served a welcome dinner that was one of our top meals of the week. They served a yellow chicken curry packed with so much flavor we were blown away. The food was phenomenal and the best way to kick off our time in Chiang Mai.

Day 1

We enjoyed breakfast at our Air BnB before hopping in a Grab to Ancient Town. Our Air BnB was a farm stay so it was about twenty-five minutes away from ancient town, had a beautiful pool, animals roaming around and included a fantastic Thai breakfast each day.

Stop at Gravity Cafe & Bistro for iced coffee
Wat Chedi Luang and three smaller temples nearby we walked to-they are all over ancient town just walk around and you will come to one (legs and arms are required to be covered at all temples).
Back to the Air BnB for naps/pool time
Wat Phra Singh and one other temple we walked by and popped into
Dinner at The House by Ginger

Wat Chedi Luang is one of Chiang Mai’s most important temples. Construction began in 1391 on the order of King Saen Muang Ma to house his father’s ashes. The temple was finally completed almost a century later in 1475, then sadly in 1575 an earthquake struck and destroyed much of the pagoda (chedi). A partial restoration was done in the 1990’s but you can still see the the damage that was caused when you visit. They were also working on restoration projects on other buildings inside the walled part of the city while we were there.

After nap time for the kids and a pool break for the adults, we ventured back to ancient town and visited a few more temples, then ended the day with a fabulous dinner at the House by Ginger.

Above: Wat Phra Singh

Below: Dinner at The House by Ginger. Reservations recommended, but we were able to snag a table outside before the dinner rush without one.

Day 2: Half Day at Elephant Nature Park

I have written a more in-depth post about our time there, it was certainly a top highlight of our time in Thailand. We kicked off the day by arriving at the ENP offices to wait for our shuttle out to the park. We arrived back in Chiang Mai around 2PM, grabbed a light bite a local cafe and then called it an early night. Our kids didn’t nap so they were ready for an early bed time so we took advantage of the time to play in the pool with them and then relax at our Air Bnb.

Day 3: Breakfast then more temples!

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep and afterwards we hiked up the road to a view point. It was cloudy so we didn’t see much but enjoyed the walk.
Elephant tattoo in the early afternoon (totally optional, ha!)
Silver Temple (Wat Sri Suphan), the silver workshop next door and walking around ancient town for the last time
Dinner at Aroon Rai

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep: 306 stairs up and down to get to the wat

Day 4: Overnight trip to Chiang Rai.

Wat Rong Khun - White Temple
Wat Rong Suea Ten- Blue Temple
Art Bridge Gallery (local artists exhibition)
Dinner and overnight stay at Le Meridian Resort

Instead of doing just a day trip to Chiang Rai, we opted for an overnight trip since our flight on our last day was not until 23:00. That gave us roughly two days in the Chiang Rai area to explore. If you don’t have time to do an overnight stay, there are a lot of options for day trips offered by various tour groups which are great since they include transport to each location and back to Chiang Mai.

We hired a private shuttle driver with car seats to take us from Chiang Mai to the White and Blue Temples in Chiang Rai before dropping us off at our hotel for 4,500 Thai Baht ($125). After we were dropped at our hotel, we grabbed a late lunch at the resort while waiting for our rooms to become available.

Wat Rong Suea Ten- Blue Temple

That evening we enjoyed a lovely dinner and drinks at the resort restaurant overlooking the water. Honestly, we decided once we arrived in Thailand to stay overnight in Chiang Rai and I am so glad we did. There is so much to do up there and I wish we had spent an extra full day to see the Golden Triangle. The mountainous countryside is beautiful with pineapple fields, tea fields and of course, stunning temples. There are also several waterfalls within an hour of Chiang Rai that would be worth checking out but time prohibited us on this trip.

Day 5: Temples, Hill Tribe Village, Tea Plantation, Airport

Wat Huay Pla Kang: Goddess of Mercy Chiang Rai
Karen Hill Tribe Village
Choui Fong Tea Plantation
Wat Saeng Kaeo Phothiyan

Through our resort, we hired a guide to take us to a few more sites around Chiang Rai. We started the morning at Wat Huay Pla Kang: Goddess of Mercy Chiang Rai then made our way to the Karen Hill Tribal Village nearby. I share more about that experience here.

Wat Huay Pla Kang Goddess of Mercy Chiang Rai

Wat-Huay-Pla Kang-Goddess-of-Mercy-Chiang Rai.jpg

We finished our morning at the Choui Fong Tea Plantation. The views from the tea plantation are stunning and to get there you drive through miles of pineapples fields and countryside.

On our way back to Chiang Mai we stopped at one more temple, Wat Saeng Kaeo Phothiyan (which felt a little cluttered and like a theme park inside with all of the statues) and then witnessed a beautiful sunset as we walked back to our shuttle for the airport.

If you are planning a visit to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, a week was perfect to see a lot of the major sites. When we travel with our kids we try not to pack our schedules as full so they have some down time in between visiting all of the sites and we were all experiencing some temple fatigue towards the end of the trip. We have also found that when sightseeing with the kids, carrying them in our Osprey Poco backpacks has been the perfect way to explore and we leave the stroller at home. If you have any questions about visiting Thailand or traveling with kids, feel free to message me at any time!

Other Info

No visa needed for US citizens prior to arrival
Direct flights into Chiang Mai from Seoul Incheon are available through Korean Air (typically one a day in the evening)

5 Day Chiang Mai Itinerary with Children