Chiang Mai is a beautiful city located in the northern part of Thailand. It is known for its rich culture, temples, delicious food, and natural beauty. We spent 5 days there, and it quickly became one of our favourite places we’ve been to. It was also INCREDIBLY easy to be budget conscious in Chiang Mai. In the 5 days we were there, we spent a grand total of $172.06 USD. That’s a daily average of only $34.5 USD for the BOTH of us.
If you are planning to visit Chiang Mai and have 5 days to spare, here is what we did to make the most of our time and money, without sacrificing any fun.
DAY 1 – EXPLORING THE CITY
We arrived in Chiang Mai at around 8:00 AM on the sleeper train from Bangkok. We went outside the train station and were approached by a songthaew driver, who offered to take us to our hostel for 100 THB ($2.85 USD) per person. A songthaew is a converted pickup truck that acts as a shared taxi, and takes groups of people going to similar locations. This is by far the cheapest and easiest form of transportation around Chiang Mai, and they are everywhere in the city, thus very easy to flag down.
Our driver dropped us off at our hostel, Nearthepark Backpackers Hostel 2. We had booked this accomodation a couple days before, and it was SO CHEAP that we were nervous that it was going to be terrible. We couldn’t have been more wrong! Nearthepark Hostel was the best value in town. We booked a 4 person dorm, and only paid $2.50 USD per night, per person. Not only was the room very spacious, we also had a bathroom in our room, AND they provided free breakfast everyday! Granted, it was nothing fancy as the free breakfast was just toast, jam/butter, and coffee, but we had a bed AND food everyday for just $2.50!
We couldn’t check in until the afternoon, but we dropped our bags and went out exploring. Chiang Mai is an incredibly walkable city, and every one of the big temples and monuments was within walking distance to us. We hadn’t really planned in advance which temples we wanted to see, but Chiang Mai was an important birthplace of Theravada Buddhism and it has over 100 temples, so you are never too far from one!
We saw Wat Phra Singh temple, one of the most famous and oldest temples in Chiang Mai, as well as Wat Chiang Man, Wat Rajamontean, and Wat Lok Moli. All of the temples are free to visit, just make sure that you dress modestly when visiting. This includes covering your shoulders, wearing shorts that are knee length, and taking off your shoes before entering the temple. The intricate designs and and vibrant colours of the temples kept us captivated all day, and it’s clear that the local people put a lot of time and effort into preserving these beautiful monuments.
Chiang Mai has become a sort of mecca for expats and digital nomads, due to its proximity to nature and low cost of living. Thus, there are TONS of foreign restaurants in the area that cater to the tourist crowd. However, these restaurants are much more expensive than the local restaurants, so we stuck to street food for our entire time there. A must try is Khao Soi, the most famous local dish of Chiang Mai. Khao Soi is a coconut curry noodle soup hailing from Northern Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos. It consists of noodles in a thick, rich coconut broth, and usually chicken or beef. A big delicious bowl of Chicken Khao Soi only set us back around 50 TBH ($1.45 USD).
DAY 2 – DOI SUTHEP HIKE VIA MONKS TRAIL
One of the things we were most looking forward to coming to Chiang Mai was hiking! We looked on AllTrails for hikes in the area, and came across the Doi Suthep Monk Trail Hike.
Doi Suthep is one of the most famous and revered mountains in the region, known for its stunning natural beauty, ancient temples, and rich cultural heritage. The mountain is named after the Wat Phra That Doi Suthep temple, which is located near the summit and is one of the most important religious sites in the country. The temple is adorned with intricate carvings, beautiful golden statues, and vibrant colors, and is considered a symbol of the rich spiritual and cultural traditions of Thailand.
Although you can easily take a songthaew up to the temple, we chose to do the hike instead. After a quick google search, we saw that the trailhead was a mere 4 mile, 1.5 hour walk from our hostel, so we opted to walk to the trailhead to save some money and see more of the city! The walk was easy and flat, basically on one road the entire way, and we considered it a warmup for the hike. Right as we arrived at the trailhead, an out of breath, very sweaty Australian man was coming down and shouted “Good luck! You’ll need it!” and kept on walking.
With Aussie man’s helpful reassurance, we started the hike. The path lead us through the dense forest. The trail was very well-marked and easy to follow, and not too steep. After only about 30 minutes of climbing, we arrived at a clearing in the forest, and a beautiful temple appeared in front of us! This temple is Wat Pha Lat, built in the 14th century. The temple was so beautiful and serene, with a waterfall, small stream, and lush forest surrounding it. We spent about an hour exploring the various shrines, statues, and viewpoints that offer stunning views of the surrounding area.
After our little break at Wat Pha Lat, we got back on the Monks Trail and headed towards the summit. The second part of the hike was definitely more challenging, as the incline increases substantially. Part of the trail has power lines scattered all over the place, so make sure you are paying attention and don’t trip/get electrocuted by one of those. After about an hour of trudging up in the hot sun, the forest cleared and we finally arrived…. at a semi ugly road with cars zipping by. Confused, we checked Google Maps and realised that we actually had to hike up a bit more on the main road to reach the temple. After about 10 minutes on the main road, we finally arrived at Doi Suthep.
The temple is a vibrant gold colour, and with the sunshine reflecting on it, it truly looked like heaven. We walked up the stairs, paid the 50 THB ($1.43 USD) per person entrance fee for foreigners, and walked into the temple.
Legend has it that the temple was founded in the 14th century, after a monk named Sumana climbed up Doi Suthep and had a vision of a holy relic enshrined in a crystal pagoda. He subsequently took the relic to the king, who enshrined it in a temple that he built at the summit of the mountain.
The temple is decorated with ornate carvings, intricate murals, and beautiful golden statues, all of which reflect the traditional Lanna-style architecture of the region. Its also an important pilgrimage site for Thai Buddhists, who come from all over the country to pay their respects and make offerings to the Buddha. Everyday, there is a group of monks that lead a chant, and we were lucky enough to be there just at the right time to watch the monks chanting.
After we spent about an hour exploring the temple, we decided we had done enough physical activity for the day and took a songthaew home. The songthaew cost 80 THB ($2.28 USD) per person.
We came to the conclusion that Aussie man’s warning at the start of the hike was a bit dramatic. The hike was moderately challenging, especially the second part, but the path was very easy to follow with plenty of beautiful viewpoints on the way up. We really enjoyed our time in nature and highly recommend the hike! If you decide to do this hike, make sure you bring lots of water, and wear good shoes because the trail has a lot of loose rocks.
DAY 3 – BUA TONG WATERFALLS
On day 3, we decided to get out of the city and explore the nearby Chet Si National Park. The national park is famous for its Bua Tong Waterfalls, also known as the Sticky Waterfalls. It is a series of 4 consecutive limestone waterfalls that have a unique characteristic – the limestone rocks are covered in a mineral deposit called calcium carbonate, which makes them slightly porous and gives them a very grippy texture. This makes it easy for visitors to climb up and down the falls without slipping or falling.
We rented a scooter from our hostel for 300 TBH ($8.60 USD) and started the drive. Chet Si National Park was about a 1 hour drive from Chiang Mai, and the road was well paved and easy to drive. There is no entrance fee for the Chet Si National Park, so we parked our scooter and started exploring.
Although we had read about the grippy texture of the rocks, it was still a shock to feel just HOW grippy they were! It felt very unnatural to be walking in rushing water, while not feeling the sensation of slipping at all. It was an absolutely beautiful day, and the crystal clear water was the perfect temperature. Portions of the falls are shaded by a lush forest. We played in the water, walking up and down the 4 falls, and enjoying the beautiful nature.
The park itself has lots of open space, picnic tables, and grassy patches to relax and have a picnic. We had brought our own lunch to enjoy in the park, but there is a small restaurant in the park!
We spent our afternoon relaxing, playing in the water, and eating snacks enjoying the beautiful day.
DAY 4 – DOI INTHANON NATIONAL PARK
Doi Inthanon National Park is a natural wonder named after the highest peak in Thailand, Doi Inthanon, which stands at 2,565 meters above sea level. The park is a very popular day trip from Chiang Mai, and plenty of tour companies offer packages for tours. However, every sign we saw promoting a day trip to Doi Inthanon was at least $50 USD per person. We didn’t want to spend that much money, and there are no public transportation options to the park. We decided to try scooting there ourselves (scooter rental for the day was 300 THB/$8.50 USD). We couldn’t find much information about other people that had scooted there, except for a few vague reddit posts about how dangerous drivers are in Thailand and how this shouldn’t even be attempted. Despite this, we felt confident on the road after our prior day scooter adventure, so we decided to try it out.
We woke up bright at early to get ready for our day. We had read that because Doi Inthanon is at such a high elevation, it is MUCH colder. We dressed in layers, and took off around 7:20 AM. The drive took about 2 hours, and since it was so early, it was pretty chilly driving there. The roads were very nicely paved, there weren’t too many cars on the road at that hour, and overall the drive was very easy.
We arrived around 9:30 at the ticket counter to buy our entrance tickets, which cost 300 THB ($8.50 USD) per person, as well as a 30 THB ($0.85 USD) scooter fee.
Our first stop was at Wachirathan Waterfall, and we were blown away by its size and beauty. We managed to get there a few minutes before any of the tour buses arrived, and had a few moments to enjoy it ourselves. The beautiful waterfall cascaded down, shooting mist into the air. More and more tour groups started to arrive, so it did get pretty busy after a while. The best part of driving ourselves was being able to enjoy any attraction for as long or short as we wanted, and we took advantage of the freedom to leave before the tour buses did to our second stop.
After taking in the waterfall’s splendour, we scooted further up and saw some rice/farm terraces in the mountains. The view was stunning.
Our third stop was at Sirithan Waterfall, which was huge and had no tour groups or people around. We had it completely to ourselves! It was so peaceful and refreshing being surrounded by the incredible scenery and hear the water cascading down.
We stopped for lunch at a spot near the visitors’ centre. We ordered the green curry chicken, ginger chicken and rice. Although the prices were a bit more expensive than we had been paying (290 THB, $8.29 USD), the dishes were massive and came out so fast! Any restaurant in the park is going to be marked up, but in our opinion the food was VERY worth it.
The most famous attraction in Doi Inthanon National Park is the Twin Royal Pagodas, which were built to commemorate the 60th birthdays of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit. The pagodas offer stunning views of the park, beautiful botanical gardens, and you can also learn about the history and culture of the Thai people. As we drove up the road towards the Pagodas, the air started getting colder and colder. We finally arrived, and were directed towards the parking lot about 500 metres up the road. There is a free shuttle that shuttles people back and forth from the parking lot to the entrance, where you need to pay an additional 100 THB ($2.85 USD) fee per person to enter the Royal Pagodas that is not included in the park entrance fee. I was able to fly my drone and get some really cool arial photos & videos of the beautiful views around. We spent about an hour wandering around the botanical gardens, visiting the pagodas, and enjoying the view.
Our last stop of the day was the summit of Doi Inthanon, the tallest point in Thailand. The air was chilly and windy up near the top, and even with 3-4 layers on, we were still cold. However, the views were spectacular. We walked around the Ang Ka Luang Nature Trail/Boardwalk, which is a beautiful nature trail that takes you through the dense and mossy forest. The nature trail itself is less than a mile long, so it is very easy.
By now, it was just after 2 pm, and we were getting tired, so we decided to head back. Driving down the mountains, we were shocked by the temperature difference as it began to heat up. It took about 2.5 hours to drive back to our hostel, and the traffic was worse than it had been in the morning but not horrible.
Overall, it was a fantastic day exploring Doi Inthanon National Park. We were able to immerse ourselves in nature, take in stunning views, and enjoy each other’s company. It was a perfect day full of adventure and relaxation.
If you are wanting to check out the park on a budget, WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND DRIVING THERE YOURSELF! Maybe not the best choice if you’ve never driven a scooter/motorbike before, but if you have any experience driving a scooter, the roads are very easy to drive on, we saved tons of money steering clear of the ridiculously overpriced tour groups, and scooting gave us the freedom and flexibility to be able to avoid the big crowds.
DAY 5 – RELAX!
After a jam packed few days of adventure, we were pretty tired and decided to spent our last day in Chiang Mai relaxing, and enjoying the city. We went to a few cafes, got smoothies, tried mango sticky rice, and enjoyed people watching by the river. We finished off our day treating ourselves with a 90 minute Thai massage, which only cost 350 THB ($10 USD).
There is so much to do in this area, but we recommend dedicating at least 1 day to just relax, get a massage, and enjoy the city.
Overall, Chiang Mai is an adventure paradise, and we were able to explore the city and surrounding areas on a very low budget by eating locally, walking instead of taking taxis, and renting a scooter instead of taking tours.
To check out the full gallery of our Chiang Mai adventures, click here!