Book Chiang Mai theatre, tours & attraction tickets

Perched in a broad valley in northern Thailand, ringed by forested mountains and threaded by the Ping River, Chiang Mai carries a different weight from Bangkok. It was the capital of the Lanna Kingdom for five centuries, and that history is not merely decorative. The old city sits within a square moat, its corners marked by crumbling brick bastions, and inside that boundary more than thirty temples crowd the lanes, their tiered roofs gilded or whitewashed, their courtyards shaded by frangipani. Wat Chedi Luang, whose great chedi was partially toppled by an earthquake in 1545, still dominates the centre of the old city with a quiet authority that no restoration has diminished.

The old city and its immediate surrounds are where most first-time visitors find their footing, and the guided walking tours on offer here reflect that instinct well. A two-hour walk through the old city and its temples covers ground that rewards a knowledgeable companion, since the iconography of Lanna Buddhism differs in telling ways from the central Thai tradition, and the neighbourhood's layout rewards someone who knows which courtyards to slip into. Beyond the moat, the Nimman area to the west has become the city's contemporary counterpart, full of independent coffee shops and galleries, while the Night Bazaar district along Chang Klan Road draws crowds after dark with its market stalls and street food.