Cornelius Amann
October 06, 2026
5/5
Northern Thailand: Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and the Golden Triangle
7 days from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai: Doi Suthep early, a cooking class, an elephant sanctuary and a Karen village, the White and Blue Temples, the Golden Triangle and a night in the Mae Salong tea hills.
7 days · Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai · up to 12 guests
Wat Rong Khun, the White Temple, south of Chiang Rai Photo: Chainwit., CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chiang_Rai_-_Wat_Rong_Khun_%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%82%E0%B8%B8%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%99_(2026)_-_img_11.jpg)
The facts
At a glance
- Length
- 7 days, 6 nights
- Start and end
- Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai
- Group size
- 7 to 12 guests
- Longest drive
- 3.5 h on day 4No drive day is longer than 4 hours.
- Activity level
Easy
Easy to moderate: about 300 steps at Doi Suthep (or the lift), 2 to 3 hours on foot at the elephant sanctuary and in a hill village on uneven, sometimes muddy paths, and short walks among the tea terraces at about 1,200 m. No drive is longer than about 3.5 hours, and every longer walk can be sat out.
- Meals included
- 6 breakfasts, 4 lunches, 2 dinners
- Room of your own
- + CAD 400 (estimated price)
- Season
- November to February
Highlights
Why this trip
- Wat Phra That Doi Suthep at about 7 am, before the tour vans, with the valley below the terrace
- A northern Thai cooking class that starts at the market and ends with dinner
- A morning with elephants at a sanctuary with no riding, then lunch with a community host in a Karen village
- The White Temple at its 8 am opening, hours before the day trips from Chiang Mai arrive
- The Blue Temple in late-afternoon light, and two nights in Chiang Rai instead of a passing stop
- A long-tail boat on the Mekong where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet
- Oolong tea with a grower in the Mae Salong hills, a Yunnanese dinner and the morning market at first light
What makes this trip different
Short drives, all published
Every drive is listed day by day, and none is longer than 4 hours.
Free time is part of the plan
Free time and choices are marked on the days they fall.
Solo without the penalty
A room of your own is + CAD 400 (estimated price).
Day by day
Itinerary
The longest drive is 3.5 h, on day 4.
Tap any stop on the map to open that dayClick any stop on the map to open that day
Arrive in Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai International Airport to your hotel in the old city
- Welcome dinner
- Stay in Chiang Mai
- Drive about 30 min
Evening
Fly into Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX), usually through Bangkok, and aim to land by about 4 pm so you are settled before the evening briefing. The airport is only about 5 km from the old city, so a driver meets you in arrivals and you reach your hotel, inside or beside the old moat, within half an hour. Chiang Mai was founded in 1296 as the capital of the Lanna kingdom, and the brick gates and square moat of that city still frame the centre. Rest, or walk the lanes around the hotel: there is a temple on almost every block. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the week ahead, from temple dress to how the elephant morning works and what the cool nights in the hills feel like; if your flight lands later, your guide briefs you over breakfast on day 2. Then we walk to a welcome dinner of northern dishes: khao soi curry noodles, sai ua sausage, nam prik ong and sticky rice.
Included
- Pick-up at Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX)
- Welcome briefing with your guide
- Welcome dinner of northern Thai dishes
Free time: Free until the evening briefing
Doi Suthep early, a cooking class at dusk
Chiang Mai to Doi Suthep and Wat Pha Lat, then the old city
- Breakfast and dinner
- Stay in Chiang Mai
- Drive about 1.5 h
Morning
We leave the hotel at about 6:30 am, the trip's only start before 7:30, and drive 15 km up the forested mountain to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, a little over 1,000 m up, arriving before the tour vans of mid-morning. Climb the naga staircase of about 300 steps, or take the lift, to the gilded chedi; legend says a white elephant carrying a relic of the Buddha stopped here in the 14th century. Monks chant in the morning, and on a clear cool-season day the whole valley lies below the terrace. On the way down we stop at Wat Pha Lat, a quiet forest temple beside a stream. Back in the old city your guide walks you through Wat Phra Singh and Wat Chedi Luang, whose great brick chedi has stood partly ruined since the 16th century.
Afternoon
Lunch and the early afternoon are yours.
Evening
At about 4 pm we meet a cooking teacher at a local market to buy ingredients, then cook four or five northern dishes and eat them for dinner.
Included
- Wat Phra That Doi Suthep at about 7 am with your guide
- Wat Pha Lat, the forest temple below Doi Suthep
- Old-city walk: Wat Phra Singh and Wat Chedi Luang
- Northern Thai cooking class with a market visit, and the dinner you cook
Easier option: Take the lift up to the Doi Suthep terrace instead of the staircase.
More active option: Walk down the Monk's Trail from Wat Pha Lat to the foot of the mountain, about an hour on a steep, rooty forest path, and meet the van at the bottom.
Free time: Lunch and the early afternoon free in the old city
Activity: About 300 steps at Doi Suthep and 2 hours on foot in the old city. Shoulders and knees covered at every temple; shoes come off in the halls.
Elephants, then lunch in a Karen village
Chiang Mai to an elephant sanctuary and a Karen village in the hills, and back
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Chiang Mai
- Drive about 2.5 h
Today the elephants set the pace. We drive an hour to an hour and a half into the hills outside Chiang Mai to a sanctuary with no riding, no bathing with the elephants and no shows: the elephants roam, and we walk with their keepers at the distance the keepers set. You help prepare their food, watch them feed, bathe themselves in the river or throw dust over their backs, and hear from the sanctuary team where each elephant came from and what it costs to care for one. Many keepers in these hills are Karen, one of the largest hill peoples of northern Thailand, and from the sanctuary we go on to a Karen village nearby.
Afternoon
A community host welcomes us to lunch cooked in a family kitchen, then walks us round: the looms where women weave the Karen patterns, the rice and coffee plots on the slopes, and the forest the village looks after.
Evening
We are back in Chiang Mai by mid to late afternoon, and the evening is free.
Included
- Morning at an ethical elephant sanctuary: no riding, no bathing, no shows
- Preparing the elephants' food and walking with their keepers
- Lunch in a Karen village with a community host
- Village walk: weaving, rice and coffee plots
Easier option: Watch the elephants from the shaded viewing area and ride to the village in the van.
More active option: After lunch, walk the field paths round the village's rice and coffee plots with your host, about 1 to 2 hours on uneven ground.
Free time: Evening free in Chiang Mai
Activity: About 2 to 3 hours on foot on uneven, sometimes muddy ground. Wear shoes you do not mind getting dirty and clothes that cover shoulders.
Over the hills to Chiang Rai, the Blue Temple late
Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai on Route 118, then Wat Phra Kaew and the Blue Temple
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Chiang Rai
- Drive about 3.5 h
We leave Chiang Mai at about 9 am on Route 118, about 190 km and three and a quarter hours of driving through hills and teak forest to Chiang Rai, or about three and a half hours with the stop. Halfway we stop at the Mae Kachan hot springs, where steam rises beside the road and you can warm your feet in the run-off pools.
Afternoon
We reach Chiang Rai for a sit-down lunch, then check in and rest through the heat of the afternoon. At about 4 pm your guide takes you to Wat Phra Kaew, where the Emerald Buddha now in Bangkok was found in 1434 when lightning split an old chedi, and then to Wat Rong Suea Ten, the Blue Temple, as its deep-blue hall and white seated Buddha catch the late light. The hall was finished in 2016 to designs by a local artist who trained with the creator of the White Temple.
Evening
The evening is free: the night bazaar and the gilded clock tower in the centre are close by.
Included
- Drive from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai with your guide, with a stop at the Mae Kachan hot springs
- Sit-down lunch in Chiang Rai
- Wat Phra Kaew, Chiang Rai
- Wat Rong Suea Ten (the Blue Temple) in the late afternoon
Free time: Afternoon rest and evening free in Chiang Rai
Activity: The longest drive of the trip, about 3.5 hours with the stop, on a winding mountain road; tell us if you get car sick and we seat you up front.
The White Temple at opening, then the Golden Triangle
Chiang Rai to Wat Rong Khun, then north to the Golden Triangle and Chiang Saen, and back
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Chiang Rai
- Drive about 3 h
We are at Wat Rong Khun, the White Temple, 13 km south of town, when it opens at 8 am, about three hours before the day trips from Chiang Mai can arrive. The artist Chalermchai Kositpipat began rebuilding the temple in 1997 and is still adding to it: a white hall set with mirror glass, reached over a bridge above a pit of reaching hands, with murals inside that mix Buddhist themes with figures from films and comics. Then we drive about an hour and a half north to Sop Ruak, where the Ruak River meets the Mekong and Thailand, Myanmar and Laos face each other across the water: the Golden Triangle. The Hall of Opium tells the story of the opium trade that gave the area its name. A long-tail boat takes us out on the Mekong for about an hour, without landing in Laos.
Afternoon
Lunch is by the river, then Chiang Saen, an old walled town on the Mekong with brick temple ruins from the Lanna period. We are back in Chiang Rai by about 5 pm.
Included
- Wat Rong Khun (the White Temple) at 8 am opening, with your guide
- The Golden Triangle viewpoint at Sop Ruak
- The Hall of Opium
- Long-tail boat on the Mekong, about 1 hour
- Lunch by the Mekong
- Chiang Saen's old walls and temple ruins
Easier option: Skip the Chiang Saen walk and wait in a riverside cafe while the group explores.
Free time: Evening free in Chiang Rai
Activity: Photography is not allowed inside the White Temple's main hall. The Hall of Opium is closed on Mondays, so small-group departures are dated so day 5 never falls on a Monday (no Thursday starts). On a private trip that starts on a Thursday, we skip the Hall of Opium and spend the time at the Mekong viewpoints and in Chiang Saen.
Up to Mae Salong and the tea hills
Chiang Rai to Mae Salong via Mae Chan
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Mae Salong
- Drive about 2 h
Morning
A slow morning in Chiang Rai: sleep in, go back to a temple or walk the market. We leave at about 10:30 am for Mae Salong, about 75 km and an hour and three quarters away, the last part a winding climb past the tea estates of Mae Chan district into the hills near the Myanmar border. The town, officially Santikhiri, sits at about 1,200 m.
Afternoon
It was settled by soldiers of the Chinese Nationalist army and their families, who crossed from Yunnan into Burma after 1949 and came here in the early 1960s, which is why the shop signs are in Chinese and lunch is Yunnanese. After lunch we walk the terraced oolong rows with a tea grower and taste the season's teas in the family tea house.
Evening
The late afternoon is free: climb to the hilltop chedi of Wat Santikhiri for sunset over the ridges, or visit the memorial hall that tells the settlers' story. Dinner together is Yunnanese, and the evening is cool, sometimes cold, in the dry season.
Included
- Drive from Chiang Rai to Mae Salong with your guide
- Yunnanese lunch in Mae Salong
- Walk in the tea terraces with a grower, and a tea tasting
- Yunnanese dinner
Easier option: Stay for the tasting and skip the walk among the terraces; the van can take you up to Wat Santikhiri.
More active option: Climb the long stairway from the town to Wat Santikhiri for sunset, several hundred steps.
Free time: Morning free in Chiang Rai; late afternoon free in Mae Salong
Activity: Mae Salong sits at about 1,200 m: bring a warm layer for the evening and the early market.
Mae Salong morning market and home
Mae Salong to Chiang Rai International Airport
- Breakfast
- Drive about 1.5 h
Morning
Get up early for Mae Salong's morning market, which runs from first light, when farmers from the villages around the town, many of them Akha, bring vegetables, mushrooms, tea and fruit to the stalls along the main street. In the cool season mist often lies in the valleys below the tea rows, and your guide knows the corner where the view opens up. After breakfast we drive down out of the hills, about 70 km and an hour and a half, to Chiang Rai International Airport (CEI), arriving at about 11:30 am. Your guide sees you to check-in and makes sure your flight is on time before saying goodbye. Most travellers fly to Bangkok and connect home from there. If you are staying on in the north, we can drop you in central Chiang Rai instead, or arrange extra nights in Chiang Rai or Chiang Mai.
Included
- Mae Salong morning market with your guide
- Drop-off at Chiang Rai International Airport (CEI), or in central Chiang Rai
Easier option: Sleep in and skip the market; we leave after breakfast.
Activity: Book a flight from Chiang Rai leaving after about 1 pm.
- Chiang Mai3 nights
- Chiang Rai2 nights
- Mae Salong1 night
- Chiang Raiend
- Overnight stop
- Day trip
- By boat or train
Wildlife and weather: November to February is the cool, dry season: warm days, clear views and cool mornings, with cold nights in the hills. From about February to April smoke from crop burning often hazes the views, and June to October is the rainy season.
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Before you book
Right for you?
Good for you if you want
- Travellers who want northern Thailand at an unhurried pace, without Bangkok
- Temples at quiet hours rather than in the midday crowd
- Meeting elephants and hill villages in a way that respects both
- Food lovers: a cooking class, northern curries and Yunnanese cooking in the tea hills
Not for you if you want
- Beach time: this trip stays in the hills
- Multi-day jungle trekking or village homestays
- Travellers who want to ride or bathe elephants
- Step-free access: temples have long staircases and shoes come off in every hall
Book flights after we confirm your seat.
6 nights
Where you'll stay
Your hotels are named in your trip confirmation.
- Chiang Mai3 nights
- Chiang Rai2 nights
- Mae Salong1 night
One price
What's in the price
Included
Accommodation
- 6 nights in central hotels of a 3-star-plus standard: 3 in Chiang Mai inside or beside the old-city moat, 2 in central Chiang Rai, 1 in Mae Salong among the tea hills
- Rooms shared, or your own for a supplement
- Hotels named when we confirm your dates
Transport
- Pick-up at Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX)
- Drop-off at Chiang Rai International Airport (CEI)
- Our own air-conditioned minibus and driver for the group, from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai and Mae Salong
- A long-tail boat on the Mekong at the Golden Triangle
Your guide
- A See Sight Tours guide with the group for the whole trip, airport to airport
- Sanctuary guides and keepers at the elephant sanctuary, a community host in the Karen village, your cooking teacher in Chiang Mai and a tea grower in Mae Salong
Activities
- Chiang Mai: Wat Phra That Doi Suthep and Wat Pha Lat
- Chiang Mai: old-city walk to Wat Phra Singh and Wat Chedi Luang
- Chiang Mai: market visit and northern Thai cooking class
- Chiang Mai hills: a morning at an ethical elephant sanctuary, no riding
- Chiang Mai hills: a Karen village visit and lunch with a community host
- Chiang Rai: Wat Phra Kaew and Wat Rong Suea Ten (the Blue Temple)
- Chiang Rai: Wat Rong Khun (the White Temple)
- Golden Triangle: the Sop Ruak viewpoint, the Hall of Opium and a Mekong boat trip
- Chiang Saen: the old walls and temple ruins
- Mae Salong: tea terraces and tasting with a grower, and the morning market
Meals
- 6 breakfasts
- 4 lunches, days 3 to 6: in a Karen village, in Chiang Rai, by the Mekong and in Mae Salong
- 3 dinners: a welcome dinner in Chiang Mai, the dinner you cook at the cooking class and a Yunnanese dinner in Mae Salong
Not included
- International flights, and the domestic flights into Chiang Mai and out of Chiang Rai
- Travel insurance
- Visa fees, if your passport needs a visa
- Meals not listed
- Drinks
- Tips
- Optional activities, massages and personal expenses
Extras
- Room of your own
- CAD 400 (estimated price)
When you can go
Dates and prices
Pick your start date when you request to book. We check that date and confirm it in your quote.
Prefer to travel without a group or guide? Ask us about arranging hotels, transport and city tours for you to travel independently.
Before you book
Booking terms
Nothing is charged now. Full terms and the cancellation schedule come with your quote, before you accept.
Business addresses
See Sight Tours Trips (USA): 3172 N Rainbow Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89108, United StatesSee Sight Tours Trips (Canada): 5305 50 Avenue, #1091, Red Deer, AB T4N 4B6, Canada+1-888-961-6584Guest reviews
What guests say
Reviews from guests on our day tours.
Jane
October 06, 2026
5/5
Susan
October 06, 2026
5/5
Tom L
October 05, 2026
5/5
MandL83
October 05, 2026
5/5
Darren O
October 05, 2026
5/5
Good to know
Questions
What does the price include?
Six nights in central hotels, 6 breakfasts, 4 lunches and 3 dinners, airport transfers, our own minibus and driver, your See Sight Tours guide throughout, and every visit in the day plan: Doi Suthep, the elephant sanctuary and Karen village, the cooking class, the White and Blue Temples, the Hall of Opium, the Mekong boat and the tea tasting.
How big is the group?
The small-group trip runs with 7 to 12 guests, so everyone can hear the guide in a temple hall, fit round one table at lunch and keep a respectful size in a Karen village.
Who leads the trip?
A See Sight Tours guide travels with the group from the Chiang Mai airport pick-up to the Chiang Rai airport drop-off, with no hand-over mid-trip. Sanctuary keepers, a Karen community host, a cooking teacher and a tea grower join for their parts of the trip. We name your guide when we confirm your dates.
How fit do I need to be?
Easy to moderate. The most demanding parts are about 300 steps at Doi Suthep, which you can skip by taking the lift, and 2 to 3 hours on uneven, sometimes muddy paths at the sanctuary and in the Karen village. The longest drive is about three and a half hours.
I am travelling solo. Do I pay a single supplement?
Only if you want a room of your own, which is from CAD 400 more and shown up front before you book. If you would rather share, tell us when you request to book and we will let you know whether another solo traveller on your departure wants to share a twin room.
When is the best time to go?
November to February, the cool, dry season, with warm days, clear views and cold nights in Mae Salong. From about February to April smoke from crop burning often hazes the north, March to May is hot, and June to October is the rainy season. November departures may coincide with the Yi Peng lantern festival in Chiang Mai.
How does booking work?
Choose a departure and request to book: no payment is taken at that point. We confirm your place, hotels and final itinerary within 24 hours. Prices are per person sharing a room, with taxes, and start from CAD 2,350 for the small group.
Can we travel privately or on our own dates?
Yes. The trip also runs as a private trip for your party only, on a date you choose, from CAD 4,230 per person. If you would rather travel independently on your own dates, ask us from the dates section and we will quote the same hotels, drivers and local guides.
Do I need a visa for Thailand?
Canadian and US passport holders currently enter Thailand without a visa for a short stay, but the length allowed changed in 2024 and has been under review since, so we confirm the rule when you book. Every visitor also completes the online Thailand Digital Arrival Card before arrival.
Is the elephant sanctuary ethical?
We only use a sanctuary with no riding, no bathing with the elephants and no shows or painting, where the elephants can walk away from people. You walk with the keepers at the distance they set and help prepare food. We name the sanctuary when we confirm your dates.
Do you visit the long-neck villages?
No. Many travellers and rights groups see the purpose-built Kayan long-neck villages near Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai as staged. We visit a working Karen village instead, where a community host welcomes us to lunch, the visit is agreed with the village and the fee goes to the community.
How do I get to Chiang Mai and home from Chiang Rai?
Fly into Chiang Mai (CNX) by about 4 pm on day 1 and out of Chiang Rai (CEI) after about 1 pm on day 7. Both airports have frequent domestic flights from Bangkok, so most travellers book an international ticket to Bangkok and connect. We can add nights in Bangkok before or after.
See Sight Tours has been providing travel services across North America since 2006. Operating in 20 cities across Canada and the USA, the company specializes in small group tours that offer personalized, high-quality experiences for travelers.
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