Chiang Dao in Chiang Mai Province

General information about Chiang Dao and why to come here

Chiang Dao is a small town and tourist destination in Chiang Mai province located in the northeast 72 kilometers from the city of Chiang Mai on the way to Fang (Chiang Dao on the map). The name literally translates as "City of Stars", although, of course, this place is far from the title of a real city, it is rather a large village.

Most often, tourists and travelers visit Chiang Dao in the form of a day trip from Chiang Mai or make a short rest stop along the route during a car or motorcycle trip to Chiang Rai via Fung and Taton. However, in fact, you can spend a few days in Chiang Dao with pleasure and interest. There is a calm provincial atmosphere, few tourists, beautiful views, and very friendly people who welcome every guest of their city. You can diversify your vacation here by visiting the famous Chiang Dao caves with a temple inside, take hot baths in free folk thermal springs, go trekking to the top of Doi Luang Chiang Dao Mountain or to the villages of mountain tribes, or just relax and enjoy the views and atmosphere of the north of Thailand. On Tuesdays, there is a large morning market in the city, where sellers of handicrafts and homemade products from the surrounding tribal villages flock. There is also an elephant nursery (Chiang Dao Elephant Training Center) near the city, where you can ride elephants through the jungle. Chiang Dao is an ideal place to start trekking trips to the mountain, as well as to exotic tribal villages unspoiled by tourists, where excursions are organized. Well, you can visit these tribes even on foot and even on your own, you just need to stock up on a map, determination and desire. Rafting on the rivers of the province is also organized from here.

There are several dozen guest houses and hotels in Chiang Dao, there is a hostel. The cost of accommodation in a hostel starts from 200 baht per person, and a decent room for two can be found even for 600 baht, but in general, prices here are slightly higher compared to similar places in the north of Thailand. But the higher cost of accommodation is more than compensated by lower prices for excursions to the mountains and jungles. For the same excursion, compared to Chiang Mai from Chiang Dao, you will pay about 500 baht cheaper (approximately 15.33 USD). There are several 7/11 shops in the city, Lotus's Go Fresh, there is a market and a night market, there are ATMs.

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How to get to Chiang Dao

From Chiang Mai from Chang Phuak station (Chang Phuak on the map) every half hour from 6 am to 6 pm, mini buses cost from 300 baht (9.2 USD), 1 hour and 30 minutes on the way. Also, buses depart six times a day to Thaton (Tha Ton) and every half hour to Fang, which make a stop in Chiang Dao on the way, cost the same 300 baht.

To get to Chiang Dao from Chiang Rai, you will first have to take a bus to Thaton (Tha Ton), and from there take another bus to Chiang Dao. You can also go from Chiang Rai with a transfer via Chiang Mai, but in this case you will have to move between bus stations almost across the city.

Buses in Chiang Dao arrive at a small bus station in the very center of the town (Chiang Dao bus station on the map). To get from it to the hotel, you can take a minibus (Songthaew) from 100 baht (3.07 USD), but sometimes it's easier and more convenient to ask the bus driver to drop you off at the right place on the main road through the city, and walk to the right hotel on foot.

If you are going to Chiang Dao from Chiang Mai by rented transport, then be careful on the road. The road here, although very good, runs through the mountains and in places meanders steeply.

How to move around the city?

The city is very small and there is no public transport. The whole town can be walked around in 15 minutes. But to get to the guesthouse from the bus stop, you may have to use transport.

The available mode of transport is a fixed–route taxi (Soghtaew, which works only as a taxi) and motorcycle taxi. For a trip to Soghtaew in the vicinity of the city you will have to pay about 150 baht, but the price is negotiable and you need to bargain. Rent for a day will cost 1000 baht. You can get to the caves from the city by Soghtaew for 100 baht, by motorcycle taxi for 30.

You can also rent a motorcycle or bicycle here, and this, in our opinion, is the best option to explore the surroundings. Renting a light motorcycle will cost from 300 baht per day, a bicycle from 100 baht per day. There is a rental at least in the hostel Chiangdao Center Hostel, this is the very center of the city.

What to see in Chiang Dao

• Chang Dao Cave Complex (Tham Chiang Dao)

  

  About 100 caves of the Tham Chiang Dao cave complex stretch 12 kilometers deep into the Chang Dao Mountain (Doi Chiang Dao), and five of them are open to tourists. This is, in fact, the most important (but not the only) attraction of Chiang Dao, which attracts tourists here. Moreover, this is not only a natural landmark, they also have great religious significance for the locals. There are countless Buddha statues in almost all the passages of the caves, and some caves are whole cave temples. From the main cave, many more caves depart in different directions, access to which is prohibited without a guide for security reasons. There are many more interesting things hidden in them, such as streams and a lake with catfish, hot springs. You can hire a guide for a walk through the closed caves right here in the cave, from 200 baht. Learn more about Chiang Dao caves here...

  🕐 Working hours: around the clock.

  💵Entrance fee / ticket price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: located 6 kilometers from the center of Chiang Dao and 75 kilometers from the city of Chiang Mai (Chiang Dao hot springs on the map). Songthaew minibuses go here from the center from the main street where the bus station is located, the cost is 200 baht, but irregularly, so it's better to count on renting a transport or taxi right away.

• Wat Tham Chiang Dao Temple

  

  This temple is inextricably linked with the Ching Dao Cave cave complex. It is on the territory of this temple that the entrance to these caves is located, and the caves themselves seem to be a continuation of the temple, since they contain its underground part with cave shrines and Buddha statues. Therefore, you will not visit the caves in any way, bypassing Wat Tham Chiang Dao, but there is also no point in visiting the temple without caves. The territory of the temple is quite large and is located at the foot of the mountain among green forests. It cannot be said that it stands out for its splendor and beauty, but it is interesting and mysterious in its own way, and it is definitely worth walking around it for half an hour. There is a lake, several beautiful chedis, and a lot of religious sculptures, some of which look very old and mysterious. Read more about Wat Tham Chiang Dao Temple here...

  🕐 Working hours: around the clock.

  💵Entrance fee / ticket price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: located 6 kilometers from the center of Chiang Dao and 75 kilometers from the city of Chiang Mai (temple on the map). Songthaew minibuses go here from the center from the main street where the bus station is located, the cost is 200 baht, but irregularly, so it's better to count on renting a transport or taxi right away.

• Doi Chang Dao Mountain (Doi Luang Chiang Dao)

  

  It is the third highest mountain in Thailand, its height is 2195 meters. The mountain is part of the Doi Chiang Dao National Park, and climbing it is the most popular hiking trail from Chiang Dao. Which is good, it does not require special climbing training and equipment, it's just a trekking or hiking route. Ie, you don't have to climb the rocks, you just need a good physical shape to withstand a long hike. They climb the mountain in order to get acquainted with the local rich flora and fauna along the way, admire and capture an incredibly breathtaking view from the top, and meet the sunset. Read more about Chiang Dao Mountain here...

  🕐 Working hours: take-up is possible only from November to February on dates previously agreed with the reserve administration.

  Entrance fee / ticket price: access to the Chiang Dao Mountain Reserve is 200 baht for foreigners (approximately 6.13 USD).

  🚶 How to get there: located on the territory of the reserve near the city of Chiang Dao in the north of Chiang Mai province (Chiang Dao peak on the map). The easiest way is to buy a ready-made tour in Chiang Mai or Chiang Mai, which includes a guide and all the necessary equipment. Depending on the place of purchase, the number of people in the group and the level of comfort, it will cost from 2000 baht. It is better to book in advance, since it is necessary to obtain permission to visit the park 2-3 weeks before the start.

• The market is on Tuesdays

  

  There is a market on the main street of Chiang Dao in the northern part of the city, where residents of tribal settlements gather early on Tuesdays to sell and buy daily consumption items. If you find yourself at this time (Tuesday) in the province, you can visit the market by arriving here from Chiang Mai by bus or taxi, but you need to do this early in the morning, because at 12 o'clock the market already stops working. The remarkable thing about this market is that here you will see real tribal residents, and not mummers like in most tourist villages.

  🕐 Working hours: Tuesday mornings.

  💵Entrance fee / ticket price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: Tuesday market is open right on the main street of Chiang Dao (market on the map).

• Chiang Dao Hot Springs

  

  These sources are almost unknown among tourists who visit Chiang Mai Province, mostly there are locals. But this is a very cool and unique place in its own way. The fact is that these springs are completely "wild", i.e. not ennobled with changing booths, toilets, but local residents have long since equipped them for taking hot baths in the open air, installing a system of pipes through which water comes from the bowels of Chiang Dao Mountain and fills large concrete pipes that act as bathing. And it is the fact that they are natural and authentic that we especially like about these hot springs. We visited these springs for the first time back in 2012, and now practically nothing has changed here, the place has not become commercial and tourist. They are concrete barrels in the ground, which are filled with hot water through a pipe system. Water flows from one barrel to another, and therefore the temperature in them is different: those that are closer in the river are cooler. Learn more about Chiang Dao hot springs here...

  🕐 Working hours: around the clock.

  💵Entrance fee / ticket price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: located 6 kilometers from the center of Chiang Dao and 75 kilometers from the city of Chiang Mai (Chiang Dao hot springs on the map). No public transport goes here, there are no excursions, so you will have to get there by rented transport or taxi. In Chiang Dao itself, you can rent a motorbike (from 300 baht) or a bicycle, and use it to get to the springs.

• Temple of Mae Ead (Wat Mae Ead)

  

  This is one of the most unusual temples in Chiang Mai province, which we happened to see there. Despite its "provinciality", this temple can surprise even seasoned travelers in Thailand. There are several huge sculptures of Buddha, monks and mythical religious creatures installed here, which are amazing in their scale, because you don't expect to see this at all far from large cities and in a relatively sparsely populated area in a province in the far north of the country. But the most important thing here is a series of sculptures depicting the torments of hell or purgatory. They amaze and shock with their cruelty and frankness. Read more about Mae Eid Temple here...

  🕐 Working hours: around the clock.

  💵Entrance fee / ticket price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: the temple is located in the center of Chiang Dao, you can get from anywhere in the city on foot (temple on the map).