Fourteen temples, from Wat Chedi Luang and Wat Phra Singh in the Old City to Doi Suthep on the mountain. Opening hours on each card come from the temple's Google listing.
Wat Chedi Luang leads this list, with Wat Phra Singh and Doi Suthep next. Each card carries the temple's hours from its Google listing.
Six of them are inside or just outside the Old City walls and make an easy morning on foot: Chedi Luang and Phan Tao side by side, Phra Singh at the end of Ratchadamnoen Road, Chiang Man in the northeast corner, Chet Lin on Prapokklao Road and Lok Moli by the north moat. The Silver Temple is just south of the walls on Wua Lai Road. Suan Dok, Umong and Chet Yot sit west toward Nimman and the university, and Doi Suthep and Wat Pha Lat are on the mountain behind it.
Cover your shoulders and knees at every temple here. Doi Kham and Ton Kwen are south of the city, and Doi Suthep is about 15 km up the mountain, so those three need a Grab or a songthaew.
The 600-year-old brick chedi in the middle of the Old City that once held the Emerald Buddha, open every day from 05:00 to 22:30. Stop at the monk chat tables in the grounds, where monks talk with visitors for free.
Chiang Mai's most revered temple, at the west end of Ratchadamnoen Road, with the north's best murals in the small Viharn Lai Kham. Entry is ฿20–40, and on Sunday evenings the Walking Street runs right up to its gate.
The golden chedi on the mountain that looks down on the city from the west, ฿30 to enter and 306 steps up, open from 05:00 to 21:00. Go at dawn, before the coaches, then walk the Monk's Trail down to Wat Pha Lat.
Where to stay
My pick at each price level in Chiang Mai, going by Google's hotel class. Hotels from my ranked list of the 10 best come first, then the best-reviewed. Each button opens the hotel on Booking.com with your dates filled in.
#1Luxury · 5-star
Shangri-La Chiang Mai4.6 (4,289 reviews)
Upscale hotel near Chiang Mai's Night Bazaar, offering spacious rooms, a pool, spa, and Szechuan dining.
Check rates
#3Mid-range · 4-star
U Chiang Mai Hotel4.8 (2,000 reviews)
Chic boutique hotel on Rachadamnoen Rd offering a fitness center, European bistro, and open-air bar.
Check rates
#9Budget · 3-star
Cross Chiang Mai Riverside4.8 (994 reviews)
A boutique riverside resort in Chiang Mai offering stylish rooms, a spa, pool, and upscale dining.
Check ratesThe oldest temple in Chiang Mai, in the northeast corner of the Old City, free to enter and open from 05:00 to 19:00. It's quieter than Chedi Luang and Phra Singh, so it's the one to see when the big two are crowded.
A teak hall built as a Chiang Mai ruler's residence and moved here in 1876, right beside Wat Chedi Luang on Prapokklao Road. See it in the same visit, and come back after dark, when both temples are lit.
An ordination hall covered in hand-engraved silver and aluminum on Wua Lai Road, the old silversmith street, open from 08:30. Only men may go inside the main hall; women can view it from outside.
Klook's best-reviewed Chiang Mai tours, with today's prices. Most cancel free up to 24 hours ahead.
White chedis holding the ashes of Chiang Mai's royal family around a 48 m golden one, on Suthep Road west of the moat. Monk Chat runs Monday to Friday 16:00 to 19:00.
A forest temple at the foot of Doi Suthep with brick tunnels under a 14th-century chedi, open from 04:00 to 20:00. The tunnels take five minutes; the wooded grounds and the lake are what you stay for.
A hall crowned with seven spires, founded in 1455 on the model of India's Mahabodhi temple, northwest of the center near Nimman and open from 06:00 to 18:00. Walk around it for the 70 or so weathered stucco reliefs of celestial beings.
A 1527 brick chedi and a dark teak hall beside the north moat, free and open 06:00 to 18:00. Come for the last daylight hour, when the lights come on.
A jungle temple on the side of Doi Suthep, open from 06:00 to 17:30, reached by the Monk's Trail from the back of Chiang Mai University, about 2 km and 45 minutes on foot along a path marked with strips of orange robe.
A working Lanna monastery on Prapokklao Road in the Old City, open from 05:00 to 18:00, quiet enough that you'll hear the monks going about their day. Fold it into a walk between the bigger Old City temples.
An old teak temple in Hang Dong with no gold at all, open from 06:00 to 17:00, and a favorite with Thai visitors who come in rented traditional costume. It's south of the city, so Grab is the easy way there.
A hilltop temple south of the city with a giant white-and-gold Buddha, free to enter, gates open from 06:00 to 18:00. Go for sunrise, when you may have the view to yourself.
Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, the golden chedi on the mountain west of the city, is the one on the postcards, ฿30 to enter and 306 steps up. In the Old City, Wat Chedi Luang, the 600-year-old brick chedi that once held the Emerald Buddha, is the one to see inside the walls.
It's Chiang Mai's holiest temple and its landmark. Legend says a white elephant carrying a relic of the Buddha climbed the mountain, trumpeted three times and died at the spot, and the king built the temple there. The temple dates its founding to 1383, and the terrace looks down over the whole city.
Cover your shoulders and knees, and take your shoes off before you step into a hall. Loose pants or a long skirt and a T-shirt work everywhere. Some temples lend sarongs at the entrance if you forget, but don't count on it at the smaller ones.
Most of them. Wat Chiang Man is free, and so are Doi Kham and the smaller Old City temples. Doi Suthep charges ฿30, Wat Phra Singh ฿20–40 for its murals hall, and Wat Suan Dok and Wat Umong about ฿20.
No. The White Temple, Wat Rong Khun, is in Chiang Rai, about three and a half hours north by bus. It works as a long day trip, but it's better with a night in Chiang Rai, which also has the Blue Temple.
