Why I Keep Coming Back to Explore Chiang Mai’s Old Town

Chiang Mai really is my favorite city in the whole wide world and this is my third time coming back to explore Chiang Mai’s Old Town. It is hard for me to describe exactly why I love this city so much but, if I could sum it up in three words, it would be: Chill Azz Vibez.

Chiang mai is an ancient walled city that was built in 1294 to be the new capital of the Lan Na Kingdom. The Old City still exists today although most of the brick wall has been destroyed. What is left tho is quite impressive – old gates on the sides and remnants of the corners. There are so many temples within the Old City and one of my favorite things to do is just walk around looking at the temples and pagodas.

This most recent trip was fairly short as it was a spur of the moment trip in-between starting a new job. My main objectives for this trip was to just relax, walk around and eat amazing food. Chiang Mai is known for having amazing northern Thai food and that’s one of the cuisines I was on the hunt for.

Night One

First night in Chiang Mai, and after 28 hours of traveling from America, I went to Aroon Rai. This place is great. Located right next to Tha Pae Gate. This was the first restaurant I ever went to in Chiang Mai back in 2023. I had Gaeng hanglay, Northern Thai sausage, steamed rice and a soda water. Great meal to start off my vacation!

For the rest of the night, I just walked around Old Town for about an hour or so. Stopped by 7-11 to get some snacks and waters before heading back to the hotel for an early night of sleep.

Day One

The next morning I got up early and went for a nice long walk. First, I got a ham and cheese croissant toastie sandwich from 7-11 and walked around the perimeter of Old Town.

As I was walking I noticed there was a place called The Roman House that had a lot of roman looking statues in a courtyard area. I grabbed an iced latte at cafe there and chilled for a few minutes.

After my caffeination pit stop, I continued around the perimeter of Old Town towards the south. They were setting up for the Flower Festival in the south west corner. They have so many different types of flowers on display. Took some pictures but they weren’t open for the day yet, so I didn’t walk around the festival.

Next stop was the Chiang Mai Gate Market on the south side of old town. This is a place that has lots of venders selling all sorts of food. I’ve been to this market many times before and my favorite thing to get is chicken livers on skewers. So delicious! Sometimes I’ll get and egg and some Nam Phrig Noom, which is a Northern Thai pounded roasted chili dip.

My move is to eat the liver skewers outside at a small table next to the lady that sells coffee. I got some black coffee and she also gave me some tea to drink. This is a great spot to eat, relax and do some people watching as this market is always busy in the morning. After having my breakfast, I walked back to my hotel and took a shower.

After showering, I relaxed for a little bit. For lunch that day I had a great meal at a super fancy restaurant, called The House by Ginger, that was right around the corner from my hotel. I loved the decor of the restaurant and I felt very comfortable in the plush seating. I got myself refreshing ginger mocktail which was great.

For appetizer, I had these scallop wraps that were amazing – such a burst of flavor with each bite! And for the main course I had beef khao soi. The beef was so tender and the broth was delicious. It was the perfect combination of flavors in my mouth. I felt thoroughly satisfied with this meal and highly recommend this restaurant if you are traveling to Chiang Mai. My advice would be to make a reservation since this place gets very busy.

I did some more walking around town after lunch. Walking around cities is basically my favorite activity to do while traveling. Chiang Mai is so interesting to walk in because there is art and ancient architecture all around. After another hour or so of walking I decided to get a massage.

There is a great place, called Zen Sense Health Spa, near Tha Phae Gate that I decided to go to. I’ve always gotten great massages at this place and today was no different. I felt so relaxed afterwards. The tea and crackers they serve at the end are delicious and I enjoyed them very much ☺️.

I was feeling so relaxed after my massage, so I went back to my hotel to chill out for awhile. That night for dinner I had some classic thai dishes from the small restaurant around the corner from my hotel. I had larb and papaya salad. Both were delicious and refreshing. Washed it all down with some Singha sparkling water.

Night Two

After dinner, I went for another walk around Old Town. There is a night market called Lanna Square that has food and desserts every night. It’s located next to Zoe in Yellow which is a pretty popular night club – there are also a bunch of other bars in this small area, so it’s a pretty kewl spot in Old Town.

There is usually live music playing in the evenings but actually that particular night it was a bunch of kids break dancing on the stage. That was p kewl to watch. Got myself a rolled ice cream with corn flakes, kit kat and peanut butter. Twas delish! I ate my ice cream while enjoying the show. Not a bad way to spend your time!

After the shlaying of the creamed ice, I continued my journey of walking for another hour or so. I walked down Loi Kroh Road all the way to yet another night market. This area of Chiang Mai is called Night Bazaar and this is the main touristy night market. There is a ton of food, drinks and live music everywhere. Continued my journey past the Night Bazaar over the Iron Bridge, which crossed the Ping river, and ended my journey at a 7-11 😊.

I bought some waters and snacks then ordered a Grab bike to bring me back to the hotel. It was a long day of walking, so I felt I deserved a ride home. I did roughly 30,000 steps that day. Once back to the hotel, I just chilled until bed time.

Day Two

Day two, was another fun filled day exploring Chiang Mai. I started my day with a long walk around Old Town and had my first pit stop at Single Origin coffee shop near Tha Phae Gate. I was able to chill a bit there while I enjoyed my coffee and pastry.

It then became clear to me that some kind of event was about to happen near Tha Phae Gate and sure enough it was a parade. The Flower Festival Parade happened that morning and I was in a great postiion to see it. There were lots of people dressed up in costumes and even members of the Thai Royal family were in the parade.

I watched the parade for about 45 minutes, but was starting to get hot, so I headed back to the hotel to chill out for a bit. I did some reading in my hotel room and made some phone calls before lunch time.

The restaurant I went to for lunch is called Sushi Umai, and it’s seriously some of the best sushi I’ve ever had. Located in Nimman, so I used a grab bike to get there. The place was busy but I was able to get a spot at the bar. I ordered a bunch of sushi that afternoon but the real standouts for me were the Holland Maki and the Iniru Sushi. So delicious! I highly recommend this restaurant if you will be in the Nimman area of Chiang Mai!

After lunch I needed a quick pick-me-up so I went to one of my favorite coffee shops in Nimman called Fohhide. It’s just down the street from Sushi Umai and you have to walk up 6 flights of stairs to get there. Worth it. The place was packed but I was able to snag a spot to sit at the counter. I ordered an es-yen latte that was v delish! I relaxed a bit there and did some journaling.

Then I decided to walk all the way back to my hotel, which was a pretty hot walk considering it was late afternoon. Once I got back to my hotel, I decided to shower, do some reading and rest a bit before heading out for dinner (I think we are starting to see a theme here ☺️)

Night Three

That night, I got ready to go out and I walked down the inner perimeter road of Old Town looking for a good place to eat dinner. I came across a restaurant I had heard good things about but never been before – it’s called Hummus. You can walk down a long narrow alley way to get to the restaurant but once you are in the restaurant, it’s quite spacious.

I ordered myself a bunch of food. First, I started with the hummus (of course) and it came out with warm pita. So delicious! The roasted potatoes with homemade ketchup were actually quite amazing. And I also had myself a falafel sandwich. Wow! Everything was so fresh and flavorful. If you are in the mood for really good Middle Eastern food, then I would highly recommend checking this restaurant out!

After dinner, I just walked around Old Town one last time. Hungout around Tha Phae Gate and did some people watching before retiring back to my hotel. I was leaving for Bangkok in the morning so I got all my stuff together before going to bed.

This was a pretty quick trip I did to Chiang Mai but it was just what I needed when I needed it. I love the chillness of Chiang Mai and the people are so nice. Great food and ancient architecture. What’s not to like!?!? Join me on my next adventure to… Bangkok! Thanks for reading – talk to you soon!