Chiang Mai has a season it does not advertise. From roughly late February to April, agricultural burning across northern Thailand and the neighbouring countries fills the valley with smoke, and the city regularly records some of the worst air quality readings in the world. The mountains that make the region beautiful also trap it.
That is not a minor caveat. In a bad year the haze can persist for weeks, the mountain views disappear entirely, and people with respiratory conditions are advised to stay away. Check current air quality readings before booking anything in those months, and consider November to February instead, which is cool, clear and the best time to be here by a wide margin.
The old city and the river
Chiang Mai was founded in 1296 as the capital of the Lanna kingdom, and the old city is still a square roughly 1.5 kilometres a side, defined by a moat and the remains of a brick wall with four gates.
Inside the walls are around thirty working temples, guest houses, the Sunday walking street market and most of what visitors come to see. It is quiet, low-rise and entirely walkable.
The Ping river, east of the old city, has the larger hotels, the riverside restaurants and the night bazaar.
Nimmanhaemin, west, is the university and design district: coffee, boutiques and the city's contemporary scene.
Mae Rim and the northern valleys, thirty to forty minutes out, hold the resort properties in rice terraces and forest.
The eleven below are grouped that way.
The northern valleys
Mae Rim and beyond, in the hills.
Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai occupies a hillside of terraced rice paddies twenty minutes north of the city, with pavilions on stilts around the terraces, a working rice field farmed by the hotel and buffalo in it. It is the best hotel in northern Thailand.
Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai
Mae Rim valley · 5★ · $$$$
Pavilions on stilts above working rice terraces
Check availabilityRaya Heritage - SHA Plus sits on the Ping river north of the centre in a property built entirely from local materials and craft, with a spa, a pool over the water and a deliberately restrained design. It is the most considered hotel in the city.
Raya Heritage - SHA Plus
Ping river, north · 5★ · $$$$
Built entirely from local craft with a pool over the river
Check availabilityThe Ping river
East of the old city, with the riverside restaurants.
137 Pillars House occupies a colonial-era teak house and its grounds, built in 1889 for a British teak trader, with a pool, a spa and thirty suites among mature trees.
137 Pillars House
Wat Ket, Ping river · 5★ · $$$$
An 1889 teak trader's house with thirty suites in gardens
Check availabilityAnantara Chiang Mai Resort sits on the riverbank in a large property with Lanna-style pavilions, a spa, a pool and full facilities.
Anantara Chiang Mai Resort
Ping riverbank · 5★ · $$$
Lanna pavilions with a spa on the water
Check availabilityNa Nirand Romantic Boutique Resort occupies a riverside position with a colonial-style build, a pool and a good restaurant at a mid-range rate.
Na Nirand Romantic Boutique Resort
Ping river · 4★ · $$$
Colonial-style riverside with a good restaurant
Check availabilityPing Nakara Boutique Hotel And Spa sits on the river in an 1890s-style mansion property with a pool and a small room count.
Ping Nakara Boutique Hotel And Spa
Ping river · 4★ · $$$
An 1890s-style mansion with a pool and few rooms
Check availabilityInside the old city
Within the moat, among the temples.
Rachamankha Hotel occupies a set of low buildings around courtyards inside the walls, built in Lanna style with a library and a pool, beside Wat Phra Singh. It is the most atmospheric place to stay in the old city.
Rachamankha Hotel
Old city, by Wat Phra Singh · 5★ · $$$
Lanna courtyards and a library beside a major temple
Check availabilityTamarind Village sits inside the walls around a two-hundred-year-old tamarind tree, with a courtyard pool and the temples on foot.
Tamarind Village
Old city · 4★ · $$
Built around a two-hundred-year-old tamarind tree
Check availabilityThe Inside House occupies a walled compound in the old city with Lanna architecture, a pool and a quiet garden.
The Inside House
Old city · 5★ · $$$
A walled Lanna compound with a quiet garden pool
Check availabilityNimmanhaemin and the west
The university and design district.
U Nimman Chiang Mai sits in Nimman with contemporary rooms, a rooftop and the coffee shops and boutiques outside.
U Nimman Chiang Mai
Nimmanhaemin · 4★ · $$
Rooftop and contemporary rooms in the design district
Check availabilityVilla Mahabhirom occupies a garden property west of the old city with teak villas, a pool and a rural feel ten minutes from the centre.
Villa Mahabhirom
West of the old city · 5★ · $$$
Restored teak villas in gardens ten minutes from the moat
Check availabilityWhat we have left off
The guest houses across the old city are excluded, and Chiang Mai has a great many of them in teak buildings at very low prices. They are guest houses rather than hotels.
What to do
Go up to Doi Suthep at dawn, the temple on the mountain above the city reached by 306 steps flanked by naga serpents, before the coaches.
See the old city temples on foot: Wat Chedi Luang with its part-collapsed fifteenth-century stupa, Wat Phra Singh and Wat Chiang Man, the oldest.
Eat khao soi, which is the north's own dish — curried noodle soup with crisp noodles on top — and go to the northern markets rather than the tourist ones.
Take a cooking class, which Chiang Mai does better and cheaper than anywhere in Thailand, usually including a market trip.
Visit an ethical elephant project rather than a riding camp. Several near Chiang Mai take rescued animals and do not offer rides or performances; the difference is easy to check and it matters.
Practical notes
Chiang Mai's airport is ten minutes from the old city with domestic and regional connections.
November to February is the cool dry season and by far the best time: comfortable days, cold nights in the hills, clear air. March and April are the burning season described above. May to October is the rainy season, green and much cheaper, with afternoon storms.
Loi Krathong and Yi Peng, the lantern festivals, fall in November and fill the city entirely.
Explore 4 & 5 Star Chiang Mai Hotels
Questions people actually ask
How bad is the burning season?
Bad. Late February to April regularly produces some of the world's worst air quality readings here. Check current data before booking those months.
Old city or river?
Old city for temples and walking, river for larger hotels and restaurants, the valleys for space and rice terraces.
When should you go?
November to February. Cool, dry and clear.
How many nights?
Four. Three for the city and one in the hills.