On our 14 days Thailand Itinerary, we spent 5 days in Chiang Mai. And on the very next day of arriving in Chiang Mai after spending 5 days in Bangkok and visiting the Sukhothai Historical Park, we did this self planned self guided free walking tour of Chiang Mai Old City. You can as well call it Chiang Mai Old City temple walking tour. Since this free walking tour of Chiang Mai Old City included visits to most of the significant and famous temples of Chiang Mai Old City, and a few other pit stops.
I created this tour in a similar fashion like I did with several other walking tours on my previous 2 weeks Europe trip with kid.
Map of our free walking tour of Chiang Mai Old City
It was fun creating these tours and then visiting places at our own pace, as per our liking. So, just like the above walking tours, I am including below the google map for our free walking tour of Chiang Mai Old City. You can modify it to suite your needs. Our free walking tour of Chiang Mai Old City starts from our accommodation in Chiang Mai, Hotel The Empire Residence Nimman (Link to book: Agoda, booking.com). The hotel was located in the prime Nimman Locality and yet only 1.8km from the first stop on our free walking tour of Chiang Mai Old City. So, it was walkable. If, however, you don’t want to walk this distance, opt for a songthew to drop you to the first point. And from there, you can easily walk to rest of the points.
Starting point: Hotel The Empire Residence Nimman (Link to book: Agoda, booking.com)
Total duration: 6 hours (Assuming slow pace of travel, suitable for kids, infants and elderly). Or, 2.5 hours (Assuming fast paced travel)
Start Time: 10:00am
Lunch stop: Cafe near Three King’s Monument : kaffe 151 (COFFEE HOUSE)
Ending point: Wat Phra Singh
PS: If you are not that much a walker, we highly recommend you take this half day bike tour of Chiang Mai Old City. Or, even better, take this night bike tour for an altogether different experience, even if you are doing the walking tour. And if you want to take the tour of Chiang Mai Old City without much biking or walking, you can also book a charter van for the full day. And then hop in and out of it to visit all the temples.
Wat Lok Moli
The first temple on our free walking tour of Chiang Mai Old City is Wat Lok Moli. This temple has a huge campus, with a cluster of temples inside. On the left side of the temple you can see an idol of the Vishnu Avatar of Buddha. While on the right hand side is another buddha temple with a huge idol. Further on the left side is a restaurant, and drinking water facility. Towards the back is a big statue of Ganesha, another buddha shrine and restroom facilities. The campus is huge and each of the temples inside the campus are impressive with their own unique design and architecture, colour and appearance.
Entry fee: free
Opening hours: 10:00am to 8:00pm
The Wooden Bridge on the canal
There’s a canal running parallel to the roads on either side in front of Wat Lok Moli. You might be able to see it if you zoom into the map. But what you will not see, until of course you are there, is the beautiful wooden bridge loaded with flowers, across the canal. We crossed this bridge after visiting Wat Lok Moli. But the bridge is simply so cute that it feels like a sin to just cross it. We stopped on the bridge for several instagram worthy snaps. And also snapped the refreshing view of the canal, the fountains on the canal and the views of the surrounding temples from across the bridge. For a moment, it brought back fresh memories of our Amsterdam city walking tour – exploring across the world famous canals of Amsterdam City.
Wat Rajamontean
After crossing the bridge, following the canal, we reached diagonally on the opposite side at Wat Rajamontean. You can simply recognize this temple through the big buddha statue on the left side of the main temple. And also the two robust dragon snakes that guard the stairs all the way to the entrance of the temple. It lies in the northern part of the old town of Chiang Mai. It is one of the top must visit temples in Chiang Mai. The architecture of this temple sets it aside from the others, made in golden paints and brown wood, you can easily see the Chinese architecture influence on the temple architecture.
Leave your shoes on the steps and venture inside to see the idol sitting inside the main temple. Which is again, very beautiful. Behind the main temple is the living quarters of the monks and caretakers.
Entry fee: Free
Opening hours: 8:00am to 5:00pm.
Wat Khuan Khama
Also known as Wat Khun Khama, this was the next temple we visited on our free walking tour of Chiang Mai Old City. It is the only temple in Chiang Mai which is built in commemoration of a horse. And that is why you see the horse idols at the entrance of the temple, which sets it aside and makes it easily identifiable. There are up to 20 gold horses perched on top of the boundary wall which faces the street. After entering inside, you have to go left to get to the main door of the main temple, which faces east. The interiors of the main temple are in gold and red flare. Further decorated with beautiful paintings. While the chedi is Laana style, just like most other temples of Chiang Mai.
Entry fee: Free
Opening hours: 6.00am to 6.00pm
Wat Chiang Man
Although it might feel a little detour to walk to Wat Chiang Man next. Since the temple lies inside a street from the main road. And after visiting it, we have to come back to the main road. But, this temple must not be missed. Since, this is the oldest temple in Chiang Mai, dating back to 1296. Again, this temple is located in a huge complex. And there are several sub elements in the complex – each one beautiful in its own way. There is a lotus pond with beautiful lotus flowers blooming into it. And then there is a noticeable big Chedi with 15 elephants on it’s base. In fact, it has a beautiful rustic wooden library as well. Also, one of the temples here has a crystal buddha.
In the temple premises, there are benches to sit and rest your feet, in the shade of lush green trees. Walking across the premises of this temple feels like walking into a lush green historical garden. And because of being inside a street, the premises are exceptionally peaceful here.
Entrance fee: Free
Opening hours: 6:00am to 5:00pm
Three King’s Monument (Anusawari Sam Kasat)
This is a monument that stands at the center of the Old Chiang Mai Town , dedicated to the ‘Three Kings’ – King Mengrai, the founder of Chiang Mai; his contemporary and reportedly good friend King Ramkamhaeng of Sukothai; and King Ngam Muang of Payao. It is said that these three kings were monumental in building the Old Chiang Mai City. Behind the building is the Art & Culture Center of Chiang Mai. And just in front is a plaza , very similar to the European plazas that we saw on our trip to Europe in Florence, Rome, Venice and Amsterdam. This plaza is small by the European standards, but rather a platform where flea markets, fruit markets, cultural events and other performances are organized on a daily basis.
Lunch : kaffe 151 (COFFEE HOUSE)
By the time we visited the Three King’s Monument, it was almost past lunch time. So, we went to the cafe on the left side of the square. Where, we had many veg recipes available! So, we all had light lunch here, before proceeding further on our free walking tour of Chiang Mai Old City. The cafe has a small seating with couple of tables on the ground floor, and more expansive seating on the first floor. It also has a restroom which you can use for free if you are ordering or purchasing anything from the cafe.
Tip: You can also get the lunch or some smoothie packed from here and continue on your walking tour while having lunch, in case you want to save further time. In fact if you are vegetarian visiting Thailand, don’t forget to checkout our vegetarian survival guide to Thailand – for vegetarian food options in Thailand. Since it was really tricky to remain satisfied vegetarians in Thailand (You know what I mean, right? 🙂 ).
Wat Chedi Luang
This temple is 600 years old. And while all other temples are restored, with golden Chedis and well maintained brick and mortar, even golden and silver structures. This one will immediately take you back to the era of forts and palaces. To be honest, when I had the first glimpse of its pyramid like shrine from across the street, behind the modern homes and cafes, for a while, I was transported back to the livable Fort of Jaisalmer and Khaba fort !
Again, the elephants around the main temple, the beautiful idol of reclining buddha and the dragons guarding the stairs are the main elements of this temple’s architecture. But this is one of the rare temples where you can hear the monks praying. Also, there is a special “talk with monks at the Monk Chat” program under which you can sign up to meet a monk and interact with him in person. These are primary school going monks, whom you can interact with under the supervision of their teacher. You can signup for the program by registering your name and nationality near the entrance. This is a great opportunity for anyone interested to know more about buddhism in Thailand.
Entrance fee: 40 THB for adults, 20 THB for children
Opening hours: 6:00am to 6:30pm
Wat Tung Yu
Yet another beautiful temple in peaceful surroundings. It is located a little further to the main road. From outside, the architecture of this temple might seem very similar to the others that you would have visited today. But once you venture inside, you will see the difference. The interiors have significant use of red color. And the ceilings have beautiful painting, which extend to the upper walls. Many of these are depiction of hell, with scenes of torture to men and women. Which stands this temple apart and makes it a must visit on our free walking tour of the Chiang Mai Old City. This temple itself is over 500 years old. The entrance is guarded by two nagas like many other temples in Chiang Mai. The idol inside is of sitting buddha, just like the way buddha is imagined sitting below the bodhi tree.
Entry fee: free
Opening hours: 6:00am to 8:00pm
Wat Phra Singh
This temple is one of the most important attractions of the Old town of Chiang Mai. That’s why we saved the best for the last. The temple has a huge entrance, which is a landmark of the Chiang Mai Old City itself. Particularly attractive is the huge golden Chedi of this temple. And next comes the architecture of Wat Phra Singh which has minute details and well done carvings that can hold your attention for long. There was a renovation going on in the main temple, so, we couldn’t visit inside. But from outside itself you can tell that the temple is glorious and exceptionally beautiful. Another unique feature of this temple are the wax figures representing monks which look so close to real that they are deceptive enough! Watch out for them when you visit.
Entrance fee: 20 THB, although it was free on new year eve when we visited.
Opening hours: 6:00am to 5:00pm
Related read: How much does it cost to visit Thailand?
Bonus: The Night Market in the Chiang Mai Old City
After finishing the temple trip, we walked back through Ratchadamnoen Road to the entrance of Wat Phra Singh because we wanted to get a songthew from here to our hotel. Although, we had visited the Sunday walking night market here on this road the day before, to our surprise, the market was again being setup today. Although as per information, this market is setup on Sunday. But, I am not sure since I saw it getting again setup on Monday, maybe not to the same scale. So, if you are taking up this free walking tour of Chiang Mai Old City on a Sunday, don’t miss the market. And if you are taking the walking tour on any other day of the week, gather some information on whether the market is going to be there or not. If it’s there, I highly recommend staying back a little late and exploring this market.
Tips on doing the free walking tour of Chiang Mai Old City
- Carry an umbrella, even on year end eve, we faced hot sun while doing this free walking tour of Chiang Mai Old City
- Hopefully you will have a simcard with data working so that you can follow the map. Else, use offline map feature like we did in Europe
- All of the temples except Wat Chedi Luang have free entrance. Wat Chedi Luang entrance fee is 40 THB for adults and 20 THB for children.
- Most of these are buddhist temples. While in many you will see the Hindu God Ganesha as well
- Carry a bottle of water
- Also carry some light snacks with you
- Wear comfortable walking shoes, which don’t heat up in the sun. And can be taken off easily, as you will have to remove your shoes while entering many of the temples.
- Dress modestly. Cover your shoulders and legs to show respect to the local custom.
- Take rest between the stops, cut short a few of the spots if you want to, but don’t rush through them, try to understand their significance while you visit the temples.
- Plan to finish the trip by 5:00pm as most of the temples close beyond this time.
- If you have smaller kids, toddlers or infants with you, you can easily carry a stroller for them today. But while entering the temples you will have to either leave the stroller at the entrance (since most of the temples have stairs), or carry the stroller through the stairs.
- Some of the temple premises like Wat Lok Moli, have arrangements for snacks and drinking water as well.
- At the end of the trip, you can visit the street market that starts everyday evening 5:00pm at the road that connects Wat Tung Yu to Wat Phra Singh.
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