City: Chiang Mai Province
Top Things to do in Chiang Mai Province
What to do and see in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand: The Best Things to do for Honeymoon
Chiang Mai (Thai: เชียงใหม่, pronounced [t͡ɕʰīaŋ.màj] ( listen); Lanna: ᨩ᩠ᨿᨦᩉᩲ᩠ᨾ᩵, pronounced [tɕiaŋ.màj]) is the second-largest province (changwat) of Thailand. It is in the country's north. It is bordered by Chiang Rai to the northeast, Lampang and Lamphun to the south, Tak to the southwest, Mae Hong Son to the west, and Shan State of Burma to the north. The capital, Chiang Mai, is 685 km north of Bangkok.
Restaurants in Chiang Mai Province
1. Karen’s Tribe Native Elephants
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 901 reviews
We want the share some great information about the unique experience you can be a part of at Karen's Tribe Native Elephants. Our elephant experience is personal, educational and meaningful! Almost every commercial elephant camp has more tourists to elephants. Here at Karen's Tribe Native Elephants, we offer personal and close interactions with our elephants.
2. The Best Thai Cookery School
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1,859 reviews
Reviewed By tiffanysunjung
Came with a Contiki tour group, and we absolutely loved our cooking class experience at this beautiful, serene spot! The chef was hilarious and made things fun & easy for us — literally beginners will he able to come out with delicious food on their plates! We made Tom yum soup, pad Thai (one of the best I’ve ever had!!), chicken panang curry, cashew chicken stir fry, & coconut + mango sticky rice. SO MUCH GOOD FOOD ; highly recommend if you have time during your Thailand visit! :)
3. Thai Elephant Home
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 874 reviews
Reviewed By supinyajune
This was one of my greatest experience in Chiang Mai ever! Even we are Thais, It was such an unique and amazing experience and we love it soo much!! We have tried elephant-riding before, we was sitting on wooden carrier. But this one is mind-blowing! We drove to the camp. Not difficult to find but you need Google maps. Recommend to call for the resevation so that the staffs could prepare the elephants and meals for you in advance. I think they have a pick-up service from your hotel, please ask them for more information when you call them. It started with providing us some basic information about the elephants. Then they asked us to get change to mahout clothes. Clean clothes providing with chaning room and showers. Later they introduced us to meet the herd and let us feed them, pet them, ride on them, even teach us few commands to them. Shortly we started riding on the elephant like a Tarzan! My girl was named Ruby, very tall and cute. Soon realized that she loved to grab-and-go some snacks along the way. That's cute! Love so much while we were in the canel with the elephants. They love to play spraying the water. You could even command them to spray the water or kiss on your cheeks. They could also lift you up. with its nose. That's just amazing! So fresh! While we were riding, we all had a personal mahout to take care all of us. So it's pretty safe in my opinion. The staff and mahout kept asking if we were alright. They were also an amazingly photographter! I was so surprised after seeing all the photos after the trip. Balancing myself on the elephants was very challenging! Recommend to bring a case with rope that could wear around your neck or a head wrap for a go pro would be a great idea. But if you do not have it, That's just fine. Mahouts could help you take photos as well. it's ok to come alone or with a friend, but you know, the more the merrier with the herd of elephants! you will have so much fun! Even it was just few hours, I really had a great moment with my friend, mahouts and of course! this herd of elephants. Thanks to K.Joe and his team for taking care all of us. Very nice and friendly staffs. PS. Would I go back? OMG!! YES!!
4. Zabb E Lee Thai cooking school
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 2,569 reviews
We offer you a wide variety of choice, healthy and delicious Thai food. You will enjoy cooking with experienced and skilled instructor. We will share with you the secret of Thai cuisine. Our school is surrounded with the relaxing and beautiful atmosphere of the old town city.
Reviewed By ellenjaneh - Boston, United States
We just did our cooking class in town with Aim last night and we had a fantastic time! Aim is HILARIOUS and also a great teacher. We were laughing the whole time and still managed to make five delicious dishes. It’s hot and hard work (especially making the curry paste!!) but there are enough breaks for eating and drinking that you’re never working too hard for long! As someone with a lot of food restrictions (allergies) I think this class is really perfect because everyone picks from a multitude of options and makes their own individual dishes which can be completely customized to avoid any issues. This was a really fun and delicious experience and we even have a cookbook now with all the recipes (even the ones we didn’t choose) so we can make everything at home! Shout out as well to all the staff who quickly, efficiently, and tirelessly cleaned up and set up for us to make the next dishes—it was such a well-oiled machine designed to make sure we had an excellent experience. Definitely check out this class and hopefully you have Aim as your instructor as well! I’m still in shock I made such yummy food!!
5. Thai Akha Cooking School
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 3,574 reviews
Thai Akha Kitchen is run by Akha people who were born and raised in Thailand. We love Thai food just as much as you! Give us a chance to tell you our story. Our small culture will sooner or later cease to exist and will become forgotten, so this is our chance to pass down our traditions and cooking styles to the world in hope that at least some parts of it will live through people who continue to use our techniques. Akha Food is totally different from Thai Food and is much healthier and fresher. Akha people have a saying: “There are only three things in jungle that you can’t eat, and nobody knows what they are”. In other words, we haven’t found anything that’s not edible yet!
Reviewed By hongkhanhvi2101
After researching many course, I choose Adkha for the name (sounds interesting) and the good price. This class includes anything a tourist who love cooking or love food culture of Thailand need: friendly local guide, market tour, diversify dishes with 11 superb recipe. All dishes are authentic and delicious and very easy to make under teacher’s instruction.
6. Elephant Rescue Park
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1,505 reviews
Elephant Rescue Park is a happy place for rescued elephants, located in the green valley of Chiang Mai. Our primary objective here is to rescue poor elephants from circus, hard work and mistreatment, provide a safe loving and secure environment for all the elephants that come and live with us, We try to keep them happy and healthy as they should be in nature but this can only be achieved with your help and support. Come and join us today. Don’t forget, all monies raised from our tours goes back to our elephants and towards rescuing new ones. You’ll get to feed them, walk with them, hug them, play with them, bathe with them and so much more.
Reviewed By mleonardo84 - Mexico City, Mexico
Lovely animals in a caring environment... totally recommend... please visit and support the place and the cause... great team running the place and providing and amazing experience with the elephants as protagonists
7. Elephant Care & Grand Canyon Jumping
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 197 reviews
One day Hill tribe elephant care village & Grand Canyon Jumping! NO RIDING, NO BEATING . Meet the elephants. Feed,interact, and play with the elephants in their natural home as you learn about their behavior and history. Take photos with the elephants. Enjoy a lunch of traditional Thai food and fresh fruit join the elephants for a therapeutic mud spa. Bathe and brush the elephants in the river. Leave the village say goodbye to the elephants. The Grand Canyon in Chiang Mai in an experience you will not want to miss if you love adventure, especially cliff jumping! Pump up your adrenaline by jumping off 10m or 20m cliff into blue / green water or enjoy a relaxed swim with friends.
Reviewed By KathD508 - Sydney, Australia
We made the decision to visit the Elephant Care sanctuary as we were literally driving past and it wound up being the highlight of our day. For a fairly small fee we were allowed to walk around the grounds and see the rescued and retired elephants with a very helpful and informative guide. For a little bit extra we purchased baskets of bananas which the elephants were clearly delighted to have! It was fun getting up close to feed them. The best part was hearing the stories of how the elephants were now living out their lives in comfort after being rescued or retired from years of work. I would definitely recommend people visit the sanctuary as soon as travel is allowed, especially as I have read some of them are suffering financially at the moment.
8. Smile Organic Farm Cooking School
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 2,411 reviews
Smile Organic Farm Thai Cooking School provides Thai cooking courses at an organic farm. Our school is set in a beautiful, serene organic farm and garden, you will learn how to grow vegetables and taste herbs in our own garden, pick organic fresh ingredients for your healthy Thai dishes, as well as cooking and enjoy your food in a relaxing atmosphere.
Reviewed By TrailBlazer47849 - Gosport, United Kingdom
This an absolute must, had an amazing evening visiting the local market then onto the the beautiful organic farm where the gorgeous Tay taught us how to cook the most amazing 3 course Thai meal. We were in a group of people we did not know but within a few minutes of meeting each other Tay got us all laughing and joking with each other. We cannot recommend this enough....Excellent value for money;
9. Maerim Elephant Sanctuary
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1,727 reviews
Here at Maerim Elephant Sanctuary our mission is to rescue miss-treated elephants and provide them with a beautiful environment where they are safe, loved and cared for. We are 100% against elephant riding, performances, tricks and any method of training or discipline where pain is inflicted to achieve a result. We believe that by sharing our passion with our guests we can all contribute towards providing rescued elephants a beautiful life which they deserve. In supporting our cause you will make memories to treasure as you roam freely with or magnificent elephants. Feed them, bond with them and bath with them. By choosing our sanctuary you will be actively contributing to saving the next gentle giant from a life of slavery. Let us assure you that we are not a money making outfit, we are here because of our passion for elephant. Along this journey you be informed of the realities of caring for elephants and the cruelties they endure before we rescue them.
Reviewed By SaraS1970 - Austin, United States
We visited Chiang Mai over a weekend and decided to add this tour to our agenda since it offered a half day trip. SO glad we did! They are running a good program and are caring for the elephants well. Our host was very knowledgable, witty, and very available for questions when he wasn't presenting. Feeding the elephants was a highlight even though I was initially intimidated by their size. I chose not to "mud" with the elephants and still felt I got my money's worth. Afterwards we enjoyed some leisurely time by the pool and they end the tour with a great little perk...a group cooking class for their local Thai noodle soup Khao Soi - it was delish!
10. Maeklang Elephant Conservation Community
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 189 reviews
Maeklang Elephant Conservation Community is a new project in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. Our simple aim is to provide safe home for rescued elephants in a way that involves the local community and to promote pesticide free farming.
Reviewed By Flynnamy - Hanoi, Vietnam
The most amazing experience spending the whole day at The Maeklang Elephant with our guide Mr T. They really really love and care so much about these beautiful animals, rescuing them from the circus, the logging trade, riding camps etc.. you get to prepare food, feed, have a mud bath and have fun time in the river with the elephants! The lunch was also extremely delicious. I would highly recommend visiting this sanctuary, the company are solely focused on the wellbeing and care of the elephants while also helping out the local community. The sanctuary also allow Thai people to visit for free to help education them and show them how wonderful these animals are and that they are not a threat. It also sets an excellent example of how elephants and tourism can coexist without harming the animals. The group was also small so the interaction with the elephants was very intimate and not overwhelming for the animals. If you are in Chiang Mai this is the elephant sanctuary to visit!!
