I drew up the list below. Would appreciate your review and comments. Trying to figure out how many days to spend in the area and how to prioritize our time and effort.

List is just a start and its short on places to eat, drink and people watch.

WAT CHEDI CHET YOT (Wat Photharam Mahawihan): Located at Km. 4 on Chiang Mai-Fang Highway. Chedi Chet Yot literally means the seven spired stupa. The body of the structure is a cave-like rectangular hall.

Chiang Mai National Museum: Located near Wat Chedi Chet Yot. It is small but has rare collections of Buddha HEADS, images and artifacts from many periods. Also has howdahs, coffin covers, displays of hill tribe costumes, northern-style household gadgets and two ancient kilns.

Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center: On Wualai Road in the southern part of CM. Complex of northern style houses with comprehensive exhibitions of folk crafts and antiques, and a show hill tribe village way of life. In the evenings, the center holds the traditional "KHANTOKE" dinner for visitors. Entertainment is generally in the form of different northern Thai classical dances during the dinner.

CHIANG MAI ZOOLOGICAL PARK: near Chiang Mai University. Largest in Thailand. It contains over 500 animals housed among the attractive landscaped grounds.

HUAY KAEO ARBORETUM: Just before zoo entrance. An attractively landscaped garden with many unusual trees and flowers.

HUAY KAEW FALLS: Not far from the zoo. An ideal place for picnics.

CHIANG MAI-SAN KAMPHAENG HANDICRAFT ROUTE: This road is lined with crafts centers and showrooms. Demonstration of folk crafts in the making is a feature.

NIGHT BAZAAR: The Night Bazaar on Chang Klan Road came into existence because of the craft products of the local people and the hill tribes.

SILVERWARE: Wua Lai Road is the traditional center in CM. Articles include bracelets, webbed belts, neck chains, food trays, boxes, dippers, bowls etc.

UMBRELLA MAKING: Bor Sang, about 9Kms from CM, is a famous umbrella village. The Bor Sang umbrellas are made of Sa paper. It seems like everyone in this village is busy making the umbrellas.

PHRATHAT DOI SUTHEP: Located on top of Suthep Mountain about 15 Kms from CM. Beautiful view of CM.

PHU PHING PALACE: Located about 4 kilometers from Doi Suthep. The palace is open to the public when the royal family is not there. this Thai style residence of the royal family is surrounded with a beautiful garden.

MEO HILL TRIBE VILLAGE: 2 Kms from palace. The area is called Doi Pui. This Meo hill tribe formerly grew opium for their living. This group is the first who began to grow marketable farm crops with government support.


DOI INTHANON NATIONAL PARK ; Huge park covers Thailand's highest mountain. Lovely Wachirathan, Siriphum and Mae Pan waterfalls share it with Meo and Karen hill tribe settlements. Forest above 1,800 metres is covered with lichens and wild orchids, and is a bird watchers paradise.

MAE KLANG WATERFALL: CM’s most photographed waterfall lies 58 Kms west at the foot of Doi Inthanon Mountain, and provides a picturesque setting for picnics and relaxation.

OB LUANG GORGE: This picturesque gorge is 88 kilometers from Chiang Mai provincial capital, and is framed by teak forests and mountains.Also has prehistoric wall paintings with a hike.

BORICHINDA CAVE: Visiting the cave, which provides a pleasant setting for picnics, entails a 10-minute drive and a walk of some 2 hours

Thai Dancers in the evening at Galare Good Center (Chang Klan Road)

Thai Dancers in inner garden of Kad Suan Kaew just before sundown. Not a tourist show but real Thai dance and costumes. Great for photos with garden and beautiful spirit house.

MASSAGES:

SPA:

MONKS: Feed the monks in the early morning on Wualai road in CM.

THAI COOKING CLASSES

LADYBOY SHOW: At the Simon Chiangmai Cabaret. Is this the best one?

BIKE RIDING: Rent bikes and ride around the Old town?

THAI KICK BOXING: WHERE?

Flirt with the sales staff at Robinson's Department Store.

Postage Stamp Museum near Traffic Police by river down from flower market. (free)

Coin and Money Museum in the old part of town (Free)






Chang Dao - 56km north of Chiang Mai
Young Elephants Training Camp
Chiang Dao Cave (Wat Tham Chiang Dao)

The Mae Sa Valley - 20km NW of Chiang Mai. Elephant show (including rides), a snake show, bungee jumping and a nature park, as well as orchid nurseries. Most of these attractions are packaged by CM tour operators as a half-day trip for 700B ($16).

Snake farm in Mae Rim Valley near Orchid farms

based on this list, i think you had better move there for one year...

doi s is of course the # 1 priority...

the shopping/craft road is well worth 1/2 day if you want to see crafts and do some shopping...

the national park is interesting and very green....it takes the better part of a day to do...

we founbd the night baz. to be a poor substitue for shopping in bkk...

the sunday market is generally well liked

oasis is the spa that most fodorites comment on lately i believe...

the palace near to doi s is quite lovely but you are not able to enter any of the buildings....the near by hilltribe location is very commercialed and imo not worth the effort....

i should think the zoo in bkk superior to CM but i am guessing

the calypso cabaret in bkk at the asia hotel is far superior to the CM show i am told..

The khantoke dinner at the Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center is touristy (but that's another thread!) but fun. I wouldn't say it's a must-see, but it's a pleasant, entertaining evening. Food's ok, not great.
Cooking classes routinely get rave reviews. We had a great time with Yui at A-Lot-of-Thai.
And yes, Doi Suthep is tops. Don't miss it.
Don't know if you're interested in elephants or not, but if you are, the Elephant Conservation Camp near Lamphun is well worth a day trip (a morning was enough for us - but a delightful morning it was).
We very much enjoyed our day with one of Sergeant Kai's guides - short bamboo raft ride followed by a market stop, a waterfall visit (Mae Klang maybe?), and a trek of about 3 hours to a very untouristed hilltribe village.
We spent 4 nights in Chiang Mai and loved every minute.
Karen

Bob & Karen hit all of the highlights. If you do a day or two with Sargeant Kai he can really help you to see other things you might not otherwise see. We spent the day with him at Doi Inthanon national park where we saw two or three lovely waterfalls. On the way there we stopped at a huge local country market, which was amazing. Different sections of the market had everything for sale from motorcycles (new & used) to water buffalo & everything in between. We were the only westerners there and of course Sargeant Kai, who is very outgoing, stopped to chats with everyone. Lots of fun. On the way back we visited a hill tribe somewhere within the park, off of a dirt road. Much more interesting than the Meo Hilltribe near Doi Suthep, which is basically just commercial with stalls selling things. For handcrafts we loved the Sunday walking street. The stalls along the street at the night market are mostly tee shirts and cheap souvenirs, but the night market building has some nice stalls here and there, but you have to look. I would skip the zoo - it is really not that special unless you feel you really must see the giant panda. I think there is only one now & he tends to hide, so even that is somewhat disappointing & the setting in what seems like a glass bubble is really not that pleasant -- for the panda as well as those gawking at him... To get the feel of Chiang Mai I think you should also spend time just walking in the old city & see some of the wats within it.

For restaurants, do a search on this forum & you will find some lists. Whole Earth is one that comes to mind, but there are many others that people have liked.

As Bob says you will need about a year to do all this. I have lived here for over six years and haven’t visited many of attractions on your list.

I would place Wat Pra Sing and Wat Doi Suthep ahead of Wat Chedi Chet Yot. Parts of Wat Pra Sing are over 800 years old.

I wouldn’t spend more that a couple of hours at the National Museum, unless you are heavily into Buddha heads!

There are other places than the Old Chiang Mai Cultural Centre offering Khantoke, Khun Khantoke Plub Pa for one. The Old Chiang Mai Cultural Centre does offer more hill tribe dancing, but the food and the standard of dance is generally better at the Khun Khantoke Plub Pa and they normally launch some hot air balloons after the show. In both places most of the seating is on the floor – which can be difficult if you are not used to it. There are tables where you can sit normally, but these are normally booked by tour groups.

I’m not big on zoos, but Chiang Mai’s is definitely better than Bangkok’s and has pandas and penguins which you will not find elsewhere in Thailand. The new Night Safari is, I am told, a waste of time.


The Queen Siriket Botanical Gardens are probably better than the Huay Kaeo Arboretum, but are some distance from the city.

The Huay Kaew falls are nothing special, if you have seen falls before. The Thais get very excited about waterfalls.

The San Kampaeng handicraft route is very touristy and is expensive because a guide’s commission is factored into the prices. Thai Celadon is the only place along the road where we would consider shopping. They say that their prices are fixed – but they aren’t.

The Night Bazaar is worth a visit for people watching , but not for shopping. Better products are available elsewhere at better prices.

The best place for buying handicrafts is the Northern Village in the Airport Plaza. There are two floors of shopping there with everything available and you can shop in air conditioned comfort. Prices are “fixed’ but you can ask for a discount. Prices and variety are better than you will find in Bangkok.

Wu Lai Road does have a lot of silver shops, but silver can also be bought at the Northern Village.


The umbrella village is on San Kampaeng road, so it would be combined with any visit you do there.

Wat Doi Suthep is certainly worth a visit. The best city views are obtained from a lookout about halfway to the temple, but are often obscured by cloud or smog. Doi Suthep is magical if visited in the late evening.

The palace grounds are open on certain days of the week. The palace itself is not open to the public.

The Meo Hill Tribe Village is very touristy.

You would need a full day to visit Doi Inthanon.

The Ob Luang Gorge is interesting if you are into pre history, but is a long drive from Chiang Mai.

A two hour walk to the Borichinda Cave might be pleasant between November and February, but would not be pleasant in the hotter months.

When I was last there, the Galae Food centre was being redeveloped, so no dancing girls.

Kad Suankaew is very much a tourist show, but attractive despite that.

Fodorites do seem to like the Oasis Spa, but there are many others. My wife prefers the Rishi Spa.

The Simon Cabaret is the only ladyboy show that I know of in Chiang Mai. I haven’t seen it, so can’t comment on it. The shows in Pattaya are generally considered to be the best.

You would be taking your life in your hands to cycle round the old town. There are companies that organise bike riding in the countryside and a damned nuisance they are too!

Thai Boxing can be seen at Chiang Khaeng near Wat Chat Yot.

I’ve not tried flirting with the staff at Robinsons! It is in the same complex as the Northern Village. The Central Department store, in Kad Suankaew is a better store – not sure about the flirting ability of the staff.

I haven’t tried the stamp or coin museums.

Chang Dao is a long way to go for a fairly small cave. There are plenty of elephant places nearer.

The Mae Sae Valley has a lot of attractions, but I much prefer the elephants at the Training Centre. The Queen Siriket Botanical gardens are on this road.

There are lots of places to eat and you should try at least one along the river. I know Gloria will disagree, but I still like the Gallery! Nimmanhaemin Road is rapidly developing into an area of small restaurants. There is an excellent Vietnamese restaurant there, just down from the Amari Rincome. It is not fancy, but the food is good.

There are also plenty of places to drink. My local is The Pub on Huay Khaew Road; the oldest watering hole in Chiang Mai it is popular with the local expats and is particularly busy on Wednesday and Friday evenings.

The market alongside the river by Kaew Nawarat Road is well worth a visit, particularly in the early morning when there are masses of flowers on show.

Doi Suthep is a highlight for sure. The Meo village beyond is not. The shop near the parking lot with signs in Japanese has EXCELLENT bathrooms though.

Sunday Walking Street is a fun market experience, only on Sundays of course. We found some unique and nice things there. Bar Ly on the Walking Street main road is a great place to people watch and have a drink. The Walking Street starts in the daytime, but comes alive after sundown with performers, an intersection devoted to foot massages, food vendors, and then there are stall after stall of soap carvings, wood carvings, housewares, toys, clothes...lots of stuff. We liked the Walking Street, and didn't like Night Market. The Walking Street is for everyone it seems, while the Night Market is mostly for tourists rather than locals.

Cooking - www.alotofthai.com Yui did a custom class for us that was very, very good.

I wouldn't ride a bicycle in the city.

There are a lot of spas. I like Oasis, but then again, I didn't go anywhere else. I picked up a bunch of flyers and just picked Oasis...but the others looked good as well.

Umbrellas and crafts factories...we went to a couple of places, but quickly found that they were not our style...too assemblyline or run of the mill or something. We would not stop at any of these places again unless perhaps I were buying for import into Japan for resale.

Mae Sa Valley..go for the outdoors and the views and/or take a hike. The Botanical Gardens are supposed to nice. I'd skip the elephants and the snakes there...too circuslike for our taste.

Doi Inthanon is vast and could easily eat up a few days. Depends on how much time you have.

We had 7 days, and spent 3 of them at the Elephant Conservation Center. That was a highlight. Recently I posted in depth about it to someone asking specific quesions and back in Janauary I did a trip report. Click my name and all my posts will come up for you and you can find them.

With our other 4 days, we did Doi Suthep and the Meo Village, the Sunday Walking Street, the Night Market, Umbrella painting and factory shopping (abadondoned that quickly as we didn't like the factory shops at all), a full day of marketing and cooking with Yui at alotofthai.com and plenty of hanging out by the pool and just relaxing.

Carole-How could you even suggest that Giant Pandas are not at the top of everyone's list?

Degas-you've outlined a week of activities. If you're only going to be in CM for 3 or 4 days, start with Doi Suthep and the park and pick a few others. You can always go back.

Thank you all for the great feedback.

I was surprised to do a little inital research and find out there was so much to do in CM. As you folks know well, the trick is to get to know your options and then prioritize them based on your time and personal interests.

Like many if you, I hate to waste time on over hyped places and never actually see or do everything on our travel plan.

Tangata, as you know, I'm headed for CM in November and am taking notes on your suggestions. I do appreciate your wife's spa recommendation!

We are interesting in doing some novice bird watching. Has anyone done some of this out of CM?

Not sure if this should/could be done as a specialized tour or just accomplished as part of a general nature/jungle walk where you see other aninals as well.

We also love gardens, especially orchids and desert rose plants. Again, not sure if that warrants a special tour or could be folded into a day tour by some city guide.

The LW and maybe myself, will try the cooking classes.

Andy, Bob will kill me, but the pandas in Chiang Mai are nothing compared to the one in Cambridge!

degas, I don't know about birding, but I do know a bit about gardens. You won't find desert rose plants in CM, but there are orchid farms. Hire yourself a driver (and a guide, if you want one) and they can take you to the orchid gardens. There orchid gardens near CM don't hold a candle to the one in Singapore, but you'll enjoy them nonetheless.

Kathie

I will check out the orchid farms and was also hoping to find a desert rose farm. Website below has a picture of a massive thai desert rose.

http://www.tropicanursery.com/adenium/story.htm

Interesting, Degas.

When are you going to Thailand? In November there is going to be a huge flower show in CM in honor of 60 years of the King's reign. Hanuman provided a link to the webpage about it. I'll be in CM and plan to visit the orchid show, which runs the full 6 weeks or so.

If you are interested in gardens make sure you go to the Queen Mother's garden near Chiang Rai. It is absolutely spectacular.

Gloria, I'm assuming that you mean her garden at Doi Tung? That is lovely, isn't it? If so, it really isn't a day trip from CM, and I believe Degas isn't going to CR.

Kathie, I'm shooting for some time in the Nov-Dec or maybe Mar, if the first opinion fails.

glorialf, regarding CR, I'm not sure if I'm going on not. I'm so new to my research to know. Nothing has jumped out and grabbed me yet.

Weather-wsie you are much better off in Nov-Dec. March is hotter. Also, if you go in November you can see the flower show. Early enough in November and you can be there at Loy Krathong!

Chiang Mai is called the “Rose of the North” partially because of the roses grown here. The gardens of the palace above Wat Doi Suthep, probably have the best display although the Municipal gardens also have a good display.

The market I mentioned in an earlier post will have masses of roses at the right time of the year.

Weather wise, November or December is much superior to March.

Depending on when you go you may not be able to get into the palace gardens near Doi Suthep. It is generally closed in January-February because the royal family are there then. As Kathie and Gloria mentioned the gardens at Doi Tung in the golden triangle area near Chiang Rai are really beautiful. The Queen Siriket botanical gardens were disappointing compared to Doi Tung. We liked the show at the Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center because of the hilltribe dancers. Really, you will not run out of interesting and enjoyable things to do in and around Chiang Mai and Northern Thailand.