Three days in Chiang Mai with a car — a route that actually works
· NET CAR RENTAL
A three-day itinerary built around what a car is genuinely good for here: the mountain, the valley north of the city, and the craft villages east. With honest driving times and the places where you should leave the car behind.
How this itinerary is built
Most Chiang Mai itineraries are lists of attractions. This one is organised by direction, because that is what actually determines whether a day works: the mountain is west, the valley is north, and the craft villages are east. Doing one direction per day means you spend your time at places rather than crossing the city.
It also tells you where not to take the car. The old city is the obvious example — a car is a liability inside the walls and an asset everywhere outside them.
Driving times below are realistic, not optimistic, and assume you are not travelling in the weekday evening peak.
Day 1 — West: the mountain
Morning: Doi Suthep. From most city addresses, 30 to 40 minutes of continuous switchbacks up Huay Kaew Road. Go early — before 09:00 if you can. The temple is genuinely worth the climb, and by mid-morning both the car park and the staircase are full.
Use the strongest regenerative braking setting on the way down. In an electric car this does nearly all the braking for you, and you will watch the range estimate climb back up as you descend. It is also how you avoid overheating the brakes on a 12 km descent, which is the mistake that gets people into trouble on this road.
Late morning: Bhubing Palace or onwards. The palace gardens are a further 4 km up from the temple. If gardens are not your thing, continuing to the Hmong village at Doi Pui adds another 20 minutes of climbing.
Afternoon: Huay Kaew waterfall and back down. Short walk, close to the bottom of the mountain road, a good place to cool off.
Evening: park and walk. Leave the car at your accommodation or a mall car park and walk or take a ride-hail into the old city. Do not drive into the walls in the evening.
Total driving: about 2 hours.
Day 2 — North: the Mae Rim valley
This is the day that most justifies having a car. Everything here is spread along a valley road with no practical public transport.
Morning: head north on the canal road. About 30 minutes to the Mae Sa area, and using the canal road rather than cutting through town saves 20 to 30 minutes in the morning.
The valley. Elephant sanctuaries — choose an ethical one that does not offer riding — botanical gardens, waterfalls in a chain up the hillside, and a number of good cafés with valley views. Two or three of these fill a day comfortably; four is rushing.
Optional: the Samoeng loop. If you want more driving, the road continues from Mae Sa around through Samoeng and back to the city — a scenic circuit of about 100 km taking around three hours with stops. This is a proper mountain road but far gentler than the Pai route.
Evening: back to the city. 45 minutes to an hour from the far end of the valley.
Total driving: 2 to 4 hours depending on whether you do the loop.
Day 3 — East: crafts and hot springs
Morning: the San Kamphaeng craft road. 20 to 30 minutes east of the city. This is the road for umbrella makers at Bo Sang, silverwork, ceramics and textiles — workshops where things are still made rather than only sold.
Midday: San Kamphaeng hot springs. A further 20 minutes east. Geothermal pools, and the drive out there is pleasant open country.
Afternoon: Lamphun, or back. If you have the appetite, Lamphun is 30 minutes south and has the oldest temple architecture in the region, with a fraction of the visitors of Chiang Mai. If not, return in the afternoon and use the remaining time in the city.
Evening. If it is a Saturday, Wualai Road just south of the moat becomes a walking street. If it is a Sunday, Ratchadamnoen through the middle of the old city does. Both close to traffic — park well away and walk.
Total driving: 2 to 3 hours.
Where the car is a liability
Inside the old city. One square kilometre, mostly walkable in 20 minutes, with limited parking that fills in the evening. The inner and outer moat roads are one-way in opposite directions and catch out almost every first-time visitor.
Nimman on a weekend evening. Street parking is effectively gone by 18:00. Use a mall car park if you must drive there.
The walking streets. Saturday on Wualai, Sunday on Ratchadamnoen. Do not attempt to drive to the edge of these; park several streets away.
Practical notes
Charging. You will not need to charge on day one — the car arrives full and that first charge is on us. Day two or three, plug in at a mall while you are eating, or overnight at your hotel if it has a point. See the charging guide.
Which car. For two people, the BYD Dolphin is easier to park and perfectly capable of the mountain. For four with luggage, take the ATTO 3.
Documents. Carry your home licence, your International Driving Permit and your passport. Checkpoints are routine. The IDP guide explains why this matters more than the fine.
Driving conventions. If you have not driven in Thailand before, read driving in Chiang Mai the night before you collect the car. It is twenty minutes that will make the first day considerably more relaxed.
If you have a fourth day
Go to Pai, or start the Mae Hong Son loop. Both are covered in their own guides — Chiang Mai to Pai and the Mae Hong Son loop — and both are a different order of driving from anything above.
Alternatively, Doi Inthanon, Thailand's highest peak, is a long day trip south-west: about two hours each way plus the climb, and worth doing properly rather than in a hurry.