Chiang Mai Destination Holiday Guide

Today visitors on their Chiang Mai hoidays can enjoy the wonderful mountain terrain in a variety of activities from trekking to remote hill tribal villages, gushing waterfalls, to hiking in verdant rain-forests. Trips can be arranged from half day up to fully equipped expeditions of over a week experiencing the wonders of the area. The tribal settlements living in the jungles and mountains offer an insight into lifestyles, so different than their urban counterparts and village home-stays are the highlight of many a visitors Thailand vacation.

Conservation minded visitors will not want to miss out on a trip to the award winning Elephant conservation project at Elephant Nature Park which cares for neglected, disabled and orphaned elephants. Elephant are given a haven and rare space to live naturally with their own kind. A range of options from one day "learning elephant' to two weeks volunteer placements are available.

Exotic glittering mountain temples offer stunning visual panorama's of the valleys and cities of the province and offer a glimpse into the calm and tranquil culture that has evolved in the spirit of this mountainous region.

Lastly there is the shopping which is unrivalled in the country. The city's night bazaar hosts thousands of stalls with fantastic bargains from home-ware to the latest fashions at a fraction of the overseas cost. Convenient, bright and lively the shopping is a pure delight that keeps exporters and visitors from around the world returning again and again.

For the latest info. on adventure opportunities visit our tour and Thailand trekking sections.

Spelling: As with most place names in Thailand you will find a variety of transliteration. Chiang Mai is the correct spelling but you will also see variations such as chiangmai, chainmai, chiengmei, changmai or chang mai. BTW:- "Chiang" means city and "Mai" means new. Chiang Mai was called the new city by it's founder King Mengrai.