Trekking the mountains and jungle around Chiang Mai

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
8
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
7
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
8
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
4
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
5
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
6
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
65 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
228th/454
Top 50%
continent
Asia
country
Thailand
Length of time
3-4 days
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$80 ($150-$300 in 2020 prices)
Time of year visited
September
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Hiking Hilltop towns Jungle
All Tags
Adventure Buddhist site Local villages Mountains Rice terraces / terraces River swimming Swimming Wildlife - Elephants
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐

Summary

Chiang Mai is a good spot to spend a day or so checking out the temples and markets, or a bit longer if you take one of the famous cooking courses.  But the highlight is heading out into the mountains and jungle on a 3 day trek that will let you stay with some of the the hill-tribe villages, interact with the elephants and go rafting down the rivers.

The only problem is that these treks have now turned into a bit of an industry and the market is full of companies that provide the “standard package”.  This most likely won’t meet your idea of adventure and, worse, may be keeping the elephants in very poor conditions.

 

 

I did this trek years ago when awareness of the treatment wasn’t so clear and it wasn’t quite so commercialised as it is now, and have since returned to do it in 2024 without the elephants.  My take is:

  1. There are companies out there that focus on the well-being of the elephants. They tend to be the ones that lean more towards a multi-day trek.  If you are prepared to do thorough research, you can get closer to the genuinely  “authentic” experience with a provider that cares for the animals.
  2. Chiang Mai as a city is great and the surrounding activities cool.  But the Chiang Rai / Tha Ton areas to the north are simply better for mountains and wilderness.  Consider making the effort for the extra push up there and I’ve written a review on a great Chiang Rai overnight trek into the nearby hills (wow factor ⭐️⭐️) and Mopeds along the Thai / Laos border near Chiang Rai (wow factor ⭐️⭐️⭐️) which was super cool.

 

Highlights

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#1 Spending evenings with the hill tribes and getting to have a glimpse into how they live here

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#2 Heading out of the city landscape of Chiang Mai and into the jungle, so much of which is still well preserved

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#3 Interacting with the elephants - either in one of the elephant sanctuaries or on a hike with a reputable company that takes proper care of them

Experiences Nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

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Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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