CityBest November – January

Chiang Mai

A walled old town ringed by villages that are still villages.

Inside the moat it is cafés and guesthouses. Ten minutes out in any direction it turns into artisan hamlets, temple forests and the best khao soi in the country.

Photo: Nawit science, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Logged in Chiang Mai

Attraction4.7(158)

Baan Nok craft hamlet

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Ceramicists, one coffee cart, and a pond. Ten minutes off the loop and nobody follows.

Noodle shop4.4(3,802)

Khao Soi Lung Prakit Kad Kom

Chiang Mai, Thailand

A charcoal-fired khao soi shop in the old Kad Kom market, the bowl people credit with making Chiang Mai's khao soi famous.

Noodle shop4.5(6,030)

Khao Soi Mae Sai

Chiang Mai, Thailand

A decades-old khao soi shop near Chiang Mai's Chang Phueak neighbourhood, cheap and consistently packed with locals.

Café4.9(1,769)

WHYs Nimman Cafe & Restaurant

Chiang Mai, Thailand

A green, plant-filled food hub in Nimman stringing several small cafés and kitchens around one courtyard.

Where to stay in Chiang Mai

Stays shown via Stay22 — booking through the map supports the log.

Part of

Winter sun

The Best Cities for Winter Sun

Ten places at their best between November and March, none of them a beach resort — and one at the bottom of the world where December is summer.

Mentioned in

Attraction4.7(158)

Baan Nok craft hamlet

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Ceramicists, one coffee cart, and a pond. Ten minutes off the loop and nobody follows.

Noodle shop4.4(3,802)

Khao Soi Lung Prakit Kad Kom

Chiang Mai, Thailand

A charcoal-fired khao soi shop in the old Kad Kom market, the bowl people credit with making Chiang Mai's khao soi famous.

Café4.9(1,769)

WHYs Nimman Cafe & Restaurant

Chiang Mai, Thailand

A green, plant-filled food hub in Nimman stringing several small cafés and kitchens around one courtyard.

Country

Thailand

The north is a different country from the islands, and the better one.