Chiang Mai driving

We are going to be in Chiang Mai for a few days in October. We want to hire a car for a day and fo out to more remote areas for a drive. Can anyone suggest any drives not too far away? We are thinking of a small 4WD and have heard of some waterfalls and lakes not too far away but have no idea how to get to any. Thanks. Coastvisitor

Chiang Mai driving

Hello Coastvisitor,

No need to hire a small 4WD. The roads are quite good around Chiang Mai. Would suggest you do the Doi Suthep Mountain Loop. (I called it my self the Samoeng Loop) This loop starts just before the town Mae Rim, nort of Chiang Mai. (From Chiang Mai go direction North (Fang/Chiang Rai) road 107 and just before the town Mai Rim you go direction Samoeng). This is the road to Mae Sa/Mae Sa Valley/Samoeng. It is a beautiful loop. Between Mae Rim and Mae Sa Valley you will find many tourist attractions, like Gardens,Elephant Camp, Waterfalls, etc. To see a waterfall you have to pay now (as foreigner) THB. 400.00 per person. (approx.USD. 12.50) and I think that is too much to see a waterfall. Then you continue to Samoeng and if you arrive at the T-junction you have to take the road direction Hang Dong. (The sign only says to the left Hang Dong and to the right Samoeng) This loop took me three hours to drive and had only a coffee brake. It was one of my best drives in the Chiang Mai area. Would recommend everybody this loop. Enjoy your trip and stay.

Tony

Chiang Mai driving

Thanks Tony, we really don%26#39;t want to do any elephant riding- I am morally opposed to that activity and wanted to see some villages that may not get so many visitors. Thanks for the tip about the 4WD too. Coastvisitor

coastvisitor

the suggestions made by tony81 are excellent and i would recommend them all but to cover all of these in one day will be too much, i think.

in regards to renting a car. a good idea. but you will lose valuable time during the day by reading maps etc etc. a good alternative is to hire a minivan with driver which can actually work outt cheaper than hiring a vehicle for the day. if you set your itinerary and know exactly what you want to do then the driver will folllow your instructions. this take a lot of work and stress off you a s the driver has the experience and knowledge.

a typical price would be 3000B plus petrol costs and possibly 200B for the driver%26#39;s lunch. a typical 4wd e.g. honda CRV will cost 2500/300B for the day plus petrol.

bkk3

I rented a car at Chaing Mai Airport, a little toyota car from avis was able to book directly with Avis Thailand, there are some good altas type map books available on the internet (ROADWAY) . I did the Mae Sa valley loop, out 107 to Mae Sa went to the Queens botanical gardens, Mae Sa elephant camp, and another orchid garden, you can continue around to Wat Doi Suphet, but we did that another day, went to the San Kamphaeng hot springs also which is east of town Roon Aroon resort behind the park was a nice quiet place to get a mineral bath and massage, you could easily see Doi Suphet and the zoo in one day, and I hear Doi Inthanon nat park is nice as well, I would get the additional insurance if you do ,a large truck squeezed me over and bushes scratched the side of the car and I was not charged, and if you%26#39;re going somewhere else in Thailand you can drop the car off at almost any airport in Thailand, I drove to Udon Thani and that was very enjoyable to drive across thailand, Avis usually has a special and was cheaper than Budget, I did not like driving around the inner city (night market and oldtown) but out of town the roads are modern and signage is good, callao