We’re going to split our things to do in Chiang Mai guide into two bits. Here we’ll just go over the two waterfalls we went to in Chiang Mai, Mae Sa and Bua Tong Waterfall. For other things to do in Chiang Mai with kids, check out this section here, which gives you info on the Elephant Trek, Tiger Farm, Snake Farm and a few other things you can do with kids in Chiang Mai. We did all of these with a 6yr old, 46 yr old and over 70 yr olds so if you fit anything in between those you’ll get some use out of this.
First up but not necessarily best on our things to do in Chiang Mai list is Mae Sa Waterfall. This is one of many attractions in the Mae Rim area and if you want to stay out of the city, there’s a few hotels in this area including the Four Seasons. It takes about 45 minutes to get to Mae Rim from the city so although you’re far away from the action, you’re actually close to most of Chiang Mai’s recommended things to do. I’d consider staying here next time I visit. Anyway, to be honest wasn’t that keen on going to Mae Sa Waterfall and didn’t expect much but it was actually pretty cool.
The only down side was our useless driver told us not to bring togs and that you can’t swim in it, which was a complete load of rubbish and just downright false. All the locals were swimming in there and in the heat in April, you really need to take a dip. There’s about 8 levels of waterfalls, you can choose how many levels up you go, there’s stairs and it’s not that steep so take your time and maybe start from the top. It’s not the nicest waterfall I’ve been to but it’s pretty good and definitely worth spending an hour or two here (take some food and drinks with you) if you’re going to be around the Mae Rim area, which is almost a certainty.
Overall Mae Sa Waterfall gets a solid 7.5 out of 10, not bad, not spectacular, but again worth a visit when you’re in the area. I don’t know if you’d spend 45 minutes driving here just to go here, but again, you’re almost certainly going to be doing something else in the vicinity since many of the elephant treks and experiences are around here as well as the Tiger Farm, Snake Shows, Long Neck Village experience and some more extreme/adventure activities.
On the last day, we did one of my favourite things I’ve done in a long time, and something that is unique and not found anywhere else in the world as far as I know. Well I’m sure there’s something like it somewhere but this was a really interesting and cool experience and that’s Bua Tong Waterfall. Bua Tong Waterfall is about 60km out of Chiang Mai city and for some reason is not mentioned as much as the other waterfalls such as Mae Sa. Took us just over an hour to get to, once you get out of the city you head into the countryside and can’t really drive that fast so no matter what car or driver you have you’re not going to take much less time than this.
These falls are amazing, you walk down to the bottom, there’s stairs on the side so if you’re not into climbing down, which we weren’t, take the stairs. You can climb up the falls, takes a short time to get used to the fact you’re not going to go ass over tit when you head up the steep bits. Once you get used to it it’s totally awesome and unlike anything you’ve ever done before. There’s ropes in some places to help you up but they’re really only needed in the steepest of steepest sections, The falls aren’t huge, but size isn’t there appeal. They’re called the sticky waterfalls for a reason. You feel a bit like Spiderman or a lizard scaling up the falls with water cascading down. Only when you get near the top does it get slippery, and you’ve got to be pretty careful here. Basically any green bits mean you’re going to slip so just watch out for those and you’ll be fine.
Getting to Bua Thong waterfall is easy, there’s a tour company that offers a private guide and driver but that’s around 800-900 baht per person, which can be costly if you have 4+ people. We hired a car from Lanna Rice Barn (not there driver but their contact) who took us up there for 2500 baht, which is reasonable. You probably only need a few hours here at most. The only downside is for those who aren’t brave enough or just want to watch, there’s no many places to sit down. It’s a bit muddy down the bottom so you don’t want to be wearing your best outfit or ball gown. The waterfalls aren’t something you’d go to again and again, but are definitely worth visiting if you’re in Chiang Mai and well worth the hour and a bit journey out there. For me, this was probably one of the best things to do in Chiang Mai and I’d definitely go back here again despite the 1 hour drive time to get to it.
When you park make sure to visit the fish pond near the car park on the way to the falls. There’s some (very) local food stalls near the car park but you’re better off bringing some snacks or food with you. This is a half day trip so leave around 9, get there around 10 and hopefully not too many people will be there. We had a few other kids that we saw but when we left quite a few people were coming in. Overall this is a great thing to do and highly recommend it, Grobbler climbed up with me, but you need to go behind kids that age (around 6yrs). As long as you stay off the green bits it’s pretty hard to slip.
For something less adventurous to do in Chiang Mai you can check out One Nimman, a trendy little mall in Nimman district. It’s got a bunch of artsy crafty and fashion shops and a nice open air restaurant area as well as some indoor restaurants and cafes. The shopping for men is not that great but for girls there’s loads of little cute shops they’ll love. Unfortunately it’s full of mainland Chinese tour groups and tourists, although they seem to behave themselves mostly. This is a good little area an there’s a nice little hotel (Art Mai Gallery Hotel) that I stayed at whilst on business in Chiang Mai recently.
For things to do in Chiang Mai with kids, check out Toucan’s Tips for Kids. Any questions about things to do in Chiang Mai visit our contact page and send us an email or ask us on Twitter.