Budget · 3-hour walk · Chiang Mai
The old city temples in three hours
Wat Phra Singh, the ruined chedi of Wat Chedi Luang, the city's oldest temple and Tha Phae Gate.
Chiang Mai's old city is a square about a mile and a half on each side, inside a moat and the remains of a brick wall, and it holds more than thirty temples. This route takes three of them and leaves by the east gate. Cover shoulders and knees; shoes come off at every door.
The route, stop by stop
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Wat Phra Singh
The most revered temple in the city, with the Phra Buddha Sihing image in its Lanna chapel, the Viharn Lai Kham.
30 min here Walk here → -
Wat Chedi Luang
The great brick chedi, which once held the Emerald Buddha, lost its top in an earthquake in 1545. Monks sit at tables here to chat with visitors in English.
35 min here Walk here → -
Three Kings Monument
The three kings who chose the site and founded the city in 1296.
10 min here Walk here → -
Wat Chiang Man
The oldest temple in the city, said to have been the founder's camp while it was built. Its chedi is held up by a row of brick elephants.
20 min here Walk here → -
Tha Phae Gate
The rebuilt east gate in the old wall, and the start of the Sunday walking street market along Ratchadamnoen Road.
15 min here Walk here →
More walks in Chiang Mai
More in Chiang Mai
Every walking route in Chiang Mai, the full Chiang Mai guide for where to stay and what a day costs, or walks in other cities.