When to go Chiang Mai — When to visit Chiang Mai & when is the best time to visit Chiang Mai?

Chiang Mai is an ideal destination for those who like to accumulate experiences, love peace and gentle. You will be amazed at magnificent, gorgeous the temples / pagodas but no one is like any other. You will be infatuated with the wonderful cuisine of the North of Thailand. Be overwhelmed when you admire the exquisite and ingenious handicrafts born in the capital of the handicraft industry. And you will also be ecstatic when immersed in a magical green tropical jungle or let yourself in harmony with nature when trekking with elephants in the jungle.. So, are you planning a trip to the Chiang Mai (The Rose of the North Thailand) and don’t know when to go Chiang Mai (when to visit Chiang Mai)? Let’s check out our suggested the best time to visit Chiang Mai (Chiang Mai best time to visit, best time to visit Chiang Mai weather) to find out the answer!

When to go Chiang Mai: When is best time to visit Chiang Mai?

There are many ideal times and wonderful events in Chiang Mai so you can choose according to your preference or go in the season that suits your budget. Here are some our summary of critical experiences for you refer to.

February – Chiang Mai Flower Festival

If you really love flowers, February is the best time to come to Chiang Mai (Chiang Mai best time to visit), especially for girls or those who like to admire flowers. This month, there will be the Chiang Mai Flower Festival, which will take place in full vibrant for 3 days, including a street parade with beautiful and colorful flower cars.

The Chiang Mai Flower Festival will be held annually on the first weekend in February. Particularly, 2020 will take place from Friday, February 7th 2020 till Sunday. This is the time when the whole city is flooded with vibrant colors ranging from orange, the color of bougainvillea to the smoothness of petunia flower or countless of color of pink, white, and purple of other flowers blend together to form a wonderful picture.

April – Songkran Water Festival

If you are… a “fan” of Thailand, and also a “fan” of the water splashing festival from university era like me, Chiang Mai is the most suitable destination to participate in this exciting festival! This festival takes place in 3 days in the middle of April every year (calculated according to the Solar calendar, and will take place from April 13-15).

So if you want to immerse yourself in the great water-gun battles with friends in the land of Golden Temples or simply want to experience the local culture, you should arrange to go to Chiang Mai at this time. Songkran festival takes place in almost all of Thailand (including in Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar), but Chiang Mai is still the happiest place, crowded with tourists and in terms of organization, it still remains intact the traditional features from ancient time.

Read more: Chiang Mai itinerary — 72 hours backpacking in Chiang Mai on occasion of Songkran water festival.

November and December – Yipeng Lantern Festival and Loy Krathong Festival

The another best time to visit Chiang Mai is around November and December of the Solar calendar. This is the time for the Yipeng Lantern Festival (Yee Peng Festival) and the Loy Krathong Festival (The flower garlands and coloured lanterns festival). These two festivals were held at two separate times but are now grouped together at the same time. Therefore, people often mistake and call the Lantern festival is the Loy Krathong Festival.

These festivals will take place in 3 days, but if calculated according to the Solar calendar, it is not fixed, each year is different, some year It will fall in November, some year is December. The reason is that these two festivals is held on the evening of the full moon day of the 12th month according to Thailand’s traditional lunar calendar. To go right for the festival, you have to keep track of the specific calendar of each year.

See also: Explore Loy Krathong festival — The sacred festival of light in Thailand.

November – April: Pleasant weather, peak tourist season

In addition to the festival times, the most favorable weather time to travel to Chiang Mai is from November to April. Chiang Mai generally has quite similar climate to Saigon of Vietnam, so the hot season, the rainy season … are the same.

However, there is a difficult thing is at this time, tourists to Chiang Mai are more crowded than other seasons, so the prices of hotels, services, aircraft, and vehicles generally increase. Besides, due to the peak tourist season, it will be quite crowded, jostle, hustle at famous tourist spots such as Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, Wat Chiang Man … markets, etc.

To get a good price for the services, it is best to reserve a room, book a car early (a few months ago), avoiding the case of running out of seats.

May – October: Low tourist season

For backpackers who want to save money or who like quiet, do not like noisy, hustle place, the time of May – October is considered the best time to visit Chiang Mai (Chiang Mai best time to visit). Because this season is the low season for tourism, the prices of all services will generally drop to a low level. Tourists coming to Chiang Mai at this time are not too crowded, the sights will be less crowded. Suitable for those who want to travel slowly, freely, experience the local space and atmosphere.

Dry season

Chiang Mai’s climate has almost 2 distinct seasons. The dry season is from November to July. However, November to April is pleasant. May, June, July are hotter.

Because of the favorable weather, not too hot with no rain, the experience activities here such as trekking, hiking and elephant care, ziplining, cycling … are also more interesting.

Refer to: Flying Squirrels Zipline Tree Top Adventure.

Rainy season

Coinciding with the low tourist season as above is the rainy season, ie around August, September and October. In this season, the weather is not favorable. Although still able to travel, but if the time is hit by heavy rain or flood, you will not be able to experience outdoor activities such as cycling, trekking through the forest, zipline … You can only wandering around the city, drink coffee, think about life.

Although this time is not favorable to experience nature, but you can take advantage of it to explore the cuisine or experience local culture is also very interesting. Some suggestions: Go to Night Bazaar, Saturday Night Market, Khantoke royal cuisine experience, enjoy Khao Soy, Son Tam, coconut cake …

Thus, in short, Chiang Mai has many interesting activities from festivals, nature discovery, cultural experiences, culinary … extremely diverse. Therefore, if you come to Chiang Mai, unless you want to attend special events or want to experience activities of your own interest, you should choose a specific time as suggested and analyzed above. Generally, you can go to Chiang Mai at any time of year.

For Vietnamese tourists from Hanoi to Chiang Mai: There are direct flights served by two airlines: Bangkok Airways and AirAsia. Average operating frequency of this route is more than 1 flight / day. Flight time around 1 hour 55 minutes.

For Vietnamese tourists who want to go to Chiang Mai from Saigon, before you need to transit in Hanoi or Bangkok. From Bangkok, tourists can take another flight or use other means such as bus or train to reach Chiang Mai. Currently getting to Chiang Mai is easier than before because there is a direct flight from Saigon – Chiang Mai served by Vietjet Air. Currently this route offers 4 flights / 1 week, flight time around 2 hours and 5 minutes. The plane departs at 11:25 and lands at 13:30 at Chiang Mai airport.

Some best day tours, trips, activities and transfer services, tickets in and from Chiang Mai you can refer to

• Private Chiang Mai International Airport Transfers (CNX) for Chiang Mai and More
• Private City Transfers for Chiang Mai
• Chiang Mai City & Temples Half Day Tour by Tour East
• Doi Suthep-Chiang Mai City Temple Tour
• Chiang Mai Custom Tour: Chiang Mai Night Safari, Doi Suthep, Elephant Sanctuary, Zipline Adventure, and More
• Private Car Charter Between Chiang Mai and Pai
• Doi Inthanon National Park Day Tour in Chiang Mai
• [SALE] 4G Sim Card (Thailand Pick Up) for Thailand
• 4G SIM Card (BKK Airport Pick Up) for Thailand (Unlimited Data)
• 4G Pocket WiFi (Bangkok and Phuket Airports Pick Up) for Thailand
• 4G Portable WiFi for Thailand from Uroaming (Unlimited Data)

Are you looking for more Chiang Mai travel guide and top things to do in Chiang Mai? Let’s read: Chiang Mai travel blog — The fullest Chiang Mai travel guide for a great trip to the “Rose of the North” of Thailand.