The highlights from our time in Chiang Rai were visiting the iconic white and blue temples so we thought we would set out this post comparing the two.

But please do visit both!

Wat Rong Khun (White Temple) 

• Location: Definitely order a taxi or tuk tuk to take you to the temple unless you are up to the 2.5 hour walk from the city centre. We used Grab (Uber equivalent) costing £3.40.

• Price: ฿100 / £2.30 for tourists and free for Thai people. If you have plenty of spending money you can even opt for a private tour.

• Views: The temple is truly breathtaking and the attention to detail is unmatched. The inside of the temple has the craziest drawings, including Michael Jackson and Kung Fu Panda (I’m not kidding).

• Duration: You can easily spend an hour or two here taking it all in.

• Picture opportunity: It’s tricky to get an uninterrupted picture of the front of the temple as it’s the most congested area. Try the sides or the back for an all white Temple / no people picture.

• Extras: Our favorite moment was paying around £1 to hang a wish on the trees. There is also a water feature, swings, and a gold temple just around the corner. The souvenir shops and cafes outside the temple have free Wi-Fi so you can order your Grab taxi back to the centre.

• Top Tips: Don’t take pictures of the inside of the temple (not allowed) and make sure you dress modestly as they check whether you look presentable at the ticket stand.

Wat Rong Suea Ten (Blue Temple)

• Location: A 30 / 40 minute walk from the city centre or a cheap quick taxi ride (we took a Grab again costing £1.50 as we seriously cba with walking that day).

• Price: Free to visit.

• Views: The popping blue colour is like no other temple we have seen. There are several beautiful structures dotted around the temple grounds to take pictures of.

• Duration: It takes about 20 minutes to walk around the entire temple.

• Picture opportunity: It should be no problem taking a picture here of the temple without other tourists entering the frame.

• Extras: There are shops scattered around the right hand side of the temple offering snacks, drinks and souvenirs.

• Top Tip: Don’t forget to get a cool picture by the entrance columns see above.

Other

Some other honourable mentions for Chiang Rai include: 

• The Night Market: a place where you can watch football, listen to live music and watch traditional Thai dancing. We recommend ordering a hot pot for dinner and cooking the meats and veggies yourself.

• Tham Luang Caves: If you’ve ever heard of the true rescue story of twelve young boys and their football coach who were trapped in the underground cave or the documentary ‘13 Lives’ on Netflix, then you will want to visit Tham Luang. We did just that, however when we arrived the whole national park was going through renovations and we couldn’t even get through the gate unfortunately. This might have been due to us visiting right at the end of the rainy season. Below is a picture of the front gate (closest we could get - lol):

• Tea Farm: We took a short trip to the organic tea farms just outside of the centre. Here we ordered a tasty cup of tea and took in the scenery. It’s well worth the trip if you are looking for a chill day and are happy to order a Grab / tuk tuk there.

• Cat Cafe: this cafe was a nice pit stop before visiting the temples. You can order a coffee and snack while stroking a cat or two.

Just to Add

Chiang Rai is a smaller, quieter version of Chiang Mai. We had to take the bus from Pai back to Chiang Mai and then onto Chiang Rai as annoyingly there were no direct buses. In case it helps, we booked our seats using this link:

Chiang Mai to Pai - Book here

Just to note, be wary of missing your next connecting bus, we had a three hour wait in a nearby Maccies in Chiang Mai as we didn’t want to cut it close in case the Pai bus was late. 

We spent three days in Chiang Rai and feel like that’s all you need. 

Although it’s super close to the Laos border, there are no direct flights to Laos from Chiang Rai! We had to fly back down to Bangkok and then across to Luang Prabang, Laos. 

Alternatively, you could opt for the slow boat up the river or bus.  We chose to fly as it was just so quick and easy.

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