Our decision to include Chiang Mai on our itinerary for Thailand was based almost entirely off of the Patara Elephant Farm. You can read all about our day at Patara here. Chiang Mai is the best of Thailand, in my opinion. You have the hustle and bustle of a true Thai city, a beautiful countryside complete with the most quintessential rice patties, and breathtaking mountains.

Chiang Mai is not a massive city, like Bangkok, so you can easily explore the city center in a half-a-day. For this reason, we opted to stay at the Four Seasons outside of the city center. Asia knows how to do luxury, and this was luxury at its finest. The service was impeccable, the grounds were immaculate, and the food at the resort was some of the best we had on the trip.

Before going to Thailand, I thought Thai food was your basic pad thais and such. Northern Thai food is a whole different animal and there is no better place to try it than Chiang Mai. Although, we started every morning with french toast and waffles on our terrace. One of the reasons we chose the Four Seasons was for their cooking class, which gets rave reviews. We did a private cooking class, complete with 12 courses. We ate like Americans and had to be rolled out of there. So much food and every bite was delectable.

When we weren’t eating or riding an elephant, we spent the rest of our time in Chiang Mai exploring the city center, visiting Doi Suthep, and biking through the countryside (which I would highly recommend!). Chiang Mai, you were fabulous.