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All these pictures of Northern Thailand are our own, and taken by me (Brenna)!

This is our most inspiring photos of the North of Thailand.

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For our 18 inspirational pictures of the Islands of Thailand, click here!

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We’ve spent a long time in Thailand. In fact, Brenna has spent almost one year in this wonderful country.

Together, we have seen almost all of the entire magical country. From the green, luscious North, to the sunny, beautiful islands. 

This is our inspirational pictures of the North.

All of the places on this list are ones that we’ve visited ourselves. They are: Ayutthaya, Chiang Mai, Pai and Chiang Rai.

AYUTTHAYA

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This ancient, little town is situated just north of Bangkok. Although technically not really part of the North of Thailand, this temple filled town is still a must visit on any trip to this region.

Known for it’s many ancient temples, this little area is littered with crumbled, orange ruins and incredible historic temples. There are also a massive number of statues and monuments dedicated to Buddha.

We spent a few days here, exploring the hundreds of ancient temples by bicycle. This is definitely the best way to experience it! We really enjoyed our stay here, and loved leisurely rolling through the green fields and ancient ruins, enjoying the slow pace of life that Thailand is known for.

On the main train line between Bangkok and Chiang Mai, this is the perfect stop over on the long journey between the two. Just a couple of hours from Bangkok.

CHIANG MAI

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The best and most well known of all the Northern Thailand cities! There is so much to do in this city.

The main, tourist part is the small, walled old city in the centre of everything. Surrounded by an old, square wall, this is where most hotels, hostels, restaurants and bars etc. are situated.

Chiang Mai is the main hub for the surrounding towns and cities, so you may end up here a few times on your Northern Thailand adventure. We were in Chiang Mai perhaps too many times. But, there is so much to do, it doesn’t matter!

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One of the best things we did was to drive our moped half way up to Doi Suthep after it got dark. Around half way up to the top, there is a small shelter just off the road. Here, there is perhaps the best view of the entire city. At night, the city shines so bright you can see for miles. We came up here a few times before a big storm, and we could see the storm as it approached the city. Amazing!

We also drove all the way to Doi Inthanon (the highest point in Thailand) – a National Park a few hours outside of the city. It was so foggy here that we couldn’t see the view from the top, but we did get to see the waterfalls and the monument near the top.

It was a fun experience to drive there on a moped (we later found out that most rental agencies don’t allow you to drive all the way up there on their mopeds – oops!). Our moped struggled to get us up to the top (where it was a frigid 14 degrees celsius!), and we VERY nearly ran out of fuel. It was an experience though.

There’s so much to do here. There are literally hundreds of temples surrounding the city, cat cafés, a cinema, a zoo, viewpoints, the biggest night bazaar in the world… the list goes on. Some days we just sat in a coffee shop and watched the world go by!

PAI

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One of the most chilled places we have ever been. This place is the ultimate hippy wannabe magnet, with SO many people walking around without shoes on, and greeting each other with “Namaste bro”. 

Being in Pai is like being on an island, but instead of the sea, you’re surrounded by green luscious forest and jungle. It is very relaxing.

We liked it so much, we stayed for almost 2 weeks. We stayed in a small resort just outside of the main town (of which there are many). It was a little ‘mud hut’ (well that’s what Danielle called it – it was more like a little bungalow) surrounded by rice paddies and jungle. It was awesome!

There is a lot to do here. The best place to watch the sunset is the canyon. This is where everyone gathers in the late hours of the afternoon, to watch the sun set over the orange rocks and palm trees. 

There are dozens of hot springs, viewpoints, temples and waterfalls to go and experience. There’s also the night bazaar in the main street every night. Here you’ll find some awesome street food, shakes and some souvenirs.

We enjoyed the live music in some of the bars along the main road most nights, with an ice cold Singha. We also enjoyed the fact that everything we ate had some of the best avocado we’ve ever eaten in it! Avocado overload.

CHIANG RAI

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This city is most well known for the White Temple, which sits just outside the town. Most people don’t stay here, but instead they just make a day trip to the White Temple from Chiang Mai.

We stayed here for over a week, and stayed in an amazing Airbnb apartment. Having just completed an amazing cooking class in Chiang Mai, we were eager to try our hand at our new found Thai cooking skills. So, we found ourselves an apartment with a kitchen, and headed straight to the local market to stock up on fresh ingredients.

Other than cooking, some of the other things that we enjoyed were: seeing strange sculptures at the Black House, looking out from the bindi in the huge statue at Wat Huay Pla Kang; stroking beautiful cats at the cat café; riding a tandem bike around Singha Park; and walking though the weekly night bazaar.

We enjoyed Chiang Rai a lot. There seemed to be a lot less tourists here, as it wasn’t on most people’s itineraries. However, we found a lot of fun things to spend our time on!

So that’s our inspirational pictures of Northern of Thailand. I hope you enjoyed!

For our inspirational pictures of Thailand’s Islands, click here. For our other inspirational/photography posts, check out our Pacific Crest Trail photos here, and our Everest Base Camp photography here.