Best Photo Spots in Chiang Mai
7 photo spots in Chiang Mai, each with the hour it actually works and the angle worth walking to. The difference between a good frame and a queue of people in front of one is usually timing rather than gear.
Bua Thong sticky waterfalls is best at morning; Doi Inthanon and Tha Phae Gate & the old city moat are best at sunrise; The Sunday Walking Street and Wat Chedi Luang are best at golden hour.
The Sunday Walking Street and Wat Phra That Doi Suthep get genuinely crowded — arrive at opening or accept people in the frame.
On light: old stone blows out under midday sun — the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset are when it has colour in it, many temples ban cameras inside entirely, so plan the shot for the exterior and the approach and open water and open sky mean the sky blows out before the land does; expose for the highlights and let the foreground come up afterwards.
A general rule that holds across Chiang Mai: ask before photographing people, skip anything that looks like a religious rite in progress, and expect a tripod to need permission at ticketed monuments even where a phone is fine.
Medium crowdEntry Free
Bua Thong sticky waterfalls
- Best timeLate morning, when the sun gets down into the gorge and lights the water — the falls are in forest and are dark early and late
- ColorsWhiteCoralTurquoise
Medium crowdEntry A national-park ticket at the foreigner rate, several times the Thai price, plus a vehicle charge
Doi Inthanon
- Best timeSunrise from the ridge by the twin chedis, when the cloud sits in the valleys below and the gardens are in mist — the summit itself is forest and photographs as trees
- ColorsForest greenCreamRust
Medium crowdEntry Free
Tha Phae Gate & the old city moat
- Best timeJust after sunset, when the brick is floodlit and the square in front fills with people — and at dawn, when the pigeons and the joggers have it to themselves
- ColorsWhiteIndigoRust
Low crowdEntry Several thousand baht for a day including transport and lunch
The elephant sanctuaries
- Best timeEarly morning, on the first feed, when the light is low and the animals are active — midday is when they stand in shade and nothing happens
- ColorsOliveSandFaded blue
High crowdEntry Free
The Sunday Walking Street
- Best timeDusk, in the first hour, when the stall lights come on and it is still possible to move — by eight it is shoulder to shoulder and the photograph is of the back of somebody's head
- ColorsWhiteMarigoldIndigo
Medium crowdEntry Around ฿40 for foreign visitors
Wat Chedi Luang
- Best timeThe hour before sunset, when low light rakes across the brick and the elephants on the south face come out of the shadow — floodlit after dark is the other one worth staying for
- ColorsTerracottaCreamGold
High crowdEntry Around ฿30 for foreign visitors, plus a small charge for the funicular if you skip the steps
Wat Phra That Doi Suthep
- Best timeSunrise, when the valley below is under mist and the terrace is nearly empty — this is a first-light place and by ten it is coaches
- ColorsWhiteSaffronDeep red