Doi Suthep: Full guide to Chiang Mai’s best day trip [2024]

Northern Thailand is an incredible place unlike anywhere else in the country. It’s a region you could spend months exploring and still only scratch the surface.

But with Thailand’s stunning islands calling, lots of travelers miss out on much or even all of the North. That doesn’t have to be the case though.

Doi Suthep is like a small microcosm of all the best parts of Northern Thailand: hill tribe villages, misty mountains, cool weather, twisty roads, pine forests, and locally-grown coffee and tea. The best part about it is you can see all of it in a single day from Chiang Mai.

About this guide

This guide will cover all the highlights of Doi Suthep and show you how to create the perfect day trip. We’ll also cover how you can stay overnight either in accommodation or by camping in the Doi Suthep Pui National Park.

About Doi Suthep

Doi Suthep is a granite mountain just to the west of and easily visible from Chiang Mai City. ‘Doi Suthep’ is usually used to mean the larger area of both Doi Suthep, and a nearby peak of the same mountain called Doi Pui. Much of the area is contained within the Doi Suthep-Pui National Park. Doi Suthep is popular with both Thai and foreign tourists due to its beauty, nature, cool weather, palaces, hill tribe villages, and the famous Wat Phra That Doi Suthep temple.

Doi Suthep is 1,676 metres (5,499 ft) high, while Doi Pui stands at 1,685 metres (5,528 ft) above sea level. Higher than 1,000 meters, the climate becomes noticeably cooler, and the tropical deciduous forest gives way to mainly evergreen trees.

How to get there

The road leading up to Doi Suthep begins on the outskirts of Chiang Mai, just a short drive from the city center.

By far the best way to experience the mountain is on a scooter or motorcycle, either of which can be easily rented anywhere in Chiang Mai. This is not a place for beginners to learn though, and many foreign tourists end up crashing bikes on this road.

If you’re not at least an intermediate rider on two wheels, you can rent a car. Most of Doi Suthep is easily accessed by rental car, but in some of the further reaches and villages of Doi Pui, the roads are quite narrow and not in great shape. A rental car will limit the final few stops we recommend unless you get a pickup truck or 4X4.

You can also hire the red songthaews (pickup trucks with two rows of benches in the back) which are everywhere in Chiang Mai to take you up for a half or full day. We’d recommend instead booking one of the tours we list below if you’re already going to be paying for a driver because the cost is not much more, and you get much more value from it.

Our favorite Doi Suthep activities

You can see and do most of Doi Suthep in a single day, although with more time you could explore more waterfalls and hiking trails.

If you’re mainly interested in hiking and want to see Doi Suthep Temple, The Monk’s Trail is a moderately challenging hike with over 600 meters of elevation gain from the bottom to the top of the mountain. It’s one of our favorite Chiang Mai activities for early morning. Check out our guide to hiking the Monk’s Trail.

Wat Doi Suthep

The first stop you’ll come to after the twisting turning road up is the main temple that towers over Chiang Mai — Wat Phra That Doi Suthep (วัดพระธาตุดอยสุเทพ). Even if you’re not a huge fan, or you’re all templed out, it’s still worth a stop here. It’s a gorgeous temple with a very nice viewpoint looking back down the mountain and over the city.

Admission here is 30 Baht for foreigners.

Hmong Doi Pui Village

Gardens

Waterfalls

Hiking

Camping

Wild Cherry Blossoms

Khun Chang Khian Village

The best Doi Suthep tours

Camping at Doi Suthep

Other accommodation options

The best time to visit Doi Suthep

What to bring

Photo gallery

Northern Thailand is one of the country’s best-known and most intriguing regions, but with so many islands tempting travelers with their white sand and clear water, a lot of people spend only spend  a few days here, or skip it entirely. Luckily, Doi Suthep is one place where you can see an almost perfect microcosm of what Northern Thailand is all about – all in one day. Best of all, it’s just a short drive outside of Chiang Mai.