Best Time to Visit Chiang Mai? We Lived There for 3 Months – Here’s the Truth!

Picture this: You book yourself a beautiful apartment in Chiang Mai in March. It’s been a while since you’ve visited Thailand and the excitement of heading back is bubbling up inside you until it’s ready to burst. The time comes, but when you arrive there’s smog all over the city as your plane descends through a dense cloud of pollution… forcing you to reconsider all the outdoor activities you had planned…

Yup, that happened to Sara and me!

When we booked our month in northern Thailand, we failed to research when the best time to visit Chiang Mai was—and we paid the price! If you’re wondering when is the best time—trust us, it’s not when we went!

The last thing we want is for other travellers or nomads making this very mistake. So now, after we’ve spent more than three months living in this ancient city, we can confidently say when the best and worst times to visit Chiang Mai are!

By the end of this guide, you’ll know which months to avoid (cough burning season cough), when you should plan your time in Chiang Mai for optimal air quality, and which festivals you might be able to see if you get your dates right! We’ll also share the ideal time to snag affordable accommodation and flights, so you can make the most of your budget.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our Disclosure Policy.

When is the best time to visit Chiang Mai?

Before I jump into a detailed breakdown of the different seasons, for anyone looking for the quick answer, the best time to visit Chiang Mai is between November and February.

We based ourselves in Chiang Mai in October and November this year and it was perfect. The sun was shining, the air was clean, and while we caught the back end of the wet season, rain was minimal. The only downside for holidaymakers is that accommodation is expensive this time of year because it’s peak season!

November to January (Best time to visit Chiang Mai)

Like I mentioned, by far the best time to visit Chiang Mai weather-wise is between November and January. These three months are when the sun is shining the most, blue skies are acting cheeky, and pollution levels are super low.

Also, the temperature during this time isn’t too shabby—a cool 29℃ to 31℃, instead of 34℃+ between March and May.

The only thing to consider is that, if I were travelling on a budget, the prices for hotels and accommodation in general tends to be on the higher end. This is because November to January is the peak season in Chiang Mai. At this time of year, all the digital nomads (including Sara and myself) flock back to Chiang Mai, and the perfect sunshine attracts holiday makers and tourists.

We did catch the backend of the rainy season in November, with maybe three or four rainy days. However, when looking for the perfect temperature to sunshine ratio, you can’t go wrong between November and January!

February to April (Worst time to visit Chiang Mai)

One of our biggest travel faux pas we ever made was booking a month in Chiang Mai during March. At the time, we had no idea about the burning season in northern Thailand—I’d never heard of it before! It wasn’t until we started telling other digital nomads our plans that they started to tell us we were crazy!

But, having not experienced it firsthand, we thought “how bad could it really be?”

It turns out, this time of year in Chiang Mai is pretty grim to say the least. As we arrived at Chiang Mai international airport, our plane descended through a thick layer of smog. Above the smog was sunshine and blue skies, below was… not.

We didn’t see the sun properly for the entire month. It was just a tiny red sphere floating among a sea of grey smoke. Some days the pollution got so bad that we could barely see 100m down the road. These conditions meant we had to consider if leaving the apartment was worth the activity we were going to do.

It was my first time in Chiang Mai, so we didn’t let the pollution hinder our plans too much—even venturing to Chiang Rai for the weekend. But it certainly wasn’t great for our health.

The burning season gradually begins throughout February, with peak pollution the entire of March. In April the smoke starts to dissipate, but also April is the hottest month of the year in Thailand at 36℃ on average in Chiang Mai.

Yeah, avoid the burning season in Chiang Mai if you can!

May to October (Okay time to visit Chiang Mai)

During our last stay in Chiang Mai, we arrived right at the end of September and spent all of October and November in the city. So we did live through the last month of the rainy season here.

The thing about the rainy season is that it’s kind of predictable. It rains for a few hours every day, starting sometime in the early afternoon. There are obviously some days when it just rains consecutively non-stop. But for the most part it’s easy enough to plan your activities around the weather.

One thing to note is that in September last year, right before we landed, Chiang Mai experienced some pretty severe flooding around the Ping River. I experienced the aftermath of this when I tried to ride to Doi Inthanon for the day, but one of the crossroads along the highway had basically turned into a river and I had to rain-check… see what I did there!

Also, Sara and I rode around the Ping River area while gathering information about coworking spaces in the city. While there was no more water, the damage was pretty clear. There were restaurants and hotels still repairing water damage, and the banks of the river were super muddy where they should have been grassy. Even a ton of the streets were still covered in mud on the edges, despite the recent clean up.

So while this season in Chiang Mai is totally doable, and hell, we’d even recommend it for the lower priced accommodations, it’s best to be aware of the dangers of flash floods!

November to January (Peak Season)

During the peak season, the sun will be shining most of the time. So we recommend packing summer clothes like shorts and t-shirts for the guys, and dresses, skirts, and linen clothes for the girls. Nothing beats a pair of Birkenstocks too!

We always made sure to have sunscreen and mosquito spray with us, as our safety comes first. Some sort of hat and a pair of sunglasses wouldn’t go amiss either.

February to April (Burning Season)

Despite the extra pollution in the air, the weather during these months is generally the same as the peak season. So we kind of just suggest packing the same things.

On top of those, we’d highly recommend a mask for when walking around outside. Hopefully, this should reduce the amount of pollution you would otherwise be breathing in.

I strongly suggest downloading the AirVisual app and checking it every morning before leaving the accommodation. Average AQI for Chiang Mai is around 70, but during the burning season, it can be as high as 200+! So check it before heading outside to see if it’s worth the health risks!

May to October (Rainy Season)

Rainy season tends to be a bit warmer and a bit more muggy than the peak season. Again, we recommend pretty much the same packing list for clothes, and you should still bring sunscreen as there still will be sun during these months!

However, it’s best to buy a decent poncho or raincoat. As we spent a lot of time driving around the city, we always had one stashed under the seat of the scooter just in case—as will most of the Chiang Mai population. A good umbrella probably wouldn’t be a bad idea either, alongside some non-Birkenstock sandals or flip flops that can get wet without being damaged.

When is the cheapest time to visit Chiang Mai?

The cheapest time to visit Chiang Mai is literally any month outside of the November to February peak season. Also, prices may creep up again in April due to the national festival of Songkran (which we’ll talk about soon!).

Although, we haven’t noticed accommodation prices fluctuate too much between seasons. Even though we probably saved a bit of money when we were based in Chiang Mai in March when compared to October and November, the difference wasn’t too significant. I would only worry about these price differences if you’re a super money conscious traveller!

Also, from October (end of the rainy season) to November (beginning of the peak season), the price of our Airbnb didn’t change at all.

Does Chiang Mai’s changing seasons affect digital nomads?

Honestly, for the most part, it doesn’t matter which season you base yourself in Chiang Mai as the infrastructure holds up pretty well. During our three months, we never had the electricity cut out or the internet go down.

The only caveat to that is the flooding. We weren’t on that side of the city to truly experience it at its peak, but I would imagine that the high flood waters would have tripped a lot of circuits causing the electricity to shut down.

Festivals & holidays in Chiang Mai

Thailand is one of the most culturally rich countries we’ve ever visited. The Thai people love to celebrate, and they have their own holidays plus a few Chinese holidays too! Here are some of the festivals that you don’t want to miss!

Yi Peng & Loy Krathong

Despite being celebrated at the same time in Chiang Mai, Yi Peng and Loy Krathong are two different festivals. Yi Peng is a famous Buddhist lantern festival mainly in northern Thailand (and the main reason we wanted to be in Chiang Mai in November), and Loy Krathong is a countrywide Hindu festival.

Yi Peng is a traditional Lanna festival that happens on the full moon of the 12th month of the lunar calendar every year. It’s a stunning spectacle when crowds of people release paper lanterns (“khom loy”) into the night sky. Before lighting them, we copied the local traditions and wrote down our wishes on the paper for the next year, to be sent up to the sky and granted.

There are two ways to experience Yi Peng:

• For free: We decided to ride our scooters to Phra Chao Luang Lotus Lake, just beside Doi Saket. Here there was a free-to-enter festival with street food, and as the sun hit the horizon, lanterns started flying, and they didn’t stop for hours.
• Paid event: If you’ve ever seen photos from Yi Peng it was probably from the paid events. There are a couple in the mountains near Chiang Mai, and they are expensive. But they come with a monk-led ceremony, food, and everyone releases the lanterns at the same time, creating a dreamy atmosphere.

Loy Krathong, on the other hand, is a festival celebrated across Asia, with its roots coming from India. During Loy Krathong, Sara and I released small baskets containing offerings and candles along the Ping River. It’s a celebration to thank Khongkha (a.k.a. Ganga), the goddess of water and rivers. It just so happens to also fall on the full moon of the 12th month of the lunar calendar year!

Songkran (Thai New Year)

Unfortunately, we have yet to celebrate Songkran in Chiang Mai. However, at the time of writing this, one week ago we did experience this festival in Bangkok – and it was wild!

Songkran is a Thai festival in April which marks a new year in the Thai calendar (the year is now 2568 here in Thailand!). It’s an old, traditional celebration that started sometime in the 1200’s, but in modern days the entire holiday has become the world’s largest water fight… I’m not joking.

While in Bangkok, we would walk around the city in our swimwear as groups of people would squirt us with water pistols or throw buckets of ice water over us. Honestly, April is the hottest month of the year in Thailand, so all the water is welcome.

In Chiang Mai, some of the more popular spots to celebrate Songkran are around the Old City Moat, by Tha Phae Gate, and along Nimman Road.

Chiang Mai Flower Festival

Areas around Chiang Mai in northern Thailand have a certain, unique, weather when compared to the rest of the country. The temperature can drop quite low, especially in the mountains. This cooler weather means that there are a lot of flowers that bloom around Chiang Mai that can’t be found in southern regions of the country.

Therefore, on the first weekend of February every year, the Chiang Mai Flower Festival comes to town. While we have yet to celebrate this one, we do have a ton of friends living in Chiang Mai that sent us a bunch of photos. All the flowers arranged and decorated are absolutely stunning!

The only downside being this festival is right at the beginning of the burning season. So it might be best to not hang around too long after!

Bun Bang Fai (Rocket Festival)

During the first weekend of July, there’s a festival in Chiang Mai where people launch literal rockets into the sky. I would be lying if I told you that I had heard of this festival before researching for this guide. However, I’ve now found a new celebration to add to the bucket list!

Originating in Laos, Bun Bang Fai is to celebrate the coming of the rains and the wet season, as well as for good luck for this year’s harvest. As such, the rockets are launched to remind Phaya Thaen (God of Rain) that he needs to shower the earth with water.

Locals come together to see who can build and launch the most spectacular rockets on the third day of the festival!

Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year is originally a Chinese celebration (talk about a multicultural country!) that sees in the new year of the lunar calendar. Usually sometime between mid-January to mid-February, the date for the celebration changes every year.

Here are the dates for the most recent and upcoming celebrations:

• 2024 (Sat, Feb 10th) – Year of the Wood Dragon
• 2025 (Wed, Jan 29th) – Year of the Wood Snake
• 2026 (Tues, Feb 17th) – Year of the Fire Horse
• 2027 (Sat, Feb 6th) – Year of the Fire Goat
• 2028 (Wed, Jan 26th) – Year of the Earth Monkey

Once again, we haven’t been able to celebrate this holiday in Chiang Mai yet, but we have experienced it in Bangkok a couple of years ago. More recently, we celebrated Lunar New Year in Ho Chi Minh City (it’s actually called Tết in Vietnam).

We found that on the days leading up to new year, the streets get super busy as everyone heads out to visit their local temples and shrines to pay their respects. There are also tons of festivals and celebrations happening. After, during the days following the new year, the streets tend to be pretty quiet, with most people spending time with their loved ones at home.

Bear in mind that a lot of family-run restaurants and shops might be closed during this time. In Vietnam, even a lot of the malls and tourist attractions are closed. We found that the ones that stayed open tended to charge a premium for being open during this holiday, too.

How long should you spend in Chiang Mai?

How much time you spend in Chiang Mai should be down to how many days you have spare. After living in this city for over three months, we still haven’t managed to see everything… although we do tend to work most weeks!

Here is our estimation for how long you should spend in Chiang Mai:

• 1 – 2 Days: You are only going to scratch the surface of Chiang Mai, but at the same time, you’ll still be able to hit all the popular tourist spots in the Old City.
• 2 – 4 Days: The same as the above, but you’ll have a couple of extra days to tack on a couple of day trips like Doi Inthanon, the Samoeng Loop, or Chiang Rai.
• 7 Days: Probably the minimum amount of time we would recommend if you have a flexible schedule. A week is enough time to experience the city’s culture, food and nightlife. It also means there is ample time for day trips in the surrounding areas like Chiang Dao and Bua Tong Waterfall (the sticky waterfall).
• 14 Days: A full two weeks in Chiang Mai will unlock a bunch more opportunities and will mean that there is enough time to see the majority of sights and attractions in the city and surrounding areas. You could add on an ethical elephant sanctuary, the Mae Hong Son Loop, a trip to Pai, the Grand Canyon, and much more!

Affordable accommodation in Chiang Mai

I realise that the word “affordable” means something different to everyone, however I’m going to try my best to offer a price range for everyone! While I laid out a ton of accommodation options inside my areas to stay in Chiang Mai guide, here are some of the best of the best:

Alternative options to Chiang Mai if the weather is bad

While most of Thailand has to deal with the rainy season between May and October, a lot of people use this opportunity to migrate over to a different nomad hotspot in Southeast Asia.

Which hotspot you ask? Well, on the east coast of Central Vietnam is the seaside city of Da Nang. Sara and I lived in Da Nang for a month at the beginning of the year and absolutely fell in love with it!

Da Nang experiences similar seasons to Europe in that between the months of March to August, the weather is fabulous. It’s only from August to December when Da Nang’s wet season starts.

So if you’re looking for an alternative to Chiang Mai when the farmers start burning their fields or the monsoons begin, then we highly recommend Da Nang!

Have you decided when to visit Chiang Mai yet?

Without trying to sound too much like a broken record, if you haven’t been convinced yet then definitely try to plan a trip to Chiang Mai in November. The weather is still a tad cooler, the rain has eased off, and the lantern festival is absolutely magical!

But if your trip happens to fall during the rainy season, don’t be disheartened too much. Just try to make sure you’re sheltered somewhere in the early afternoon to stay dry.

Where are you planning to head after Chiang Mai? We’d recommend a long weekend staying in Chiang Rai! The temples in this city are super unique and you can visit cool spots like the Golden Triangle.

Are you a nomad heading to Chiang Mai? Maybe you want to check out a few coworking spaces, coliving spaces, or laptop-friendly cafés?

Or maybe you’re a traveller looking to extend your travels? In which case take a look at our Quick Start Guide to Becoming a Digital Nomad – it’s completely free!

We hope that our guide covered everything you need to know about the best time to visit Chiang Mai. We always strive to offer the most accurate and up-to-date information we can but if you think something we’ve said is wrong, please let us know!

Read more about life in Chiang Mai:

• Complete guide to living as a digital nomad in Chiang Mai
• 22 Best coworking spaces in Chiang Mai
• 25 Laptop-friendly cafes to work in Chiang Mai
• 7 Best Chiang Mai coliving spaces to stay in as a digital nomad
• 8 Best areas to stay in Chiang Mai for tourists and nomads
• Is Chiang Mai safe in 2025? Everything you need to know!
• Chiang Mai vs. Chiang Rai: Which City Fits Your Style?
• Chiang Dao Cave: Thailand’s Hidden Underground Gem
• Climbing Bua Tong Sticky Waterfall: A day trip from Chiang Mai
• Chai Lai Orchid Ethical Elephant Sanctuary in Chiang Mai: A Must-Visit!
• Day Trip to Chiang Rai from Chiang Mai: Is It Really Worth It?
• Cost of Living in Chiang Mai: How much you really need in 2025!
• Best Time to Visit Chiang Mai? We Lived There for 3 Months – Here’s the Truth!