If you’re looking to take a trip from Chiang Mai to Chiang Dao for a change of pace, luckily it’s an easy ride. Once you navigate your way out of the city’s traffic, you’ll have a nice stretch of scenic views and beautiful hillsides as you make your way to this quiet little mountain town in the northern part of the Chiang Mai province.
How to Get from Chiang Mai to Chiang Dao
There are a few transportation options. They depend on whether you are able to drive yourself in Thailand or prefer to be driven. The trip is roughly 70 kilometers long from the north side of Chiang Mai’s Old City. It takes between one and a half to two hours depending on your speed and level of traffic.
Car or Motorbike
The trip to Chiang Dao is easy to drive. The roads are wide, well maintained, and have few curves and hills. In fact, we’re comfortable recommending that you drive yourself in a rental car or on a motorbike because the route is smooth and pleasant.
To get from Chiang Mai to Chiang Dao, leave from the Chang Puak Gate on the north side of the Old City’s Square Moat. Follow Route 107 for roughly 70 kilometers and you will see marker signs in English for Chiang Dao. It’s that simple!
If you are staying at the Nest 1 or 2, Malees Nature Lovers Resort, or Chiang Dao Hut, turn left at the major intersection marked by the yellow star on the map below.
| TIP: If you plan to ride a motorbike, make sure to wear long pants and a jacket or else wear sunscreen on your arms, back of your hands, and on the tops of your legs. It’s easy to get sunburned during the road trip. |
Mini Van or Orange Bus from Chang Puak Bus Station
If you’d rather not drive yourself, go to the Chang Puak Bus Station (สถานีขนส่งช้างเผือก) just north of Chiang Mai’s Old City. There are air-conditioned minivans and larger fan-only orange buses that make the trip every day.
You can contact the Chang Puak Bus Station at (053) 211-586 to confirm departure times and prices. However, it may be best to get a Thai friend or your guesthouse’s receptionist to make arrangements and book tickets for you in Thai.
A one-way ticket for an orange fan bus costs 40 baht. It leaves roughly every 30 minutes from 5:30 AM to 5:30 PM and again at 7:30 PM. The bus departs from Platform 4. Chiang Dao is the first stop along a route that continues to Fang and ends at Taton. Purchase tickets in cash at the centrally located circular-shaped ticket booth located near Platform 4.
A one-way ticket to Chiang Dao in a VIP air-conditioned van is 150 baht. These vehicles leave every hour from 7 AM to 5 PM. A separate company just behind the bus station can arrange this for you. There is no obvious “VIP Van” sign in English. You’ll have to walk past many parked red and yellow songthaews. The agency is in a small, dimly lit store directly across from a cluster of white vans under the green awnings.
Air-conditioned VIP Vans (150 baht per person) from Chiang Mai to Chiang Dao
If all else fails, speak with the worker at the Information Desk. They are next to the ticket counter back at the bus station can point you in the right direction.
Once you arrive at the orange Chiang Dao Bus Station, there is a motorbike rental about a kilometer away. It is directly left of the post office and the price is 400 baht per day.
The bright orange Chiang Dao Bus station offers fan buses and VIP vans to and from Chiang Mai.
Arrangements Made By Your Hotel
Some hotels are willing to help make transportation arrangements for you on your behalf. For example, the managers at the Chiang Dao Nest are happy to arrange for a direct pickup from your place of residence or hotel in Chiang Mai and will drop you off right at either Nest 1 or Nest 2. Prices are as follows (one-way) and include a driver:
- 1,550 baht for an air-conditioned van
- 1,250 baht for an air-conditioned car
- 1,050 baht for a songthaew
May I know we can go to Chiang Dao Cave around 2pm? Is it enough time to explore the Cave? How long does it needs to finish the walk in the cave? Can we go to Sticky Waterfall after that?
Yes, you can go to the cave at 2 pm. It takes a little more than 1 hour to explore the caves. I don’t recommend going to the sticky waterfalls after that because the drive will be far and you won’t have much time because the national park closes around sunset.
Very clear detail transportation information. Thanks:)
Thanks :)
Thank you for the very easy to understand instructions. I was hoping to go from Chiang Mai to the Sticky Waterfalls and then to on to Chiang Dao for the night. Is this doable? Is the easiest way by motorbike? Do you by any chance know if I can rent a motorbike in Chiang Dao to ride into Chiang Mai and then leave it there? Thank you so much.
Totally doable to visit the Sticky Waterfalls and then go to Chiang Dao. As far as renting the motorbike in one city and dropping it off in another, you’d have to speak with individual motorbike rental shops to see what their policies are. We don’t have a specific recommendation (without Googling it ourselves) but there may be one since Chiang Dao and Chiang Mai are only about an hour from each other. Have a great trip!
Wow this is a helpful page! Thank you!
We’re visiting in the high season, between Christmas and New Year’s, and will stay at Nest. Would like to take 150 bhat van or the bus — but do they get crazy crowded at that time of year, and will we have trouble getting a ticket? Also, do you know how to get to Nest from the drop off point once you’re in Chiang Dao?
We’d recommend buying the tickets in advance bc that’s a popular time for people to be vacationing (both Thais and tourists). The Nest can call and arrange for a taxi to pick you up from the bus stop. There may even be a taxi/songthaew or two waiting at the bus stop around arrival time that will go into town. Be sure to have the Nest’s address (in Thai) or phone number on hand just in case. Have a great time!
Our flight doesn’t arrive till 5 in the afternoon and we plan to go straight to chiang dao. you mentioned bus schedule will end at 5:30 and then resume again at 7:30.
do you know approx how much it would cost to take a taxi from chiang mai to chiang dao?
do you recommend traveling at that time, would it be safe to travel at night?
Yup – prices for a variety of private taxis are listed at the bottom of the post, right above the map :) And it’s safe to travel. It’s a short ride and the driver can take you directly to your guesthouse.
I’m beginning to visit your blog a lot lately. Do you ever host events around Chang Mai? I live here at the moment.
Not yet, but we are thinking about hosting monthly get-togethers for our membership site community.
Clear, succinct, and helpful. Thanks!