Where should I stay on Koh Tao for a diving course?

Sairee Beach. Most dive schools are based there, many bundle accommodation with courses, and being able to roll from bed to briefing to boat is exactly the convenience you want mid-course.

Which part of Koh Tao is best for non-divers?

Chalok and the southern bays for calm swimming and an easy pace, or an east-coast cove like Tanote if snorkelling is your thing — some of the island's best reef sits within fin-kick of the beach.

Is Koh Tao good for families?

Yes, with the right base. Chalok Baan Kao and Shark Bay offer sheltered, shallow water and a quieter scene than Sairee. Just note the island is hilly and taxis are pricey, so pick a bay you're happy to mostly stay in.

Do I need a scooter on Koh Tao?

Not if you stay on the west side — Sairee and Mae Haad connect by an easy flat walk. For the east and south coasts you'll want wheels or boat rides, but be honest about your riding: Koh Tao's hills are steep and its roads unforgiving for beginners.

Northern Thailand · Where to stay

Where to stay in Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is a city of distinct neighbourhoods, and they are close enough that you can walk between some of them. Where you sleep decides what your mornings look like.

Start with the moat

Chiang Mai's Old City is a square kilometre and a half surrounded by a moat and the remains of a 13th-century wall. Almost everything a first-time visitor comes for is inside it or a short walk away: the big temples, the Sunday Walking Street, cheap guesthouses, massage shops and enough restaurants to eat somewhere different every night for a fortnight.

Café-lined street in the Nimman district

It is also the easiest place to be without transport, which is not a small thing in a city where the traffic is heavier than the postcards suggest. Tha Phae Gate on the eastern side is the natural landmark: stand there and you are ten minutes' walk from the river in one direction and the middle of the Old City in the other.

Transport

Tickets & connections

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Tours

Tours & activities

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Quick guide

Which area

Old City — temples, walkable, best for a first visit
Nimman — cafés, design, coworking; no old town feel
Riverside — quiet, greener, older hotels
Night Bazaar / Chang Klan — most rooms, market nightly, busiest
Santitham — cheap and local, between the two
Mae Rim & Hang Dong — resorts and rice fields, transport needed

Nimman, the river and the Night Bazaar

Nimmanhaemin — everyone says Nimman — sits west of the Old City next to the university. This is the coffee, design and condo quarter: speciality roasters, small galleries, coworking spaces and the Maya mall. It suits people staying a while, and people who would rather have a flat white than a temple. It has almost no old buildings.

The riverside along the Ping is the quiet option, with older hotels, big trees and restaurants over the water. Just south of it, Chang Klan is the Night Bazaar district: the most hotel rooms, a market every single evening and the most tourists per square metre in the city. Convenient, not charming.

Good to know

Before you book

Red songthaews are the local buses: flag one, say where you are going, expect 30–50 baht in town.
The Sunday Walking Street closes the Old City's main street — good to be inside it, bad to drive across it.
The airport is about fifteen minutes from the Old City, so a late flight is not a problem.
Book Old City rooms early for Yi Peng in November; the good ones go months ahead.

Cheap, local, or out of town altogether

Santitham, wedged between the Old City and Nimman, is where the prices drop. It is residential, Thai, and full of cheap food; you give up a bit of polish and gain a neighbourhood that is awake at seven in the morning for reasons that have nothing to do with tourism.

Further out, the foothills below Doi Suthep and the valleys at Mae Rim and Hang Dong hold resorts, pools and rice-field views. They are lovely and they commit you to a car or a scooter for everything, including dinner. Good for a few nights at the end of a trip, awkward as a base for a first visit.

The Sunday Walking Street in the Old City

Frequently asked questions

Which is the best area to stay in Chiang Mai for a first visit?

The Old City. The temples, the Sunday market and most of the cheap food are inside the moat, and you can do the whole area on foot.

Is Nimman better than the Old City?

Only if you want cafés, shops and modern rooms more than temples. Nimman is a newer district next to the university, with very little historic Chiang Mai in it.

Where should you stay in Chiang Mai without a scooter?

The Old City or the Night Bazaar area. Both are walkable and well served by red songthaews. Mae Rim and Hang Dong are not.

Is the Night Bazaar area worth staying in?

It is convenient — the most hotel rooms in the city and a market every night — but it is also the most touristy part of Chiang Mai and short on atmosphere by day.