Day Trip to Gorgeous Mae Kampong Village

Experience northern Thailand with this family day trip from Chiang Mai

Take a drive to the locally famous Mae Kampong ancient village and see lush jungle, a waterfall, and walk across a suspension bridge along the way

A day trip out to Mae Kampong is a wonderful family friendly adventure with many chances to stop along the way. You will get to see a different side to northern Thailand and visit an ancient village that will make you question whether you are in Thailand at all! The sights along the way are beautiful and the drive alone is worth it. There is so much to pack into a day out to Mae Kampong.

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A bit of history about Mae Kampong

Mae Kampong is village that is over 100 years old. It is famous due to its largely original architecture and its stunning location. The village is located along a valley with both sides of the local creek surrounded by mountains, coffee and tea plantations, abundant waterfalls and forests. Local Thai’s love visiting Mae Kampong because it has cool weather all year round. This is due to it being 1,300 metres above sea level!

Mae Kampong village is surrounded by an abundance of ecosystems and you can expect to see a wide biodiversity of natural vegetation. In fact, the village itself is named after the Kampong Flower which only grow here. If you are lucky you will see the yellow-red flowers growing near the creek on your day trip there!

Why you should visit Mae Kampong Village

The village along is well worth seeing, but it’s really all the adventures along the way that make this day trip from Chiang Mai worth it. The other bonus is that this day trip is very, very affordable and is perfect for a family budget. Quite a few of the activities along the way are free or quite reasonable making this an affordable day drip from Chiang Mai.

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What can you expect to see and do along the way to Mae Kampong?

The first thing to decide is whether you are going to drive there yourself, or hire a private driver. We do not recommend taking a tour to visit Mae Kampong as they will rush you and will not stop at all the destinations you would like.

Once you know how you are getting around, you can decide which of the local attractions you would like to see. We have written a recommended itinerary for a trip to Mae Kampong below for you to check out and of course feel free to make your own!

So what is there to see and do? Well, there is actually plenty! In order to see it all you must drive along the 1317 which heads towards San Kampaeng and Mae On district.

The first stop could be Inter Mini Golf Chiang Mai which is located within Golden Elephant Resort. To play is 100 baht per adult and 60 baht per child for an 18 hole mini-golf course!

From here you can visit a local farm with some farm animals. It’s called The Dutch Farm where they also offer horse riding lessons. While it’s a beautiful place and the animals seem to be well taken care of, we actually found the entrance fee to be ridiculous for what you actually see and do.

The entrance fee for Dutch Farm is 150 baht per adult and 80 baht per child. On top of that if you wish to feed any of the animals, it’s another 20 baht per tiny bushel. In my personal opinion, we were all very disappointed by it all, however if your kids love sheep and horses, then it may be a worthwhile stop.

Next up is a hike up (and down) to Muang On Cave! If you are lucky, you may even see the local troupe of wild monkeys on the drive up. The entrance fee is just 30 baht per adult (kids are free and Thai’s are free). There is a stairway hike up to the cave entrance and then quite a steep climb down into the cave itself. If you’ve still got energy left after the climb back out of the cave, you can continue to hike up the path to a beautiful viewpoint on top of the hill and stand atop the cave for a scenic view of the area.

From here, the next place to visit is the San Kampaeng Hot Spring. Entrance is unfortunately dual priced with local’s paying 40 baht for adults and 20 baht per child. Foreigners pay 100 baht per adult and 50 baht per child, although if you have a Thai driver’s licence you can get Thai price. It’s a lovely spot with a playground, swimming area, and hot springs to dip your legs in.

Another destination on the way to Mae Kampong, is the Teen Tok Royal Project. It’s essentially a botanical research centre and it is by far the most gorgeous and biodiverse botanical garden I have seen in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Entrance is free and we highly, highly recommend taking a stop here. More information below in the day trip to Mae Kampong itinerary!

Next up is Mae Kampong itself! You’ll know you are near when the traffic slows. Once you see the village look for parking where ever you can. Parking can be difficult to find and may take a while. Once you have found a spot, it’s time to explore on foot taking photos and be sure to eat at one of the local restaurants that overhang the creek. The eateries don’t look like much from the outside, but walk through to the porches and you’ll be in a mini-paradise.

After a meal of local delicacies, talk a walk through the entire town from end to end. You’ll have to walk on the street as there are no sidewalks, so keep an eye out for passing cars. Take time to investigate all options. We happened upon the highlight of Mae Kampong which is walking about 30 meters above the ground across the jungle! Learn more about walking the suspension bridge in our itinerary below.

Finally, you’ll want to drive about 5 minutes further out of town to see the Mae Kampong Waterfall. Parking and entrance are both free and you can cool off a bit in the water with a dip of your feet.

Check out these other day trips from Chiang Mai!

Day Trip to Muang On Cave Chiang Mai

Visit This Incredible Canyon in Chiang Mai

Go Bamboo Rafting in Chiang Mai and Feed Elephants

Recommended day trip itinerary to Mae Kampong, Chiang Mai

So while you could attempt to do everything suggested above, it would make for a very long day. We still recommend starting out early in the morning as you’ll want to beat the crowds to Mae Kampong.

We definitely suggest that you either hire a driver for the day and share your itinerary with him or her, or you take your own vehicle to get there! This way you are free to take your time and explore at your own leisure. The itinerary below is just a suggestion and you could easily mix and match with attractions mentioned above.

First stop – The Teen Tok Royal Project

We headed out onto the open road at 9 am and decided to drive straight to the Teen Tok Royal Project Development Centre. Royal Projects exist all over Thailand and are government funded research centres that focus on the research and development of flora, both indigenous and foreign. They tend to be absolutely beautiful places to visit and this one did not disappoint.

The drive here takes about an hour. We actually drove past it initially. There were signs posted leading up to it, and yet there were no signs at the actual destination. Have your GPS on and ready. We parked out cars on the right hand side and entered through the cafe. There are also much needed washrooms here!

The cafe overlooks the greenery below and serves nice cold drinks and tasty food. It has a pathway that leads down to an oasis.

We easily spent about an hour here walking through the landscaped gardens, over bridges, and down pathways. We investigated new and never before seen plants and fruits. The kids climbed up and slid down enormous boulders and we relaxed by the creek running through the Royal Project.

The whole experience was so relaxing and the kids had the freedom to run around and enjoy themselves. We had to pull ourselves away to leave! I think I took about 100 photos here alone.

Second stop – Mae Kampong Village

Our trip continued to Mae Kampong Village. We knew we were close as traffic started backing up a bit and there were lots of people walking up and down the road. Our friend said to keep driving until the temple which would have parking. It was absolutely full! We had to drive further to turn around and drive back through the village. Eventually we found parking by offering to pay to park in someone’s driveway. Expect parking to be a challenge and you may have to drive back and forth through the village a few times to get a spot.

After parking we walked through the 100 year old village taking photos and stopped for lunch. We enjoyed some of the best northern food I’ve ever had all made with locally grown and (mostly) organic ingredients. There are quite a few restaurant options but you’ll want to eat at any of the ones on the side where the creek runs down. These establishments offer porch seating where you are practically in the jungle listening to rushing water flow by and seeing the jungle up close.

After eating, we suggest walking around Mae Kampong a bit more and head west to a place called Teddu Coffee & Inn. It’s only between a 5-10 minute walk and will be on the right hand side.

Here, you can walk across a suspension bridge! First you must walk down to the valley below and purchase a drink or some dessert and enjoy it among the beautiful leafy jungle by a creek. If you choose not to purchase anything, then there is a fee to walk across the bridge.

The suspension bridge is actually the way out of the restaurant (you can also climb up the way you entered if heights are not your thing). The bridge was well made and structural sound when we visited. The kids loved going across but you only get one go at it so take your time! The exit leaves you back up to the main road where you can walk back to your vehicle.

Third stop – Mae Kampong Waterfall

From here it is just a short 5 minute drive to the Mae Kampong Waterfall. You’ll know you are there when you see cars parking along the road and you come to a sharp bend in the road to the right.

Then you walk past the entrance (it is free to enter!) and take the pathway to the waterfall. The waterfall is actually really tall. It extends to 7 tiers! You can climb up a set of stair to the second tier, but beyond that the path has been deemed unsafe.

You can dip your feet in the water if you wish but this waterfall is not for swimming in.

Fourth stop – San Kampaeng Hot Spring

This is a perfect final stop as it’s on the way back to Chiang Mai. The San Kampaeng Hot Spring has got something for everyone – a playground, massages, cold drinks and beer, a hot spring to dip your legs in, a swimming area for children, a mineral pool for the whole family, and huge green grassy areas to run around on. You can learn more about the San Kampaeng Hot Spring in our full post about it.

Optional fifth stop – Muang Cave

If you had time you could tack on the Muang On Cave which is a short drive from the hot springs and hike up to the viewpoint for sunset!

How to get to Mae Kampong Village

As mentioned earlier, the best ways to experience this day trip from Chiang Mai, are to either hire a driver or drive yourself here. These options will give you the greatest freedom with your time and choices to explore all that you want to see!

To get to Mae Kampong Village, the route you must take to visit all of the attractions mentioned above is the 1317 which heads towards San Kampaeng. You follow the 1317 until there is signage indicating to keep right and head towards Mae Kampong.

While Google Maps says it’s about a 1.5 hour drive to get to Mae Kampong area, in reality expect it to take 2 hours or more if you make stops along the way.

The closer you get to Mae Kampong, the more mountainous and hilly the roads will get. It’s a gorgeous twisty drive! Just be mindful of passing cars coming head-on as it’s a single lane road once you turn off the main 1317 road. Just take your time and you’ll be fine.