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Chiang Rai: White Temple, Blue Temple & Red Temple from Chiang Mai

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Duration12h

GroupUp to 9

LanguagesEN · CM +3

PickupAt your hotel

Three temples, one long drive, and why the route actually works

You visit three temples across Chiang Rai in a single day: the White Temple's architectural detail, the Blue Temple's tranquil blue atmosphere, and the Red Temple's 9-tiered pagoda with panoramic countryside views. The guide handles the 172-kilometer drive from Chiang Mai (three hours each way), entry to the White Temple is included, and hotel pickup and drop-off remove the logistics. Lunch is on your own, which gives you control over where you eat.

12h

Step-by-step itinerary

Stop at DOI CHAANG Caffè Mae Suai
Marvel at the White Temple
Lunch at local restaurant
Explore the Blue Temple
Visit the Red Temple and pagoda

The Experience

What if the temples you've seen in a hundred photos are even stranger in person? The White Temple isn't just white—it's a living artwork, all sharp angles and modern detail, designed by a Thai artist who decided a temple could look like nothing else on earth. You start the morning at a coffee shop called DOI CHAANG Caffè Mae Suai, somewhere between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, just to stretch your legs and settle into the drive. The distance is about 172 kilometers one way, so yeah, three hours in the van, but the guide talks the whole time and the air conditioning works.

After the White Temple, you break for lunch at a local restaurant—you pay for that yourself, which is fine because you get to choose what you eat—and then it's the Blue Temple. The name is literal. The walls are this vivid blue that photographs don't quite capture, and the whole place feels quieter than the White Temple, more like a place where people actually come to sit and think. The contrast between the two is the whole point of the day. You're not rushing; the guide sets the pace, and there's time to walk around, to notice the details, to take photos that don't look like everyone else's.

The Red Temple—Wat Huay Pla Kang—is where the day lands hardest. There's a massive 9-tiered pagoda, shrine halls that feel endless, and a colossal white Guan Yin statue that overlooks the Chiang Rai countryside from the top. You climb up there and the view just opens. It's the kind of moment that makes the three-hour drive back feel worth it. The tour wraps when you're back in Chiang Mai, usually in the evening, and you're tired in the way that means you actually did something.

The company running this is GSTC-certified, which means they're thinking about carbon footprint and not just moving bodies through temples. Your guide speaks English, the van is air-conditioned, and they give you water in a glass bottle instead of plastic. Hotel pickup and drop-off are included, so you don't have to figure out how to get to a meeting point or negotiate a tuk-tuk ride at the end of a long day. If you want more space and fewer people in the van, you can upgrade to an Alphard—that's four people max instead of however many fits, plus snacks and cold towels.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel pickup and drop-off from Chiang Mai, an English-speaking guide for the entire journey, air-conditioned vehicle transport for the 172-kilometer round trip to Chiang Rai, entrance fee to the White Temple, and drinking water in a glass bottle.
Lunch at a local restaurant is your own expense.
If you upgrade to the Alphard van, you also receive complimentary snacks, cool towels, and soft drinks, with a maximum group size of four people.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyPublic transport nearbyNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problems

Operated by TripGuru Thailand

Is this one for you?A good fit if you want to see three distinct temples in one day without arranging transport, entry fees, or timing yourself—the fixed itinerary and included guide handle all of that. Plan for a full day out: the three-hour drive each way is part of what makes visiting all three temples in a single trip possible.