Highlights & Hidden Gems With Locals: Best of Chiang Mai Private Tour

A private, up to 8-guest walking tour through Chiang Mai’s old city, meeting by the “Imm Hotel” sign for a 3-hour route built around two contrasting temples. Wat Phan Tao, the free all-teak Lanna temple, comes first — no entry fee, no ticket line. From there the guide walks to Wat Phra Singh, the city’s most revered temple, where admission is already covered in the tour price rather than paid at the gate. A stop near the old city walls covers Chiang Mai’s founding history before the guide branches into whichever backstreets and neighbourhood spots suit the day — up to five further stops are left open and vary by guide, so no two groups see quite the same lanes.

One local drink or tasting is included along the route; extra food and drinks are paid separately, and hotel pickup or drop-off isn’t part of the package, so budget time to reach the Imm Hotel meeting point on foot or by taxi. Reviews sit at 4.8 from 180 travellers, and being fully private means the pace bends around the group rather than following a fixed script — useful for slower walkers or anyone who wants to linger at one temple over another.

It runs the same Withlocals private-tour format as the operator’s Bangkok tour, which instead centres on Wat Arun, a flower market and Memorial Bridge — worth comparing before booking one city over the other.

Insider Tip: Roughly five of the eight itinerary stops flex by guide — say upfront if there’s a specific lane, market or temple worth prioritising, since the route past the first three stops isn’t fixed.