You'll ride a total of 153 km over 4 cycling days. The journey takes you across valley floors, rolling hills, and rice field plains as you travel from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai. This tour has been designed for the leisure cyclist, offering a blend of culture, nature, and venturing off the tourist track by bike. Rides take place on rolling terrain, cycling in a mix of paved and gravel/dirt roads in the northern Thai countryside. Days 1-3 you'll transfer to the cycling start point by van and on day 4 you'll take a boat, and then, after completing the ride at the White Temple, you'll transfer to Chiang Rai. This means busy main roads can be avoided and the distances are manageable, with a focus on the most enjoyable routes.
Besides fabulous cycling routes, touring highlights of the trip include visits to beautiful Buddhist temples, caves, local markets, hill tribe villages, and bountiful farmlands. For many, the most memorable moments are encounters with Thailand’s incredibly welcoming locals, always eager to wave hello and cheer you on! Food is another highlight of the tour and you’ll enjoy both Thai classics as well some northern specialties you may not have heard of.
The trip is fully supported, and your guide’s expert knowledge of the area and terrain means that you always know what is coming up in terms of distance and difficulty. This makes a tremendous difference, as does the constant supply of water and refreshments along the way.
Suitability: This trip is suitable for anyone with a reasonable level of fitness. You can expect a fairly gentle ride each day with none of the distances being overly long. Being in the mountainous north means that a hill is never far out of sight, but the route is designed to avoid any prolonged or overly steep ascents. Navigating narrow village lanes, bumpy country roads, and the odd stretch of hard-packed dirt or gravel requires some handling skills but does not involve technical manoeuvring. The main challenge of the tour is keeping up stamina over back-to-back riding days and cycling in the tropical heat. The pace is leisurely and with plenty of refreshment stops so riders with less experience are more than welcome to join. A support vehicle follows the group throughout the journey but be aware that it cannot always follow directly, instead meeting the group at intervals.
Biking Conditions: The overall split of paved and unpaved roads on this tour is roughly 75% / 25%. Paved surfaces are either asphalt or concrete with conditions ranging from very smooth to bumpy and cratered. Unpaved surfaces are predominantly farmer trails which range from hard-packed soil to loose but still grippy gravel. There are a few short sections of singletrack and rocky forest paths. Although much of the route is on quiet countryside roads with minimal traffic, you will regularly share the roads with cars, motorbikes, and buses. There are a handful of unavoidable sections along main provincial roads but these are few and far between. Although departures are scheduled to avoid the wettest times of the year, rainfall can occur at any time. You'll generally ride rain or shine, but based on the guide’s discretion or your comfort level, modifications to the planned route can be made. Additionally, from March through April, northern Thailand experiences its annual burning season, when smoke from agricultural field clearings causes smog. While we avoid this period entirely, the exact start date varies each year, and some early burnings may occur in February, impacting air quality on parts of the route.
SpiceRoads Cycling
SpiceRoads Cycling
A great way to explore the northern countryside and see lots of major sites on the way.
My husband and I had an amazing time, on the Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai trip. The organization of the trip was faultless and we were able to relax and enjoy the ride. The guide (named Ayay - not sure how to spell it) was friendly, knowledgeable, always cheerful; a…
My husband and I had an amazing time, on the Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai trip. The organization of the trip was faultless and we were able to relax and enjoy the ride. The guide (named Ayay - not sure how to spell it) was friendly, knowledgeable, always cheerful; a perfect combination of expertise and friendship. Mr Thai our driver was always there for us in the minibus, sorting out our bikes and setting up delicious fruit, drinks and thai snacks as a break on our rides. The rides themselves were very pleasant, through villages, paddy fields, farms, countryside, along the river etc, and it was wonderful to see the country at such close quarters.
We are both over 50 (I am less fit than my husband) but we managed the ride fine; it was undulating and between 35 and 50 km per day but we finished by 2-3 pm and were then able to relax in our accommodation. The hotels were of very good quality, in beautiful landscaped resorts, with individual rooms or chalets, a pool, and nature all around. We even had two excellent thai massages in the privacy of our room (much needed after a day in the saddle.
Ps ladies: the bikes are excellent and robust but they have sporty saddles. If you want more comfort bring your own saddle which is well worth the space in your suitcase). The food was excellent. Ayay helped us to order a selection of dishes to share and enthusiastically explained to us what they were and how they are cooked. When we were dropped at Chiang Rai airport at the end, Ayay even went to the extra effort of booking a car for us and negotiating a fee to be taken round the sights in Chiang Rai as we had several hours' wait before our flight. We are already looking up what trip to do next. We would definitely choose [the operator] as our tour company again, and our friends have also used them 3 times!
Just a memorable experience! So amazing words just can not describe! A perfect way to explore a country it's culture, nature and food. You will remember for a lifetime.