Many experiences in Chiang Mai are ideal for the budget traveler – grazing on street food, enjoying relaxing traditional Thai massages, sipping red iced tea, renting a scooter to buzz out to waterfalls and hot springs – but everyone knows that the best things in life are free. And Chiang Mai has experiences by the bucketload that cost absolutely nothing at all.
Start with the city’s myriad ancient wat (Buddhist monasteries), most of which can be visited any day of the week without paying an entry fee. Then there are Chiang Mai’s mesmerizing markets, where you can immerse yourself in local culture for nothing (if you can resist the urge to splash out on drool-inducing street food and incredibly artful handicrafts).