Near Chiang Mai
Elephant sanctuary and Thai cooking workshop
- Two experiences in one day
- Cook what you learn, then eat it
- Best for
- An elephant sanctuary and a cooking class in one day
- Skip if
- You would rather linger over either one
Food tour, about four hours
Chiang Mai food tour by songthaew: 15 tastings or more
You taste, the guide explains, and a songthaew, a red pickup with benches in the back, carries the group from one stop to the next. Nobody asks you to cook.
Duration
About 4 hours
Starts in
Wat Lok Molee
Price
At booking
The experience
- Best for
- Tasting local food with a guide, no cooking
- Not for you if
- You are vegetarian, vegan or pescatarian, you have a food allergy, or you came to cook rather than taste. If you avoid pork, check with the operator before booking: several tastings contain it
This is a tasting tour, not a class. You meet the guide at Wat Lok Molee, a temple just north of the old city moat, and spend about four hours eating your way across town in a group of eight at most. Between stops the group rides in a songthaew, the red pickup truck with two benches in the back that works as Chiang Mai's shared taxi. On this tour the truck is kept for the group, which lets the route cover more of the city than a walking tour could, and at each stop you get out and walk: along a market aisle, up to a stall, into a small restaurant. The operator is A Chef's Tour, and the guide speaks English.
The listing promises fifteen tastings or more. Which ones is the operator's call: the stops and the dishes change, and nothing on the booking page amounts to a fixed menu. Past participants mostly describe northern food, the kind our article on Lanna dishes covers, from khao soi, the curry noodle soup of the North, to pork dishes and laab, a minced-meat salad. Take that as the shape of the tour, not as a list anyone has promised you.
Read the rest
What the guide adds is the part you cannot get by pointing at a tray. You learn what a dish is called, what it is eaten with, and where its flavours came from, which in the North means Burmese, Shan (a people of eastern Myanmar) and Chinese influences as much as Thai ones. That is also what sets it apart from a cooking class. There, you cook five or six dishes yourself and take the recipes home. Here, you cook nothing, taste fifteen things or more, and leave knowing what to order on your own the next day.
Why this one
01
Fifteen tastings or more
Small portions, a lot of them, spread over about four hours. Arrive hungry and go easy at the first stops.
02
A guide who explains the food
What each dish is called, what goes into it, how it is eaten and how to order it again on your own. In English, for eight guests at most.
03
A songthaew between stops
The red truck with bench seats, kept for your group for the whole tour. You ride from one stop to the next and walk at each one.
04
Northern food, by most accounts
Past participants mostly describe dishes of the North rather than the Bangkok menu. Which ones you get on your date is up to the operator.
05
An easy meeting point
The grounds of Wat Lok Molee, a short walk from the north side of the old city, or an easy songthaew or Grab ride (the ride-hailing app) from elsewhere in town.
What is included
Included
- 15 or more tastings along the route
- Bottled water and soft drinks
- An English-speaking guide throughout
- Transport between stops in a songthaew reserved for the group
Not included
- Your own transport to the meeting point at Wat Lok Molee, and after the tour
- Anything you buy for yourself along the way
- Tips
Practical detail
- Duration
- About four hours
- Start time
- Shown for each date in the booking calendar. Check it before you plan the rest of the day
- Meeting point
- The grounds of Wat Lok Molee, on Manee Nopparat Road just north of the old city moat. Once inside, turn left: the guide waits under the large decorated tree beside the four-headed statue
- Getting there
- Participants join a shared meeting point: plan to get to Wat Lok Molee on your own, following your GetYourGuide confirmation. From there, the songthaew carries the group between stops
- Getting around
- By songthaew between stops, with some walking at each one. Comfortable shoes help
- Group
- Eight guests at most, who may come from several separate bookings. The truck is reserved for the group, which does not make it a private tour
- The tastings
- 15 or more. The operator chooses the stops and dishes, and they vary: there is no fixed menu
- Dietary needs
- As listed on GetYourGuide for this booking: not suitable for vegetarians, vegans or pescatarians, for food allergies (nuts and shellfish included), or if you cannot eat soy sauce. Several tastings contain pork and the operator does not announce a substitute for them: if you do not eat pork, confirm with the operator before booking
- Weather
- It runs rain or shine. In the rainy season, bring an umbrella
- Cancellation
- Free cancellation applies; the exact terms for your booking are shown before you pay
Common questions
Is this a private tour?
No. The songthaew is reserved for the group for the whole tour, but the group can be up to eight guests from several separate bookings. A truck kept for the group is not the same thing as a private tour.
Is there a hotel pickup?
No pickup is announced: participants join a shared meeting point. Plan to get to Wat Lok Molee on your own, following your GetYourGuide confirmation. From there, the songthaew carries the group between stops; it is not a pickup service.
Can I join as a vegetarian, or with a food allergy?
No. For bookings made through GetYourGuide, the tour is listed as unsuitable for vegetarians, vegans and pescatarians, for food allergies including nuts and shellfish, and for anyone who cannot eat soy sauce. Several tastings also contain pork, and the operator does not announce a substitute for those dishes: if you do not eat pork, confirm with the operator before booking rather than counting on an adaptation. If you are looking at a cooking class instead because of an allergy, ask the school directly what it can adapt and how it handles cross-contamination.
What time does it start?
The booking calendar shows the start time for each date, and that is the one to go by. Listings for this tour have described different times of day, so check yours before you plan around it.
Food tour or cooking class?
A cooking class if you want to make the dishes again at home: you cook five or six of them yourself. This tour if you would rather taste more of them, where they are made, and come away knowing what to order. The two hardly overlap, and on a longer trip they sit well together.
Book it
Ready when you are
Dates, times and live prices come up at the next step. Booking takes two minutes, and the cancellation terms are shown before you pay.
Other tours in this category
Old city
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- Herb garden walk before you cook
- Local market shop with the chef
- Best for
- A short class in town, the herbs first
- Skip if
- You want a full day, more dishes and a farm
Organic farm
Authentic cooking class with market and farm visit
- Pick your own herbs on the farm
- The longest-running class on this list
- Best for
- Picking your own herbs, then cooking them
- Skip if
- You only have an afternoon and no appetite for a drive
Cooking farm
Half-day cooking class on a Thai cooking farm
- Morning or afternoon slot
- Good if you only have one free day
- Best for
- One free day, a morning or an afternoon to fill
- Skip if
- You want the market as part of the lesson