Things to do in Lampang
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Lampang
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Cool season and the window: warm days, cool mornings, clearest skies, Kad Kong Ta and the hot springs at their best.
Hot season and smoke peak: PM2.5 can reach unhealthy levels, hills vanish, and sightseeing becomes a morning only activity.
Rainy season: green, cheap and uncrowded, with heavy bursts, flexible excursion days and waterfall flow building late in the season.
Shoulder sweet spot: green hills, improving waterfall flow, start of the Mae Mo flower season and usually clean air.
Hinge month: still cool early, but smoke can start, so watch air quality before booking February dates.
What's on
- Salung Luang and Songkran Festival 12 to 14 April
A Lanna dressed procession carries the great silver water bowl through town for Songkran, in peak heat and possible smoke.
- Mae Moh Festival November, exact dates vary by year
A provincial festival around the bua tong bloom at the EGAT Mae Mo gardens, with viewpoints and local crowds.
- Loy Krathong Full moon, November
Floats and lanterns on the Wang River, a gentle bonus to a cool season trip rather than a headline event.
Best things to do in Lampang
Wat Phra Kaew Don Tao Suchadaram
Lampang's principal temple, home of the Emerald Buddha from 1434 to 1468, with a 50 metre Mon chedi and a Burmese mondop.
Wat Si Rong Mueang
The finest Burmese temple in Lampang, built with teak trade money in 1904, with tiered roofs and glass decorated teak pillars.
Baan Sao Nak
A teak mansion from 1895 on 116 pillars, mixing Lanna structure with a Burmese verandah, now a small period museum.
Kad Kong Ta Street Market
The weekend walking street on Talad Gao Road, local food stalls and live music among a century of trading shophouses.
Dhanabadee Ceramic Museum
The original rooster bowl factory museum, with a dragon kiln, production tours, painting activities and a factory outlet.
Lampang horse drawn carriage ride
A working carriage ride through the old city, past the clock tower, shophouses and temples, priced per carriage.
Nakhon Lampang Railway Station
A handsome colonial influenced working station on the Bangkok to Chiang Mai line, near Wat Si Rong Mueang.
Riverside and old shophouse quarters
A free walk through a century of Chinese, Burmese, colonial and Lanna shophouses along the Wang River frontage.
Where to stay in Lampang
Old Town and Riverside, Talad Gao Road
atmosphere, Kad Kong Ta and walking
The shophouse quarter by the Wang River, with the character guesthouse stay and the weekend walking street on the doorstep.
Wang River southwest, Ko Kha side
resort calm and Wat Phra That Lampang Luang days
Big Lanna gardens on the river southwest of the centre, in the same direction as the great temple at Ko Kha.
Edge of Lampang
quiet and the best hosted stay
Rice field views and a small pool resort about 15 minutes from the centre, best with a car or planned Grab rides.
Central hotel cluster
practical mid range and budget bases
Conventional hotels and budget chains a short ride from the old town, best for drivers and early departures.
Think twice about
- Phahonyothin highway strip
Not unsafe, but soulless and car dependent. Sleeping here means driving past the old city you came to see.
Best restaurants in Lampang
The Riverside Restaurant Lampang
Lampang's local splurge, Thai dishes, drinks and live music on the Wang River, lively rather than fine dining.
Mr Lasagna
A small Italian kitchen in a renovated shophouse, the pasta and lasagna pick for a slower mid range dinner.
Butterhead Kitchen & Bake Shop
A cafe kitchen and bake shop with a broad international menu, good for a long lunch and cakes to take away.
Mae Hae Restaurant
A long running northern Thai kitchen, famous for gaeng hung lay, tam kanun and sai ua grilled in coconut husks.
Aroy One Baht
A wooden house of small, fast, cheap dishes built around one baht boiled rice, a Lampang evening legend.
Khao Soi Islam
A halal shophouse serving hand made khao soi with chicken or beef, rated among the finest bowls in Thailand.
Best coffee in Lampang
MAHAMITr Microroaster
Lampang's specialty coffee pick, a microroaster cafe with Thai and imported beans and a riverside balcony.
Outdoor things to do in Lampang
Wat Phra That Lampang Luang
The province's great fortified Lanna temple, zodiac temple of the Ox, with old wooden halls and rare murals.
Thai Elephant Conservation Center
A government centre whose elephant hospital treats animals from across Thailand, with nursery and rehabilitation areas.
Chae Son National Park
Hot spring fields at about 73 degrees where you boil eggs in the pools, plus private bath huts at about 40 degrees.
Chae Son Waterfall
A six level waterfall in the park forest, with pools at several levels, at its best after the rains.
Mae Moh Mine Museum
A museum of geology, fossils and lignite mining at Thailand's largest open pit mine, with EGAT gardens nearby.
Best hotels in Lampang
Lampang River Lodge
Lampang's top stay, a Lanna style lodge in big gardens on the Wang River, calm and green rather than grand.
Baan Suchadaa Lampang Resort
A seven room resort with a pool over rice fields, much praised hosting and food, about 15 minutes from the centre.
Wienglakor Hotel
The reliable full service hotel in the city, with restaurant, bar and conventional rooms at honest mid range value.
The Riverside Guest House
Traditional wooden houses in a river garden by Kad Kong Ta, with praised breakfasts and helpful hosts.
Karpenter Lampang
A small, design led central hotel with simple, stylish rooms, a practical base for Kad Kong Ta weekends.
HOP INN Lampang
A clean, modern budget chain hotel near the bus terminal, quiet at night and strong on predictable value.
B2 Lampang Boutique & Budget Hotel
A modern, clean budget hotel with decent, spacious rooms, the other proven cheap sleep in the city.
Is Lampang expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | THB 900 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | THB 1,800 a person |
| Splurge | THB 3,800 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Lampang River Lodge: weeks ahead
- Baan Suchadaa Lampang Resort: weeks ahead
- The Riverside Guest House: a few days ahead
- The Riverside Restaurant Lampang: a few days ahead
- Book rooms a little ahead for cool season weekends and the New Year period.
- Book Baan Suchadaa as a group, because it has only about seven rooms.
- Time the whole trip to include a Saturday or Sunday evening for Kad Kong Ta.
Is Lampang safe?
- From February to April, PM2.5 smoke can reach unhealthy levels in Lampang: check air quality daily and wear an N95 or KN95 on bad days.
Lampang travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Agree carriage, songthaew and seafood by weight prices before riding or cooking starts.
- Do not arrive at Khao Soi Islam on old published hours, because current listings disagree and show a Monday closure.
- Do not assume Baan Sao Nak is open, because current aggregators conflict between daily opening and temporarily closed.
Getting around Lampang: public transport and more
- Walk the old town cluster, and use songthaews, Grab and carriages for Wat Si Rong Mueang and the station.
- Hire a car and driver for Wat Phra That Lampang Luang, the elephant centre, Chae Son and Mae Mo, agreeing route and price first.
- Lampang is on the Bangkok to Chiang Mai railway, about two to three hours by train from Chiang Mai, and trains run late routinely.
- Lampang Luang and the elephant centre lie in opposite directions from town, so a combined day is a loop needing an early start.
Who Lampang suits
| Solo travellers | Great |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Lampang your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App Store