Lampang

Lampang is the Chiang Mai that time forgot — a Lanna city with horse-drawn carriages still clip-clopping through the old town, teak mansions along the Wang River, and a fraction of the tourists. Wat Phra That Lampang Luang is one of the most important Lanna temples in Thailand: an ancient fortified temple with a 1,000-year-old chedi, stunning murals, and a remarkable camera-obscura effect inside one of the chapels that projects an inverted image of the chedi.

The old town's Kad Kong Ta walking street (Saturday-Sunday evenings) is intimate and local, with handicrafts and northern food. The Thai Elephant Conservation Center, about 30 km outside town, was the country's first government elephant hospital and offers a more educational experience than most sanctuaries. Chae Son National Park has hot springs and a waterfall you can camp beside, and the ceramic village of Ko Kha produces Lampang's famous rooster-motif bowls — the iconic chicken bowls found in noodle shops across Thailand originate here.