Phrae

Phrae is a Lanna teak town trapped in amber — the old city is ringed by ancient walls and filled with beautifully preserved teak mansions from the logging boom era. Vongburi House and Ban Prathap Jai (also called Khum Chao Luang) are the standouts: ornate two-story teak houses with gingerbread trim that wouldn't look out of place in the American South. Wat Luang is the province's principal temple, with a Lanna-era chedi and a small museum.

Phae Mueang Phi, a wind-and-rain-eroded sandstone formation about 20 km from town, looks like a miniature Bryce Canyon — mushroom pillars and hoodoos in ochre and rust. The indigo-dyed maw hom (farmer's shirt) is Phrae's signature craft: workshops in the surrounding villages dye and sew the distinctive blue shirts that have become a Thai fashion staple. The old town is compact and walkable, with almost no tourists, and the surrounding countryside of teak forests and rice valleys makes for excellent motorbike riding.