The gibbon trek day we book
Gibbon trek day to Mae Kampong
★ 4.9 · 804 reviews total
- Fromfrom $75
- Length7 hrs
- CancellationIncluded
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Choose when you want to go and how many people join: the total changes as you do, and the next page gives the live price and the open times.
- Cancel at no cost up to 24 hrs before
- Pay later when you book
- Typically full 6 days ahead
Trip checklist
Included items, things to bring, exclusions
Included4
- Pickup in Chiang Mai and the drive back
- A live guide speaking English
- A coffee, tea or smoothie at a view cafe
- Lunch scheduled in the village
Bring3
- A warm layer for the cool hills
- Shoes with grip for the steep, uneven trail
- Water and a rain jacket
Not in the cost2
- Cash for extra snacks and souvenirs
- Tips for the guide and driver
7hours
for the full day out of Chiang Mai
7people
at most in each small group
804reviews
from guests on GetYourGuide
1,300m
up in the hills above the city
Compare tours
Four Mae Kampong days from Chiang Mai side by side
Giant Cafe and Mae Kampong day
Chiang Mai: The Giant Café & Mae Kampong Village Day Trip
★ 4.9 · 401 reviews total
- Fromfrom $51
- Length8 hrs
- CancellationIncluded
Private day with hot springs and Bo Sang
Chiang Mai: Mae Kampong Village, Hot Springs & Bor Sang Tour
★ 4.9 · 33 reviews total
- Fromfrom $105
- Length8 hrs
- CancellationIncluded
Jungle hike and cooking class
Chiang Mai: Mae Kampong Jungle Hike and Cooking Class
★ 4.8 · 5 reviews total
- Fromfrom $60
- Length8 hrs
- CancellationIncluded
Making sense of it
The tour sold here next to three other ways to spend a day in Mae Kampong, each priced and rated live.
Starting rates per person, as listed on GetYourGuide.
Testimonials
Guest ratings and notes
4.9
★★★★★804 checked reviews
The whole family loved it. Our guides and the person who looks after the gibbons were warm and knowledgeable, and lunch was even adapted for my son's allergies.
VickyJuly 2026, with family
My favorite day in Chiang Mai. Our guide taught us about the jungle herbs, and watching the gibbons live naturally was a joy.
PreetJuly 2026, traveling solo
A favorite tour of our trip. The guide knew the local plants well, lunch was lovely, and it felt good that the money supports local people and the gibbons.
ArianaJuly 2026, as a couple
Such a fun day: we saw gibbons, visited a temple, hiked to a waterfall and ended with lunch. The guides explained the plants we passed.
KellyJuly 2026, as a couple
Our guides knew so much, the scenery and meal were great, and we spotted gibbons with their baby in the wild. The trek was hot but worth every step.
GillianJuly 2026, with family
Comfortable transport and guides happy to teach us. We tried regional coffee and tea, and the gibbons were gorgeous. Wear proper walking shoes.
GraceJune 2026, as a couple
the day in brief
What a Mae Kampong tour from Chiang Mai involves
A Mae Kampong tour is a day in the mountains with a few fixed points and some room to move. The listing behind this site lasts 7 hours, includes pickup and puts a guide who speaks English in front of a group of at most 7 people. You are collected between 08.00 and 08.30, and you are dropped back at your accommodation around 15.00.
Five ingredients fill the hours between: the gibbon hike, a forest trail, a stroll through the village lanes, a drink at a view cafe and lunch. Nothing in it is rushed, and the order can change, since the caretaker may hear the gibbons earlier than expected. That flexibility is part of the appeal, because the guides know the forest and can adapt.
Places start from $75, nothing is charged when you reserve, and a cancellation made 24 hours or more ahead is refunded in full. The day goes ahead in any weather, so choose a date, pack a rain layer and let the guides handle the rest of the planning. If your dates are open, that makes the booking easy to hold early and adjust later.
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View Mae Kampong listingsImage gallery
Gibbons, a waterfall and a village in the hills
Photos from Mae Kampong days out of Chiang Mai
the road up
East out of the city and up the mountain
The village, also spelled Mae Kampung, lies roughly 50 km from Chiang Mai, and an FAO case study describes the drive as about 1 hour east on Highway 1317, past Sankampaeng district. The listing counts the same in its itinerary, with a car leg of 1 hour out and another back. Early on the road is easy; later it climbs. Those two figures are the ones to plan around, whatever your hotel is.
The last few km are winding, which is why the booking advice mentions sickness tablets for anyone who needs them. Take the front seat if you are prone to it, and take the tablet before the bends rather than in the middle of them. A van with a driver who knows the corners is a calmer way to meet this road than your own hire car.
By 09.40 the group is in the village, and the cool air of the hills greets you as you step out. Up at roughly 1,300 meters, the village sits well above the city, which is why a light jacket makes sense even when Chiang Mai is hot. Our guide to the road also covers the other ways to get there, including the private driver, the hire car and the question of the bus.
Book, no fee to cancelthe village
A village that turned to tourism on its own terms
Mae Kampong village is a community-based tourism project. The Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office says over 30 households take part and that their tourism revenue goes into a cooperative, which funds social and environmental activities. The village also pioneered homestays in Thailand, and over 20 now meet the national tourism authority\'s standards.
Its roots are in the highland crops: coffee was planted here for a Royal Project in the 1980s, and arabica and tea leaves are still promoted by the Teen Tok project. Walk the main road and you pass old wooden shophouses selling Lanna food and souvenirs. It is a pleasant pairing of crops with a view: coffee and tea from the village lanes, and the forest that shelters them.
The village\'s homestay scheme also won a runner-up place in a national rural tourism award in 2020. That is useful context for a visitor: the day you book sits inside a scheme with rules, a cap on homestays and a shared purse, not a pop-up attraction.
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Your day out
Hike to the gibbons, taste the forest, stay for lunch.
Pickup in Chiang Mai, small group, English guide; cancel free up to 24 hours ahead.
the gibbons
Meeting the gibbons, and why nothing is promised
The gibbon visit is a short hike to the place where released gibbons now live. These are gibbons that a rehabilitation project released, and part of what you pay supports the people who look after them. That makes the hike the emotional centre of the day, and the part worth keeping the phone in your pocket for.
Because they roam free, nobody can promise a sighting. Six of the newest 10 reviews report one, which is a good run but not a promise. If the gibbons stay hidden, the rest of the day still holds a trail, a village, a coffee and a meal. Treat any gibbon you see as a bonus, and enjoy the rest of the forest either way.
Behave as a guest in their home. Keep a respectful distance, keep your voice low and do not offer food, in line with the tourism board's advice to stay away from animals. The village has built its tourism around looking after the forest: its cooperative funds tree planting, a buffer line against forest fires and initiatives against illegal logging. Leave the forest the way you found it, and ask the guide if you are unsure how close is too close.
Book, no fee to cancelScore breakdown
Rated by 804 guests
4.9
Excellent★★★★★
- Rated 5 stars100%
- Rated 4 stars0%
- Rated 3 stars0%
- Rated 2 stars0%
- Rated 1 star0%
Only the 10 newest reviews in our dataset feed the bars, and GetYourGuide shows the highest-rated ones first. For all 804 reviews combined, the score is 4.9.
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what guests praise
What the newest reviews keep saying
Guests have left 804 reviews that average 4.9 stars. Of the 10 newest in English, every one is a 5-star review, and 8 of them single out guides who clearly know the plants and the countryside. That is the thread running through almost every comment. That consistency is what a day like this lives or dies on, because the guides carry the whole experience.
Specific things come up again and again. Guests describe tasting edible plants and herbs along the trail, a family of gibbons with a baby, a lunch that was adapted for a child with allergies and a comfortable van. Two reviewers add that the fare supports the caretakers of the gibbons, which they saw as a reason to book.
The notes of caution are just as useful. A hot climb to the waterfall gets a mention, so does slippery ground, and 2 older reviews found the price steep for what the day includes. Set against the cheaper van days on our price page, the small group and the guiding are what the extra buys. Read both kinds of comment, because together they give the fairest picture.
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FAQ
Know more,worry less.
the forest trail
The trail, the old tree and the plants you taste
After the coffee break the day turns into a hike. The forest trail is the physical heart of the day, a climb through woodland measured in kilometres, 3 to 5 of them depending on how it is counted. Treat it as a real walk: a steady pace, shoes with grip and water in the pack. Wear what you do not mind sweating in, and keep the phone for the clearings rather than the steep sections.
On the way the guide stops at a tree of around 900 years and hands round edible plants to taste and smell. That plant talk is not decoration. According to the FAO case study of the village, mushrooms, leaves and cinnamon are among the forest products and medicinal plants available there. The group tastes and smells them along the way, which is how the guide makes the forest memorable.
Reviewers like this part more than they expect to. One guest found the walk up to the waterfall hot, and another says the guides explained what so many of the plants are used for. If a lot of stopping to look at leaves would bore you, say so to the guide; if it would delight you, bring a notebook. A guide who knows the forest will adjust the pace to the group.
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An old tree
The forest trail passes a tree of around 900 years.
The guide also lets the group taste and smell edible plants along the way, in a forest where villagers collect mushrooms, leaves and cinnamon.
coffee and lunch
Coffee, tea and a lunch with vegan choices
Food has a fixed place in the timetable. At 11.00 comes a coffee, tea or smoothie at a scenic cafe above the village, and from 13.00 to 14.00 a lunch at a local restaurant with vegetarian and vegan options. If you have an allergy or a dietary rule, tell the operator when you book. Both are fixed on the timetable, so plan your own snacks around them rather than instead of them.
The drinks are local. Villagers grow jungle tea and coffee in the sparse forest for their regular income, and the same FAO paper says the plant gives tea from its young leaves and a fermented chewing snack called miang from the older ones. Ask the guide to point out which leaves are which. It is a small lesson in how the village lives.
A reviewer with a child who has allergies reports that lunch was adapted for them, and others praise the coffee stop and the meal. Bring a little cash for extra snacks, since the main road is lined with shophouses selling Lanna food and souvenirs. A quiet word to the guide before the meal is the simplest way to make sure the kitchen knows.
Book, no fee to cancelThe day in brief
Gibbons, then forest.A village, coffee.Back by mid-afternoon.
Sold here: a day of 7 hours from Chiang Mai, with a cap of 7 in the group, pickup included and a guide who speaks English. It climbs to Mae Kampong, hikes to the area of released gibbons, walks a forest trail, stops for coffee and lunch, then returns to the city. Places start from $75.
Reserve today, pay later, cancel free until a day ahead.
seasons and air
Cool months, rain and the smoky weeks
From November to February Thailand has its cool season, and in the north a morning or a night can fall to around 10 degrees Celsius; the same months are friendlier to hikers. The village is already cool at its altitude, so those months feel crisp. In practice that gives you a choice of crisp, clear mornings or green, wetter ones, depending on the month.
Rain does not cancel the day. A downpour means a wetter trail rather than a different plan, because the day runs in all weather. If the forecast puts you off, use the free cancellation window instead of deciding on the morning. That leaves time to pick another date instead of arguing with the weather on the morning.
Check the air as well. An advisory from the national tourism board warned that air quality in parts of the North had been at unhealthy levels, blaming mostly forest fires, open burning and vehicle emissions, and it pointed to the Air4Thai app run by the Pollution Control Department. Smoky days are a good reason to move your date.
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what to pack
Shoes, layers and the things people forget
Start with the feet. Parts of the trail are rough and sloping, and one reviewer warns that parts can be slippery, so wear shoes with real grip and not sandals. Sandals and smooth soles are the usual mistake on a trail of this kind. If you own light hiking shoes or trail runners, this is the day to wear them.
Then the layers. The village has a cool climate all year round, so bring a thin jacket, and a rain layer because the day runs in any weather. A hat and sunscreen cost almost nothing, and a refillable bottle saves you buying plastic at the stalls. Pack them in a small daypack with the water, because both hands are useful on the steeper parts of the trail.
Finally the small things: sickness tablets for the winding last stretch if you need them, a little cash in baht for drinks and a tip, and a phone with a full charge for photos. Tell the operator about food needs in advance, and keep your confirmation message handy in case a solo traveler is asked to meet at a set point.
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- Cancel at no cost up to 24 hrs before
- Pay later when you book
- per person from $75
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booking terms
Reserving, paying and cancelling
Nothing is charged when you reserve, and a cancellation at least a day ahead returns the full fare, so an early booking is a free option. Choose the date that suits the weather forecast and keep the option open. Because the option is free, there is little reason to wait for the last day to decide. Hold the date, watch the forecast and decide with a clear head.
The group is limited to 7 participants, so places on a date are limited, and solo travelers are warned that they may be asked to meet at a specific point. Read the confirmation message the day before. The same message names the meeting point and the pickup time, so read it the evening before and set an alarm. A small group depends on everyone being ready on time.
We earn a commission if you book through our links, at no extra cost to you, and the prices come live from GetYourGuide. Other Mae Kampong days exist, from the Giant Cafe day to private tours with the hot springs, and our price guide lays them out so you can compare before you decide. Prices there are live and may change with date and group size.
Book, no fee to cancelwho it suits
Who the day suits, and who should skip it
The day suits people who like to walk and to ask questions. Some fitness helps, since the walking is hard in places, and curiosity about plants and a village story makes the day richer. Families can enjoy it too, as the newest family reviews show. A guide who enjoys questions is the biggest asset of the day, so use it.
Skip it if you want a guaranteed gibbon sighting, if winding roads make you ill or if you would rather sit at a viewpoint than walk. The Giant Cafe day from $51 is built around a view cafe and a jeep ride instead of a forest trail, so it may fit better. Neither day is better in the abstract; they suit different travelers.
Should a night fit your plans, consider a homestay. The Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office quotes THB 500 to 2000 per night, and a stay gives you the village after the day trippers leave. Either way, a Mae Kampong tour from Chiang Mai is a good way to see whether the hills call you back. A night changes the pace entirely, and the village looks different once the vans have gone.
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