Chiang Mai to Lamphun: Private day trip

Built on the site of Queen Chama Thewi’s palace around the 11th century, Wat Phra That Hariphunchai is Lamphun’s oldest, largest and most famous temple. Though renovated and expanded in the 15th century, it’s still one of the few places left in Thailand where you can see Mon style architecture. The bare brick Suwanna chedi was built in the 15th century, but the stepped pyramid structure with its 60 niches for standing Buddha images was modelled after the much older Mon style. However, the temple’s main chedi is a towering 46 meter tall golden structure that was built in the 15th century around a much smaller 9th century Mon stupa. The temple’s main viharn was rebuilt in 1925, but its intricate decorations, and Buddha images dating back to the 15th century still exude a historic air. Also keep an eye out for the big bronze gong - it’s believed to be the world's largest!

Founded as a Buddhist monastery in the 8th century, Wat Chamthewi is renowned for its two historic chedis. The larger and more famous of the two was built by King Mahantayot to enshrine the ashes of his legendary mother, Queen Chamthewi. Built in the 9th century Dvaravati style, the very unusual square, ‘stepped pyramid’ bears Buddha images on each of its 5 tiers, and is beloved to be the oldest surviving example of the style. The smaller chedi was built by King Athitayarat in the 12th century to celebrate his victory over the mighty Khmer empire. The viharn is much more recent, but is also worth visiting, particularly for the colored glass Buddhas, each of which is costumed to represent the three seasons observed in Thailand.