7-Day Northern Thailand Motorcycle Tour for Women — from Chiang Mai

Mae Hong Son Loop & Doi Inthanon

We collect the motorcycles in Chiang Mai and head straight onto the Mae Hong Son Loop. First destination is Doi Inthanon National Park, where we keep the pace deliberately gentle so you can settle into your bike and into riding on the left.

The day is built around waterfalls and viewpoints, with a short hike up to panoramas over mountain ranges that keep going until they run out of colour. We also stop at a giant white Buddha, a quiet spot we'll most likely have entirely to ourselves. Before sunset we reach the summit, and we sleep up in the mountains, in cool air and complete forest silence.

Worth knowing: at 2,565 metres, Doi Inthanon is Thailand's highest peak, and it gets cold enough up there that locals pull out their winter jackets. The area holds more than fifty waterfalls, including Wachirathan, Siriphum and Mae Klang.

Waterfalls, Long Mountain Ride & Tea Villages

After waking up in the mountains, we continue through forested roads and remote highland villages. This is one of the longer riding days of the tour and also one of the most beautiful, so the pace is set to enjoy it rather than survive it.

Midway we stop at a tucked-away coffee shop where the easygoing owner makes a Thai tea with coconut milk that I think about when I'm not in Thailand.

The road then carries us through Thai-Chinese country and into Ban Rak Thai, a tea village near the Myanmar border. We taste some of the best tea in the country, wander the village, and spend a slow evening by the lake. We stay right in the middle of it.

Worth knowing: the road to Mae Hong Son has 1,864 curves, and riders fly in from all over the world purely for that. The Yunnanese influence around here goes back to Chinese soldiers who settled in the 1940s.

Caves, Mountain Views & The Road to Pai

We leave Ban Rak Thai in the morning and head west on winding mountain roads.

The first major stop is Nam Lod Cave, one of the most impressive cave systems in Thailand, with an underground river running through its chambers and local guides leading the way by lantern light. Then Ban Jabo, a small Lahu village perched high above the valley, where we stop for coffee and mostly just stare.

By afternoon we roll into Pai, the laid-back mountain town known for its cafés. There's time to explore, sit by the pool, or do nothing at all before we head out for sunset at Pai Canyon. The day finishes at a huge Buddha statue and a walk through the night market.

Worth knowing: the river inside Nam Lod is navigable by bamboo raft, paddled by locals using lanterns for light. Pai was a quiet farming town before backpackers found it, and it has kept a slow, creative rhythm ever since.

Jungle Roads, Hot Springs & Off-the-Radar Thailand

This is the day of flowing roads, hidden stops and places most travellers never reach.

Pong Dueat Hot Spring is a natural geyser buried deep in the forest, where you can soak in hot mineral pools and cook an egg in water that hits 90°C. From there we ride jungle roads with almost no traffic, thick green on both sides and very little sound beyond the engines.

By afternoon we reach the Kuet Chang area, a quiet riverside region most people only see if they come for the rafting. Far from any busy town, the nights here are properly dark and properly quiet.

Worth knowing: Pong Dueat is one of very few geysers in Thailand, and the mineral water is traditionally used for cooking. The Mae Taeng River is the North's best whitewater, with rapids that work for beginners too.

Whitewater Adventure & Chiang Dao

We spend most of the day on the river, finishing rafting in the early afternoon. Then back on the motorcycles and onto scenic mountain roads with wide open views, heading for Chiang Dao.

We arrive in the late afternoon in a quiet town sitting beneath Doi Luang, a limestone mass that dominates the skyline from kilometres away.

Worth knowing: Doi Luang is Thailand's third highest peak.

Sunrise Views & Sticky Waterfall

An early start for the sunrise ride up to the Doi Luang Chiang Dao viewpoint, where the peak emerges slowly out of the dark as the light shifts. A quiet, powerful way to open a day, and one of my favourite mornings of the whole tour.

From Chiang Dao we ride south on beautiful mountain roads to Buatong Sticky Waterfall, and climb it barefoot. It sounds like a terrible idea right up until you feel how much grip the limestone gives you. Then across the suspension bridge and up into Mae Kampong, a village folded into the forest.

Worth knowing: mineral deposits coat the rock at Sticky Waterfall and make it naturally non-slip, so you can walk straight up the flowing water. Mae Kampong is known for its wooden houses, coffee culture and cool air, which is why people from Chiang Mai escape up here.

Coffee Walks, Caves, Cacao & A Blessing Before Goodbye

The last day of the tour starts slowly, with a walk through Mae Kampong and coffee while the village wakes up around us.

From there we ride to Muang On Cave and climb to its viewpoint for a wide look over the countryside. Then on to Skugga Estate, where we get properly into Thai cacao: how it's grown, how it's processed, and what it tastes like fresh.

Before Chiang Mai, we stop at Wat Sri Don Moon. Here you buy a traditional flag matched to your birth date and hang it at the temple for a blessing and a bit of extra luck for the road ahead. It's a good way to close a week like this.

Then back into Chiang Mai, motorcycles returned, full circle. Unrushed, and grounded.

Worth knowing: Northern Thailand's climate suits high-quality cacao surprisingly well, and small farms like Skugga are putting Thai chocolate on the map. Hanging birth-date flags is a local Buddhist ritual believed to bring protection, balance and good fortune, and we are going to hang ours!