We stayed in the old city just inside the Tapai (sp?) gate at a really nice small hotel. I'll try to figure out the name and post it later. That turned out to be a perfect location as there are plenty of bars and restaurants within walking distance both just inside and just outside the gate (on the ring road).
Plus, if you're up for a bit of a longer stroll, we walked to the night bazaar area from there a few times which is down the road leading out of that gate and is an interesting tourist area.
Our favorite restaurants were further out the same road from that gate, just across the river, then left. There is a row of restaurants directly on the river there that have good food, ambiance and most have live music at night. In the mornings, on the opposite side in the same area of the river is the flower market. Even if flowers aren't your thing, you should see this as it must be the biggest and most colorful one in the world.
Also, staying where we did, we were less than a block away from one of the main streets where the Sunday market is held. It pretty much covers the entire old city and must be the biggest market with the most extensive range of goods in Thailand.
We had already been to Doi Suthep on a prior trip (which is worth a visit), so we just enjoyed the city the last time. There is a day trip that goes through several villages in sort of a triangle from Chang Mai where each village is known for a product, gems, umbrellas, ceramics, orchid farms, etc. We also did that tour on a previous trip and it was worth the day, if your into those touristy types of things. The wife liked Tiger Kingdom (she only went in with the babies), and the zoo, but don't go there expecting to see the Panda(s) as you had to have reservations to do that when we were last there.
We have also done a day trip from there to visit a hilltribe village which I found interesting but may not be for everyone as it is also a tourist setup.
On a previous visit, we also did a day trip to this place up towards Chiang Rai:
http://www.thaizer.com/tourist-attracti ... hiang-rai/
There, you can tour the queen mother's former residence and associated gardens. It's on a mountain called Doi Tung with excellent views and was a nice day. That was very near the hilltribe village we went to and if I recall correctly, we did both in one day.
And of course in that earlier tourist trip, a visit to "The Golden Triangle" area was a must for us.
