No visit to Chiang Mai would be complete without a traditional massage. Among Dheva Spa's wide variety of holistic treatments are techniques borrowed from Northern or Lanna-style massage, as well as classical Thai and Ayurvedic therapies. Lanna treatments include natural safflower or Burmese thanaka pastes that are used as light exfoliants, and a tiny hammer massage that lightly taps along the body's meridians. Spa treatments take place in teak pavilions on the spa's upper level, while below guests can enjoy Arabic mud wraps in a starlit hammam (bath).

Take to the hills and discover the beautiful wooded region around Lampang and Lamphun, two quiet market towns full of charm. In Lampang is Wat Phra That Lampang Luang, its most famous temple, and Ban Sao Nak, a remarkable museum.

Call in on the residents at the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre at Ban Tung Kiewn, or take a pony cart around the city centre – look out for the colonial teak mansions. Lamphun has a small walled city centre that, unlike many other chaotic Thai cities, makes for an easy stroll.

Just out of town is a rare and fascinating eighth-century Mon Chedi (Buddha monument).

If you wander through the old city of Chiang Mai at dawn you will see saffron-robed monks collecting alms along the narrow streets. Wat Phra Sing temple on Sam Lan Road dates from 1345; its compound includes a delightful raised scripture depository decorated in bas-relief and the exquisite Viharn Lai Kham chapel which boasts exquisite woodcarvings and northern-style murals depicting daily life.

Chiang Mai National Museum is located beside the quaint pint-sized temple Wat Chet Yot. The museum houses a collection of Lanna artwork, ancient Buddha images and weaponry.

But if you're feeling lazy, you don't have to venture further than your own villa door to see authentic Chiang Mai culture, at Mandarin Oriental's very own traditional Lanna Craft Village. At 8am a bevy of septuagenarian ladies from the local neighbourhood arrive to sit and weave.

Savvy shoppers from all over Asia flock to Chiang Mai for the high quality designer homeware and fashions. If the resort's own impressive array of boutiques at the Kad Dhara arcade does not fit the bill, head for Living Space on Tha Pae Road for accessories, leatherware, rare silks and ceramics. Long-term resident Jennifer Dyson has some exceptional products.

Sop Moei Arts on Charoenrat Road sells the best selection of ethnic textiles made by the Pwo Karen tribe; opposite is Vila Cini, the city's most stylish silk shop; just along the street is the tiny Kome Tong selling folk art and a few steps further on is La Luna Gallery, the city's most prestigious centre for contemporary artworks and photography.

Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi's (+66 (53) 888 929) three top-notch restaurants provide some of the best eating in town; classic Thai dishes such as the popular northern noodle soup, khao sawy, are served at Le Grand Lanna, (+66 (53) 888 888 ext.8566) a quaint al fresco restaurant modelled on a Thai-style home.

Farang Ses (+66 (53) 888 888, ext 8549) offers the kingdom's finest French cuisine.

In the city, The House (+66 (53) 419 011) is Chiang Mai's best contemporary restaurant, with a terrace and garden bar, set around a 1960s house bedecked in retro art.

Laid-back Chiang Mai rarely gets dressed up, but those in the know gather at the Oriental Shop, and in the evening the glamorous watch the incredible sunsets from the resort's Champagne Bar or experience the Italian cuisine at Piccola Roma on Charoenprathet Road.