Nan sits in the far north of Thailand, tucked right up against the Lao border, and it looks remote enough on a map that people assume it’s a pain to actually get to. It isn’t. The roads are just long, and the options aren’t always obvious until you’ve done the trip once.

I’ve made this journey by plane and by VIP bus, and ridden plenty of Nan’s own back roads by scooter once I was already there, out toward Sapan Valley and back. This guide covers exactly how to get to Nan Thailand from Bangkok or Chiang Mai, what each option actually costs you in time, and which one fits the kind of trip you’re planning.

How to Get to Nan Thailand From Bangkok

By Air (Fastest and Most Convenient)

Flying is the easiest way to get to Nan Thailand from Bangkok, and it’s what I used the first time I worked out how to get to Nan Thailand myself. Both Nok Air and Thai AirAsia fly direct from Don Mueang (DMK) to Nan Nakhon Airport (NNT), and the flight itself is only around 1 hour 15 minutes.

That was actually the trip that got me here in the first place: I’d had a flight credit sitting unused from a Thai Airways cancellation, and I ended up putting it toward a same-day booking to Nan on a whim, no research, no itinerary, just a flight number and a departure time. I’ve written the full story of what happened after I landed in my Nan Thailand travel story, but the flight itself couldn’t have been simpler.

Nan Nakhon Airport is small, which works in your favor. It sits about 10 minutes from Nan’s old town, and tuk-tuks, songthaews, and metered taxis are all waiting right outside arrivals. There’s no need to arrange transport in advance for this leg, and there’s no need to overthink safety either, Nan is one of the calmest, lowest-hassle provinces covered in my Thailand safety rating guide. If you’d rather skip the negotiating entirely, I can have a driver waiting for you the moment you land, more on that further down.

By VIP Bus (Best Budget Option)

If flights aren’t in the budget, or you’d simply rather not fly, this is how to get to Nan Thailand the budget way: overnight VIP buses run from Bangkok’s Mo Chit terminal directly to Nan. Nakhonchai Air operates this route, and a sleeper service will get you there in roughly 9 to 10 hours, though some services run closer to 11 or 12 depending on stops, so build in a buffer rather than planning around the shortest estimate.

Overnight is the way to do this route: you board in the evening, sleep through most of the drive, and wake up in Nan without losing a full day to the trip.

By Train Plus Bus (The Scenic Transit Hybrid)

Nan has no railway station of its own, so there’s no way to get to Nan Thailand by direct train, but a train-plus-bus combination works if you’d rather break the trip up or you’re already routing through the north by rail. Take a train from Bangkok toward Den Chai (in Phrae province) or all the way to Chiang Mai, then connect onward by local bus or minivan.

It’s slower and involves more coordination than either of the direct options above, so I’d only recommend it if you’re building a wider rail-based trip around it rather than heading straight to Nan.

How to Get to Nan Thailand From Chiang Mai

By Self-Drive or Motorbike (Best Experience)

If you’re wondering how to get to Nan Thailand with the most scenic option, this is it. From Chiang Mai, there are two main options: Route 118 to Route 103 via Phrae, or Route 118 to Route 1251 via Phayao.

Either way you’re looking at roughly 4.5 to 5.5 hours of driving, depending on how many stops you make along the way, and both routes are genuinely part of the appeal rather than just a way to pass the time.

The roads out of Chiang Mai start ordinary, and it can take a while before the landscape does anything interesting. From what other travelers and drivers consistently report, once you’re through that early stretch the road climbs into proper mountain driving, tight bends, forested ridgelines, small villages that don’t see many foreign faces. If you’re on two wheels rather than four, pace yourself: the mountain sections demand real attention, and rain can make the tighter corners genuinely slick, especially outside the dry season.

The road out of Chiang Mai starts ordinary, and it can take longer than you’d expect before the scenery earns the drive, but once it does, it’s some of the best mountain riding in northern Thailand.

If any of this sounds familiar, it’s the same stretch of road that eventually leads out toward Sapan Valley once you’re in Nan itself, similar energy, similar payoff. I stopped for snacks more than once at the small roadside stalls that pop up outside villages along Route 1251, which is honestly one of my favorite parts of driving this route: you’re never more than 20 or 30 minutes from somewhere selling grilled skewers or fresh fruit.

By Public Bus or Minivan

GreenBus runs the main public route between Chiang Mai and Nan, departing from Chiang Mai Bus Terminal 3 (Arcade). The journey takes around 5 to 6 hours, sometimes closer to 6.5 depending on the service, and it’s a comfortable, air-conditioned option if you’d rather not drive yourself but still want the overland route rather than flying. Book a day or two ahead in high season, seats on the popular morning departures sell out faster than you’d expect for a route this far off the main tourist circuit.

Getting Around Nan Province Once You Arrive

Knowing how to get to Nan Thailand is really only half the equation, however you arrive in Nan town, you’ll want your own transport once you’re there. The old town itself is walkable, but almost everything that makes Nan worth the trip, Sapan Valley, Bo Kluea, Pua district, sits well outside it.

Renting a scooter or small car in Nan town is straightforward and inexpensive, and it’s exactly how I explored the province myself, negotiated on the spot with one of the handful of local rental operators rather than booked in advance. For getting around town day-to-day, songthaews are cheap and easy to flag down.

For the mountain routes out toward Pua, Bo Kluea, or the roads around Route 1081, a private driver is worth the extra cost if you’re not confident on unfamiliar mountain roads, or simply don’t want to spend a travel day behind the wheel.

Before you go, it’s worth sorting out cash. Nan’s smaller villages and highland markets are cash-heavy, and ATM access thins out fast once you’re outside the old town. My Thailand ATM guide covers which cards and banks avoid the worst withdrawal fees, worth reading before you land rather than after you’ve already paid a few of them. Street food costs in Nan run close to what you’d find in Chiang Mai, so my Chiang Mai street food prices guide is a fair reference for what to budget per meal.

Prefer to Skip the Logistics Entirely?

Everything above covers how to get to Nan Thailand using the routes I know well, either from having flown and bussed them myself or from what I’ve put together for clients over the years. It works fine if you’re comfortable coordinating flights, bus counters, and unfamiliar mountain roads on your own.

But if you’d rather not deal with any of it, I can organize a driver and car to pick you up directly from Nan Nakhon Airport, or drive you in from other northern Thailand locations like Chiang Mai, so the whole transfer is arranged before you even land.

For a bit extra, I can also put together a knowledgeable local guide who stays with you throughout your time in Nan, translates where needed, and explains the history behind what you’re seeing, at Wat Phumin, at Bo Kluea’s salt wells, wherever the itinerary takes you, rather than leaving you to piece it together from a signboard.

I lean toward sustainable, locally-run stays across Nan Thailand as part of that same approach, and I’m always happy to help build out a full multi-day Nan itinerary once your transport is sorted, so the whole trip fits together rather than feeling like a series of separate bookings.

If Nan is one stop on a longer route through the north, my Northern Thailand itinerary covers how it connects with Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and the rest of the region. If the mountain drive itself sounds appealing but you’d rather do it on a shorter timeline, my Chiang Dao slow travel guide covers a good alternative that’s much closer to Chiang Mai.

And if Nan is just one stop on a longer search for places like it, my Thailand hidden gems guide rounds up the rest of the ones worth the detour.