Just down the road from Wat Huay Pla Kang – the famous temple in Chiang Rai known for its big buddha statue, is the newly-opened Lalitta Cafe – an incredibly unique and impressive cafe.
Lalitta Cafe is certainly far from an ordinary cafe – this 300 metre square area cafe/restaurant is an enchanting forest wonderland, with a 10 metre high waterfall and fairies surrounding it!
Lalitta Cafe has blown up on social media and is a must-visit when in Chiang Rai. Here’s all you need to know about this magical cafe, including where it is, how to get there, entrance fee, opening times, best spots to take photos & more!
Where Is Lalitta Cafe In Chiang Rai?
Lalitta Cafe is located on the north-west outskirts of Chiang Rai, on the four-lane Chiang Rai West Bypass Road. You can find the Google maps location here.
The Cafe is about a 15 minute drive (6.5km) from downtown Chiang Rai. It’s easy enough to get a Grab taxi here, or drive yourself by car or scooter as there is a parking lot outside.
As Wat Huay Pla Kang (also known as the Goddess Of Mercy Temple or sometimes the Big Buddha) is so close to Lalitta Cafe (just 1.3km away), it’s best to combine a visit to Lalitta Café before or after a visit to this beautiful temple.
Opening Times & Entrance Fee To Lalitta Cafe
Lalitta Cafe is open every day from 8 am to 8 pm.
There is a small fee to visit Lalitta Cafe: it costs 60 Baht for adults (around 1.6 USD), and 40 Baht for children, but this money then comes off any food or drink that you purchase.
So basically, if you buy any food or drink, it is free to visit Lalitta. And the food and drink prices here are very reasonable.
Even if you don’t buy any food or drink, the entrance fee for Lalitta is definitely worth it to see this incredible Instagrammable spot!
Seeing as so many people (tour groups especially) just come to Lalitta to take photos and then leave without buying any food or drink – therefore in a sense making it more of a tourist attraction than a cafe, it’s totally understandable why the cafe charges a small entrance fee.
When To Visit Lalitta Cafe
The best time to visit Lalitta Cafe is either early morning or in the evening during the week.
Throughout the day, Lalitta Cafe does get very busy with tour groups coming in and out (luckily they just come in for a few photos and leave).
So if you want to enjoy this wonderland without crowds, the best time to visit is just after opening at 8am, or in the evening, from 6.30pm onwards. Both times we visited, it was in the evening, and we loved it as we basically had the whole place to ourselves.
The gardens were so peaceful, plus as the cafe is open air, it was so nice to feel the atmosphere when it started to get dark and the cafe was lit up!
Lunchtimes and weekends are definitely the busiest times to visit Lalitta, so try and visit mid-week as opposed to the weekends.
What To Expect At Lalitta Cafe
Walking into Lalitta Cafe feels like you’re walking through a magical rainforest wonderland. There is lush greenery everywhere, hundreds of vibrantly coloured orchids hang from the trees, and the cafe is surrounded in a refreshing mist.
This offers a lovely ambience and is the perfect way to cool down from the intense Chiang Rai heat!
Visiting Lalitta Cafe is certainly an adventure and an experience – it honestly feels like it has come straight out of a storybook with the mystical fog, the fairytale gardens and mythical creatures, and the huge man-made waterfall cascading down.
The steps leading towards the waterfall are giant mushrooms, there are colourful umbrellas hanging from the trees, and the gardens are perfectly manicured and landscaped.
Lalitta Cafe is definitely a great place for all to explore – young and old. Spend some time walking around exploring and getting photos of the stunning gardens and magical oasis, then sit down, relax and enjoy a drink or a snack.
The cafe is outdoors, but it is in the shade, and with the droplet sprinklers in the trees, it’s a great place to escape the heat and unwind in between all the sightseeing.
Food & Drinks At Lalitta Cafe
Lalitta is more of a restaurant than a cafe, as they have a full menu available from breakfast until dinner. There are actually two cafes here, with multiple seating areas, both upstairs and downstairs. Plus you’ll find a big selection of drinks, cakes and meals available.
The cost of food and drinks in Lalitta Cafe tastes good and is very reasonably priced – a coffee for example costs around 80 Baht. We had dinner here one evening, and the food was really good. The coffees were also pretty tasty!
We enjoyed sitting in the seats next to the waterfall, as well as in the seats upstairs that offered a view of The Goddess Of Mercy in an opening in the trees.
What Other Tourist Sites Are There To Visit Near Lalitta Cafe?
Most people combine a visit to Lalitta Café with a visit to the Huay Pla Kang Temple, as well as The White Temple, The Blue Temple – all of which are stunning temples in Chiang Rai. You can easily visit all these Chiang Rai sights in one day.
If you have a couple of days in Chiang Rai, it’s also worth heading up to the beautiful Choui Fong Tea Plantation too.
Caterina McGrail is a Travel Writer and ex-Flight Attendant based in Australia. She has visited 85 countries and lived in several – including Italy, Australia, United Arab Emirates and England. Her work has been featured in a variety of popular travel publications including Fodors, Escape, Australian Traveller and Bear Grylls, as well as several international aviation and travel companies. She only writes about places she has personally visited, and aims to give real, honest advice to help her readers.