2 weeks itinerary for the highlights of Burma

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
6
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
8
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
6
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
5
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
6
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
9
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
70 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
157th/454
Top 40%
continent
Asia
country
Myanmar (Burma)
Length of time
1-2 weeks
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$140 ($750-$1,500 in 2020 prices)
Time of year visited
November
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Adventure Ancient ruins Lakes
All Tags
Big city Boat trip Bridges Buddhist site Cycling Ferry Forests Jungle Local villages Market Mirror Lakes Mountains Palaces Sunsets Swimming Temple complex Train journey UNESCO world heritage site
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐⭐

Summary

Travelling in Burma (Myanmar) feels like stepping into a parallel world – like the rest of the world went one way and Burma took a different turn somewhere along the road.

That may slowly be changing as the country opens up, but for now it still feels very different from the rest of Southeast Asia.  Combine that with a series of genuinely world-class sights, and it makes Burma an excellent destination for a 2-week trip.

For most first-time visitors, Burma is about four main highlights: Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay and Inle Lake. These form the core of almost any trip and can comfortably be combined into a two-week itinerary.

I’ve written below some further travel tips for travelling around Burma, but my 2 biggest tips are:

 

#1 Is it safe?

 You will naturally have seen in the news Burma very often flaring up with the latest crisis and the story of the country is truly a sad one considering the repression in particular of the ethic minorities and continued belligerence of the military junta.

But, from a tourist point of view, such changes haven’t really stopped the country as it opens up more and more to overseas visitors.  Whilst it may sound like a country to avoid based on headlines, thousands more come to the country each year than the last and flare ups occur only in the remote areas foreigners are not allowed in.  There are far more countries in the world with far more dangers that receive far more tourists on a regular basis.

 

#2 A feeling of real Burma

The classic itinerary is great fun – very much wow.  But for the truly mega wow, consider wandering off the beaten track.

One of the best adventures I’ve experienced was the 6 day trip down the Irrawaddy River by ferry in Northern Burma from Myitkyina (or you can start in Bhamo / Katha to reduce the time) to Mandalay.

Breathtaking mountainous jungle vistas, the chance to see the real local villages along the mighty Irrawaddy River, and the old echoes of the former colonial past.  A truly great travel experience and I’ve included the details in the travel entry – Exploring Northern Burma by train and ferry from Myitkyina, via Bhamo and Katha to Mandalay.  Just a thought.

 

Table of Contents

Orientation

 

 

The classic highlights are centred in the middle of the county plus Yangon to the south.  The areas to the north are harder to get to but represent a bit more hardcore travelling.

 

Top Moments from this itinerary

DSC00071-aspect-ratio-900-675

#1 Just the sheer other-worldliness of the place. Whether it be the old 35 chat notes or guys wearing skirts, it’s all just wonderfully odd 

DSC00216-aspect-ratio-900-675

#2 The view across the lush plain of Bagan to see thousands of temples sticking out into the distance, many of which glistening in the sun

DSC00249-aspect-ratio-900-675

#3 Meeting the locals as the get on with their lives in what has been a turbulent country

DSC00067-aspect-ratio-900-675

#4 Making your way through forgotten towns and a land still vacated by tourists as you take a ferry down the Irrawaddy in Northern Burma

DSC00253-aspect-ratio-900-675

#5 Taking one of the boats through the serene mirror lake of Inle Lake

DSC00209-aspect-ratio-900-675

#6 Cycling around the temples of Bagan, finding one that in any other place would be a top tourist spot, yet here it is just a number, and just having it to yourself

DSC00029-aspect-ratio-900-675

#7 Seeing the beautiful and imposing Shwedagon Paya in Yangon

DSC00166-aspect-ratio-900-675

#8 Taking the short boat ride from Mandalay to see the giant cracked Mingyun Paya

DSC00054-aspect-ratio-900-675

#9 Taking one of the long bus journeys for the scenery, sense of adventure and relief once you’re off the bloody thing!

DSC00010-aspect-ratio-900-675

#10 Heading into one of the glorious old colonial buildings now acting as a market in Yangon

DSC00117-aspect-ratio-900-675

#11 Looking down on the views of Mandalay's giant Palace from Mandalay Hill

DSC00081-aspect-ratio-900-675

#12 Seeing the sheer scale of the Irrawaddy River - often too wide to see the other side

DSC00163-aspect-ratio-900-675

#13 Wandering with monks along the world’s longest teak bridge at U-Bein near Mandalay

P9200100-aspect-ratio-900-675

#14 Going to see George Orwell’s old house where he wrote Burmese Days, and the former British Club, along the Irrawaddy at Katha

What to prioritise in Burma

I’ve been three times now to Burma and if I was a first time visitor this is how I would look at the wow factor of the things to do:

 

Tier: Mega Wow

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – Exploring Northern Burma by boat and train from Myitkyina to Mandalay.  It is simply one of the world’s great off-the-beaten-track adventures, but super challenging for first timers and dependent on the political situation.

 

Tier: Wow

⭐️⭐️⭐️ – Cycling around the Temples of Bagan.  Magical if you can get away from the tourist masses and the more standard highlight of Burma.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ – Mandalay’s surrounding sites.  Mandalay Hill, Mingun Paya, U-Bein , and the Maha Aungmye Bonzan Monastery are wows on their own.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ – Boating around the serene Inle Lake.  So peaceful and beautiful setting.  The mirror lake gives the whole place a serene vibe.

Tier: Worth it

⭐️⭐️ – A couple of days in the parallel world of Yangon.  Hard to avoid, and actually quite good fun for the sheer randomness of the place.

⭐️⭐️ – Mandalay.  Similar to Yangon in that you’ll most likely have to pass through Mandalay, big city with bad bits and good bits.  Worth it for the nearby sites above.

 

Travel Itinerary

Day 1-3 Yangon – give yourself a day to settle in and then make sure to check out the Shwedagon Paya, one of the local markets and the Karaweik Palace Royal Barge.  More than anything though, just wander around the bustling streets, old colonial buildings and pick up on some of the smaller things that make Burma so different.
Day 4-6 – make your way up to Mandalay via the overnight sleeper train and give yourself 2 days to take in the views of the Palace from Mandalay Hill and head further out to see the giant Mingun Paya, the old colonial capital of Inwa and walk with the monks across the world’s longest teak bridge at U-Bein.
Day 7-9 take the boat from Mandalay to Bagan to give yourself 2 days to explore the sheer vast number of temples across this world-class site.  First day should simply be getting lost cycling around in the mystery of it all, second day taking a guide to explain the context and show some of the key sites.
Day 10-12 – spend a couple of days chilling out and taking mini boat trips around Inle Lake.  To get there really depends on what you want – the easiest way is to fly, but the more adventurous is the 10 hour bus.  One of my most memorable / mental bus journeys was this one – the roads and number of stops are a shit show, but the views are spectacular
Day 13 – fly back to Yangon
OPTIONAL EXTRA – to extend this trip and allow you to see some of the real Burma outside of the 4 marque attractions, fly up to Myitkyina from Yangon and make your way over 6 days down the Irrawaddy River to Mandalay, via Bhamo and Katha.  You’ll see hardly any tourists, incredible mountains and the former signs of a parallel world when the former colonial power was in place.  Adds 6 days to the trip, but unforgettable.

Travel Tips

Be prepare for things to be a little odd at times – men wearing skirts, odd denominated notes, bus drivers driving their buses into rivers to “cool them down” – that sort of thing.

Burma is a heavily Buddhist country so remember some of the key things – cover up in temples, don’t touch the Buddha or show the soles of your feet or disrespect the monks, take your shoes off when entering temples / private homes and make sure to return friendly greetings.  The Burmese are very chilled out and will give you heaps of leeway, but it helps to be courteous.

Be prepared for an upset stomach and some stage.  Its kind of par for the course.

Each of these 4 main attractions also have individual travel entries and you can see them here:

As with all countries, see if you can do a bit of reading about the place to give yourself some of the context.  You can get the overview history from wikipedia, but for stories that give you more depth (and are more enjoyable), I’d really recommend two books: 1. Burmese Days by George Orwell because it brings to life what it must have been like in Burma during the British Raj and the harsh contradictions this brought.  2. The Glass Palace by Amitav Gosh, which charts the story of a small number of families as they navigate their way through the fall of the royal dynasty in Mandalay to the British inn the late 1800s, through to the end of the second world war, and in particular covers the teak trade.

 

Experiences Nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Other Country-wide Adventures

Vietnam 3 Week Itinerary – North to South Highlights
⭐⭐⭐

10 day itinerary for Guatemala
⭐⭐⭐⭐

6 day itinerary for Romania and the Transylvanian region
⭐⭐⭐

A week in Japan from Tokyo, to Mount Fuji and Kyoto
⭐⭐⭐

A week for the best of mainland Ecuador
⭐⭐

A supercharged week seeing the highlights of Israel and Jordan
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

10 days campervanning around the South Island of New Zealand
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Roadtrip up the Queensland Coast in winter
⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Trans-Siberian Railway from Omsk to Beijing
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rapid 2 week roadtrip around the US West Coast States
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

3 week European roadtrip for mountains and wine
⭐⭐⭐

7/8 week itinerary for the highlights of South East Asia
-

6 months trip of a lifetime around Latin America
-

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *