16-Day Burma Travel Itinerary

Burma is a pretty big country, but with so much to see, how do you decide on your itinerary? Temples, beaches, trekking, monk watching – what will you include? Follow this 16-day itinerary to see the best Burma has to offer!

There are a number of different options for internal travel, but that will hugely depend on your budget and how much time you have. Trains and buses are frequent and affordable, but often slow and unreliable. If you can, splash out on internal flights that will allow you to follow my itinerary as below.

Our Itinerary In A Nutshell

With two-weeks off work and so much to see, we carefully planned an itinerary that would cover the country’s highlights. We ensured we included a mix of city life, historical relics, and a relaxing beach stop at the end.

Where did we visit I hear you ask?! Well, our trip included a visit to Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan, Kalaw, Inle Lake, and Ngapali.

Sunset over the U Bein Bridge, Mandalay

Days One – Two | Yangon

Stay At – 15th Street @ Downtown

Day One: Due to connecting flights from Europe, we arrived late in the afternoon. Enough time to check into our hotel and grab some dinner from the popular 19^th Street foodie stalls. Perfect for cheap food, a cold beer, and some excellent people watching!

Day Two: Spend a full day to take in the city sights. The Sheedagon Pagoda is an absolutely must see! Other things to do in Yangon include a visit to the Kandawgyi Park, Yangon Zoological Gardens, or the Bogyoke Aung San Market.

Female monks at The Sheedagon Pagoda

Days Three – Four | Mandalay

Stay At – 79 Living Hotel

Day Three: Take an early morning flight to Mandalay and arrive at your hotel by 10:30am. The centre of Mandalay (around the Grand Palace) can mostly be covered on foot or bicycle. Start at the huge Palace, followed by the Shew-Nandaw Monastery, and the Kuthodaw pagoda – a Guinness World record holder as the world’s largest book.

End your afternoon with a gentle hike up to the top of Mandalay Hill to watch the sunset over the wonderful city views. If you are lucky, you’ll also get the opportunity to chat with some of the local monks who visit each evening to practice their English with visitors.

Day Four: Travel by bus or taxi to reach the other city sites that are a little further out. Visit the Ein Daw Yar Pagoda and the Jade Market. Make your way over to The U Bein Bridge – the world’s longest teak bridge – and find a good spot to take in the wonderful sunset over the bridge. FYI, sunrise is also a good time to visit the U Bein Bridge!

Locals walking along the U Bein Bridge

Days Five – Seven | Bagan

Stay At – New Wave Guesthouse

Day Five: Take an early morning flight (30-minutes) to Bagan. Despite the early start, you’ll be checked into your hotel by 10:00am. Spend the morning relaxing by the pool or resting.

After a hearty lunch, rent a bicycle and cycle over to the Old Town. Visit the remains of the old city wall, the local market, the archaeological museum, and take a boat ride along the Irrawaddy River. Before the sun sets, make a beeline for one of the smaller more remote temples, and climb up to the rooftop for a perfect sunset.

Top Tip – Many of the temple rooftops can be accessed from within. Be brave and clamber up the narrow stairs to reach the roof for an enchanting sunset over the distant temples. Do not however scale the side of one of the temples! If there’s no staircase, then do not use the temple as a monkey frame!

Day Six: Set your alarm for another early morning, but this time for a sun rise hot air balloon trip! An incredible way to see Bagan, and worth every penny! Spend the rest of your day back on your bikes getting lost amongst the 2,000 plus temples and pagoda’s that are scattered around.

Click here to read more about our Hot Air Balloon Trip in Bagan!

Day Seven: Allow a good chunk of the day for a road trip out to Mount Popa. Roughly a 90-minute journey each way by private taxi, otherwise longer if you are joining a tour group. Your last day will otherwise be spent back on those trusty bicycles as you head in another direction to explore. This time, head over to the New Town to see what else you can find, before one final rooftop pagoda sunset!

Temples in Old Bagan

Days Eight – Nine | Kalaw to Inle Lake

Stay At – Thitaw II

Day Eight: Today will mostly be a travel day, so take your time, you’ll be in no rush! Board another early morning flight to Heho, connect to the local train station, and embark on a relaxing two-hour train journey through the countryside out to Kalaw.

Arrive after lunchtime, check into your hotel, and find a reputable company to book your trekking and homestay experience through. Try Sam’s Trekking, that’s who we booked through! Have a nosey through the Myoma Market and pick up some snacks for your trekking. Before the sun sets, head up to the Thein Taung Monastery, a great viewpoint overlooking the town. Make sure you grab a cold drink from Hi, the smallest bar I’ve ever squeezed into!

Day Nine: With just your overnight essentials, head out on an overnight trek through the countryside and rice paddies. Visit local villages and craftsmen along the way, before spending the night in a traditional stilt house.

Click here to read more about our overnight trekking and homestay experience!

Small group trekking with Uncle Sam’s (trekking company)

Days Ten – Eleven | Inle Lake

Stay At – Zawgi Inn

Day Ten: Wake up early for the final part of your trek that will take you to the outskirts of Inle Lake. Stop for lunch before hopping on a narrow wooden boat to cross the lake to reach Nyaungshwe. Check into your hotel, have a hot shower, and go reward your tired legs with a cold beer or three!

Day Eleven: With just one full day to see the Lake, head out on a small group boat tour. Visit the local floating craft villages, which include a silver workshop and a local tobacco production business. Visit The Burmese Cat House, the Hpaung Daw U Pagoda, see some (touristy) stretched neck ladies, before meandering back through the floating villages to see how the locals really live.

Top Tip – Check the forecast. In the colder seasons the open waters combined with the speed of the boat, made for an extremely windy afternoon!

Keep an eye out for the local fishermen!

Days Twelve – Fourteen | Ngapali

Stay At – Diamond Hotel

Day Twelve: Depending if you would prefer more time at Inle Lake, or if you are desperate to feel the sand between your toes, take a brief 60-minute flight over to Ngapali Beach. Check into your beach front retreat and R-E-L-A-X …

Days Thirteen & Fourteen: There isn’t a huge amount to do here at the beach other than enjoy the ocean, have a cold beer, and chill the hell out!

Relax by the pool at The Diamond Hotel

Days Fifteen – Sixteen | Yangon

Stay At – 15th Street @ Downtown

Day Fifteen: Enjoy your last day at the beach, before taking one last internal flight back to Yangon. Enjoy your last taste of street food, karaoke, and beers! (I seem to drink a lot of beer in this post don’t i?).

Day Sixteen: It was a nice way to end our trip at a familiar place. We of course made a beeline back to 19th Street for one last street food feast!

Booking Internal Flights

For some reason, booking internal flights within Burma proved to a bit of a pickle for us to arrange ourselves. I would never usually book via a third-party travel agency, however we came across a handy company called Oway. We booked all our flights online through Oway, travelling with Air Bagan, Air KBZ, Asian Wings, and Mann Yadanarpon. Several of our flights were either cancelled, or their departure times were rescheduled. Oway were constantly in touch to notify us or offer alternative options which was super helpful to have.

Burmese airlines aren’t the most reliable, so it’s advisable to allow a little leeway either side of your flights to account for delays and changes. Oway can also help to arrange bus transfers, hotels, visa’s and other tours if you require.