Small Group Journeys
Highlights
Tour Details
Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival in Yangon
You land at Yangon and are driven into town, three quarters of an hour or so. The afternoon is free. Two practical things your leader covers before dinner: foreign cards do not work here, so you need clean dollar notes to change, and the internet is slow and often filtered. Both are easier to accept when explained in advance. Dinner is together, in a tea house of the sort Yangon does well.
Day 2: One day in Yangon
Mostly walking. The colonial grid runs from the Strand up to Sule Pagoda, which cracked on its stupa in the 2025 earthquake and has stayed open while inspections continue. We look through Bogyoke Aung San market, built in 1926 and still dealing in jade and longyi, and take the circular train for two stops to see how the city moves. Shwedagon at the end of the afternoon, and an hour there is not too long.
Day 3: Flight to Mandalay
There is no road option between the two cities on this trip, so we fly. The hop takes about an hour and thirty-five minutes, with departures spread through the morning; your leader confirms the time the evening before. In Mandalay we start with the gold-beating workshops near the Mahamuni, then Shwenandaw, the one surviving teak building of the palace. Sunset from the ramparts rather than from the hill.
Day 4: Amarapura, Sagaing and the hill
Out to Amarapura for the Mahagandayon monastery and U Bein bridge. The bridge lost planks and posts in the earthquake and has been repaired in sections since; how much of it is walkable changes, and your guide checks on the morning. Across the river to Sagaing, where the old Ava bridge of 1934 came down and hundreds of monasteries stand on the ridge. Kuthodaw and Mandalay Hill at the end of the day, conditions allowing.
Day 5: Departure
What´s included
- 4 nights in 3–4 star hotels or similar, 2 in Yangon and 2 in Mandalay
- Daily breakfast and 2 dinners
- Domestic flights Yangon–Mandalay and Mandalay–Yangon
- Mandalay archaeological zone fee and all listed entrance fees
- Boat crossing to Sagaing and transport in air-conditioned vehicles
- English-speaking tour leader throughout, plus local guides in each city
- Arrival and departure transfers, and a Yangon day room if your departure is late
- Bottled water throughout, and all tipping for drivers, boatmen and guides
Excluded
- International flights into and out of Yangon
- Myanmar eVisa, applied for online before you travel
- Travel insurance, which is a condition of joining the group. Several policies restrict or void cover for Myanmar, so confirm in writing with your insurer that this trip is covered before you book
- Checking your own government’s travel advice for Myanmar, which is your responsibility and should be done both before booking and again before departure
- Lunches and any meal not listed above, and all drinks
- Personal expenses and laundry
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