The Highlights And Beyond

Day 1 Depart the UK

Depart the UK on your overnight flight to Yangon

Day 2 & 3 Yangon  The contrasts of city life 

On arrival in Yangon, meet your private guide and transfer to your hotel. The first afternoon/evening is free to relax.

On the first full day, you’ll join your guide to explore Yangon on an Experience Travel Group signature tour. This tour visits the main sites but also gives you a sense of the contrasts of local village life and urban life. You’ll enjoy a street food dinner with drinks before returning to your hotel in the evening.

Days 4 & 5 Loikaw   Exploring away from the tourist route

Your only domestic flight of the holiday takes you north-east to Loikaw, a remote area that few tourists visit. Your guide will meet you on arrival, and you’ll spend two days getting a sense of the rural way of life and exploring the local countryside. Visit villages, explore the markets where the tribes meet to trade their wares, take in beautiful panoramas and marvel at the unique monuments.

Days 6-8 Lake Inle   travel by boat to the lake

With your guide, you’ll board a local boat for the transfer upstream to Lake Inle; a beautiful, scenic way to get to Lake Inle, utterly different to the route taken by most visitors. En route, you’ll stop to visit Sankar where 100 Buddhist stupas rise out of the lake. 

Lake Inle has incredible scenery and many interesting sights to behold. Spend two days exploring the lake and its surroundings by boat; a highlight is pulling up at the rotating market atop the lake itself, and a peaceful sunset sail.  During your stay, your guide will also take you to a local vineyard and a Burmese cooking demonstration in a local home.

Day 9 &10  Kalaw   elephants and scenery in the hills

Today you’ll rattle through the Shan Hills by train towards nearby Kalaw, the former hill station of The British Raj. During your stay here, you’ll visit the Green Hill Elephant Camp, a project that provides shelter for retired elephants. There will also be time to explore the sleepy colonial hill station by bicycle with your guide.

Day 11 – 13 Bagan and Mount Popa    

You’ll travel by road from Kalaw down to famous Bagan; this is one of the most scenic drives in Myanmar and a fantastic way to get a sense of the country's beauty (of course, if you would prefer the domestic flight option then that can also be arranged.) Along the way, you’ll pass paddy fields and rolling hills before arriving at the extinct volcano of Mount Popa, where you’ll have the chance to climb the 777 steps to the top of adjacent Popa Taung Kalat - a tower-like volcanic plug with a gilded temple on top. 

Once in Bagan, there is plenty of time to explore the extraordinary archaeological zone with its incredible array of temples, pagodas, stupas and ruins, both independently and with your guide.  Your stay will also include a trip across to the unique island of  Kyun Thiri, time to take in river-life, explore caves and to catch a couple of glorious sunsets.

Day 14 & 15 Yandabo  Life in an Irrawaddy River Village

After lunch in Bagan, you’ll travel slowly up the river towards the village of Yandabo. Here you’ll stay in a cosy hotel on the banks of the Irrawaddy River. You’ll spend your time here getting a flavour of village life along the Irrawaddy, one of the most important rivers in Myanmar.  Pottery is a popular local craft and water buffalo harvest the land in this sleepy rural area. An interesting fact about Yandabo: this is where the treaty which ended the first Anglo Burmese War was signed in 1826.

 Day 16 – 18 Mandalay  explore the ancient capitals

Back in your boat, you’ll continue the journey upstream to Mandalay. Simply sit back and absorb the fantastic scenery. When you get to Mandalay, explore the ancient cities, the glittering pagodas and busy markets. Your guide will transport you to famous sites such as Ava and U Bein Bridge, with a few clever tricks to dodge the busiest times of the day.   

Day 19 Train  (or fly)    the voyage back to Yangon

Adventurers will love the unique experience of travelling from Mandalay to Yangon overnight aboard a local train. Still, you can take a one- hour flight instead if time is limited or if such an adventure doesn’t appeal!  

Day 20 Yangon   City Life and the SHwedagon Pagoda

Before you fly home you’ll spend one last day and night in Yangon; there will be a chance to get an insight into city life aboard the local circle train and to toast your epic tour of Myanmar with sunset at one of the country’s most famous landmarks the Shwedagon Pagoda.

Day 21 Fly Home

Depart Yangon for your flight back to the UK.