ESSENTIAL BURMA

Day 1 Arrive Yangon

Arrive and transfer to your central hotel with time to freshen up after your journey. In the later afternoon your guide will take you to the iconic Shwedagon Pagoda; the most important landmark of Burma.

Overnight: The Savoy

Day 2 Explore Yangon

After breakfast, your guide will meet you for a comprehensive tour of the splendid city of Yangon. Starting with a ride on the city's circular train to Insein's fresh food market, highlights today include a stroll around the crumbling colonial quarter, a visit to the Botataung Pagoda before ending at Scott Market, which is a wonderful warren of shops and stalls selling all manner of Burmese products and handicrafts, shipped in from all corners of the country. Also visit The Secretariat, a colonial heritage building where General Aung San and his cabinet members were assassinated in 1947.

Option: Perhaps consider high tea at The Strand for a true colonial experience.

Overnight: The Savoy

Day 3 Yangon - Bagan

Fly to Bagan in the early morning and spend the day uncovering the landscape of over 4,000 temples alongside your private guide, who will help you decide what to see and make sense of it all. See any or all of the 12th Century Shwezigon Pagoda, the Cave Temple of Gubyauki Pagoda, the three storey high Htilominlo Temple and the brick-built Ananda Okkyaung, the best preserved masterpiece of Mon architecture. See too the 12th Century cross-shaped Thatbyinnyu Temple, the tallest in Bagan, and then the largest temple, the Dhammayangyi. Finish the day aboard a boat on the Irrawaddy enjoying the sunset.

Overnight: Thiripyitsaya Sanctuary Resort

Day 4 Discovering Ancient Bagan

When you are ready, spend the morning exploring Bagan by bike (or e-bike) with your guide - a mode of transport which allows you to get to some of the more remote parts of the site. You can explore the Archaeological Museum, as well as Bu-Paya, believed to have been built by the third king of Bagan who ruled from 168 to 243 AD. You are also free to explore the less well-visited temples like Satu-Mukha and U-pali-thein. Relax in the afternoon by the banks of the Irrawaddy River prior to the next phase of your journey.

Option: Perhaps take a dawn balloon flight over the temples.

Overnight: Thiripyitsaya Sanctuary Resort

Day 5 - 6 Cruising Upriver to Mandalay

Explore the riverside communities of Burma with a cruise along the mighty Irrawaddy River aboard a colonial-style river cruiser. Pause at riverside villages and moor up on sandbanks for the night, before arriving into the cultural capital, Mandalay.

Overnight: RV Paukan

Day 7 Sagaing - Mandalay 

Disembark at the ancient capital of Sagaing, now a tranquil hillside community on the banks of the Irrawaddy where thousands of monks and nuns retreat to hundreds of stupas, monasteries, temples and nunneries for meditation and contemplation. Then head to Mandalay to explore the city. See the Maha-myat-muni Pagoda, the most revered Buddha image in the city, the Golden Teak Monastery and the ZeyCho Market - not to mention the iconic wooden U-Bein Bridge.

Overnight: Rupar Mandalar

Day 8 Mingun & Ava  

In the morning, board a private boat and head up the Irrawaddy River to the village of Mingun, where you can see the huge and crumbling 'Unfinished Pagoda', the Mingun Bell (the largest ringing bell in the world), and the truly beautiful Sin Phyu Me Stupa. After lunch, explore the ancient capital of Ava by horse-drawn cart .

Overnight: Rupar Mandalar

Day 9 Mandalay - Inle Lake 

Fly to Heho and travel down to Inle Lake, where you board a longtail boat and head across the waters to your lakeside hotel. In the afternoon, head back out onto the lake to see Indein with its crumbling pagodas, as well as the amazing floating gardens.

Overnight: Inle Resort

Day 10 Floating around on Inle Lake 

Spend a second day with your guide and private longtail boat at your disposal, exploring the extremely photogenic Inle Lake. Perhaps head away from the crowds to the far south, which is less frequented by the many visitors, or catch a colourful five-day market, which teems with ethnic minorities in their traditional tribal dresses, who come down from the villages in the surrounding hills to sell their produce and meet friends.

Overnight: Inle Resort

Day 11 Depart

Fly back to Yangon where you will have a car and guide at your disposal until it is time to catch your evening flight home.