Myanmar Itinerary 3 weeks: Myanmar (Burma) is a stunning country with some breathtakingly beautiful places to visit. From the thousands of temples of Bagan, the culture rich tea houses of Mandalay, to the pristine beaches of Ngapali, Myanmar will amaze you at every turn.

 

Our Myanmar Itinerary 3 weeks

‘This is Burma and it is unlike any land you know about’, wrote Rudyard Kipling in Letters from the East in 1898.

And I couldn’t agree more with his sentiments. There are so many things to do in Myanmar that 3 weeks is the ideal amount of time to fully experience the country.

And with a country this size, having the chance to build in a long train trip or a slow boat ride, will allow you to see parts of the country otherwise not accessible. And taking cheap internal flights can help speed up the travel.

This is our itinerary for 3 weeks in Myanmar.

Yangon to Bagan: Bagan to Mandalay; Mandalay to Inle Lake (Nyaungshwe), Inle Lake to Loikaw; Loikaw to Heho Airport to Ngapali Beach: Ngapali back to Yangon

 

Yangon (3 nights)

We started our 3 weeks in Myanmar trip in Yangon, the capital of Myanmar. There are many interesting things to do in Yangon, and 3 nights allows enough time to acclimatise to Myanmar and to explore the city.

Things to do: Visit the amazing Shwedegon Pagoda, take a late afternoon stroll through the street food rich night markets along Strand Street, go bananas at the Banana and Coconut market, ride the Yangon Circular Train, and visit a local street market.

Stay: We stayed at Lavender Hotel. It was around the corner from Shwedegon Pagoada (we could see the Pagoda while having breakfast!).

Click here for photos and latest prices.

Eat: Introduce yourself to Shan food at Shan Noodle 999

Yangon to Bagan Train (1 night)

We took the trundling overnight sleeper train from Yangon to Bagan through the beautifully green Myanmar countryside. It was the longest travel we had on our Myanmar itinerary. Read about how to buy tickets and what you can expect from the train journey here:

Bagan (3 nights)

Bagan is famous for being a temple town, and one of Myanmar’s major tourist attractions. There are more than 2,000 temples in Bagan, and an almost unlimited amount of great photo opportunities.

Things to do: Hire an e-bike and tour the temples, find a great spot for sunrise and sunset photos (everyone has a favourite, just ask), and take a stroll through the local market, Mani Sithu Market.

Stay: We stayed in the Royal Diamond Hotel Nyaung-U, the main town of Bagan. It is a short e-bike ride (we hired the e-bikes through the hotel) away from the temples. It is also close to the restaurant district.

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Eat: Weather Spoon Restaurant on Thi Ri Pyitsaya 4 street. The friendliest restaurant staff ever!

Mandalay (3 nights)

Mandalay is Myanmar’s second largest city, and one which I’d be happy to spend a lot more time getting to know. To me, Mandalay embodies the Burmese culture, not only through the many pagodas and monasteries, but through a collection of the best tea houses in Myanmar, awesome street markets, and even the old school Mandalay Jade Market. It was one of the highlights of our 3 weeks in Myanmar.

Things to do: Visit the U Bien Bridge at sunset, eat at one of the many teahouses, tour the sprawling Mandalay Palace, and spend an hour or 2 at the Mandalay Jade Market.

Or read here for a more detailed list of things to do in Mandalay. 

Food: To get an idea of the local food in Myanmar, hit one the many tea houses.

Stay: We stayed at the comfortable Hotel Aurora. This hotel is on the doorstep of the incredible Zay Cho market, that is both a wholesale and retail market. 

Click here for availability and prices

Eat: Mingalarbar Restaurant.

Inle Lake (Nyaungshwe) (3 nights)

The vast and serene Inle Lake is another of Myanmar’s main tourist destinations. And rightly so. The beautiful lake is home to stilt-house villages, the famous Intha fishermen (who propel their boats through the water using their unique leg rowing technique), and beautiful temples, including one that houses many cats.

Things to do: Take a full-day boat tour of Inle Lake, go trekking in the surrounding hills, and visit Red Mountain Winery to taste Myanmar’s best local wine.

Lake Tours: Can be organized through your hotel.

Stay: We stayed at the awesome Inle Cottage Boutique Hotel. This hotel ticks all the boxes. Very comfortable rooms, the friendliest staff, a rooftop eating area (with a great breakfast), and a location that is central to everything in the town. This is one of the few “must-stay” recommendations I’ve made.

Click here for photos and latest prices.

Eat: The tasting plate at Sin Yaw Restaurant. The best meal I had in Myanmar.

Loikaw (2 nights)

 

We originally planned to use Loikaw as a base to visit Pan Pet, the remote village and home to the Kayan long neck tribe. After doing a little more research, we ended up spending 2 nights and three full days exploring the area, and we were so glad we did.

Things to do: Visit the village of Pan Pet, where the Kayan Long neck tribe live. If you are coming from Bagan, stop by Kakku Pagodas (pictured above). Climb the hilltop pagoda of Taung Kwe Zayde (or take the lift if you are feeling lazy).

Tour: We organized our tour through our hotel in Bagan. We paid $200 for a 3 day, 2 night tour of the Loikaw area, which included a car and driver. The driver took car of his own accommodation, whilst we bought him lunch each day.

Stay: In Loikaw, we stayed at Hotel Mingalar. The hotel is very comfortable, and serves a nice buffet breakfast of local dishes.

Eat: This was one occasion where the best meals we had was at the hotel.

Ngapali Beach (4 nights)

We left our visit to one of Asia’s most beautiful beaches until the end of our trip so we could have a few days of rest and relaxation, and we are really happy we did. The palm fringed beach is long, deserted in many places, pristine, and great to swim in. We took the Heho to Thandwe flight, which went via Yangon.

Things to do: It maybe stating the obvious, but walks along the beach, swimming in the ocean and the hotel pool, and receiving a relaxing massage. We also visited the local sleepy village market one morning.

Stay: We stayed at the Amazing Ngapali Resort. We were lucky to get a good rate at short notice (an upside of traveling in the low season) and we were able to enjoy all the creature comforts the resort offered. The resort has a private beach, amazing food, an international wine list, and a day spa that includes a relaxing massage.

Click here to see if discount prices are available 

Eat: We also ate fresh, and very well priced, seafood dishes at See Zien, which was close to the resort.

Yangon (2 nights)

We finished our trip back in Yangon, and treated ourselves to a night of Japanese food and jazz music at Gekko Restaurant.

And for another perspective of places to visit in Myanmar, read this post on where to go in Myanmar.

What is the best time to visit Myanmar?

The best time to visit Mynamar is during their winter, which is from November until February. The day time temperatures are a comfortable 28 degrees, although the nights can be relatively cool.

That being said, our 3 weeks in Myanmar itinerary was in late July/early August, when it was the rainy season, and not too hot. The heaviest rains were in Yangon, where it would rain heavily for short periods. We just made sure we took umbrellas out with us. It rained very little in the rest of the country.

The downside of visiting during the rainy season was that the hot air balloons in Bagan weren’t operating. The upside was that there were usually few tourists at many of the main sites, and booking hotels, transport, restaurants etc. was never an issue.

Markets in Myanmar

We visited a lot of markets in Myanmar and loved their vibrancy, range of fruit and vegetables, and the welcoming people. They were all slightly different. Photo is from the Mani Sithu Market in Bagan.

Myanmar Traditional Food

It took me a while to appreciate the traditional food of Myanmar. Whilst there are many tea houses serving traditional food, and many street markets where tasty snacks can be found, I found it difficult to not compare the food one way or another to its closest neighbours of Thailand and India.

Not surprisingly, there are a great many Thai and Indian restaurants, especially in Yangon and Mandalay. We ate at some of these restaurants, but tried the local food as much as possible.

A few of my personal thoughts on the traditional food of Myanmar.

• Mohinga, as the so-called national dish, is sensational. Rice noodles, served in an earthy fish broth, flavoured with ingredients such as lemongrass, ginger, onion, garlic, and dried spices. It is usually served with crispy chickpea fritters.
• Tea Leaf salad is also another popular dish, and is often served at celebrations. The dish is prepared by mixing the bitter leaves with cabbage, sliced tomatoes, nuts and peas. For me, the tea leaves themselves are an acquired taste, and by the end of the trip, I hadn’t yet acquired the taste. I’m sure I would if I was there longer.
• Noodles, curries, salads. Yes, putting them into one category doesn’t make senses, other than to say this. Whilst some of the individual dishes were tasty and enjoyable, the noodles, curries, and salads don’t compare favourably with those of Vietnam, Thailand, or India.
• The best meal I ate in Myanmar was a Shan tasting platter in a restaurant called Sin Yaw, in the town of Nyaungshwe, right near Inle Lake. The individual dishes were as good as the overall platter. I still wonder where this food was hiding.
• There are, thankfully, plenty of tasty street food snacks.

 

Is Myanmar safe?

Yes, Myanmar is safe, and we had no issues in our 3 weeks in Myanmar.

There were quite a few police checkpoints around Loikaw, but we passed through these without incident.

As always, it is advisable to check with your local authorities about latest developments in Myanmar.

Thanaka – Myanmar’s beauty secret

If there is one unique feature of the majority of women in Myanmar, it is that they wear the pale yellow cosmetic paste made from the thanaka tree. The paste is derived by grinding the wood and bark of the tree with a small amount of water onto a flat wet stone called a kyauk pyin.

The paste is applied to the face, and sometimes the arms, of women and girls, as well as some young men and boys. It is said to be good protection from the sun, lightens the skin, and even works against acne.

One study suggested that “extracts from thanaka bark showed strong anti-inflammatory, significant antioxidation, mild tyrosinase inhibition and slight antibacterial activities.”

Every market we visited had thanaka vendors, and they were happy to provide demonstrations on how it is applied. The wood and bark can be bought at markets, although the little ready-made tubs are far more efficient.

 

Myanmar e-visa

You will need a visa to travel to Myanmar. Visa on arrival is not available, with your only option to apply for an e-visa online at https://evisa.moip.gov.mm/newapplication.aspx.

Apply at least 3 days before you travel. Our visas were approved in a matter of hours, and we were sent the ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation) via email. The 28-day visa cost is $50 (credit card only).

Getting around Myanmar

Getting around Myanmar is quite easy, but the journeys are long. For our Myanmar itinerary, we used lots of different ways to travel through the country including by train, bus, boat, car, and plane. Long distance bus journeys start at about $10, whilst an internal flight on a local airline will cost from as little as $100.

SIM card in Myanmar

There are 3 SIM pre-paid options at the time of writing. MPT (Myanmar Post and Telecomminication), the Qatar-based Ooredoo, and the Norway-based Telenor.

I was recommended, and used, Ooredoo, and had no issues with coverage throughout the country.

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