ResortBagan Lodge
New Bagan
Low-slung, tented-style luxury among the tamarind trees, an easy reach of the temple plain.
Mandalay Region
Bagan
Three thousand temples on a single plain
If one image draws people to Myanmar, it’s Bagan: a horizon of some three thousand temples, pagodas and stupas scattered across a single dusty plain on a bend of the Irrawaddy. Built between the 11th and 13th centuries, it was the heart of the first kingdom to unify the country.
The classic way to take it in is from the air at dawn, when balloons drift over the mist and the low sun sets the brickwork glowing. But Bagan rewards slow exploration just as much — by e-bike or horse cart, ducking into shadowy temples where the only sound is birdsong and a distant bell.
Beyond the famous few — Ananda, Shwesandaw, Shwezigon — lie hundreds of smaller temples you can have to yourself, plus lacquerware workshops, riverside villages and some of the country’s very best sunsets.
Good to know
- Best time
- October–April for clear skies; balloons fly Oct–mid-April
- Ideal stay
- 2–3 nights
- Getting there
- Short flights from Yangon, Mandalay & Heho, or arrive by river cruise
What to do
Highlights of Bagan.
01
Dawn balloon flight
Drift over the temple plain at first light with one of the three long-running ballooning operators.
02
The great temples
The golden spires of Ananda, the gilded Shwezigon and the vast bulk of Dhammayangyi.
03
Sunset on the Irrawaddy
A private boat as the stupas turn to silhouette and the river fills with gold.
04
Lacquerware workshops
Watch the painstaking, generations-old craft that Bagan has been known for.
Where you’ll stay
Our favourite stays in Bagan.
Resort
ResortAureum Palace Bagan
Beside the archaeological zone
Generous grounds and a pool right on the edge of the temple field — convenient for sunrise and sunset alike.
Start the conversation
Let’s design your Myanmar.
Tell us how you like to travel and one of our Yangon-based specialists will reply within two working days — with ideas, not a hard sell.