HeritageThe Strand
Yangon waterfront
Yangon's colonial grande dame on the river — teak, brass and a century of stories, beautifully restored.
The former capital
Yangon
Gold spires and colonial grandeur
Myanmar’s largest city and former capital is where most journeys begin — a humid, green, gloriously faded metropolis on the Yangon River. Above it all rises Shwedagon, the 99-metre golden stupa that is the spiritual heart of the country.
Downtown holds one of the largest collections of colonial-era architecture in Southeast Asia, much of it now being lovingly restored. The century-old Circle Line train still loops the suburbs, tea houses serve mohinga from dawn, and the street food is the best in the country.
Cross the river to Thanlyin for Portuguese ruins and pirate graves, or simply spend a day walking, eating and watching the city quietly reinvent itself.
Good to know
- Best time
- November–February is driest; atmospheric (and quiet) in the green season
- Ideal stay
- 1–2 nights
- Getting there
- The international gateway — most visitors fly straight in
What to do
Highlights of Yangon.
01
Shwedagon at sunset
The country's most sacred shrine, at its most magical as the gold catches the last light.
02
Colonial downtown
A walking tour of the Secretariat, the Strand and Yangon's grand old buildings.
03
The Circle Line train
Three slow, sociable hours through the suburbs aboard a working railway.
04
Markets & street food
Bogyoke market, tea houses and the best street food in Myanmar.
Where you’ll stay
Our favourite stays in Yangon.
Heritage
HeritageThe Governor's Residence
Embassy quarter
A 1920s teak mansion set in tropical gardens in the leafy diplomatic quarter — quiet, gracious and central.
Journeys that visit
See Yangon on these routes.
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.