The Heart of Myanmar — Self-Launched

Land at Yangon International Airport and take a taxi or the airport shuttle bus into downtown (taxi ~£5-6, roughly 45 mins). Check into a guesthouse in the old colonial quarter near Sule Pagoda. Spend the afternoon on a self-guided walk of the decaying but beautiful British-era streets around Pansodan and Strand Road, then eat mohinga (fish noodle soup) and tea-leaf salad at a local teahouse. Optional evening: catch the Circular Train from Yangon Central for a 3-hour slow loop through the suburbs (~£0.30 — buy a platform ticket and ride a few stops if you don't want the full loop).

🚌Airport taxi ~£5-6 (shared) or airport bus ~£0.50; walking and local taxis in town

🛏Guesthouse double/twin in downtown Yangon (~£18-25/night, ~£9-13 per person)

• →Self-guided colonial downtown walk
• →Sule Pagoda and Maha Bandoola street food crawl
• →Optional Yangon Circular Train ride

Take a morning domestic flight from Yangon to Mandalay (Air KBZ, Myanmar National Airlines or Mann Yadanarpon — book direct online ~£45-70, 1h15; the 15kg checked bag limit applies). Alternatively, the night bus (JJ Express or Elite, ~£12-15, ~9 hours) or the overnight train (~£10-15) if you want to save money. In the afternoon hire a motorbike taxi or trishaw guide (~£5 for a half-day) and cover the classic Mandalay circuit: Kuthodaw Pagoda (the world's largest book, 729 marble slabs), the Golden Palace Monastery's teak carving, Kyauk Taw Gyi Pagoda, and Mahamuni Temple. End with the slow climb of Mandalay Hill for sunset — the covered stairway is lined with tea shops.

🚌Domestic flight Yangon–Mandalay ~£45-70 (or overnight bus ~£12-15); motorbike taxi half-day ~£5

🛏Budget hotel or guesthouse in Mandalay (~£18-25/night, ~£9-13 per person)

• →Kuthodaw Pagoda and the 'World's Largest Book'
• →Golden Palace Monastery (Shwenandaw Kyaung)
• →Mandalay Hill sunset climb

Walk to the jetty by 8:30am and take the public riverboat across the Irrawaddy to Mingun (~£3-4 return, 1 hour each way). At Mingun see the colossal cracked Mingun Pahtodawgyi and the bronze Mingun Bell, then wander to the weavers and craft workshops. Return by boat and share a taxi or songthaew out to Sagaing Hill (~£6-8 for the vehicle) to see the white-and-gold pagodas scattered across the hillside, then continue to Amarapura's U Bein Bridge for sunset — the world's longest teak footbridge, best at golden hour.

🚌Public boat to Mingun ~£3-4 return; shared taxi to Sagaing and Amarapura ~£6-8 per vehicle

🛏Same Mandalay guesthouse/hotel

• →Mingun Pahtodawgyi and Mingun Bell
• →Sagaing Hill pagodas
• →U Bein teak bridge sunset at Amarapura

A flexible day. Options: (1) day trip to the former British hill station of Pyin Oo Lwin by local bus (~£2 each way, 2 hours) for cool air and the Botanical Gardens — the G Adventures optional excursion; (2) hire a bicycle or motorbike taxi to cross the Inwa Bridge and explore the old royal capital of Inwa by horse cart (~£4); (3) lazy morning at the Zegyo Market and a Mandalay tea shop. Book tomorrow's Mandalay–Bagan Irrawaddy boat ticket today at the jetty or online (~£20-25, 9-10 hours, departs early morning).

🚌Local bus to Pyin Oo Lwin ~£4 return, or bicycle rental ~£2

🛏Same Mandalay guesthouse/hotel

• →Optional Pyin Oo Lwin Botanical Gardens day trip
• →Optional Inwa horse-cart tour
• →Zegyo Market and tea shop afternoon

Board the public riverboat from Mandalay's Gawwein jetty around 7am for the slow full-day cruise down the Irrawaddy to Bagan — the same route the tour takes, but on the public boat rather than a chartered one. Nine to ten hours of riverside villages, sandbanks, floating timber and temple spires appearing on the horizon, with a lunch stop en route. Arrive in Nyaung-U in the late afternoon; take a shared taxi or e-bike to your guesthouse in New Bagan or Nyaung-U. Book tomorrow's e-bike rental tonight (~£5-7/day).

🚌Public Irrawaddy River boat Mandalay–Bagan ~£20-25; shared taxi to guesthouse ~£2

🛏Guesthouse in Nyaung-U or New Bagan (~£18-28/night, ~£9-14 per person)

• →Full-day Irrawaddy River cruise
• →Sunset arrival in Bagan

Pay the 30-day Bagan archaeological zone ticket (~£12) at the entrance checkpoint and spend the day on an e-bike looping the temples. Cover the highlights: Shwezigon Pagoda, Gubyaukgyi cave temple (Wetkyi-in) with its original wall paintings, Manuha and Nan Paya temples, and Thatbyinnyu and Ananda. In the afternoon head to Kyan Sithar Umin monastery near Nyaung-U to sit with a monk and talk about Buddhism and daily life — visitors are welcome in the afternoons; dress modestly and take a small donation. Finish with sunset from a permitted viewpoint (the climbable temples change — your guesthouse will tell you which ones are currently open).

🚌E-bike rental ~£5-7 for the day

🛏Same Bagan guesthouse

• →Shwezigon Pagoda
• →Gubyaukgyi and Ananda temples
• →Monk chat at Kyan Sithar Umin monastery
• →Bagan temple sunset

Rent an e-bike again or share a taxi (~£25-30 per vehicle split between you) out of town to a toddy palm farm — families en route to Mount Popa will let you watch a climber scale a 30-metre palm to harvest sap, then show you how it's boiled into jaggery molasses or fermented into toddy. Continue to Mount Popa and Taungkalat Monastery, perched on a volcanic plug with 777 steps up (watch your sunglasses — the macaques are light-fingered). Back to Bagan via a palm-sugar workshop. Alternatively, in season (Oct–Mar) splash out on the famous sunrise hot-air balloon (~£250-300, book direct with Oriental Ballooning or Balloons over Bagan) — this is the one genuinely expensive optional extra.

🚌E-bike ~£5-7, or shared taxi to Mount Popa ~£8-10 per person

🛏Same Bagan guesthouse

• →Toddy palm climbing and palm-sugar demonstration
• →Mount Popa and Taungkalat Monastery
• →Optional Bagan hot-air balloon flight

Fly from Nyaung-U (Bagan) to Heho (~£40-55, 40 mins) — the quickest way, and the same logic the tour uses. Cheaper overlanders can take the bus to Meiktila and connect to Nyaung Shwe (~£8-12, 9-11 hours, leave at night). From Heho take a shared taxi to Nyaung Shwe (~£4-5 per person, 45 mins), then a short longtail boat to your lakeside guesthouse near Inle (~£2). En route visit Shwe Yan Pyay Monastery just outside Nyaung Shwe, with its oval-windowed teak hall full of novice monks. In the afternoon tour Nyaung Shwe by cycle rickshaw (~£3 for an hour) and pick up a boat trip for tomorrow from the jetty.

🚌Domestic flight Bagan–Heho ~£40-55 (or overnight bus ~£8-12); shared taxi Heho–Nyaung Shwe ~£4-5; local boat ~£2

🛏Lakeside guesthouse near Nyaung Shwe, Inle Lake (~£20-30/night, ~£10-15 per person)

• →Shwe Yan Pyay Monastery
• →Nyaung Shwe by cycle rickshaw
• →First views of the floating gardens

Hire a longtail boat with a driver for the day directly at the jetty (~£20-25 per boat, splits between 2-4 people — this replaces the tour's group boat). Glide past the leg-rowing fishermen, floating tombstones and stilt villages to the morning market (the '5-day market' rotates between villages), the cheroot factory, Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda and the Inthien/Nge Phe Chaung monastery with its jumping cats. In the early afternoon stop at the home of a local Intha chef for a hands-on Burmese cooking class (~£15-20 per person, book through your guesthouse or GetYourGuide), then eat what you've made on the veranda over the water.

🚌Private longtail boat with driver for the day ~£20-25 per boat

🛏Same Inle Lake guesthouse

• →Floating villages and morning market by boat
• →Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda and Inthien monastery
• →Cheroot factory visit
• →Burmese cooking class with a local chef

Take a local boat back across the lake to Nyaung Shwe, then the shared minibus or pickup truck up the winding road to Kalaw (~£3-5, 1.5-2 hours). Kalaw sits at 1,300m and is noticeably cooler — a former British hill station of colonial cottages, pine forest and tea shops. Spend the afternoon free: hike to a nearby village or the Thein Taung monastery, browse the market, or just curl up with a book. If you want a longer trek, arrange a one- or two-day guided village trek for tomorrow with a local guide through your guesthouse (~£20-30/day including meals and homestay).

🚌Local boat + shared minibus Inle–Kalaw ~£4-6 total

🛏Guesthouse or colonial-style budget hotel in Kalaw (~£18-25/night, ~£9-13 per person)

• →Scenic hill road to Kalaw
• →Kalaw market and colonial quarter
• →Optional village hike or day trek

Fly Heho–Yangon (~£40-55, 1h15) — the bus is cheaper (~£12-15, 10-12 hours overnight) but a flight saves the day. Check in near downtown, then head to Shwedagon Pagoda in the late afternoon (~£6 entry) and stay through golden hour as candles are lit and the marble cools — the single most spectacular sight in Myanmar. Afterwards browse Bogyoke Aung San Market for lacquerware and longyis. For dinner, book a table at LinkAge Restaurant (No. 19, Kan Yeik Thar Street), the social enterprise restaurant the original tour visits — it trains disadvantaged young people for hospitality careers and serves excellent Shan and Burmese food (~£10-15).

🚌Domestic flight Heho–Yangon ~£40-55 (or overnight bus ~£12-15); taxis in Yangon

🛏Guesthouse or budget hotel in downtown Yangon (~£20-28/night, ~£10-14 per person)

• →Shwedagon Pagoda at golden hour
• →Bogyoke Aung San Market shopping
• →Farewell dinner at LinkAge Restaurant social enterprise

A free morning for a last bowl of mohinga, a walk along the Yangon River or a bakery breakfast before heading to the airport. Airport taxi ~£5-6; allow 45-60 minutes for traffic. Remember to keep some kyat for the departure tax if it's still being collected, and hold on to your e-visa printout and insurance details.

🚌Airport taxi ~£5-6

🛏None (departure day)

• →Morning riverside walk and breakfast
• →Depart Yangon