Myanmar
Bagan
The densest field of medieval Buddhist architecture on earth, and you can still ride out into it alone.
More than two thousand brick temples, stupas and monasteries stand across a bend of dry plain above the Irrawaddy, the surviving core of a capital that ruled the valley for two and a half centuries. The great ones, Ananda above all, are working shrines rather than ruins, and the rest are yours to find down sandy tracks by e-bike.
Suggested stay
2–4 days
Language
Burmese
Currency
MMK
Timezone
UTC+6:30
Why you'll love Bagan
The scale Two thousand-odd monuments spread over a wide plain, so even in the busy months a sandy side track will hand you a whole temple to yourself.
Sunrise Mist and cooking smoke settle between the spires at dawn and the balloons lift off into it - the view Bagan is famous for.
A living faith Ananda and Shwezigon are pilgrimage sites with gilded Buddhas, bells and barefoot crowds, not roped-off ruins.
Freedom to roam An electric bike, a rough map and no fixed route is the normal way to see the plain, and the best one.
Best time to visit
Nov-Feb
Cool & dry · 30-33° days
21.172° N, 94.859° E
UTC+6:30 · Asia/Yangon
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Weather & when to go to Bagan
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Nov-Feb
Conditions Jan Cool & dry · Feb Dry season · Mar Hot season · Apr Extreme heat · May Monsoon starts · Jun-Aug Monsoon · Sep Heavy rain · Oct Rains easing · Nov Cool & dry · Dec Best weather
Watch for Feb-Apr haze risk · Mar-Jul extreme heat risk
Cards tinted by verified verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Bagan
April and May are punishing in the Dry Zone, with midday heat that shuts sightseeing down, and June to September brings the rains. Balloons only fly in the cool dry season. Separately, Myanmar has been unstable since 2021 and several governments advise against travel, so check current advice before committing to anything.
Top things to do in Bagan
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Ananda Temple - the masterpiece of the plain
history culture arts 👍 PopularA whitewashed Greek cross under a gilded spire, finished around 1105 under Kyansittha. Four colossal standing Buddhas face the cardinal directions down long dim corridors lined with glazed jataka plaques. The most complete and best cared for of all the monuments, and still busy with worshippers.
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Dhammayangyi Temple - the great brick pile
history 👍 PopularBagan's bulkiest temple, raised by Narathu, who took the throne by murdering his father and brother and reputedly had masons executed when a needle fitted between their bricks. The masonry is famously flawless; the inner corridors were bricked up centuries ago and nobody agrees why.
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Shwezigon Pagoda - the golden prototype
history culture arts 👍 PopularAnawrahta's gilded stupa at Nyaung-U, completed under Kyansittha and the model for Burmese pagodas ever since. A major pilgrimage site rather than a monument: hot marble underfoot, gold leaf, bells, and a side shrine of thirty-seven nat spirit figures.
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Sulamani Temple - frescoes in the brickwork
history culture artsA two-storey temple of 1183 with some of the finest brick and stucco work on the plain, and faded murals and later ink drawings along its corridors. It sits among fields east of the walls and is usually quieter than the headline temples.
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Sunrise from a viewing mound - mist, spires and balloons
scenic ⭐ Highly recommendedClimbing the temples has been banned since the 2016 earthquake, so dawn moved to purpose-built earth mounds and a handful of designated terraces. Arrive in the dark, watch the plain separate out of the haze, and wait for the balloons to rise over it.
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Hot-air balloon over Bagan - the flight people remember
scenic adventure ⭐ Highly recommendedBaskets lift at first light from fields near Nyaung-U and drift for about an hour over the spires before setting down among them. Cool dry season only, booked out far ahead, and comfortably the most expensive thing anyone does here.
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Myinkaba lacquerware workshops - watch the layers go on
culture arts shoppingThe village between Old and New Bagan has worked lacquer for centuries. Workshops walk you through the whole process: woven bamboo or horsehair frames, dozens of coats of thitsi sap, months of drying in cellars, then engraving and colouring by hand.
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Manuha and Nanpaya - the captive king's temples
historyTwo small early monuments at Myinkaba tied to Manuha, the Mon king Anawrahta carried off from Thaton. His Buddhas are wedged tight into their chambers, said to express confinement; Nanpaya next door keeps unusually fine sandstone reliefs of Brahma on its inner piers.
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Irrawaddy sunset boat - the plain from the water
scenicLong wooden boats push off from the bank below Old Bagan in the late afternoon for an hour or two on the river, with Bupaya's bulbous gold stupa and the temple line strung out above the sandbanks.
Best areas to stay in Bagan
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Nyaung-U
Budget travellers $Busy market town, backpacker base
Explore hotels in Nyaung-U →
Old Bagan
First-time visitors $$$Walled riverside core among the monuments
Explore hotels in Old Bagan →
New Bagan
Quiet and mid-range $$Quiet grid town south of the temples
Explore hotels in New Bagan →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Bagan
Getting to & around Bagan
Getting there
Fly into Nyaung-U and take a taxi to the temples in about 20 min, or come overland by coach from Yangon or Mandalay.
Flight
Nyaung-U Airport (Bagan) (NYU)
A small airport just outside Nyaung-U, roughly 7 km from the walled zone. Taxis wait at the terminal and reach Old Bagan in about 15-20 min; most hotels will send a car if you ask ahead.
Coach
Nyaung-U bus station
Overnight and daytime express coaches from Yangon take most of a night; Mandalay is a half-day run.
Train
Bagan railway station
A slow overnight line from Yangon and a branch from Mandalay. Scenic and rattling, and far slower than the road.
Ferry
Old Bagan jetty
The Irrawaddy day boat down from Mandalay is the slow, scenic arrival, running in season and taking most of a day.
Drive
Nyaung-U
Around four to five hours from Mandalay on sealed road, and a long full day from Inle Lake.
Getting around
E-bike
The standard way to see the plain. Hotels and shops rent them by the day, no licence needed.
TBC
Bicycle
Fine on the paved loop, hard work on the sandy tracks between the temples.
TBC
Horse cart
Slow, shaded and traditional. Drivers know which temples catch the light when.
TBC
Taxi
Air-conditioned cars by the half or full day, the sensible option in the hot months.
TBC
Walking
Only within a cluster - the monuments are spread across a wide plain.
Free
Day trips from Bagan
Mount Popa
Half dayVolcanic pilgrimage crag
Popa Taung Kalat is a gilded monastery perched on a volcanic plug rising sheer from the plain, reached barefoot up 777 steps through a gauntlet of macaques. It is the home shrine of Myanmar's nat spirits; the actual volcano stands behind it.
Getting there
car | tour
About 1 hr 30 min each way by taxi or tour
Salay
Half dayMonastic river town
A quiet riverside town south of Bagan with a teak monastery covered in carved panels, a huge lacquered Buddha and rows of faded British-era brick shophouses. Almost nobody makes the trip, which is much of the appeal.
Getting there
car
About 1 hr 15 min each way by car
Pakokku
Half dayWorking market town
Across the river to the northwest, a busy town known for tobacco, cheroots and thanaka, with a big riverside market and barely a visitor in sight. Boats still make the crossing alongside the bridge.
Getting there
car | ferry
About 1 hr each way by car over the Irrawaddy bridge
A little history of Bagan
Bagan was the capital of the first kingdom to unite the Irrawaddy valley. Anawrahta took the throne in 1044, absorbed the Mon south, and made Theravada Buddhism the state religion. For the next two centuries kings, queens, ministers and merchants earned merit by building: something over ten thousand monuments went up on the plain, of which around three and a half thousand survive in some form.
Construction stopped late in the thirteenth century as the kingdom fragmented under Mongol pressure and the court moved away. What followed was slower damage: earthquakes, the worst in 1975, and a restoration campaign in the 1990s that raised speculative new brickwork on old foundations and kept Bagan off the World Heritage list for decades. Another earthquake in 2016 damaged hundreds of temples and ended the tradition of climbing them. Inscription finally came in 2019.
Traditional founding of the walled city of Pagan on the Irrawaddy.
Anawrahta takes the throne and unifies the Irrawaddy valley.
Conquest of Mon Thaton; Theravada Buddhism becomes the state religion.
Ananda Temple completed under Kyansittha.
Narapatisithu builds Sulamani, high point of the late brick style.
Mongol invasions; the kingdom fragments and the court leaves.
A major earthquake damages hundreds of monuments.
Another earthquake; temple climbing ends and repairs begin.
The Bagan archaeological zone is inscribed as a World Heritage site.
Know before you go
Payment
Cash only
English
Limited
Wifi
Limited
Power
Type A / B / C / D / E / F / G / I
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+95
Bring cash. Foreign cards and ATMs are unreliable to unusable here, so plan on carrying what the trip needs and changing money on arrival.
Haze risk in this window; check current conditions before you go.
Extreme heat risk in this window; check current conditions before you go.
The months our climate read flags to avoid: the wettest, lowest-rated weather of the year.
FAQs about Bagan
▸ When is the best time to visit Bagan?
November to February is the cool dry season and the easiest time to be out among the temples all day. October and March are warmer but workable. April and May are brutally hot in the Dry Zone, and the rains run through to about September.
▸ Can you still climb the temples for sunrise?
No. Climbing was stopped after the 2016 earthquake to protect the brickwork. Dawn and dusk are watched instead from purpose-built earth mounds, a few designated terraces, hotel roofs and balloons.
▸ How long do you need in Bagan?
Two full days covers the headline temples and one dawn. Three lets you get properly lost on the sandy tracks and still fit in Mount Popa or Salay. Beyond four the temples start to blur unless you are seriously interested.
▸ Do you have to pay to enter the archaeological zone?
Yes. A zone fee is collected from foreign visitors, usually on arrival at the airport or bus station and occasionally at a temple gate. Keep the ticket: it covers several days and is checked at the bigger monuments.
▸ What is the best way to get around the temples?
An electric bike. They are rented everywhere, cross the plain easily, handle sand far better than a pushbike and need no licence. Horse carts and hired cars work too, and are much more comfortable in the heat.
▸ Is Bagan safe to visit?
The temple plain itself is calm and the towns are used to visitors, but Myanmar has been unstable since 2021, conditions change and several governments advise against travel. Check current government advice and whether your insurance covers you.