Top 10 Things To Do In Yangon, Myanmar

Our week in Yangon was a marathon between temples, pagodas, markets and restaurants. The city is absolutely a must-seen if you are visiting Myanmar and it will enchant you with its beautiful culture and people. An experience you will carry into your heart forever!

Whether you are staying for a week or less, these are the top 10 things to visit for a full-immersive tour of the Burmese city. Don’t miss a thing!

SHWEDAGON PAGODA

Also named The Golden Pagoda for obvious reasons (they told us it’s covered in gold leaf which is replaced every 5 years due to the harsh weather conditions during monsoon season), it is one of the most beautiful pagodas you will visit in your life. The huge golden pagoda stands proudly in the middle of many smaller temples, erected thanks to generous donations of various rich families: style and size of these temples are defined by the families themselves so you can imagine the variety of shapes and colours that dominates the area!

Little hint: Shwedagon Pagoda is open until 10pm so I’d recommend paying a visit at night. The gold comes to life when lights and candles around the temple are lighten up, creating a very mystic atmosphere that is totally worth experiencing!

Shwedagon Pagoda at night

PEOPLE’S PARK AND SQUARE

A spectacular park right outside the Shwedagon Pagoda. You can immediately perceive the better air quality compared to that of the streets, so it’s great to visit if you want to breathe some fresh air and recover from the hustle and bustle of the city. The park is connected to an amusement park you can access to by paying a small fee of 500 MMK, so you can also enjoy a ride on the roller coaster or the carousel!

KANDAWGYI LAKE

Kandwagyi Lake is also within walking distance from the Shwedagon pagoda. It reminds me of the West Lake (Xi Qu) in the city of Hangzhou because of the golden dragon boat anchored to the shore. I particularly enjoyed walking around the lake during sunset, when the warm colours of the sky and the view of the pagoda create a suggestive atmosphere. Don’t let this magic moment be ruined by the tons of mosquitos flying around, though!

Kandawgyi Lake and Karaweik Restaurant in the background

SULE PAGODA

This pagoda is one of the most popular in the city and it is frequented by many Buddhists for its proximity to the downtown part of the city. It is located right in the middle of a big roundabout and very close to the Bogyoke Aug San Market, so it’s definitely worth a visit if you are strolling around that area!

CHAUKHTATGYI TEMPLE

I was very impressed by Chaukhtatgyi Temple not much because of its architecture (it really looks like some sort of hangar) but for the grandiosity of the 65-meter-long reclining Buddha that welcomes you in. The statue of Buddha stares at you as you move around the temple, but his expression is as calm and relaxed as the meaning of his position: when Buddha is represented laying on one side, he is not meditating but just enjoying the moment so people around him are invited to do the same. It is very common, in fact, to find Buddhists chatting, chilling and eating together in the temple while in the presence of a reclining Buddha.

Here you will also find a good description of the story of the four Buddhas. The English translation is slightly confusing, but it’s worth reading if you don’t know much about Buddhism.

Detail of Buddha's feet at Chaukhtatgyi Temple

CIRCULAR TRAIN

If you want to tick a real local experience out of your to-do list, then the Circular Train is what you are looking for! As the name may suggests, this is a train ride to Yangon, the towns around the edges of the city and back. It is a three-hour-long journey that needs to be done if you really want to taste what Burmese life is about. You will ride along with many locals and see vendors passing by the carriages to sell their products, while people jump on and off at their stations.

DOWNTOWN

This is the oldest and most fascinating part of the city. Hundreds of narrow streets connects to bigger main roads and divide Downtown into upper, middle and lower block, while sides of the roads are fully covered in food stands. Trying the food is a must and it can cost you as little as $1 for a full meal. Bargain for food and products is part of the game so don’t be ashamed and make your offer! Remember that locals tend to increase the prices with foreigners so any offer you suggest will always be higher then the usual one.

Downtown's typical old buildings

BOGYOKE AUG SAN MARKET

The market is one of the most famous in the whole city and includes a variety of stalls selling everything from flip-flops, jewellery, handicrafts and much more. This is also the best place to buy yourself a nice Longyi - a long “skirt” worn by both Burmese men and women. A good Longyi doesn’t cost more than 3,000/4,000 MMK but they can be more expensive if you are aiming to finer fabrics.

JUNCTION CITY

This was not my favourite thing to do in Yangon, but I thought it might be useful for tourists to know where to go if they are looking for some Western-style stuff for whatever reason. Junction City is a huge shopping mall with any type of shop and restaurant, it also has a big and well-stocked supermarket, so you can buy branded cosmetics or toiletries if you ran out.

The shopping mall is located right outside Bogyoke Aug San Market.

Yangon has obviously a lot to offer. The number of pagodas and temples is so high that I would have needed a whole blog just for that, but they are all worth a visit! If you have visited this city and you think that other things are worth being mentioned in this post, please let me know!

Keep your curiosity alive!