In a nutshell
Currently, travel to Myanmar is not recommended. The German Foreign Office has issued a travel warning, as the security situation in the country is still considered critical. It is currently unclear when the situation will improve.
Read all our articles about Myanmar
Attractions in Yangon: The Highlights
Many travelers plan just one day for Yangon. In principle, that’s enough to visit the most well-known Yangon attractions and get a solid first impression of the city. The following four highlights can definitely be seen in a single day.
Of course, there’s so much more to discover. So if you have a bit more time, it’s well worth planning two or three days here.
Shwedagon Pagoda
You can spot the massive golden pagoda rising from a small hill above the city from far away. The Shwedagon Pagoda is the top highlight of Yangon and one of the most famous sights in all of Myanmar.
Above all, it’s one of the country’s most important sacred sites, visited daily by thousands of locals. The pagoda has a truly special aura, and a visit is absolutely one of the best experiences of any trip to Myanmar.
We recommend heading there in the early evening. Around sunset, the light is ideal for photography, and the daily activity around the golden stupa reaches its peak at that time. We spent nearly three hours inside — there’s simply so much to take in.
Admission costs 8,000 Kyat (approx. $6). A taxi from downtown Yangon to the Shwedagon Pagoda costs around 2,000–3,000 Kyat.
As with all Buddhist sacred sites, you must remove your shoes and socks at the entrance. Shorts and sleeveless tops are also not permitted.
Sule Pagoda
The Sule Pagoda is the central landmark of downtown Yangon. It sits on a traffic circle and serves as something of an everyday pagoda for locals — people stop by for a quick prayer or to collect a few karma points for the day.
Compared to many other pagodas in Myanmar, the Sule Pagoda isn’t as grand. But it’s still worth a visit.
Around the pagoda, fortune tellers offer palm readings. We didn’t try it ourselves — but if you do, we’d love to hear how it went in the comments!
Bogyoke Aung San Market
The Bogyoke Aung San Market is the largest market in Yangon. The sometimes narrow lanes are a shopping paradise for locals, with clothing, fabrics, and jewelry making up the bulk of what’s on offer.
At many stalls, fabrics are turned into custom-tailored garments on the spot using antique sewing machines. You’ll also find the occasional souvenir and some fascinating antique shops.
The Streets of Yangon
Beyond the three most popular things to do in Yangon, it’s really worth exploring the streets of downtown on foot. Getting lost is virtually impossible — all the streets run perfectly straight and parallel to one another.
On many corners you’ll find small street markets selling vegetables, fish, and meat, as well as antiques, textiles, and electronics.
In the area around the Sule Pagoda, you’ll keep coming across magnificent colonial buildings — some freshly restored and gleaming, others slowly crumbling for decades. Unfortunately, it’s often cheaper to tear down old buildings and construct new ones than to renovate them, so many of these grand structures are gradually disappearing.
While strolling through the streets, you absolutely have to try a freshly pressed sugarcane juice, sold at many stands. It’s very sweet, but genuinely delicious — and a great energy boost in the heat.
Yangon Attractions: Lesser-Known Spots
If you’re staying in Yangon for more than a day, you can dive a little deeper and check out some under-the-radar places to visit.
There are more pagodas and Buddha statues to explore, as well as the Bogyoke Aung San Museum. Here are a few of our favorite picks.
Kandawgyi Lake
Kandawgyi Lake is located right near the Shwedagon Pagoda and is a peaceful oasis in an otherwise hectic city.
The sprawling park is a popular spot for young couples to spend some quiet time together — it’s really quite charming.
If you need to catch your breath and recharge, Kandawgyi Lake is exactly the right place.
A Ride on the Circle Line
Yangon has its own circular railway — and it’s a truly unique experience. The full ride takes about three hours and costs just 300 Kyat. Along the way, you’ll see sides of Yangon that you’d rarely encounter as a tourist, getting a real glimpse into the simple, everyday lives of people in the city’s outskirts.
Trains depart regularly from Yangon Central Station at the northern end of downtown.
Catching a Soccer Match in Yangon
Attending a soccer match is a seriously special experience where you’ll almost certainly be the only foreigner in the crowd. During the season, Myanmar National League games are held in Yangon on a regular basis.
Yangon has two stadiums: Bogyoke Aung San Stadium, right across from the train station, and Thuwanna YTC Stadium a bit further out, which primarily hosts international Asian Champions League matches and national team games.
You can find match schedules online at the Myanmar National League website.
Day Trips from Yangon
Bago and the Golden Rock make for great day trips from Yangon. You head out in the morning and are back by evening.
A day trip is a good option if you’d rather not change hotels too often or if you’re short on time. We actually stayed overnight both at the Golden Rock and in Bago.
Day Trip from Yangon to Bago
Bago is located about 90 kilometers northwest of Yangon and is absolutely worth a visit!
The city has an incredible number of stunning pagodas and Buddha statues — each one seems more beautiful than the last.
We traveled from Yangon to Bago by train, which is definitely an adventure in itself. The ride costs just 1,000 Kyat per person in Upper Class (highly recommended!) and takes just over two hours.
Several trains depart in the morning, and we bought our tickets about an hour before departure. Allow yourself a bit more time for ticket purchasing — tickets are all handwritten, which takes a while.
During peak season, it’s a good idea to buy your tickets the day before.
Once there, hire a tuk-tuk or motorbike driver to take you around to the various sights. We paid 15,000 Kyat for a half-day tour.
Admission to the four main attractions comes to a combined 10,000 Kyat; all others are free.
Faster and more comfortable — though certainly less adventurous — is hiring a private driver. Just ask at your hotel; they can almost certainly arrange it. Otherwise, travel agencies throughout Yangon offer these tours.
Also read our travel report on Bago
Day Trip from Yangon to the Golden Rock
The Golden Rock is one of Myanmar’s most important sacred sites and one of the country’s top attractions. On a day trip from Yangon, you drive by car to the base camp in Kinpun, then ride in the back of a truck up the mountain to the Golden Rock, before heading back down and returning to Yangon.
You can book these tours at any travel agency in town or at most hotels.
Also read our article on the Golden Rock
Our Hotel Tips for Yangon
Accommodation in Yangon is generally a bit more expensive and rooms tend to be smaller than elsewhere in the country. That said, there are now plenty of options across all price ranges.
On our trip, we stayed at two different hotels in Yangon: first, a few days at the Wai Wai Place, and later one night near the airport before an early-morning flight.
Our 1st Pick: Wai Wai Place
This small hotel is run by the wonderfully friendly Yin Yin and is located in a great neighborhood near the Shwedagon Pagoda. The rooms are simple but very clean, and there are plenty of places to eat and shop nearby.
Near the Airport: Holly Hotel
If you need a place to stay near Yangon’s airport before your return or onward flight, we recommend the Holly Hotel.
It’s very close to the bus station and not far from the airport. The hotel is modern, has excellent Wi-Fi, and they even had Nutella at breakfast. We stayed there for one night after our tour of the south, before heading on to Mrauk U in the north.
More Hotel Recommendations for Yangon
There are many other great places to stay in Yangon, from simple hostels to genuinely luxurious hotels. One worth mentioning: Yangon’s most famous hotel, The Strand, has just been freshly renovated.
The old colonial building is really an attraction in its own right. If $400–500 a night is out of your budget, at least stop by for a coffee or a cup of tea.
Here’s our selection of recommended places to stay in Yangon:
Getting Around Yangon
The best way to get around Yangon is on foot — and when that’s too far, by taxi. By some estimates, every other car in Yangon is a taxi, so you won’t have any trouble finding one.
There are no taxi meters; the price is always agreed on in advance. Overall, rides are very affordable.
For a typical city ride — say, from the Sule Pagoda to the Shwedagon Pagoda — you’ll pay 2,000 to 3,000 Kyat. To the airport or to Aung Mingalar bus station, expect to pay around 7,000 Kyat.
Traffic in Yangon can be quite bad, so make sure to allow plenty of time.
There are also public buses, though it’s quite difficult for visitors to figure out where they’re headed. The destination is always called out loudly — but understanding it is another story.
One fun fact: there are no motorbikes on the streets of Yangon. Apparently, a general felt threatened by some motorcyclists a few years back and subsequently ordered that motorbikes be banned from the city entirely.
Getting from Yangon Airport to the City
Yangon’s international airport is located north of the city. Here are your main options for getting into town.
Taxi from the Airport to Yangon
The most convenient option is to take a taxi right at the airport.
In the arrivals terminal, there’s a taxi counter that assigns you to a driver and sets a fixed price upfront. A ride to downtown Yangon costs around 7,000 Kyat.
Depending on traffic — which can be significant — the ride takes about 60 minutes.
Airport Bus
Since mid-2018, there’s also a bus service from the airport into the city. The ride on the air-conditioned buses costs just 500 Kyat and takes a bit longer than a taxi.
The buses stop at a total of 18 stations, including some major hotels, the Sule Pagoda in the city center, and the Shwedagon Pagoda.
Buses run daily between 4:00 AM and 10:00 PM and operate very frequently. You can buy tickets directly on the bus.
Our Video from Yangon
To wrap things up, check out our short video. In just 4:30 minutes, we take you through the streets of Yangon and show you everything we saw there.
Watch our Yangon video on YouTube
What are your Yangon tips?
We really love Yangon. It’s not exactly a relaxing city, but it’s incredibly fascinating. Have you been to Yangon? What did you think of it? Do you have any tips to share? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.
