Balloons Over Burma
10 days from £5,790 for 2024 per person
This leisurely journey travels through the classic sights of Burma and includes time around Inle Lake to experience the Fire Balloon Festival. Discover the ex British capital of Yangon with its crumbling colonial buildings and the sparkling Shwedagon Pagoda, revered throughout Burma. Marvel at the thousands of temples, pagodas and stupas dotted over the plains surrounding Bagan. One of the best ways to truly appreciate the scale of this site is by taking a hot air balloon ride for a birds eye view of the temples as they drift by.
Continue to Mandalay and visit the ancient capitals of Amarapura, Ava, Mingun and Sagaing. Finish the trip at Inle Lake for the annual Fire Balloon Festival. Held as part of the Tazaungdaing Light Festival, the festival is celebrated day and night for a week. Balloons are constructed from bamboo frames covered in Shan paper and come in all shapes and sizes. Small animal shaped balloons are released during the day and as dusk falls fireworks and larger balloons with lights in them are set off into the sky creating an amazing spectacle. In order to experience this unique and joyful festival, it is necessary to travel in mid to late November.
This luxury tour is purely a suggested itinerary. It can be booked as it is or alternatively used as a starting point for creating your own perfect bespoke holiday to Burma. To see similar tours, take a look at our other Festivals & Events, Active Holiday and Family Holiday itineraries.
Itinerary details
10 days from £5,790 for 2024 per person
- Day 1 - Belmond Governor's Residence - Yangon (Rangoon)
Morning arrival into Yangon, transfer to the hotel. Watch the sunset over the Shwedagon Pagoda. - Day 2 - Thiripyitsaya Sanctuary Resort - Bagan
Morning flight to Bagan, explore the temples, pagodas and stupas. - Day 3 - Thiripyitsaya Sanctuary Resort - Bagan
Morning market visit and temples tours. - Day 4 - Hotel by the Red Canal - Mandalay
Flight to Mandalay, full day sightseeing. - Day 5 - Hotel by the Red Canal - Mandalay
Sightseeing to Amarapura, Mingun and Sagaing. - Day 6 - Inle Princess Resort - Inle Lake
Fly to Inle Lake, transfer to the hotel. - Day 7 - Inle Princess Resort - Inle Lake
Full day tours on and around Inle Lake, this evening visit the balloon festival in nearby Taunggyi. - Day 8 - Inle Princess Resort - Inle Lake
Full Day visit to the Taunggyi Balloon Festival - Day 9 - Belmond Governor's Residence - Yangon (Rangoon)
Morning transfer to the airport for a flight to Yangon. Afternoon visits to the Naitonal Museum and the Chaukhtatkyi Pagoda. - Day 10 - In transit.
Morning trip downtown and the Scott's Market. Evening transfer to the airport for return flight home.
There are no foreign lands. It is the traveller only who is foreign.
Robert Louis Stevenson