Mandalay
The old royal city of golden stupas, river sunsets, and slow afternoons.
Mandalay is Myanmar's second city and the country's cultural heart, the last royal capital before British rule, and still the place where the old crafts, monasteries, and teahouse rhythms feel most alive. We spent our days climbing up to gilded pagodas, drifting under the teak posts of U Bein Bridge at sunset, and getting beautifully lost in the grid of markets and monasteries that fan out from the palace walls.
It's a city that asks you to slow down. Stay a few days longer than you planned, the temples are wonderful, but it's the small moments (sweet tea on a plastic stool, a monk's procession at dawn, the soft colour of the Irrawaddy at dusk) that you'll remember.
Blogs from Mandalay
Our stories from the road, start with our featured read below.
We think it is worth taking the "Road to Mandalay"
Everyone told us to skip Mandalay. We're glad we didn't , Mandalay Hill by Tuk Tuk, a lily-pond spa, and U Bein Bridge at sunset.
Read the full blog →More coming soon
What to Eat in Mandalay
From tea-leaf salad to Shan noodles and sweet milky tea, our edible love letter to Mandalay's teahouses and street stalls.
Coming soonThings to Do in Mandalay
Sunrise on Mandalay Hill, U Bein Bridge at golden hour, royal palaces, and the quiet corners we kept coming back to.
Coming soonGetting To & Around Mandalay
Flights, overnight buses from Yangon, the slow boat down the Irrawaddy, and how we got around once we arrived.
Coming soon