Myanmar with children: 10 days, shorter legs and more river
If the assessment comes back positive, Myanmar is a good country to travel with children for reasons that have nothing to do with attractions. People are extraordinarily welcoming to families, children are included rather than tolerated, the food is mild and rice-based, and the best days here are bo
- Duration
- 10 days
- Pace
- Moderate
- Hotel changes
- 3
- Best months
- Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb
- From
- $1,800 per person
Available on request and subject to conditions on the ground. We assess every Myanmar enquiry against the situation at the time and for your specific dates before we quote, and we decline regularly. Several regions are not available to us and are not in this route. With children, that assessment is stricter rather than looser: medical facilities outside Yangon are limited, and we take that into account.
Who it suits: families with children roughly seven and up, second or third trips to Southeast Asia, and parents who have already done Thailand and Vietnam.
Day by day
Day 1: Arrive Yangon. Met and driven to the hotel. Nothing scheduled beyond an early dinner. The Shwedagon Pagoda in the evening if everyone is standing, and skipped without regret if they are not.
Day 2: Yangon by train and market. An hour on the circular railway, which children like far more than any temple, then Bogyoke Aung San Market, which is a market rather than a monument and holds attention. Afternoon at the hotel pool, which is a scheduled activity on this itinerary rather than an afterthought. The Shwedagon in the last hour of light.
Day 3: Fly Yangon to Bagan. A morning flight and a slow afternoon. One temple, chosen because it has something to look at inside, and sunset from a viewing mound.
Day 4: Bagan by cart and bike. A horse cart in the early morning between the temples on the sandy tracks, which is the version of Bagan that works for children. E-bikes in the late afternoon for anyone over about twelve. Middle of the day at the hotel. Two temples in a day, not eight.
Day 5: Bagan, river and lacquer. A boat on the Irrawaddy in the morning, which is a good two hours and involves sandbanks and fishing boats. The lacquerware workshops in the afternoon, where children can try it, and it is one of the better hours of the trip.
Day 6: Fly Bagan to Heho, drive to Inle. Short flight, an hour on the road. Afternoon on the lake by boat, which is where this itinerary earns itself: three or four hours on the water passing stilt villages, gardens growing on floating beds, and workshops built over the lake.
Day 7: Inle Lake. A full boat day. Indein’s stupa field, a village lunch, and a stop at the rotating market if it falls near you. Buffalo, boats, cats, monks, and no queuing anywhere.
Day 8: Inle, free. A cycling day around the northern end of the lake, which is flat and easy, or a day doing nothing. We deliberately build one empty day into a ten-day family route.
Day 9: Fly Heho to Yangon. Rather than adding Mandalay, which is a fourth flight and a fifth hotel, we come back to Yangon for the last night. Afternoon free, one last market, and a proper dinner.
Day 10: Fly home. With a long buffer between the domestic and international legs.
What is included
Nine nights in hotels with rooms that fit a family without an argument, all domestic flights with buffer, private car and driver, English-speaking guides on the days that need one, the horse cart and e-bikes at Bagan, all Inle boat days, entry and zone fees, a full written cash briefing before departure, and a WhatsApp group with your consultant here, our Hanoi office and our partners in Yangon.
What we take out for families
Mandalay comes out. It is a fourth flight, a fifth hotel and a city that is more interesting to adults than to children.
The temple count comes down hard. Two a day at Bagan rather than eight, and the ones chosen have something inside them or something to climb up to.
The four in the morning start at the Mahamuni is not in this itinerary. It is one of the best hours in Myanmar and it is not a family hour.
Honest notes
Myanmar is not the country we would suggest for a first trip to Asia with children, and it is not the country we would suggest with children under about seven. Thailand and Vietnam are easier in every practical respect. If this would be your first Southeast Asian trip with a young family, we will say so.
Medical facilities outside Yangon are limited. That is a real consideration with children and it is part of why our assessment is stricter for family enquiries.
Internet is restricted and intermittent. If your children rely on being connected, tell them before you go rather than at the hotel.
Everything is cash. The briefing we send covers how much to bring, and with a family it is more than people expect.
Related
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