7 Most Instagrammable Spots in Bagan, Myanmar

Bagan's temple plain, spread across the central Myanmar countryside beside the Irrawaddy River, is the country's single most photographed landscape: more than 2,000 surviving Buddhist temples and stupas, built mostly between the 11th and 13th centuries when Bagan was the capital of the Pagan Kingdom. Following earthquake damage in 2016, the authorities banned climbing on most of the temples, redirecting visitors instead to a handful of purpose-built viewing mounds and towers. Here are seven ways to see the plain at its best.

1. Sulamani Temple

One of Bagan's best-preserved 13th-century temples, known for its interior murals and intricately carved stucco exterior, and a favourite subject for wide, symmetrical shots from its surrounding lawns.

2. Ananda Temple

Often considered Bagan's finest surviving temple, its gilded spire and whitewashed terraces make it one of the plain's most recognisable silhouettes, particularly at first light.

3. Htilominlo Temple

A large red-brick temple close to the main road linking Old Bagan and Nyaung-U, its tiered terraces and carved plasterwork make it a popular frame against the open plain behind it.

View on Google Maps →

4. Sunrise from a designated viewing mound

With climbing banned on almost all temples, low earthen viewing mounds near Shwesandaw and other central pagodas have become the accepted vantage points for the classic Bagan sunrise, temple spires emerging from morning mist across the plain.

5. Hot air balloons over the plain

Between roughly October and March, balloon flights lift off before dawn and drift low over the temples, and the balloons themselves, seen from the ground, have become one of Bagan's most shared images.

6. Nyaung-U's riverside and market

Bagan's main town on the Irrawaddy's banks offers a change of pace, a working morning market and a riverside worth walking at sunset, away from the temple crowds.

7. Old Bagan at dusk

As the light drops, the temple silhouettes flatten into layered outlines against the sky, a different, quieter version of the same view that draws crowds at sunrise.

Traveller tips

• Nyaung-U Airport is Bagan's main air gateway, with connections from Yangon and Mandalay.
• An entry fee, the Bagan Archaeological Zone fee, applies to all visitors and is typically collected on arrival at the airport or by road.
• Climbing is banned on almost all Bagan temples; only five designated pagodas currently permit visitors onto their terraces, and this changes, so confirm locally before planning around it.
• An e-bike is the most practical way to cover the scattered temple sites across the plain at your own pace.