The hook
Myanmar's largest city, a humid sprawl of mouldering colonial mansions and busy tea shops gathered around the vast golden dome of the Shwedagon Pagoda, the country's most sacred site.
01Why it's worth it
Yangon was the colonial capital, and its old downtown still holds one of Southeast Asia's largest collections of British-era buildings, grand and crumbling in the tropical damp, among street markets, betel stalls, and roadside tea shops where the city gathers. Rising above it all is the Shwedagon Pagoda, an enormous gilded stupa said to enshrine relics of the Buddha, its golden mass glowing at sunset as pilgrims circle the marble terrace; it is the spiritual heart of the country and genuinely awe-inspiring. Yangon is chaotic, hot, and worn, with a warmth and street life that many travellers remember fondly. But it, like all of Myanmar, sits under a military regime since the 2021 coup, and the conflict and the ethics of tourism there mean any visit demands careful thought rather than a casual stopover.
02How to experience it
Weigh the current situation and the ethics of visiting under the junta before going. If you do, see the Shwedagon Pagoda at sunset, walk the faded colonial downtown, and sit in a street tea shop for the everyday life. Direct your money toward local people wherever you can.