Field note · Myanmar · Nyaung-U Township, Mandalay Region

Bagan

Bagan is still open and receiving visitors, but almost every pre-2021 fact about getting there has changed: the airport now shows only a handful of Myanmar Airways International flights a week, Myanmar National Airlines' own departure board lists nothing at all for Nyaung U, the Yangon direct train is not running and trains are reported not to be sold to foreigners, the Irrawaddy tourist ferry operator's website no longer resolves, and the highway buses run through military checkpoints on roads the UK advises against using. Inside the zone nothing has changed: an e-bike, a horse cart, or a shared pickup between Nyaung-U, Old Bagan and New Bagan.

Researched: 22 September 2026
Reviewed: not yet
Ways of moving: 12, 50 sources
Not confirmed: 10
Fares seen: 2024–2026

How transport works here

12 ways of moving, each with its rule

We confirmed ten ways of moving to, from or around Bagan: two by air, three by road, one by rail and cable, one by water and three hired or on demand, from 50 sources. Two entries are not a service at all but a rule that decides whether travel happens: a permit, a closure, a border, a season or an authority's say-so. One of them runs only on demand or when the seats are full, so there is no timetable to show; the rule is written where the timetable would be.

The fares were seen in 2024 to 2026; a fare from an older year is a floor, not a price. One fare carries no year, because it could not be confirmed and the field says so. We rate none high confidence, our own judgement of the sources. The entry was checked on 22 September 2026, and ends with ten things we could not confirm.

2 ways

Rules, permits and closures

permit

Bagan Archaeological Zone ticket

Collected at the airport on arrival, at a booth on the road between the highway bus terminal and the airport junction, and at the toll station just outside Nyaung U jetty

You cannot avoid this and should not try. Arriving by bus you are taken straight to a ticket booth about 1 km from the Bagan Shwe Pyi highway terminal, on the road towards the airport junction; arriving by air you buy it in the terminal; arriving by boat there is a toll station immediately outside the Nyaung U jetty. You present your passport. The ticket covers the whole archaeological site and is valid five days from purchase. In practice it is checked at only a few places – Htilominlo and Shwesandaw are the usual ones – but a driver who bypasses the booth late at night has not saved you anything, because the checks are inside the zone. There are no ATMs or money changers at Nyaung U airport, so carry kyat or clean US dollars before you land.

When: Once per visit, valid five days
Takes: A few minutes at the booth
Fare 2025: 25,000 kyat, quoted by a Myanmar tour operator in 2025 as about US$22. Wikivoyage's older figure was US$20 or 25,000 kyat, your choice of currency, as of June 2019.

SeasonYear-round. BookingNone – pay in cash at the booth. Run byMinistry of Hotels and Tourism / Department of Archaeology.

service status

Checkpoints, the rainy season and the March 2025 earthquake

Every overland approach to Bagan

Bagan sits in Nyaung-U Township in Mandalay Region, and the UK advises against all but essential travel to Mandalay Region, against all travel to the north of it and against all travel to neighbouring Magway Region – which is the region the Pyay and Mrauk U road routes run through. The central tourist circuit of Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan and Inle Lake is under firm government control and largely away from the fighting, but overland travel between those cities means military checkpoints, and checkpoints are themselves targets for opposition attacks. Carry your passport. Road travel can be restricted at short notice by either side. The rains run May to October and roads become impassable and bridges are damaged; the Irrawaddy boats stop for low water from April to September, which is the opposite season, so there is no month when everything runs. The 7.7 magnitude earthquake of 28 March 2025 struck near Sagaing and Mandalay, damaged roads and hospitals across Mandalay Region, and damaged Nyaung U airport, which was still being rebuilt in mid-2026. Insurance is the practical barrier for many visitors: policies commonly exclude destinations under do-not-travel advisories and medical evacuation is hard to secure.

When: Wet season May to October; hot and dry March to May; cool and dry November to February
Takes: Allow extra hours on any overland leg in the rains and at checkpoints
Fare: Not applicable

SeasonMay to October rains; April to September low water on the river; November to February the practical season for everything. Run byNot applicable.

2 ways

By air

scheduled flight

Nyaung U Airport (NYU)

Nyaung U Airport, about 21.1751, 94.9285, roughly 4 km south of Nyaung U town

The airport is close in – 10 to 15 minutes from Nyaung U, about 30 minutes from Old Bagan – and most mid-range and top-end hotels will collect you free. A taxi is around US$5 to Nyaung U and US$10 to Old Bagan; older Wikivoyage figures for New Bagan are 7,000–10,000 kyat. What has changed is what actually flies. On the public departure and arrival boards for September 2026 every movement at NYU is a Myanmar Airways International (8M) flight: 8M211 arriving from Yangon about 07:05 and continuing to Heho at 07:20, and 8M8214/8215 arriving from Heho about 12:10–14:20 and going on to Yangon – a Friday inbound and a Sunday outbound pattern, roughly two flights a week each way, not a daily service. Myanmar National Airlines' own live flight-status board returns no departures and no arrivals at all for NYU over a two-week forward window, while it lists eight movements for Heho over the same period. Mann Yadanarpon says its current winter destinations are Yangon, Mandalay, Heho, Dawei, Tachileik, Myitkyina, Lashio, Thandwe and Sittwe – Bagan is not among them. Foreigners can fly domestically: the published bans cover Tachileik, Kengtung and Yangon–Lashio, not Bagan. The airport was damaged in the 28 March 2025 earthquake and was being rebuilt through to mid-2026, with the runway widened by 25 feet each side, resurfaced and the apron extended.

When: Roughly two Myanmar Airways International rotations a week on the boards for September 2026. A Myanmar agency still advertises Bagan–Mandalay departures at 07:00, 08:00 and 16:00 and five airlines on the Yangon route; that does not match the live boards and should be checked before it is relied on.
Takes: About 1h 20m from Yangon, 30 minutes to Mandalay, 40 minutes to Heho for Inle Lake
Fare 2026: Agency quotes for 2025–2026: from about US$80 one way Yangon–Bagan, US$60–85 Bagan–Mandalay, US$80–100 Bagan–Heho. No fare could be confirmed from an airline's own site.

SeasonFrequency drops in the April–September low season. Book and reconfirm one or two days ahead – Myanmar carriers change routings at short notice and sometimes depart 10–20 minutes early. Bookingmaiair.com, or a Myanmar travel agent. Nyaung U appears as a bookable port in MAI's own reservation system. Run byMyanmar Airways International (8M) is the only carrier appearing on the NYU boards. Air KBZ's site now redirects to maiair.com, the two being part of the same group.

balloon

Balloons over the temple plain

Launch sites on the plain, reached by vintage converted bus from your hotel before dawn

Still flying, and one of the few Bagan operations that will tell you so on its own website: Balloons Over Bagan says it is in its 26th season and keeps a sales office in Nyaung-U near Hotel Zfreeti, in Thiripyitsaya Block 5, open 09:00 to 20:00 daily on +95 6 1246 0713. You are collected before first light, driven out in a converted bus, given tea and a safety briefing, and fly about 45 minutes at up to 1,500 feet. Rates are quoted in US dollars; ask the sales office about kyat. Book more than three days ahead or phone the Bagan office directly.

When: Daily in season, one flight at dawn
Takes: About 45 minutes in the air, three hours door to door
Fare 2026: US$335 for a package of two balloon tickets plus two nights at one of three Bagan hotels; a solo stay-and-fly package has been sold from US$175

SeasonOctober to March only. Bookingballoonsoverbagan.com, or the Nyaung-U sales office for anything inside three days. Run byBalloons Over Bagan, part of Memories Group.

3 ways

By road

bus

Mandalay highway buses

Bagan Shwe Pyi Highway Bus Terminal, about 21.1574, 94.9316, southeast of Nyaung U, to Mandalay's Kwe Se Kan highway station

The terminal is out of town and the transfer in is the first scam: the local monopoly quotes foreigners 8,000 kyat a head for the 5 km into Nyaung U when the normal price is 1,000–1,500 kyat, so either bargain hard or walk out to the highway and flag something. Avoid that by choosing an operator that runs its own door-to-door service – OK Express has long been the one travellers use for exactly this reason, collecting from and dropping at hotels in both Bagan and central Mandalay. JJ Express and Elite Express also work the route. JJ Express lists a Bagan gate number, 09 421 152 860, and still shows Bagan in its city list. Buy at the terminal or at the travel agents south of Nyaung U market rather than through a hotel, and confirm whether you are getting a coach or a minibus.

When: Departures spread through the day, roughly 04:30 to 17:30, morning and afternoon. Night buses exist on this route but are pointless over five hours – you arrive before hotels will check you in – and night road travel in central Myanmar carries its own risk.
Takes: 5 to 6 hours over about 178 km; older sources say 5 to 8
Fare 2026: US$7–14 quoted by a Myanmar agency for 2025–2026. Pre-coup Wikivoyage figures were 7,000–8,000 kyat, with OK Bus at 8,000–9,000 kyat including hotel pickup. A private car is US$95–300 depending on vehicle and group.

SeasonYear-round, but roads are worst in the May–October rains and some infrastructure on this corridor was damaged in the March 2025 earthquake. BookingAt the Bagan Shwe Pyi terminal, at agents near Nyaung U market, or through your hotel. JJ Express sells online at jjexpress.net but the booking flow requires an account. Run byOK Express (OK Bus), JJ Express, Elite Express and several smaller companies.

bus

Yangon night and day buses

Aung Mingalar Highway Bus Station in northern Yangon to Bagan Shwe Pyi Highway Bus Terminal

Aung Mingalar is about an hour from central Yangon in good traffic and longer in bad, so leave two hours; city bus 36 runs there from Sule Paya. Night departures are still the standard way to do this route and are still sold – JJ Express and Bagan Min Tha are the names travellers use, JJ lists Yangon–Bagan among its popular routes, and VIP coaches with reclining seats, blankets and a toilet cost about US$20. Understand what you are choosing, though: the road runs on the Yangon–Mandalay Expressway and National Highway 1 corridor, where the UK Foreign Office reports landmine and IED attacks, an increased risk after dark and an unofficial curfew. That is the honest state of the night bus. Arriving at Nyaung U bus station, a taxi or tuk-tuk to a hotel is about US$5–10.

When: Morning and evening departures daily from Aung Mingalar; night buses leave Yangon in the afternoon or evening and arrive early morning. One day bus leaves Bagan for Yangon around 09:00.
Takes: About 10 hours, historically quoted at 9 to 13; a private car over the 620 km takes about 8 hours
Fare 2025: About US$20 for a VIP seat in 2025. Pre-coup Wikivoyage figures were 13,000–18,000 kyat standard and 20,000–33,000 kyat for a 2+1 VIP. Private car US$150–200 one way.

SeasonYear-round. Popular route, so book ahead in the November–February high season. BookingAt the bus station, through a Yangon hotel or agent, or at jjexpress.net. Run byJJ Express, Bagan Min Tha and other Aung Mingalar operators.

shared pickup

Shared pickups and taxis between Nyaung-U, Old Bagan and New Bagan

Nyaung-U market to Old Bagan, and New Bagan to Old Bagan

Bagan is three settlements, not one, and knowing which you are staying in decides everything. Nyaung-U in the northeast has the market, the jetty, the bus terminal, the railway station, the airport and the cheap guesthouses; Old Bagan in the middle sits inside the walls among the main temples and has the upmarket hotels; New Bagan to the southwest is where the villagers displaced from Old Bagan in 1990 were resettled. Converted pickups with two benches in the back run between them from the market in Nyaung-U – 200 kyat to Old Bagan, 400 kyat New Bagan to Old Bagan. They will sometimes try 1,000 kyat on a foreigner; waiting for the next one settles it. This is point-to-point transport between the towns, not a way to tour the temples. For taxis, get a realistic price from your hotel before you arrive: drivers double or triple the first quote, especially between 22:00 and 05:00, and the "your guesthouse has closed down" line is a commission ploy. Airport to Nyaung-U is about US$5, to Old Bagan about US$10. Grab operates in Bagan, including an airport-transfer package.

When: Through the day between the three towns; nothing useful at night
Takes: 10 to 15 minutes between any two of the three
Fare 2025: 200 kyat Nyaung-U to Old Bagan, 400 kyat New Bagan to Old Bagan. Taxi from the bus station or airport to a hotel US$5–10.

SeasonYear-round. BookingNone; Grab by app. Run byOwner-drivers; Grab Myanmar for metered cars.

One way

By rail and cable

train

Bagan railway station and the Mandalay line

Bagan railway station, about 21.1545, 94.9352, roughly 1.2 km south of the highway bus terminal and 9 km from Old Bagan

A pagoda-styled station in the middle of nowhere, further from the town it serves than the airport is, with a spartan tourist lounge to wait in. Tickets must be bought at the station in person and a passport is required; travel agents will do it for a fee. Two things have to be said plainly. First, the direct Yangon–Bagan overnight train is reported not to be running, and there are reports that rail tickets are not being sold to foreigners at all for stated security reasons – seat61 stopped maintaining its Burma page for that reason. Second, the UK Foreign Office says only that some rail routes are still operating with unreliable timetables and that you should ask at the nearest station. A Myanmar agency was still advertising two daily Bagan–Mandalay trains in 2026, at 04:00 and 21:00, about 12 hours for 179 km. Treat all of this as something to confirm at the ticket window, not to plan around.

When: Historically two a day each way on the Mandalay line, one overnight to Yangon. Current operation is unconfirmed.
Takes: About 12 hours Bagan to Mandalay over 179 km; about 17 hours to Yangon when that train ran
Fare 2026: Locals' fares are tiny – 1,450 kyat ordinary, 2,900 upper class seat, 4,000 sleeper for Mandalay–Bagan on the last published tariff, and a Myanmar agency still lists US$1–4. Yangon–Bagan was 4,500 kyat ordinary up to 16,500 kyat for an upper-class sleeper. Foreigners no longer pay a separate dollar fare.

SeasonThe Mandalay–Bagan night train, the only one with first class, may not run in the low season. BookingAt Bagan railway station with your passport, or through an agent. Tickets go on sale three days ahead. Run byMyanma Railways.

One way

By water

boat

Irrawaddy river boats to Mandalay

Nyaung U jetty, about 21.2083, 94.9163, 1.5 km northeast of Nyaung U market; some craft also use the Old Bagan pier near Bu Paya

Whether the tourist ferries are still running is the single biggest unknown in Bagan. What can be established: MGRG Express, the main tourist boat, no longer has a working website – mgrgexpress.net does not resolve at all – and seat61 noted the Shwe Keinnery site had already stopped working before that. A Myanmar agency updated in May 2026 still sells the upstream day boat from Nyaung U jetty at 05:30 for US$32, 11 to 12 hours to Mandalay, breakfast and lunch included, and names MGRG as the operator; it also lists multi-day cruises from US$200 upwards with Pandaw and Irrawaddy Explorer. If you want this, go to the jetty or a Nyaung U agent and ask, and accept that you may be told no. The local Inland Water Transport slow ferry ran two days a week for 18,000 kyat and took 14 to 22 hours; there is no current confirmation it is carrying passengers. Life jackets are worth checking for – river craft here do not meet international safety standards and search and rescue is limited.

When: Historically a daily tourist express at 05:30–07:00 in season and an IWT local boat about twice a week. Current operation unconfirmed.
Takes: 11 to 12 hours upstream Bagan to Mandalay, about 9 to 10 downstream; 14 to 22 hours on the local ferry
Fare 2026: US$32 quoted for the day boat in 2026; MGRG was US$45 and Shwe Keinnery US$35–40 before the coup; the IWT local ferry was 18,000 kyat. Multi-day cruises US$200 and up.

SeasonBoats do not run April to September – low water on the Irrawaddy, not just low demand. October to March is the season. BookingThrough a hotel or a Nyaung U travel agent; the operator's own website is gone. Run byMGRG Express historically; Pandaw River Cruises and Irrawaddy Explorer on the luxury boats; Inland Water Transport on the local ferry.

3 ways

Hired, booked and on demand

vehicle hire

E-bikes, the standard way around the temples

Nyaung-U, Old Bagan, New Bagan and every track between them

Foreigners may not ride petrol motorbikes here, so the electric bike is the default and every guesthouse, hotel and half the shops in Nyaung-U rent them. Two kinds: the older single-seat machines whose batteries genuinely last about half a day whatever you are told, and newer two-seaters with a speed display, a full-day battery and a top speed that has no business on these tracks. Ask to see the charge level before you take one and agree what happens if it dies out among the temples – you will be a long walk from anywhere. The rules that matter are about where you ride, not how: climbing the pagodas is prohibited, so the sunrise and sunset crowd is funnelled onto purpose-built dirt viewing mounds and a viewing tower, and riding a vehicle up onto a mound or terrace is treated as damage to a protected monument. The sand is the other hazard – the connecting tracks between the outlying temples are loose dry sand and you will hydroplane and drop the bike if you go fast. Carry a headlamp for a pre-dawn start, and expect dust: the air is full of it.

When: All day, every day
Takes: A full day covers most of what you would want to see; Nyaung-U to Old Bagan is about 4 km, Old Bagan to New Bagan about 5 km
Fare 2024: 4,000–6,000 kyat a day for the older single-seaters, 5,000 kyat for one person or 8,000 kyat for two on the newer machines. A bicycle is about 1,000–1,500 kyat a day if you would rather pedal.

SeasonYear-round, but the middle of the day in the hot season (March to May) is punishing and the sandy tracks are worst when bone dry. BookingWalk in, or ask at your guesthouse. Run byGuesthouses, hotels and rental shops throughout Nyaung-U and New Bagan.

horse cart

Horse and carriage

The temple circuit, from Nyaung-U or your hotel

The classic Bagan hire, a pony trap seating up to four. The easiest way to find a driver is to walk around Nyaung-U after sunset – they will find you. Either name the temples you want or let the driver set the route, in which case expect a stop at a lacquerware workshop or a cafe where he takes a commission; that is the deal and it is not always a bad one. Book through the hotel and the price roughly doubles. The trade was reported to be in serious financial difficulty as far back as early 2021 and has had no easy years since, so the drivers you meet are working a thin season.

When: On demand, all day; drivers gather in Nyaung-U and at the main temples
Takes: A full day around the main temple cluster
Fare 2024: 10,000–15,000 kyat for the day for up to four people, or about 25,000 kyat if booked through a hotel

SeasonYear-round; busiest November to February. BookingNone – arrange with a driver the evening before. Run byOwner-drivers.

tour package

Mount Popa and Salay day trips

Bagan southeast 50 km to Mount Popa and the Popa Taungkalat monastery; Bagan south along the river to Salay (Sale)

Mount Popa is the standard half-day out of Bagan – an extinct volcano with a monastery on a rock plug reached by 777 barefoot steps, and a great many monkeys. The cheap way is a local pickup from the highway bus station heading southeast, about 1,000–1,500 kyat one way for the 50 km; a bus is faster than a pickup because a pickup stops constantly, and a taxi is faster again and dearer. It is also the natural stop on a private car transfer to Mandalay via Kyauk Padaung. Salay is a separate, quieter run south along the Irrawaddy to a colonial-era town of teak monasteries, usually sold combined with Popa as a full day by agencies in Nyaung-U. Both are inside government-held territory but both involve road travel with checkpoints.

When: Daily departures from Nyaung-U agencies; local pickups to Popa through the morning
Takes: Half a day for Popa alone, a full day for Salay and Popa together
Fare 2024: 1,000–1,500 kyat one way by local pickup or bus to Popa; a chartered car or agency day trip is priced per vehicle and was not confirmed for 2026

SeasonYear-round; the climb is hot and better done early. BookingAt an agency south of Nyaung U market, or walk to the highway station for a pickup. Run byLocal pickup and bus owners; Nyaung-U travel agencies for the guided version.

Not confirmed

What we could not find out

10 things the researcher looked for and did not find, in their own words, with where to ask instead. None of this goes into the planner; it stays here until someone confirms it.

01
Which airlines actually serve Nyaung U cannot be fully settled. The live departure and arrival boards for NYU in September 2026 show only Myanmar Airways International (8M) flights, roughly two rotations a week, and Myanmar National Airlines' own flight-status endpoint returns nothing at all for NYU while returning eight movements for Heho. Mann Yadanarpon's own site excludes Bagan from its current winter network. Against that, a Myanmar tour agency updated in 2025–2026 lists five airlines on Yangon–Bagan and three on Bagan–Mandalay with daily departures. The agency page is almost certainly recycled pre-coup content. Confirm with MAI directly before planning.
02
No airline fare for any Nyaung U route could be confirmed from an airline's own site. MAI's search endpoint at book-myanmar.crane.aero is behind Cloudflare for availability queries, and its own IBESearchAPI.php is challenged too. Every fare in the flight entry is an agency quote.
03
Whether the Irrawaddy tourist ferries run at all is unresolved. mgrgexpress.net no longer resolves in DNS, the Shwe Keinnery site was already dead, and the only current-looking listing is an agency page. No 2024-or-later traveller account of a Bagan–Mandalay boat was found. Ask at the Nyaung U jetty.
04
Train operation is unresolved in the same way. seat61 states the direct Yangon–Bagan train is not running and reports tickets not being sold to foreigners, and stopped updating for that reason; the FCDO says only that some routes still run with unreliable timetables. The Mandalay–Bagan times given are from an agency page, not from Myanma Railways. Confirm at Bagan station.
05
No 2024-or-later figure for the Bagan Archaeological Zone fee could be found from a government source. 25,000 kyat comes from a 2025 tour-operator page; whether the dollar alternative is still offered, and at what rate, is unknown, and with the kyat's collapse 25,000 kyat is now far less than the US$20 it was in 2019. Carry both currencies.
06
E-bike prices are from Wikivoyage and predate the coup and the currency's fall. The relative shape is likely right; the kyat numbers are probably not. No Bagan rental shop with a live website could be found.
07
Nothing current was found on whether the e-bike rules themselves have changed since UNESCO inscription in 2019 – the climbing ban and viewing mounds are documented, but no 2024-or-later source confirms restrictions on where e-bikes may be ridden. Prosecutions for driving onto a viewing mound are documented only from 2020.
08
The Bagan–Mandalay online bus market could not be verified. myanmarbusticket.com, which shares a developer with JJ Express and does return real inventory and fares for Yangon–Mandalay, returns "no buses" for every Bagan pair on every date tested, in the wet season and in December. JJ Express still lists Bagan in its city list and publishes a Bagan gate phone number, so the route very likely runs but is not sold through that channel.
09
No source was found for the current price of a chartered car or agency day trip to Mount Popa or Salay, nor for whether the Salay road is being used. The 1,000–1,500 kyat pickup fare predates the coup.
10
The brief asks about the status of the zone fee collection at the jetty. That is documented only in pre-2021 sources, and depends on whether the boats run at all.

In the planner

What the planner can route today

The options above live on the place page, not in the departure board: a boat that comes when you phone has no time to show. What the board can do for Bagan is this.

Y: Scheduled flightsMandalay (MDL), 130 km
N: Trains and coachesno timetable feed known for this country
Y: FerriesIrrawaddy Princess 2 Jetty, 1 km; sailings estimated
Y: Driving and taxiOpenStreetMap roads; cab fare from the country band
N: Bike and scooter shareno share feed known
N: Cruisesno open itinerary source anywhere

Y routable now · F found, not yet implemented · N no source known. Nearest place with more: Pakokku, 29 km.