City Tour Mandalay & Amarapura

With the City Tour Mandalay & Amarapura you are going to discover Mandalay, once the capital of Myanmar the Last Kingdom, is situated in Central Myanmar 668 km north of Yangon. It is the largest city after Yangon and is both a bustling commercial center and a repository of rich cultural heritage.

With the remains of the old Royal City and many old monasteries, Mandalay is showcasing for Myanmar art and architecture of the 19th century. It is also noted for woodcarvings, silverware, tapestries, silk, and other products of traditional handicraft. Situated about 11 km south of Mandalay, Amarapura is one of the capitals of the third Myanmar Empire. A 1,208-metre long wooden bridge built totally with teak planks two centuries ago, spanning Taungthaman Lake. The town is well-known for its silk-weaving industries.

Start your City Tour Mandalay & Amarapura with a visit to Mahamuni, the most revered Buddha image in Mandalay. This bronze image has been originally kept in Mrauk Oo, Rakhine state, and relocated to the present site in Mandalay by King Bodawpaya in 1784. The drive to the famous Maha Gandhayon teaching Monastery residing a great number of novices and monks and watch their procession for lunch.

Next, go to the famous U Pein' s bridge. It is the longest wooden bridge in Myanmar and built-in 1849. The supply of wood for this bridge came from the former old palace of Inwa.

Then return to Mandalay to see the process of gold leaf making by beating at its workshop. This kind of gold foil has been used in gilding Buddha images, pagodas, temples, and religious buildings in Myanmar for many centuries.

After the lunch stop, our City Tour Mandalay & Amarapura continues to the citadel to see the replica of the Mandalay royal palace. And proceed to Shwe Kyaung, the old monastery well-known for fine wood carvings. Since the apartment of the golden palace where king Mindon passed away was dismantled and rebuilt as a monastery at the foot of Mandalay Hill, it is also called Golden Palace Monastery.

Nearby is Kuthodaw - is a stupa built by King Mindon in the 5.26 hectares wide precinct. There are 729 marble slabs with inscriptions of Buddhist scriptures erected in the ground of this pagoda precinct. Each stone slab is 1.52m long and 1.06 m wide and 0.15 m thick. It is figuratively called the world’s biggest book.

Enjoy the sunset at Mandalay hill that offers a panoramic view over the city of Mandalay at the end of the City Tour Mandalay & Amarapura!