• Explore Yangon (Rangoon), a city of temples, markets, food stalls and ill-repaired colonial architecture. Highlights include the golden Shwedagon Pagoda, one of the most spectacular Buddhist shrines in Asia; the ancient Sule Pagoda; the Botataung Pagoda, hollow inside with a mirrored maze; and the Maha Pasan Guha, or ‘Great Cave'.

• Outside the capital, visit the Naga-Yone enclosure near Myinkaba, with a Buddha figure entwined and protected by a huge cobra - a combination of Buddhism and Brahman astrology.

• Marvel at Kyaiktiyo and its incredible ‘Golden Rock Pagoda', a 5.5m (18ft) shrine built on a gold-plated boulder balancing atop a cliff.

• Visit Pegu with its golden Shwemawdaw Pagoda and market. Just northeast is the Shwethalyaung Buddha, revered as one of the most beautiful and lifelike of reclining Buddhas, which was lost and totally overgrown by jungle in 1757 then rediscovered in the British era.

• Discover historical Bagan. More than 13,000 pagodas once spread over this dry plain, though now there are a mere 3,000. Bagan village has a museum, market, temple and lacquerware workshops. Open temples include Shwegugyi Temple; Gawdawpalin Temple; and Thatbyinnyu Temple, the highest in Bagan.

• Roam the old royal city of Mandalay, which is rich in palaces, stupas, temples and pagodas. Sights include the huge Shweyattaw Buddha, with its outstretched finger; the Eindawya Pagoda, covered in gold leaf; the Shwekyimyint Pagoda; the Mahumuni Pagoda or ‘Great Pagoda', housing a famous and revered Mahumuni image.

• Also in Mandalay, visit the ruins of the once-stupendous Mandalay Palace, destroyed in 1942. Remains of the Shwenandaw Kyaung Monastery can be seen to the south of the Kuthodaw Pagoda, called ‘the world's biggest book' because of its 729 marble slabs that are inscribed with the entire Buddhist canon.

• Venture outside Mandalay to several abandoned capital cities. Sagaing contains interesting pagodas, and Ava's old city walls can be traced. Take a river trip to Mingun to see the famous Mingun Bell, supposedly the world's largest uncracked hung bell. The city of Amarapura is also famous for its cotton and silk weaving.

• Get off the beaten track in the country's east and northwest. Kalaw provides a cool, pine-forested escape. The caves and lake at Pindaya contain thousands of Buddha images. Near Yengan village are the Padah-Lin Caves, containing prehistoric paintings. Meanwhile Inlay Lake is famous for its floating gardens and leg-rowing fishermen. Maymyo is a charming British hill station further north.

See Contact Addresses for further tourist information.