A dated calendar of Southeast Asia travel experiences
Seasons · Myanmar
Bagan balloon season: what we can and cannot confirm
Hot-air balloons drifting over the temple plain of Bagan at sunrise are one of the most reproduced images of Southeast Asia. Planning a trip around them in 2026 is a different matter. This page says what we could confirm, what we could not, and what current government travel advice says about the region.
Read this first: current travel advice
As of the advice updated on 4 August 2026 and still current on 24 October 2026, the UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to Mandalay Region and against all travel to the north of Mandalay Region, among other areas of Myanmar. It describes the conflict as increasingly volatile and warns that the security situation may deteriorate at short notice.
Bagan lies in Mandalay Region. The Foreign Office page does not name Bagan itself; unless it falls within the north Mandalay exclusion, the all-but-essential advice applies. Travelling against official advice can invalidate travel insurance. Other governments publish their own advice, and you should read the one for your own passport.
We do not encourage a leisure trip to Bagan while this advice stands. We keep this page because readers search for the balloon season, and because the facts below will matter when advice changes.
Sources: UK Foreign Office — Myanmar travel advice · last checked .
Are the balloons flying?
We could not confirm it. We looked for a current statement of the 2026–27 balloon season from an operator, from Myanmar tourism authorities or from news reports, and found none. One operator's website still advertises flights over the temples but gives no season dates, no prices and no notice about current operations.
Balloon flights over Bagan have depended on calm, dry mornings, which in central Myanmar means the months after the monsoon. Whether flights run in a given season also depends on permits, insurance and visitor numbers, all of which have been affected by the situation in the country. Contact an operator directly, and check what your insurer will cover, before treating any flight as available.
Sources: UK Foreign Office — Myanmar travel advice · last checked .
The site
Bagan was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on 6 July 2019. The plain holds thousands of brick temples and stupas built between the 11th and 13th centuries. A major earthquake on 24 August 2016 damaged nearly 400 temples, and visitors were barred from 33 of the worst affected while restoration was planned. Another major earthquake struck the region in March 2025; reports at the time said some of the main stupas, including Htilominlo and Shwezigon, suffered no structural damage. We have no complete current list of which temples are open.
Sources: Wikipedia — Bagan · last checked .
Sunrise times
| Month (mid-month) | Sunrise in Bagan |
|---|---|
| October | 06:05 |
| November | 06:20 |
| December | 06:39 |
| January | 06:50 |
| February | 06:40 |
| March | 06:19 |
Our calculation for Bagan, in Myanmar time (UTC+6:30, half an hour behind Thailand). Balloon flights, when they operate, launch before sunrise; morning collection is usually well before these times.
Sources: Tourist Bucket lunar and sun calculations (PyEphem, UTC+7), cross-checked with a Chinese-calendar library · last checked .
If you are waiting for advice to change
- Watch your own government's travel advice for Mandalay Region, not just headlines about Myanmar as a whole.
- Check whether your travel insurer covers Myanmar, and on what conditions.
- Ask any operator for the current season's dates, safety record and refund terms in writing.
- Expect the first seasons after any reopening to be uncertain: flights, guides and hotels take time to restart.
Alternatives for a sunrise over temples
If what draws you is dawn over an ancient temple landscape, Angkor in Cambodia offers it in the dry season, with temples that open at 05:00 for sunrise. Its sunrise times, crowd patterns and pass prices are on the Angkor sunrise page. Balloon flights are not the same experience, and we do not cover balloon operations elsewhere in the region.
Who should not go now
- Anyone whose insurance will not cover travel against official advice.
- Travellers who cannot leave quickly if the security situation changes.
- People relying on a balloon flight as the reason for the trip, given the unconfirmed status.
Common questions
Questions readers ask
Are hot-air balloons flying over Bagan in 2026?
We could not confirm it. No operator or authority statement for the 2026–27 season was available when we checked on 26 October 2026.
Is it safe to travel to Bagan?
The UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to Mandalay Region, where Bagan lies, and against all travel to its northern part. Read your own government's advice before deciding.
What time is sunrise in Bagan?
Between about 06:05 in mid-October and 06:50 in mid-January, Myanmar time, by our calculation.
Was Bagan damaged in the 2025 earthquake?
A major earthquake struck the region in March 2025. Reports said some major stupas suffered no structural damage; we do not have a full current list of open temples.
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