Jutting out like a dogleg from the southern side of Mandalay, Amarapura sits between a wide lake and the meanders of the Irrawaddy River. It's another in the long line of towns that's had the honour of being called the royal capital of erstwhile Burma, which is the reason for its leafy streets and the occasional silhouette of a glorious, gold-tipped pagoda standing tall above the roadways. 

For the most dedicated of history buffs, Amarapura offers an amazing cultural exodus from the hustle of the big city to the north. A day in the company of an Amarapura tour guide can reveal the half-ruined tomb of King Bodawpaya, surrounded by the striking old moat of the once-grand Amarapura Palace. It can also mean glimpses of crumbled city gates forged from redbrick and earth, not to mention the great Amarapura pagoda itself, which stacks high with whitewashed carvings in the very heart of the district. The rickety walkways of the U Bein Bridge are another of the main pulls about Amarapura. As they arch across glistening Taung Tha Man Lake, they offer pretty vistas of the water and the town reflected in it – a fine place to catch the evening sunset glowing behind the low hills on the far side of the Irrawaddy.