A week is enough to stop sightseeing. It adds a proper day in another city — which here means a genuinely different place, not a suburb — and time to go back to whatever you liked.
The plan
- Days 1–5 — As above.
- Day 6 — ⭐ Suzhou, around half an hour from Hongqiao by high-speed train. The classical gardens that Shanghai does not have — the Humble Administrator’s Garden and the Master of the Nets are the two — plus a canal quarter. ⚠️ You need your passport to book and to board, and Hongqiao is airport-sized.
- Day 6, the alternative — Hangzhou, around three quarters of an hour, for West Lake — bigger, greener and a longer day. Better as an overnight than a day trip if you can spare it.
- Day 7, morning — The things you skipped: Jing’an Temple and the park across the road, the fabric market if you want something made, or Shanghai Museum East in Pudong, which is a separate visit from the original.
- Day 7, afternoon — Go back to whichever day you cut short. Everyone has one — it is usually the Concession.
⚠️ Do not try to add Beijing. It is under five hours each way by train and it deserves its own trip; a day there from Shanghai is ten hours of travelling for six hours of Beijing.
What this plan is built around
Not a list of sights, but the constraints: ⭐ your payment app has to work before any of this does; the Shanghai Museum and the China Art Museum are free and still need an advance reservation with your passport; most museums close on Monday; and the metro stops between about 22:00 and 23:00, which is hours before the restaurants do and is the one deadline that actually strands people here.
Other lengths
Checked on 6 September 2026. Reservation requirements, closing days and entry rules change — confirm before you travel. All sixteen sights, one page each, in Landmarks & Sights.