Itineraries & Day Trips

Plans built around what is booked and what shuts

Every plan here is arranged around three fixed constraints rather than a wish list: what needs an advance reservation, which museums are closed on Monday, and the fact that the metro stops between about 22:00 and 23:00.

The rules that shape every plan

• ⭐ Set your phone up before you arrive. Reservations, taxis and tickets all depend on it. Day one is too late.
• ⚠️ Book the Shanghai Museum before you fly if it matters to you. It is free and it still sells out.
• ⚠️ Monday is a walking day — museums shut, streets do not.
• ⚠️ Plan the end of the evening. Dinner runs later than the trains.

The ladder

Separate plans for one, two, three, five and seven days, each written as a real sequence with the walking joined up. The longer ones add cities rather than filler, because Shanghai sits at the centre of the best high-speed rail network in the world.

• One day — the Bund, Yu Garden, Nanjing Road and the Concession on foot.
• Two days — adds Pudong, the museum, and the lane houses.
• Three days — adds Tianzifang, the temples and a proper evening.
• Five days — adds the riverside museums, Hongkou, and one day out of town.
• Seven days — adds Suzhou or Hangzhou properly, and slack to go back.

⭐ Day trips are on the train, and they are fast

Suzhou — around half an hour — for the classical gardens Shanghai does not have. Hangzhou — around three quarters of an hour — for West Lake. Zhujiajiao, a canal town, is reachable on metro line 17 for the price of a metro fare, which makes it the cheapest and easiest escape from the city.

⚠️ Intercity trains need your passport to book and to board, and the big stations require real time to get through.