Shanghai itineraries
Seven routes across Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou — single cities and the high-speed-rail combinations between them. Each one is a real day-by-day plan with times, and nearly every stop carries two alternatives so you can rebuild it around what you actually want to see.
3 days3 Days in Shanghai
Three days is enough to see the Shanghai that shows up on postcards and the one that doesn't. This plan opens on the Bund and the old city, spends day two on the modern Pudong side and the art districts, and saves the quiet lanes of the former French Concession for the morning before departure.
ShanghaiSee the day-by-day plan
2 days2 Days in Suzhou
Suzhou rewards a slower pace than Shanghai. Day one stays inside the old city — a UNESCO garden in the morning, I. M. Pei's museum next door, then the canal-side lanes of Pingjiang Road into the evening. Day two heads out to a water town and comes back through a silk workshop.
SuzhouSee the day-by-day plan
2 days2 Days in Hangzhou
Hangzhou is a lake with a city attached, and the plan treats it that way. Day one circles West Lake — temple first to beat the traffic, tea terraces at lunch, a boat in the afternoon and the pagoda at golden hour. Day two trades the lake for the Xixi wetlands and the city's food.
HangzhouSee the day-by-day plan- 2 days
Shanghai + Suzhou in 2 Days
The high-speed train makes Suzhou a 30-minute hop from Shanghai Hongqiao, which is why this pairing works over a single weekend. Day one covers Shanghai's waterfront and old city, including the Bund after dark. Day two starts on an early train and gives Suzhou's gardens a full, unhurried day.
Shanghai · SuzhouCross-citySee the day-by-day plan - 2 days
Shanghai + Hangzhou in 2 Days
An hour on the high-speed train separates Shanghai's skyline from West Lake's causeways, and the contrast is the point of this route. Day one is city — waterfront, garden, dumplings, the Bund at night. Day two is water, tea terraces and a pagoda at sunset.
Shanghai · HangzhouCross-citySee the day-by-day plan 
2 daysShanghai + a Water Town in 2 Days
The canal towns ringing Shanghai are close enough that you don't need to move hotels. Day one stays in the city — the Bund, Yu Garden, dumplings, an evening in Xintiandi. Day two is a one-hour drive to a thousand-year-old water town, back in time for dinner in Shanghai.
ShanghaiCross-citySee the day-by-day plan- 3 days
Shanghai + Suzhou + Hangzhou in 3 Days
This is the classic Yangtze Delta loop, and high-speed rail is what makes it fit into three days — roughly an hour between each stop. Shanghai supplies the skyline, Suzhou the classical gardens and canal lanes, Hangzhou the lake and tea country. One direction, no backtracking.
Shanghai · Suzhou · HangzhouCross-citySee the day-by-day plan