The Bund
A mile of 1920s banks and trading houses facing the glass skyline of Lujiazui across the Huangpu River. Come twice — once in daylight, once after dark.
Shanghai · Shanghai Municipality
Shanghai Tours & Travel Guide 2026 | The Bund, Water Towns | JoyoTour
Shanghai is China's commercial capital — Art Deco on the Bund, glass towers in Lujiazui and canal villages an hour away. Private Shanghai tours and day tours from US$189 a day.
The short version
Shanghai rewards two days: one for the colonial Bund and the museums, one for old-town gardens, food and the French Concession. Add a third for a canal-side water town such as Zhujiajiao or Tongli, both reachable within an hour.
- Two days covers Shanghai; three lets you add a water town.
- Zhujiajiao is 1 hour by metro — the closest classical canal village.
- Pudong (PVG) has the long-haul routes; Hongqiao (SHA) is domestic plus regional.
- Maglev to the airport tops out at 300 km/h — an 8-minute ride.
- Hangzhou is 1 hour away by train, which makes combining them easy.
The place itself
What Shanghai is actually like
Shanghai went from fishing village to treaty port to megacity in under 200 years, and it never fully decided which of those it wants to be. That unfinished quality is the charm: a Buddhist temple with a shopping mall built around it, a 1930s mansion turned hotel, a noodle shop two doors from a Michelin kitchen.
The practical advantage is that Shanghai is the easiest city in China for a first-time visitor. Everything is signposted in English, the metro is clean and logical, and card acceptance is the best in the country.
It is also the best base in the Yangtze Delta. Suzhou's classical gardens are 25 minutes away, Hangzhou's West Lake 1 hour, and the canal towns of the Jiangnan water country are closer still.
Destination — click to open the guide
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Pins are plotted from real latitude and longitude on a 5° graticule. This is a schematic orientation diagram, not a political map — no boundaries are drawn.
What not to miss — Shanghai
Yu Garden and the old town
A Ming scholar's garden of rockeries and koi ponds, surrounded by the teahouses and snack stalls of Shanghai's original city.
The French Concession
Plane-tree streets, red-brick lanes and Art Deco apartments — best explored on foot with a guide who knows which courtyard opens up.
Zhujiajiao water town
Canals, stone bridges and boatmen singing on request. One hour from downtown, and far less crowded than the famous alternatives if timed right.
The Shanghai Museum
Bronzes, ceramics and calligraphy laid out with real logic — arguably China's finest museum for a general overview.
Power Station of Art and West Bund
A former power station turned contemporary art museum, followed by the riverside galleries of West Bund.
China tours that include this stop — Shanghai
China Highlights Express
The essential first-time itinerary: imperial Beijing, the Terracotta Army in Xi'an and futuristic Shanghai, linked by high-speed rail.
★★★★★4.9 218 reviews
From US$1,290 US$1,490/per person
Golden Triangle & Giant Panda
The three great capitals plus a morning with the pandas of Chengdu — the trip we recommend to seven out of ten first-time visitors.
★★★★★4.9 164 reviews
From US$1,690/per person
View tourShanghai Stopover Discovery
Designed around the 240-hour visa-free transit window: three days that actually work with your flight times rather than against them.
★★★★★4.8 143 reviews
From US$460/per person
View tourCulinary China: Dumplings to Dim Sum
Nine days eating across four regional cuisines, with cooking classes, market walks and a Chengdu hotpot night that goes late.
★★★★★4.9 112 reviews
From US$1,780/per person
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Family China Discovery
Twelve days built for children: panda mornings, dumpling classes, a Great Wall toboggan, karst rivers and no 5 a.m. wake-ups.
★★★★★4.9 97 reviews
From US$1,980/per person
View tourYangtze River Cruise Odyssey
Beijing, four nights afloat through the Three Gorges, and Shanghai — the classic river journey with shore excursions included.
★★★★★4.7 87 reviews
From US$2,190/per person
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Grand China Odyssey
Five regions, one journey: imperial north, panda country, the karst rivers of Guilin and the skyline of Shanghai, with Hangzhou's West Lake.
★★★★★4.8 132 reviews
From US$2,580/per person
View tourDay tours from here — Shanghai
Shanghai
Zhujiajiao Water Town Private Day Tour
Sixty minutes from Shanghai, a still-working canal town of 36 stone bridges — arrive before the coaches, boat the canal, eat river shrimp for lunch.
From US$129/per person
View tour
Shanghai
The Bund & French Concession Day Tour
The 1920s riverfront in daylight, the old town at the middle of the day, and plane-tree streets in the Concession — ending on the promenade at blue hour.
From US$109/per person
View tour
Shanghai
Shanghai Museum & West Bund Art Day Tour
Bronzes and ceramics in the morning, a noodle lunch, then the riverside galleries of West Bund — China's best general museum plus the country's liveliest art district.
From US$99/per person
View tourGetting there and away
Pudong International (PVG) is the long-haul gateway; the maglev reaches it in 8 minutes at up to 300 km/h, or take metro Line 2 for about ¥8.
Hongqiao (SHA) is primarily domestic and also the main high-speed rail hub — arriving travellers can be in Hangzhou within 90 minutes.
Metro lines 1–18 cover the whole city. A single tap-in fare is under ¥7 for most trips.
Best time to visit — Shanghai
| Month | Weather | Crowds | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12°C / 4°C · cool, damp | Quiet | Good |
| February | 14°C / 6°C · cool, damp | Very busy | Good |
| March | 18°C / 10°C · clear and mild | Moderate | Best |
| April | 24°C / 16°C · clear and mild | Moderate | Best |
| May | 28°C / 21°C · cool, damp | Busy | OK |
| June | 32°C / 25°C · very hot, humid | Moderate | OK |
| July | 35°C / 28°C · cool, damp | Busy | Avoid |
| August | 34°C / 27°C · cool, damp | Busy | Avoid |
| September | 29°C / 23°C · very hot, humid | Moderate | OK |
| October | 24°C / 17°C · clear and mild | Very busy | Best |
| November | 18°C / 11°C · clear and mild | Quiet | Best |
| December | 13°C / 6°C · cool, damp | Quiet | Good |
How many days do you need?
Two full days is enough for the Bund, Yu Garden, the French Concession and a museum. Three days lets you take a proper water-town day. If Shanghai is your entry point to China, add a fourth for Nanjing Road shopping and dinner above the skyline.
Plan these days properlyMeet guides who cover this area
Shanghai
Chen Jing
National Tour Guide Certificate, English
★★★★★4.8168 reviews
- English
- Mandarin
- Shanghainese
Chen Jing spent seven years in corporate hospitality before she sat the guide exam, and it shows: she runs Shanghai as a schedule rather than a sightseeing list. She can move a family through the Bund, the Shanghai Museum and a 1930s apartment block before lunch without anyone feeling hurried. Shanghainese is her home language, and she will happily translate what the aunties at the market are really saying about you.
Eleven factory visits in four days, and she still found us a table at 9pm on a Friday. Quite extraordinary.
Klaus H., Germany
- Business and incentive travel: factory visits, showroom days and tight schedules
- Shanghai architecture: Bund concession buildings, Art Deco lanes and shikumen housing
- Museum strategy — the Shanghai Museum, West Bund and the Power Station of Art
- Booking the right dining room at the right hour
Hangzhou
Huang Zhiqiang
National Tour Guide Certificate, English and French
★★★★★5.0241 reviews
- English
- Mandarin
- French
Huang Zhiqiang has picked spring tea in the hills west of West Lake for eighteen years and still buys his own leaves from two grower families he has known since 2007. He plans a Hangzhou day in cups of tea rather than in sights. He is also our most experienced guide by a wide margin: more than 300 itineraries run, and he has never once arrived late.
Eighteen years of tea and he still talks about it like the harvest was yesterday. Our best day in China.
Anneke V., Netherlands
- Longjing tea: picking seasons, pan-firing and tasting by grade
- West Lake on foot — the quieter north shore and the temple paths
- Silk, Song-dynasty Hangzhou and the Grand Canal
- Slow-travel pacing for guests over 60
Guangzhou
Zheng Jiaqi
National Tour Guide Certificate, English and Cantonese
★★★★★4.8143 reviews
- English
- Mandarin
- Cantonese
Zheng Jiaqi has two children of her own and plans on the assumption that someone under ten will be finished by 14:00, so every family day carries a hard stop, a playground and a meal option that is not spicy. Cantonese is her first language, which turns dim sum mornings into a lesson in what you are actually ordering. She has yet to meet a three-generation group she could not organise.
Nine of us, aged six to seventy-eight, and nobody once said they were bored. That never happens.
Priya S., Singapore
- Family itineraries: hard stops, playgrounds and non-spicy fallback meals
- Cantonese dim sum and Pearl River Delta food culture
- Guangzhou and Shenzhen orientation for first-time visitors
- Multi-generational groups travelling with grandparents
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Combine it with
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Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, is built around West Lake — willow banks, causeways and pagodas that poets have been writing about for 1,2
Suzhou
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Suzhou is the classical garden city of the Yangtze delta — founded in 514 BC, still laid out over the canals of the 12th century, and about 30 minutes
Frequently asked questions
How many days should I spend in Shanghai?
Two full days for the city itself; three if you want a water town such as Zhujiajiao or Tongli. Shanghai also works well as a 24–48 hour stopover thanks to the 240-hour visa-free transit policy.
Which water town near Shanghai is best?
Zhujiajiao is the closest at about one hour by metro and genuinely canal-side. Tongli and Zhouzhuang are prettier but further and busier — we time the run so you arrive before the coach groups.
Is Shanghai expensive?
Less than London, Paris or New York for comparable quality. A good local meal runs ¥80–150 per person; a taxi across town is around ¥60–90. Hotels are the main cost.
Do I need cash in Shanghai?
Not really. Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay before you fly and you can pay for almost everything by phone. Carry ¥200–300 in notes as a fallback for street stalls.
How do I get from Shanghai to Beijing?
High-speed rail takes 4h 18m on the fastest trains and costs from ¥553 in second class. Flying takes roughly 2h 15m door to door once you include airport transfers.
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