Shanghai-2-day-itinerary

Two days isn’t enough to know Shanghai, but it’s enough to hit the essentials, dodge the tea-house scam, and eat dumplings that live up to the hype. Here’s how to spend it without wasting a morning on transit mistakes.

Day 1

Morning

Start at The Bund, free and open all hours, best walked early before the crowds thicken. From there, cross toward Yuyuan Garden (about Y40, worth every fen) but bypass the surrounding bazaar’s “Nanxiang” dumpling stalls trading off a name that belongs to the actual original restaurant inside the garden itself.

Lunch

Jia Jia Tang Bao, a short walk from Yuyuan, is the queue-out-the-door local pick for xiaolongbao (Y20-30, cash or mobile pay).

Afternoon

Head to Shanghai Museum East in Pudong: it’s free and, since September 2024, needs no advance reservation, so you can just walk in with your passport. If you’d rather stay central, the People’s Square branch still requires a WeChat booking. Follow with a wander through the French Concession’s Wukang Road, which does more for your Shanghai photos than any single monument.

Dinner

Din Tai Fung is reliable and polished (Y80-120), but remember it’s Taiwanese, not a Shanghai native, before you rave about “authentic local food.”

Evening

Walk back to the Bund after dark, when Pudong’s skyline lights up across the river. This, not the daytime version, is the view worth the photo.

Day 2

Morning

Visit Jing’an Temple (about Y50), a working temple boxed in by skyscrapers, then cut through People’s Square on foot.

Lunch

Find a Shanghainese spot near People’s Square rather than a chain; the local red-braised pork dishes are worth seeking out over anything with an English menu on the door.

Afternoon

Take the Shanghai Tower observation deck (about Y180, up to Y199 on holidays) for the highest view in the city, then walk Nanjing Road. It’s free pedestrian shopping and also the densest scam zone in Shanghai, so keep moving if anyone offers to “practice English” with you; that’s the opening line of the tea ceremony scam that ends with a Y3,000-plus bill and a blocked exit.

Dinner

Pick a Sichuan or Shanghainese restaurant off Nanjing Road’s side streets rather than the main strip, where prices climb for no better food.

Getting Around

The metro (Line 2 covers most of this route) runs Y3 for the first 6km, typically Y4-8 per ride, 5:30am to 11pm. Bind a foreign card to the Metro Dazhong app or use Alipay’s transit QR. Alipay and WeChat Pay have accepted foreign cards directly since mid-2023, so ignore any advice claiming otherwise; just set it up before you fly, since late-2025 verification can take a day or two.

Where to Stay

Base yourself near the Bund or in the French Concession for the shortest hops to everything above.

One Thing to Know

Install and test a VPN before you leave home. Google, Maps, WhatsApp, and Instagram are all blocked here, and you cannot download a VPN once you’ve landed.