Shanghai-7-day-itinerary

A full week means you can finally stop rationing your time in Shanghai and actually go slow somewhere. This plan front-loads the city, then spends the back half on two proper day trips most shorter itineraries have to skip entirely.

Day 1: Arrival

Land at Pudong or Hongqiao. If you’re at Pudong, skip the Maglev unless you want the novelty ride; it only runs to Longyang Road station, still a Metro Line 2 transfer or taxi from downtown, so it saves nothing once your luggage is involved. Metro Line 2 straight through is simply smarter. Walk The Bund on arrival, free and open all hours, then return after dark when Pudong’s skyline lights up across the water, the version actually worth photographing.

Day 2: Gardens and the Scam Zone

Yu Garden runs about Y40 and earns it; skip the surrounding bazaar, where most “Nanxiang” dumpling stalls trade on a name with no connection to the actual original restaurant inside the garden itself. Lunch at Jia Jia Tang Bao for the local xiaolongbao (Y20-30, queue expected). Spend the afternoon on Nanjing Road, free shopping and simultaneously the densest scam zone in Shanghai. If a friendly stranger offers to “practice English” with you here, that’s the opening move of the tea ceremony scam, ending in a bill of Y3,000 or more with the door conveniently blocked. Real tea ceremonies run Y50-200 with a printed menu shown upfront, no exceptions.

Day 3: Height and Museums

Shanghai Tower’s 118th-floor deck runs about Y180 (up to Y199 on holidays), the highest observation point in the city. Follow with Shanghai Museum East in Pudong, free and, since September 2024, requiring no advance reservation for individuals; walk in with ID. The older People’s Square branch still needs a WeChat booking. Evening: Din Tai Fung for polished xiaolongbao (Y80-120) if you want it, just know it’s Taiwanese, not a Shanghai original.

Day 4: French Concession and Laneways

Spend the morning wandering Wukang Road and Anfu Road in the French Concession, the neighborhood built for aimless walking rather than a checklist. In the afternoon, cross to Tianzifang, indie shops and cafes packed into old shikumen laneways, scrappier and more rewarding than the reconstructed, upscale Xintiandi nearby, worth a walk-through but not a meal. Jing’an Temple (about Y50) makes a good early-evening stop.

Day 5: Suzhou Day Trip

Take the bullet train from Hongqiao station, 25-30 minutes to Suzhou with frequent departures throughout the day. Suzhou’s classical gardens make this a genuine full day, and given the short ride and gardens clustered near the station, it beats Hangzhou for a single-day option; West Lake really wants an overnight rather than a rushed visit. Return to Shanghai for dinner.

Day 6: Hangzhou, Done Properly

With a full week you can give Hangzhou the overnight it deserves instead of rushing it. The bullet train from Hongqiao runs 45-55 minutes; spend the day walking West Lake’s causeways and temples, then stay over rather than racing back for a late train. This is the one day trip on this list that genuinely rewards slowing down.

Day 7: Zhujiajiao and Departure

Head back to Shanghai in the morning, then take Metro Line 17 out to Zhujiajiao, a water town about an hour from the city center, before your flight. Canals are free to walk, combined garden tickets run roughly Y60-90, and it’s a half-day outing, so time it around your departure rather than the other way around.

Where to Stay

Base near the Bund or in the French Concession for the shortest hops to everything above. Every hotel is required to register overnight foreign guests with local police; reputable places handle this automatically at check-in once you hand over your passport.

Getting Around

Metro fares run Y3 for the first 6km, typically Y4-8, across 20 lines operating roughly 5:30am to 11pm. Bind a foreign card to the Metro Dazhong app or use Alipay’s transit QR, which works citywide. Alipay and WeChat Pay have accepted international Visa, Mastercard, and JCB cards directly since mid-2023, bound through your passport with no local bank account needed. Fees are waived under Y200 and run about 3% above that; late-2025 verification adds a day or two of lag, so set this up before you fly. Didi, with an English interface, beats hailing a street taxi on both price and reliability; if you flag one down anyway, stick to marked teal Dazhong or turquoise Qiangsheng cabs and insist the meter runs.

Visa Notes

Travelers from 55-plus countries, including the US, UK, EU nations, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, and Brazil, qualify for 240-hour visa-free transit covering Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang with a confirmed onward ticket, which comfortably covers this whole week including both day trips. Register at entry.

Weather Notes

Late March through May and September through November bring the clearest skies and easiest walking weather. Summer runs hot and humid, worsened by the plum rain season from mid-June to mid-July, a stretch of prolonged, sticky drizzle. Avoid Golden Week (October 1-7) entirely, when every attraction on this list hits capacity and prices spike to match.

One Thing to Know

Install and test a VPN before you leave home. Google, Gmail, Maps, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and X are all blocked, and there’s no downloading a VPN once you’re inside the country. Apple Maps and Amap both work locally without any workaround, so at least getting between water towns and train stations won’t require guesswork.