Shanghai Travel Guide: Three Days on the River and in the Old Streets
Shanghai is easier to plan than Beijing. Its best-known sight, the Bund, is free and open around the clock, the metro reaches almost everything, and only a few tickets need booking ahead. Three days lets you see it properly. Spend one day along the Huangpu River (Yu Garden in the morning, a museum in the afternoon, the Bund at dusk), one walking the plane-tree streets of the former French Concession and crossing to Pudong for the skyline, and keep the third for a museum, a Huangpu ferry or a day trip to Suzhou. Watch the closing days. Yu Garden and the People's Square museum hall close on Mondays, and the Shanghai Museum East Hall closes on Tuesdays.
Shanghai covers 6,340 square kilometres and had about 24.8 million residents in 2024. It opened as a treaty port in 1843 and became a municipality separate from Jiangsu in 1927. Much of what visitors come to see dates from the century between.
Planning: the decisions that shape the trip
The Bund or the Oriental Pearl Tower? They face each other across the river. The Bund (west bank) is the row of 1906 to 1937 bank buildings with the Pudong towers as the backdrop, and it is free. The Pearl (east bank) is a paid observation deck looking back at the Bund. Walk the Bund on every trip. Go up the tower only on a clear evening when the view back is what you want.
Which museum building? The Shanghai Museum now has two halls. The East Hall in Pudong holds the permanent Chinese collections and is free. The People's Square hall is showing a paid exhibition on the ancient Americas until 14 November 2027. The museum page, linked below, explains the difference.
Which day for what? Mondays rule out Yu Garden and the People's Square hall; Tuesdays rule out the East Hall. The Bund, the French Concession and the riverside walks are open every day, so they fill the gaps.
Where to sleep? One hotel for the whole stay is enough. The metro handles the rest.
When to come to Shanghai
April, May, October and early November are the best months: warm days, lower humidity and clear evenings for the Bund. Late autumn also turns the plane trees in the French Concession yellow. The 1 to 7 October National Day holiday brings huge crowds to the Bund and Yu Garden, so plan around it if you can.
June brings the plum rains (meiyu), several weeks of humid, drizzly weather. July and August are hot and sticky, and typhoons can arrive from July to September and wipe out an evening by the river. In summer, plan museum time for the afternoon and keep the Bund evening flexible. Winter is cool and damp, around 5°C in January, with fewer visitors and good museum days. The Chinese Wikipedia entry for the city gives two different annual mean temperatures (17.5°C and 15.5°C), but either way the city is humid for most of the year.
How to get in and where to stay
Airports. Pudong (PVG) handles most international flights. From there, Line 2 runs into the city, or you can take the Maglev to Longyang Road and change to the metro, which is faster but involves a transfer. Hongqiao (SHA) mostly serves domestic and some regional flights and sits beside Hongqiao railway station, on Lines 2 and 10.
Trains. Most high-speed trains use Shanghai Hongqiao, including those from Beijing, Hangzhou and Suzhou. Some services use Shanghai Station or Shanghai South. Check which station is on your ticket.
Where to stay. For a first visit, Huangpu district, between People's Square and the Bund, is the most convenient base, with the Bund, Yu Garden and People's Square all walkable or a stop or two apart. For quieter streets and a neighbourhood feel, stay in the former French Concession (Xuhui or the western edge of Huangpu). Lujiazui in Pudong has big hotels with river views but feels more like a business district at night.
Places worth visiting
Five sights, each with its own page. The first two shape most itineraries; the others fit around them.
The Bund at dusk
A 1.5-kilometre promenade on the west bank of the Huangpu, from the Waibaidu Bridge in the north to Yan'an Road East and beyond. The buildings behind it, from the Peace Hotel to the Customs House and the former HSBC, date from 1906 to 1937 and have been a protected group since 1996. Arrive about 45 minutes before sunset, walk north to south, and stay for the lights, usually switched on around 19:00. It is free and takes an hour or two. East Nanjing Road station (Lines 2 and 10) is the closest. Full route on the Bund page.
The French Concession on foot
This is the part of Shanghai most visitors end up liking best, and it has no ticket or gate. Start at Wukang Mansion (Line 10 to Shanghai Library or Jiaotong University), walk north up Wukang Road under the plane trees, then cut across to the cafés on Anfu Road. Allow three to four hours on a weekday afternoon. The concession was handed back in 1943, but its lane houses and villas remain, most of them still lived in. Route and practical notes on the French Concession page.
Oriental Pearl Tower
The 468-metre TV tower, opened in 1995, beside Lujiazui station on Line 2. The standard two-sphere ticket (listed at 199 yuan) covers the 263-metre deck and the 259-metre glass walkway, which is enough for most people. Go up on a clear late afternoon and stay until the Bund lights come on. In haze, skip it and use the free riverside promenade in Lujiazui instead. See Oriental Pearl Tower for ticket tiers.
Yu Garden
A Ming garden begun in 1559, in the old walled city. The garden is ticketed (40 yuan in peak season, real-name booking) and closed on Mondays. The busy bazaar, the zigzag bridge and the City God Temple around it are free, and they are not the garden. Arrive at 09:00, see the garden first, then queue for soup dumplings in the bazaar. Details on the Yu Garden page.
Shanghai Museum
The East Hall in Pudong (free, closed Tuesdays) has the bronzes, ceramics, paintings and calligraphy that made the museum's name. The round hall on People's Square (closed Mondays) is showing a paid exhibition on ancient American civilisations until November 2027. Either one makes a good half day indoors, and it is the best plan for a rainy afternoon. Hours and tickets for both halls are on the Shanghai Museum page.
Eating in Shanghai
Xiaolongbao, the soup dumplings with a thin skin and hot broth inside, are the dish every visitor orders. Nanxiang in the Yu Garden bazaar is the famous name, and neighbourhood dumpling shops make them just as well with shorter queues. Shengjianbao, pan-fried pork buns with crisp bottoms, are a breakfast favourite. Local Shanghainese (benbang) cooking is sweeter and richer than most northern Chinese food. Try red-braised pork (hongshao rou) and smoked fish. From late September to December, hairy crab is the seasonal treat. The French Concession has the city's best cafés and bakeries for a break during the walk.
How to arrange the route
Day 1, around the Huangpu. Yu Garden at 09:00, the bazaar and lunch, the Shanghai Museum's People's Square hall (if the Americas exhibition interests you) or a walk along East Nanjing Road, then the Bund at dusk. On a Monday, swap Yu Garden and the museum for the French Concession and do this day later.
Day 2, the concession and Pudong. A late morning in the French Concession, lunch on Anfu Road, then Line 2 to Lujiazui. Go up the Oriental Pearl Tower before sunset, or walk the Lujiazui riverside, and take the ferry back to the Bund after dark.
Day 3, your choice. The Shanghai Museum East Hall (not on a Tuesday), a Huangpu river cruise, or a day trip. Suzhou and its gardens are about half an hour away by high-speed train from Hongqiao, and Hangzhou and West Lake are roughly an hour. Water towns closer in, such as Wuzhen in Jiaxing, take more time. Jiaxing covers the options.
Going on. Beijing is about four and a half to six hours by high-speed train, and Nanjing, the old southern capital, is a fast hop up the line through Suzhou and Wuxi.
What to cut if short on time
With two days, drop in this order:
- Going up the Oriental Pearl Tower. See the skyline from the Bund or the free Lujiazui riverside instead.
- Time in the Yu Garden bazaar. If you keep the garden, walk through the bazaar quickly.
- The second museum building. One museum visit is plenty on a short trip.
- Keep: the Bund at dusk and a French Concession walk. Those two are what most visitors remember.
With one day: Yu Garden in the morning, the French Concession in the afternoon, the Bund in the evening.
Things to confirm before you go
- Closing days: Yu Garden and the People's Square museum hall on Mondays, the East Hall on Tuesdays (national holidays excepted).
- Yu Garden's timed ticket on the official mini-program, especially at weekends.
- Americas exhibition ticket release dates if you want to see it.
- Sunset time and weather for your Bund evening; keep a spare night in typhoon season.
- National Day week crowd controls along the Bund (1 to 7 October).
Frequently asked questions
How many days do you need in Shanghai?
Three days covers the Bund, Yu Garden, the French Concession, Pudong and one museum. Two days is enough for the Bund, the concession and either Yu Garden or the museum. With four or five days, add Suzhou or Hangzhou as a day trip.
Is the Oriental Pearl Tower worth it, or is the Bund enough?
The Bund is essential and free. The tower is worth it on a clear evening if you want to look back at the Bund from above. In haze or with little time, skip it.
Shanghai or Suzhou for classical gardens?
Suzhou. Its gardens are larger, quieter and more numerous. Yu Garden is worth seeing if Shanghai is your only stop, but if you are going to Suzhou anyway, you can give it less time.
Can you visit Shanghai without booking anything?
Mostly. The Bund, the French Concession and the East Hall need no booking. Yu Garden uses real-name timed tickets, and the Americas exhibition at People's Square needs a paid ticket in advance.
Sources
The historical and geographic facts were checked against these Wikipedia entries, retrieved 4 September 2026. The city page's climate paragraphs disagree on the annual mean temperature and rainfall; both temperature figures are given above.
- Shanghai (city) https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/上海市
- The Bund https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/外滩
- Yu Garden https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/豫园
- Shanghai French Concession https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/上海法租界
- Oriental Pearl Tower https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/东方明珠广播电视塔
- Shanghai Museum https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/上海博物馆
Hours, prices and booking rules were rechecked on 9 October 2026 against the Shanghai Museum visitor pages (shanghaimuseum.net), the Yu Garden official site (yugarden.com.cn) and 2025–2026 Shanghai listings for the Oriental Pearl Tower. The official notice on the day takes priority.
The Nanjing Road Chinese title is a disambiguation page; this article does not treat Nanjing Road as a separate sourced stop.
All photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under CC licenses; re-use requires attribution.
- shanghai-bund.jpg from File A_picture_from_China_every_day_101.jpg, by Carsten Ullrich, CC BY-SA 2.0
- shanghai-yuyuan.jpg from File Shanghai_-Yu_Garden-_0035.jpg, by Stefan Fussan, CC BY-SA 3.0
- shanghai-concession.jpg from File French_Concession_building_-_Shanghai.JPG, by pfctdayelise, CC BY-SA 2.5
- shanghai-pearl.jpg from File Oriental_Pearl_Tower_in_Shanghai.jpg, by Dmitry A. Mottl, CC BY-SA 4.0
- shanghai-museum.jpg from File 20694-Shanghai_(32225501024).jpg, by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0