Shanghai 6 Day Itinerary

Shanghai is the only city in the world where a 1920s Art Deco skyline stands directly across the water from a forest of supertall towers built in the last 30 years, and where neither side looks temporary. The city moves fast, the food is exceptional at every price point, and the gap between what a tourist pays and what a local pays is wide enough to cross through basic preparation. Six days is enough to understand why people who come for a week return for a year.

Day 1: Arrival and The Bund

Land at Pudong International Airport and make your first transport decision at the arrivals hall. The Maglev train from the airport terminal to Longyang Road MRT station takes 7 minutes 20 seconds, reaches a top speed of 431 km/h during two daily windows (09:00 to 10:45 and 15:00 to 16:45), and costs 50 CNY (40 CNY if you show your boarding pass). From Longyang Road you transfer to Metro Line 2 for the central city. Total journey including the metro leg: around 45 minutes. A taxi from the airport to a downtown hotel runs 150 to 190 CNY and takes 45 to 60 minutes. Metro Line 2 direct from the airport (no Maglev) takes 67 minutes and costs 7 CNY. Which you choose depends on whether you want to say you went 431 km/h.

Check in to a hotel in the Jing’an or Huangpu districts for the most central position. The Former French Concession is the better neighbourhood choice for a longer stay (quieter streets, better food, more interesting buildings) but requires slightly more metro use for the main sights.

In the evening, walk The Bund. The 1.5-kilometre waterfront promenade along the west bank of the Huangpu is free and looks directly across to the Pudong skyline, where the Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai Tower (the world’s second tallest building), and Shanghai World Financial Center stand in close proximity. The view is best at dusk and for two hours afterward. Skip the tourist Bund Sightseeing Tunnel (an overpriced light show in a pedestrian tunnel) and instead walk across via the Nanpu Bridge on foot or take the free ferry from Jinling Road East Dock to Dongchang Road in Pudong.

Dinner at M on the Bund if budget allows (European menu with Bund views, mains from around 250 CNY). For something local at a fraction of the price, the side streets one block back from the Bund near Guangdong Road have reliable dumpling and noodle shops.

Day 2: Yu Garden and the French Concession

Yu Garden (Yuyuan) in the Old City is the most famous traditional garden in Shanghai and is best visited at 08:00 when it opens, before the tour groups arrive. The garden itself (admission 40 CNY) is a classical Ming-dynasty design with rockeries, pavilions, and ponds; the bazaar surrounding it outside the walls is one of the city’s most aggressive tourist retail environments and can largely be ignored. The exception is Huxinting Teahouse, the 1855 pavilion built on the pond connected to the garden by a zigzag bridge. Tea sets cost 150 to 300 CNY and include multiple pours; it is genuine and historical rather than staged.

A word on the tea house scam: throughout the Bund, Nanjing Road, and People’s Square, strangers will approach you with variations of “I’m a student, would you like to practice English?” or “There is a traditional tea ceremony nearby, can I take you?” They are operating tea houses where the bill arrives at 3,000 to 10,000 CNY. Decline all such invitations from strangers regardless of how convincing the backstory is.

After Yu Garden, take the metro west to the Former French Concession. This is the best neighbourhood in Shanghai for walking: plane tree canopies over Art Deco villas and lane houses, independent shops on Anfu Lu, a dense cluster of excellent restaurants. Old Jesse on Tianping Road serves classic Shanghai cuisine (hongshao rou braised pork belly, drunken chicken, yellow croaker fish) and is consistently regarded as some of the best traditional Shanghainese cooking in the city. It is small, cash only, and you will need to arrive when it opens or wait for a table.

Spend the afternoon walking the French Concession streets: Fuxing Road, Changle Road, Wulumuqi Road. The lane house architecture is largely preserved here and the neighbourhood has a different pace from the main commercial districts.

For dinner, A Da’s scallion oil pancakes on Wujiang Road open at 06:00 and close when they run out, usually by early afternoon, so time this for a late-morning snack rather than dinner. For dinner proper, the Xintiandi entertainment district nearby has higher-end restaurant options in the evening and is more relaxed than the tourist crowds around Yu Garden.

Day 3: Shanghai Museum and Contemporary Art

The Shanghai Museum on People’s Square is the best museum in China for traditional Chinese art and artefacts. The bronze collection and the ceramics galleries are extraordinary. Admission is free but requires a queued entry; arrive by 09:00 to avoid the longest waits. Allow three hours minimum.

In the afternoon, the Power Station of Art on the South Bund is China’s first state-run museum dedicated to contemporary art and is housed in a converted power station with a chimney visible from most of Huangpu. Admission is free for permanent galleries. The building itself is worth the visit.

For the Shanghai Tower and Pudong skyline: the 118th floor observation deck at Shanghai Tower costs around 180 CNY and is one of the highest observation platforms in the world. The views are genuinely spectacular in clear weather. Go on a weekday morning and check the air quality index before committing (on hazy days the visibility is poor enough to make the trip redundant). The adjacent Shanghai World Financial Center has a cheaper observation deck (180 CNY) with different angles. Choose one.

Dinner at Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet requires months-advance reservation and costs approximately 6,000 CNY per person for a 20-course meal where food, lighting, and sound are synchronised per dish. It is among the most theatrical restaurant experiences in Asia and was ranked in the World’s 50 Best for years. This is the splurge-or-skip choice of the trip: either book it before you leave home or save the money for something you will find on a side street for 50 CNY.

Day 4: Zhujiajiao Water Town

Zhujiajiao is a 1,700-year-old water town 50 kilometres west of Shanghai, accessible by direct shuttle bus from People’s Square in about 70 minutes (around 20 CNY). It is the most photogenic of Shanghai’s water town day trips and genuinely different from anything in the city: canals, stone bridges, Qing dynasty merchant houses, and local food stalls.

The main tourist drag around Fangdai Road gets crowded by mid-morning. Arrive when the bus drops you and walk immediately away from the entrance commercial street into the residential canal lanes to the north and west. These are quieter, more authentic, and have the best views.

Kezhi Garden (15 CNY entry) is the principal formal garden in town and worth 45 minutes. Traditional gondola-style boat trips through the canals cost around 80 CNY per boat and take 30 minutes; they are not cheap for what they are but the perspective from the water is good.

For lunch, the riverside restaurants near Fangdai Road serve Dongting Lake fish and local river shrimp. Order by pointing at the fish tank and agree on a price per jin (500g) before you sit down.

Return to Shanghai by early evening and rest. Xintiandi or the bars around Yongkang Road (a pedestrian lane with outdoor tables and cheap beers) for the evening if energy allows.

Day 5: Nanjing Road and Jing’an

Nanjing Road East is Shanghai’s main pedestrian shopping street and one of the highest-footfall retail corridors in the world. It is worth a morning walk to see the scale of it even if you have no interest in shopping. The branded retail here is identical to any high street globally; the more interesting shopping in Shanghai is in the independent boutiques of the French Concession or the Tianzifang arts complex off Taikang Road.

Tianzifang is a warren of converted lane houses in Luwan that have been turned into craft shops, galleries, cafes, and small restaurants. It is compact, tourist-friendly in a managed way, and more interesting than Xintiandi for browsing. Worth two hours.

IAPM Mall near South Shanxi Road MRT has the full range of international retail on multiple floors and a food court on the basement level with reliable fast-casual Chinese options.

In the evening, Yongkang Road is where young Shanghainese and expats mix at pavement tables outside small bars and restaurants for the most unpretentious and affordable night out in the city. Beers cost around 30 CNY and the vibe is relaxed. It is the kind of place that gets written about in guidebooks until it becomes too crowded, so the state of play changes season to season, but in 2025 and 2026 it has been consistently good.

Day 6: Departure

The Maglev’s last departure from Pudong Airport to Longyang Road is at 21:40, so even late-evening flights are covered. For an early-morning departure, the metro Line 2 from the city centre to the airport runs from 05:40 and is the most reliable option for avoiding traffic delays.

If you have a few hours before departure, Jing’an Temple (admission 50 CNY) near Jing’an MRT is a functioning Buddhist temple in the middle of the upscale retail district with an oddly moving combination of incense, devotion, and surrounding skyscrapers. It is worth 45 minutes and makes a better final impression of Shanghai than any shopping mall.

Internet and the Great Firewall

Google, Instagram, WhatsApp, and most Western social platforms are blocked in China. Download a VPN before you leave home (not from within China, where the App Store versions are removed). Travel eSIMs that route through Hong Kong or Singapore automatically bypass the firewall without a VPN and are the simpler solution. WeChat Pay and Alipay are the dominant payment systems; foreigners can now link international Visa or Mastercard to WeChat Pay via the international version of the app. Set this up before arrival. Cash is accepted widely but increasingly rare as a primary payment method in restaurants.

Getting Around

The Shanghai Metro covers every major tourist site and is clean, cheap, and well-signed in English. Single journeys within the central districts cost 3 to 7 CNY. Tap with a transit card or use WeChat Pay QR code at the gates. Didi (China’s ride-hailing app) works for foreigners with an international card and is useful for late-night trips or reaching specific restaurants. Standard taxis work but require the driver to speak some English or a translation app.

Weather

Summers (June to August) are hot and very humid, with frequent rain. March to May and September to November are the best months for comfortable outdoor sightseeing. Typhoons from the Pacific can affect Shanghai in late summer, occasionally disrupting transport. Winter (December to February) is mild but grey and damp; outdoor sightseeing is less pleasant but prices drop and crowds thin.