A week in Shanghai means you can afford to do this city properly

Seven days is enough to stop rushing. You can do the Bund at dawn one day and at night another, take two separate rail trips out to nearby cities, and still have a lazy morning or two. Here’s how I’d carve it up.

Day 1: land and get your bearings

Skip the Maglev unless you want the novelty ride; it only goes from Pudong Airport to Longyang Road, not into the city, so you’ll still need Metro Line 2 or a taxi afterward. With a week of luggage in tow, just take the direct option. Watch for airport taxi touts quoting flat “special” fares before you reach the official rank; use the marked queue, insist on the meter, and expect roughly Y180-220 to the Bund.

Check in, then walk the Bund in the evening once the Pudong skyline lights up, roughly 7 to 10pm. It’s free, it never closes, and you’ll be back here at least once more this week.

Day 2: Yu Garden and the old town, without the bazaar trap

Pay the Y40 for Yu Garden itself, it’s genuinely worth it, all rockeries and covered walkways. Walk straight out of the surrounding bazaar without buying anything; it’s inflated fake-antique retail, and most of the “Nanxiang” dumpling stalls there are unaffiliated copycats cashing in on a name that belongs to the original shop inside the garden.

In the afternoon, head to the Shanghai Museum East branch in Pudong instead of the older People’s Square location. It’s free and since September 2024 needs no advance reservation, just walk in with your passport. For dinner, Jia Jia Tang Bao for xiaolongbao, Y20-30, or Yang’s Fry Dumpling for the pan-fried shengjianbao version, Y15-25. Din Tai Fung is fine if you want the polished version, just know it’s a Taiwanese chain, not a Shanghai original.

This is also the neighborhood where the tea ceremony scam runs hardest. Anyone who approaches wanting to “practice English” and invites you to tea is working a script that ends with a bill in the thousands and someone blocking the door. Real tea ceremonies cost Y50-200 at an actual teahouse with a printed menu. Walk away from the friendly stranger.

Day 3: French Concession, not Xintiandi, for dinner

Spend the morning without a plan in the French Concession, Wukang Road and Anfu Road especially. This is where you understand why people fall for Shanghai. In the afternoon, walk Tianzifang’s laneways for indie shops and cafes. If you’re curious about Xintiandi’s reconstructed shikumen architecture, give it fifteen minutes, but don’t book dinner there, it’s an upscale mall dressed as heritage and priced accordingly. Eat back in the French Concession.

Day 4: skyline day

Morning at Shanghai Tower’s 118th floor deck, about Y180 (up to Y199 on holidays), open roughly 8:30am to 9:30pm. Check the smog forecast first. In the afternoon, wander Lujiazui at street level if you like, but plan to head elsewhere for the evening, the finance district goes dead once the offices close. Nanjing Road makes a reasonable late-afternoon stop for shopping, it’s free and pedestrianized, though it’s also the highest-density scam zone in the city, so keep the tea ceremony rule in mind here too.

Day 5: day trip to Suzhou

Take the bullet train from Hongqiao station, 25-30 minutes, frequent departures, and spend the day in Suzhou’s classical gardens. It’s the better single day trip from Shanghai, shorter train ride than Hangzhou and the gardens sit close to the station rather than scattered across town. If you hold a passport from one of the 55-plus countries eligible for the 240-hour visa-free transit, this trip is automatically covered since the zone includes Jiangsu province, no extra paperwork required.

Day 6: day trip to Hangzhou, or Zhujiajiao if you want to stay closer

With a full week you’ve got room for a second rail trip. Hangzhou and West Lake are 45-55 minutes from Shanghai by bullet train; it’s doable as a day trip but tight, and honestly rewards an overnight if you can spare one from later in the week. If you’d rather not do two big train days back to back, swap in Zhujiajiao instead, a canal water town about an hour out on Metro Line 17, free to wander with Y60-90 combo tickets for the gardens, and only a half-day commitment.

Day 7: Disney, or a slow farewell

If theme parks are your thing, Shanghai Disneyland sits far out in Pudong, tickets Y475-799 depending on tier, reachable via Metro Line 11 in about an hour. If not, sleep in, do one more lap of the Bund since you’ll never get tired of the skyline, and have your farewell dinner in the French Concession rather than a view restaurant that charges double for the location.

Logistics for a longer stay

Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay with your foreign card before departure. Both have accepted international Visa, Mastercard, and JCB directly via passport since mid-2023, fee-free under Y200 and about 3% above that. Late-2025 reports point to stricter verification taking 24-72 hours, so don’t leave this for the plane. Carry backup cash regardless.

Install and test a VPN before you leave home; Google, Gmail, Maps, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and X are all blocked and you cannot download a VPN once inside the firewall. Amap and Apple Maps both work locally without one.

For a week-long trip, aim for late March to May or September to November; summer humidity and the mid-June to mid-July plum rain season will wear you down over seven days in a way they won’t over three. Avoid Golden Week, October 1-7, entirely. Check in with your passport at the hotel and let the front desk handle police registration automatically, it’s not something you’ll ever need to think about again.