Shanghai · Place guide
Shanghai Bund
Shanghai's historic riverfront promenade lined with 52 colonial-era European buildings facing the Pudong skyline.
Read the guideCity guide · 上海
Shanghai
River views and neighbourhood walks
Shanghai works well at two scales: the riverfront skyline and the smaller streets behind it. Compare the Bund, neighbourhood walks, museums and a water-town outing before choosing your days.
Build a manageable trip
Start with these choices.
Know the area before joining the dots
The directory includes the wider Shanghai municipality. Zhujiajiao is a separate water-town outing, and a visit to the Pudong museum should have its own cross-city travel allowance.
- Use one neighbourhood as the focus of a walk instead of crossing the city repeatedly.
- Combine a riverfront visit with time to explore the streets on one side of the river.
- Choose between a city museum day and a water-town outing when time is limited.
Shanghai · Experience
Wukang Mansions Plane-Tree Walk
A 2.5 km Shanghai lane walk under 100-year-old French plane trees, past 1920s villas and the boat-shaped Wukang Mansion—a leafy legacy of the city's colonial-era French Concession.
Read the guide
Shanghai · Place guide
Yu Garden
Yu Garden (yuyuan) is a 16th-century Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) private garden in Shanghai's Huangpu district, recognized as one of southeast China's finest classical gardens. The
Read the guide
Shanghai · Place guide
Shanghai Museum East
A calm, light-filled corridor of Chinese art on Century Avenue, with a spiral ramp and a rooftop garden.
Read the guide
Shanghai · Place guide
1933 Old Millfun
A 1933 slaughterhouse reborn as Shanghai's iconic concrete-maze creative hub in Hongkou—the name "Old Millfun" plays on the site's Chinese name 老场坊 (old workshop quarter).
Read the guide
Shanghai · Place guide
Zhujiajiao Water Town
Shanghai's closest Ming-era canal town — 36 stone bridges and Da Qing Post Office, an hour on Metro Line 17.
Read the guideCompare before you choose.
All Shanghai guides.
8 published guidesAlongside the starting choices above, explore these places and experiences in the wider city area.
Shanghai · Place guide
Columbia Circle Shanghai
A 1920s residential compound built for Americans living in old Shanghai, reborn as the city's most laid-back open block.
Read the guide
Shanghai · Experience
Lu Xun's Literary Shanghai Walk
A quiet Hongkou literary walking loop tracing Lu Xun's Shanghai years through century-old villas and lanes.
Read the guideTurn places into a route.
Build a route around these guides
Choose the places that matter to you, then use the trip planner to work out your days.
Plan a tripWant a different pace or a different set of stops?
Plan your own tripPrepare for the journey.
Travel essentials · 8 min read
Shanghai on the 240-Hour Visa-Free Transit: A 3-Day First-Timer's Itinerary
Shanghai is the easiest first stop in China: Pudong airport is a designated visa-free port, the whole municipality is inside the permitted area, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang next door are too. Three days here, then Beijing or straight out to Tokyo, Seoul or Hong Kong.
Read the articleTravel essentials · 7 min read
Getting Around China (2026): High-Speed Trains, Metro & Taxis
Bullet trains between cities, the metro within them, DiDi for the rest. Once your apps are set up, moving around China is fast, cheap and easy. Here's how each one works.
Read the article