Last verified: July 2026

Nine days is how you do Jiangnan properly: the full metropolis, the garden city, a canal town you actually sleep in, and West Lake with time to sit by it — no forced marches, one region at a time, all on short train hops. This is the region’s classic grand tour, and the version that rewards travellers who came to absorb rather than tick. Best months: spring (Mar–May) and autumn (Sep–Nov). Bring flat shoes — the whole route is walked.

How this route works

Nine days across four destinations, connected by the eastern China high-speed rail spine (Shanghai–Suzhou–Hangzhou, each hop under an hour) with a road link to Wuzhen in the middle. Each destination gets its own cluster of days, so you unpack, settle, and go deep — and each has its own full single-destination guide, linked at the day headers. This page is the sequencing and the connective logic; the granular detail lives in the city guides.

Days 1–3: Shanghai

Day 1: City God Temple & Yu Garden → Nanjing Road → the Bund at dusk Day 2: China Art Museum → Tianzifang → Xintiandi Day 3: Lujiazui skyline → Oriental Pearl / observation decks

Three days for the metropolis: the old city and the Bund (Puxi side at dusk, Pudong lit across the water), the concession-era art and shikumen lane houses, and the Lujiazui skyline you’ll have admired from across the river. Yu Garden needs advance booking and closes Mondays. Families can swap a day for Disneyland. Full detail, restaurants and where to stay: Shanghai 3-day itinerary.

Days 4–5: Suzhou

Day 4: Hanshan Temple → Tiger Hill → Shantang Street (evening opera) Day 5: Humble Administrator’s Garden → Suzhou Museum → Pingjiang Road → Jinji Lake

Thirty minutes by rail from Shanghai, the garden city earns two days. Hanshan Temple of the famous Tang poem, the “first scenic spot of Wu” at Tiger Hill, and canal-side Shantang Street for evening pingtan and kunqu on Day 4; the masterpiece Humble Administrator’s Garden, I.M. Pei’s Suzhou Museum beside it (book the timed entry ahead at weekends and peak periods), the old Pingjiang Road and the modern Jinji Lake waterfront on Day 5. Full guide: Suzhou 2-day itinerary.

Days 6–7: Wuzhen

Day 6: travel from Suzhou → Wuzhen Dongzha (East Scenic Zone) → settle in Day 7: Wuzhen Xizha (West Scenic Zone), full day into the night

The reason to build a two-night stop into a nine-day trip: Wuzhen rewards the overnight that day-trippers never get. Dongzha is the daytime workshops-and-lanes half; Xizha is the one you stay for — canals, stone bridges and waterside houses that light up at night after the coach crowds leave, best seen from the hand-poled night boat. Post a letter, catch a shadow-puppet or opera fragment, drink by the water. Full guide: Wuzhen guide.

Days 8–9: Hangzhou

Day 8: West Lake — causeways, islands, a boat, sunset Day 9: Lingyin Temple → Xixi Wetland → onward

Close on West Lake: a full day to walk the Su and Bai causeways, take a boat among the three islands, and watch the Ten Scenes shift with the light — the unhurried version the four-day loops can’t offer. Day 9 is Lingyin Temple and the Feilai Feng grottoes (scenic ticket first, then temple ticket), then the reed-channel calm of Xixi Wetland before your onward train. Full detail: Hangzhou 3-day itinerary.

The practical layer

• The transport spine: Shanghai–Suzhou–Hangzhou is one high-speed line, trains every few minutes, each leg under an hour (train booking options). Suzhou→Wuzhen and Wuzhen→Hangzhou run by direct coach or pre-booked car — Wuzhen has no high-speed station of its own, which is part of why you overnight there.
• The pace is the point: every cluster has a built-in slow day. If you’re moving faster than this, you want the Jiangnan 4-day itinerary instead — same territory, highlights-reel speed.
• Payments & maps: QR payments across all four destinations; Apple Maps works, Google Maps doesn’t: Alipay guide / China travel essentials.
• Entry: most Western passports enter visa-free for 30 days; Shanghai is a 240-hour transit gateway: China visa-free policy.

Every Trawoa itinerary carries a “Last verified” date — transport, ticket structures and reservation rules were checked on the date shown. If the ground disagrees, tell us: hello@trawoa.com

Every Trawoa itinerary carries a Last verified date. Route logic and planning details were checked in July 2026. If the ground disagrees, tell us: hello@trawoa.com