Shanghai To Hangzhou: A Day Trip That Genuinely Works
Forty-five minutes and ¥73 each way. Trains run every ten minutes, the lake is free, and the only real decision is which of Hangzhou’s two stations you want.
Hangzhou is the day trip that foreigners keep being told about and rarely believe until they do it: two cities, 170 km apart, connected by trains leaving every ten minutes from a station on the Shanghai metro. The lake at the far end is free, 15 km of shore path, and it has been the subject of Chinese poetry for a thousand years.
You can do it as a day trip without panic. What you cannot do is see Hangzhou properly in eight hours, so decide in advance whether you are going for the lake or for the tea hills and let the other one wait.
Trains, times, tickets
| Departure | Journey time | Second class | Where you land |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shanghai Hongqiao → Hangzhou East | 45 – 60 min | ¥73 – ¥93 | Hangzhou East, 8 km east of the lake |
| Shanghai Hongqiao → Hangzhou East, slower G | 70 – 80 min | ¥73 | Same station, cheaper slots |
| Shanghai station → Hangzhou Chengzhan | 1h40 – 2h | ¥28 – ¥45 | Three kilometres from the lake shore |
| Shanghai South → Hangzhou, conventional | 1h30 – 2h | ¥28 | Cheapest, and closest to the water |
The cheap conventional trains are the insider move. They land at Chengzhan, which is a 25-minute walk or ¥15 taxi from the lake, rather than at Hangzhou East, which needs metro line 1 to Longxiangqiao and costs ¥4 plus twenty minutes. On a day trip those twenty minutes matter twice: once going out, once coming back.
Getting around the lake without wasting the day
The lake is 3.2 km across and the full loop is about 15 km, which is a four-hour walk or a 70-minute bicycle ride. Rental bikes are ¥30–50 for the day and the shared-bike apps work if your payment wallet is set up. If you would rather sit, a boat across the water is ¥55 and takes fifteen minutes, and the ferry piers are signposted in English.
The classic view is from the causeways, and the two you want are Su Causeway and Bai Causeway, both free and both crowded by mid-morning. Go west instead, along the Yanggong Causeway, where the willows overhang the water and the tour groups do not bother.
What costs money, and what does not
Key facts
- West Lake
- Free, open all day, no ticket gate anywhere on the shore
- Boat across the lake
- ¥55 one way, 15 minutes
- Leifeng Pagoda
- ¥40, best at dusk, lift to the top included
- Lingyin Temple
- ¥45 for Feilai Feng grottoes plus ¥30 for the temple
- Xixi Wetland
- Around ¥80, allows an hour on a punt
- Longjing tea village
- Free to walk, tea sold by weight — ¥200–800 per 500 g
An hour-by-hour version
Take an 08:00 departure from Hongqiao and you are at the lake by 09:15. Walk the Bai Causeway north shore, cross to the Su Causeway by 10:30, and take a boat back to the east side around 12:00. Lunch is dongpo pork and longjing shrimp in a restaurant off Hubin Road for ¥100–150 for two, then the silk museum at 14:00, which is free and nearly always empty.
By 16:00 you have a choice: the tea hills at Longjing village, which need a bus and an hour, or Lingyin Temple in the wooded hills west of the lake. With a 19:00 return train you can have one of them properly rather than both badly. Buy the return leg when you arrive in the morning, because Sunday evening services from Hangzhou East fill up.
Questions people actually ask
Is one day enough for Hangzhou?
For the lake, yes. You will see the causeways, one temple and a decent lunch. For the tea hills, the wetlands and the Grand Canal quarter you need two nights, and Hangzhou rewards the second one more than most Chinese cities.
Which station should I book to?
Hangzhou East if you are coming on a fast G train, because there are far more departures. Chengzhan if you can get a conventional train from Shanghai station or Shanghai South — it is three kilometres from the lake instead of eight.
Do I need to book the train in advance?
For a weekday, buying on the morning is usually fine because there are so many departures. For weekends and public holidays, book both legs the day tickets open, 15 days ahead; Golden Week services sell out entirely.
Hangzhou metro extensions and lake-area boat prices were rechecked in September 2026. Summer weekend services add extra departures at short notice.
