Start Shanghai at the water.
The Bund at blue hour, xiaolongbao before the queue, a boat under the Pudong towers, canal towns an hour out. Every tour that matters, priced, timed, and worth your day.
The seven you book first.
First visit or fifth, these do the heavy lifting. The private city day that hits the Bund and Yu Garden before lunch, the food walk locals actually take, the Zhujiajiao boat under the old stone bridges.
Private Shanghai Full Day City Tour with Old and New Highlights
See old Shanghai and futuristic Pudong in one day on a private, customizable tour with hotel pickup, a flexible guide, and optional all-inclusive lunch.
From $115 per person
Read the review →
★ 5.0Books out fastEat Like A Local: Shanghai Night Food TourFrom $90616 reviews
★ 4.3Crowd favouriteHuangpu Night Cruise: Cozy Vibe & Modern Shanghai GlowFrom $21520 reviews
★ 5.0Worth the fareZhujiajiao Private Tour w/ Boat Ride & GardenFrom $139460 reviews
★ 4.0Easy winSuzhou and Zhouzhuang Water Village Day Trip from ShanghaiFrom $135426 reviews
★ 5.0Local pickSuzhou Private Day Trip from Shanghai with Bullet Train OptionFrom $193366 reviews
★ 5.0First-trip stapleEat Like a Local Through Shanghai’s French ConcessionFrom $75353 reviews
Old canals, arched bridges, slow boats.
Swap the skyline for stone bridges and lantern-lit lanes. Zhujiajiao sits forty minutes west; Suzhou and Zhouzhuang are a bullet-train morning away. Most tours fold in a boat ride, a garden, and lunch, then have you back in the city by dark.
See the skyline how?
Everyone comes for the Pudong view; the trick is choosing your angle. From the top, from the water, or from across the river. Three ways to do it, each one priced and reviewed, so you can pick the one that fits your evening.
From the top
Up the tower
1 day · from $47 · 373 reviews
Ride to the Shanghai Tower deck at 561 metres, or the Oriental Pearl for the glass floor. The whole delta opens under you, the Bund a thin ribbon below. Book a timed ticket and aim for the hour before sunset, when the lights come on beneath your feet.
Compare the decks →
From the water
The night cruise
from $148 · 661 reviews
Board at the Bund and let the river do the work. Colonial stone on one bank, neon towers on the other, both mirrored in the wake. Most sailings run 45 to 90 minutes; the later ones catch the full light show. The cheapest way to see both Shanghais at once.
See the river cruises →
From across
The Bund walk
from $79 · 338 reviews
Stay on foot and walk the promenade at dusk. The 1920s banks and hotels light up behind you, Pudong flares across the water in front. A guided walk fills in which building was whose, and where to stand when the towers switch on. Free to look, priced for the story.
Walk the Bund →
The lights are the main event.
Shanghai saves its best face for night. The towers switch to full colour, the Bund glows amber, and the river carries both. Ride a bar crawl through the old lanes, a bike loop past the neon, or a late cruise that puts the whole light show on the water.
Eat the way locals do.
Shanghai runs on soup dumplings and street stalls. Follow a guide through the lanes for xiaolongbao pinched to order, scallion pancakes off the griddle, and the night-market plates you would walk straight past on your own.
The acrobats never miss.
The ERA show at Circus World stacks contortion, high-wire, and eight motorbikes in a steel globe into one loud hour. Grab a timed ticket, pair it with an evening tour, and let the night start with your jaw on the floor.
Shanghai before the skyline.
Behind the towers is a quieter city. The Yu Garden pavilions and zigzag bridge, the tea house on the pond, the plane-tree lanes of the French Concession where the pace drops by half. A good guide knows which alley to turn down and when the crowds thin out.
Pick your Shanghai, district by district.
The city reads as pockets, and each pocket is an afternoon. The Bund for the river and the stone banks. Pudong for the towers. Yu Garden for the old lanes. The French Concession for shade and slow coffee.
Know the kind of day you want?
Twelve ways into the same city. Pick the one that sounds like your afternoon, and everything behind it is already priced and reviewed.
Out by nine, back by dark.
The bullet train shrinks the map. Suzhou’s classical gardens, Hangzhou’s West Lake, the Great Wall by the time you fly north, canal villages older than the city itself. All of it a day trip, and the return seat is part of the ticket.
Three days, done right.
You won’t see all of Shanghai in one trip, but you can nail the right three days. This is the order we’d hand a friend landing at Pudong tomorrow.
Day 1
The classic city
The Bund promenade while the jet lag is useful, Yu Garden and the old bazaar for lunch, the Jade Buddha Temple after. A private city day stitches it together and skips the queues.
Plan day one →
Day 2
Up top and on the water
A food walk through the French Concession by day, the Shanghai Tower deck at sunset, then a night cruise under the lit towers. End it with a bar crawl if the legs hold.
Plan day two →
Day 3
A day on the canals
Head out to Zhujiajiao for arched bridges and a slow boat, or take the bullet train to Suzhou’s gardens. Either way you’re back in the city in time for dinner.
Plan day three →
Latest Shanghai tour reviews.
★ 5.0Flexible Private Suzhou Day Trip from Shanghai by Bullet TrainFrom $1989 reviews
★ 5.0Shanghai Highlights Walking Tour-Tip BasedFrom $310 reviews
★ 3.9Shanghai Jinmao Tower 88th floor sightseeing hallFrom $3010 reviews
★ 5.0Yuyuan, City God Temple Old City Tour-Tip BasedFrom $210 reviews
★ 5.0Song Dynasty Tea Ceremony ExperienceFrom $7810 reviews
★ 5.0All-inclusive Half-day Private Tour To Zhujiajiao Water TownFrom $14010 reviews
★ 5.0Private Tour of the Shanghai MuseumFrom $6010 reviews
★ 5.0Private Transfer between Shanghai Disneyland and City AreaFrom $3510 reviews