This Shanghai itinerary gives each bank of the river a day and leaves the third for you to choose. Day one is the old city: Yu Garden, the Bund, the Jewish refugee quarter in Hongkou, and the Bund again after dark. Day two crosses to Pudong for the new Shanghai Museum and one tower at sunset. Day three is either a slow walk through the former French Concession or a morning in a canal town.
Two closing days shape the order. Yu Garden is shut on Mondays, and Shanghai Museum East on Tuesdays, so the plan works from any start day except Monday. It assumes a hotel near People’s Square or East Nanjing Road; where to stay in Shanghai explains why.
Checked 3 Oct 2026 Closing days from China Highlights (Yu Garden, Sep 2026) and the Shanghai government (Museum East, updated Nov 2025). Public holidays usually waive both.
Day 1: Yu Garden, the Bund and Hongkou
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1
Yu Garden at opening
Be at the gate at 09:00. By late morning the rockeries and corridors are a slow queue. Allow an hour or two in the garden, then walk round the City God Temple (¥10, incense included) and the bazaar, where prices run well above the streets nearby.
- Ticket
- ¥40 (Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov) · ¥30 otherwise
- Hours
- 09:00–16:30, last entry 16:00 · closed Mon
- Metro
- Yuyuan Garden, Lines 10 and 14
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2
Soup dumplings for lunch
The Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant is in the bazaar: ¥40 for six pork xiaolongbao. Skip the takeaway queue downstairs and eat in the second-floor hall. Our Shanghai food guide has cheaper and less crowded alternatives.
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3
The Bund by daylight
From Yu Garden it is about 15 minutes on foot to the southern end of the Bund. Walk north along the river: 1.6 km and 52 old buildings, banks, customs house and hotels, which are easier to see properly in daylight than at night. Free.
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4
The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum
North of the Bund in Hongkou, near Tilanqiao station, the Ohel Moshe Synagogue tells the story of the roughly 20,000 Jews who escaped to Shanghai between 1938 and 1941. The latest price we found is ¥20, with hours of 09:00–17:00, but those figures date from 2021; check before you go.
- Ticket
- ¥20 (2021 price)
- Time needed
- 1 h 30–2 h
- Address
- 62 Changyang Road
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5
Nanjing Road to the Bund at 19:00
Have an early dinner on Huanghe Road near People’s Square (four shengjianbao at Yang’s are ¥13), then walk the Nanjing Road pedestrian street down to the river. The Bund lights come on at 19:00 and go off at 23:00; Pudong’s skyline across the water is the reason everyone is there.
Day 1 admissions: ¥70 (Yu Garden ¥40, City God Temple ¥10, Jewish Refugees Museum ¥20).
Checked 3 Oct 2026 Yu Garden from China Highlights (Sep 2026); City God Temple from chinaxiantour.com (Feb 2026); Nanxiang price from Trip.com (Dec 2024); walking time from babagoeschina.com (Feb 2026); Bund from Wikipedia; museum from SmartShanghai (Feb 2021) and USHMM; Yang’s price from the Shanghai government (Apr 2026); lights from Guangming Daily (Aug 2026).
Day 2: Pudong, from the ferry to the top
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1
Cross the river by ferry
Start with the cheapest view in the city: the Dongjin line ferry from East Jinling Road to Dongchang Road in Pudong, ¥2, a few minutes on the water with the Bund behind you. It runs by day only, from about 07:15.
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2
Shanghai Museum East
Take Line 2 to Century Avenue. The new museum, fully open since June 2024, holds the permanent collection that used to be on People’s Square: bronzes, ceramics, paintings, calligraphy. It is free and individual visitors do not need to book, but you need your passport. Give it at least three hours and eat at the museum or nearby.
- Ticket
- Free · passport required
- Hours
- 10:00–18:00, admission to 17:00 · closed Tue
- Metro
- Century Avenue, Line 2 exit 8 or Line 4 exit 2
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3
Shanghai Tower at sunset
Go back two stops to Lujiazui and time your visit for the last hour of daylight, so you see the city by day, at dusk and lit. The 118th-floor deck is 546 m up. In early October the sun sets at about 17:30 and by late November closer to 17:00, so aim to go up an hour before; in summer sunset is around 18:30 to 19:00. Decks close in typhoons, so keep this flexible.
- Ticket
- ¥180 adult · ¥120 student, 60+
- Hours
- About 08:30–22:00, last entry 21:30
- Bring
- Passport
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4
Back across the river
Walk the Lujiazui riverside for the view of the Bund, then take Line 2 back, or the Dongfu line ferry, which runs until about 21:00 for ¥2. A proper night cruise from the Puxi piers costs ¥150 if you want one.
Day 2 admissions: ¥182 (ferry ¥2, Shanghai Tower ¥180). Running total: ¥252.
Checked 3 Oct 2026 Ferries and cruise from the Shanghai government (Sep 2025); Museum East from the Shanghai government (Jun 2024, Nov 2025); Shanghai Tower from Wikipedia, wanderinchina.com (Jun 2026) and chinafortravelers.com (Sep 2026); sunset times from China Highlights (Aug 2026), October figure calculated with the NOAA solar algorithm.
Day 3: choose one
Option A: the former French Concession
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1
Wukang Road and Anfu Road
Start at Jiaotong University station (Lines 10 and 11) and walk up Wukang Road, past the 1924 Wukang Mansion, then along Anfu Road to Changshu Road station (Lines 1 and 7). It is 90 minutes without stopping; with cafés, half a day. Wukang Mansion is private housing, so look from the street.
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2
The Propaganda Poster Art Centre
Mao-era posters on the 7th floor of 726 Yan’an West Road, near Jiangsu Road station (Lines 2 and 11, exit 4). Small and strange, and one of the best hours in the city.
- Ticket
- ¥25
- Hours
- 10:00–17:00, last entry 16:30
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3
Tianzifang or Xintiandi, then a benbang dinner
Finish in the lane-house quarters: Tianzifang (Line 9, Dapuqiao) for alleys and small shops, Xintiandi for something more polished. For a last dinner, Lao Zheng Xing on Fuzhou Road has cooked Shanghainese food since 1862, holds a Michelin star and costs around ¥100 a head. Book ahead.
Option A admissions: ¥25. Three-day total: about ¥277.
Option B: Zhujiajiao water town
Take Line 17 to Zhujiajiao, about 70 to 80 minutes from downtown. The town is free to walk; a combined ticket for five sights is about ¥75, and a boat ride ¥60–100. Go early on a weekday, give it four to six hours with the journey, and come back for an evening in Tianzifang or Xintiandi. Three-day total with the combined ticket: about ¥327, before the boat.
Checked 3 Oct 2026 Walking route from wanderinchina.com (Jul 2026); poster centre from Trip.com (May 2026); Tianzifang from eastchinatrip.com (Sep 2026); Lao Zheng Xing from the Michelin Guide and a Trip.com review; Zhujiajiao from China Daily (Mar 2026), eastchinatrip.com and Trip.com (both undated, so prices are approximate).
What the three days cost
Admissions come to about ¥277 per adult with option A, or ¥327 with option B, using autumn prices. Metro rides cost ¥3 to around ¥10 each, and you can now tap a foreign Visa or Mastercard at the gates. Food can be very cheap: scallion oil noodles from ¥7, four pan-fried buns for ¥13. A sit-down Shanghainese dinner runs ¥150–400 a head. The big variable is the hotel.
Checked 3 Oct 2026 Metro fares from the Shanghai government (Aug 2026) and wanderinchina.com (Jul 2026); contactless payment at gates from China Daily (28 Jun 2025); food prices from the Shanghai government (Apr 2026) and chinafortravelers.com (May 2026).
Adjusting the plan
With a fourth day, do both day-three options. With only two, drop the Jewish museum and the water town, and do the French Concession on the morning of day two before crossing to Pudong. Coming in summer, move the Bund walk and the French Concession to early morning and keep the afternoons for the museum. For more to slot in, see things to do in Shanghai; for the season, the best time to visit Shanghai; and for moving on, the Shanghai to Beijing train or a short hop to Suzhou or Hangzhou.
Built from official announcements, published prices and traveller reports, not from a visit. We have not travelled this route ourselves — see how we check.