The best things to do in Shanghai are walking the Bund at dusk, riding to the 118th floor of the Shanghai Tower, spending a free morning in the Shanghai Museum and eating your way through the former French Concession. Give the city three to four days, come in October or November for dry, mild weather, and set up a mobile wallet before you land: almost nothing here is paid for in cash.
Shanghai reads as two skylines facing each other across the Huangpu. The west bank keeps the Bund: 1.5 kilometres of waterfront and 52 preserved banks and trading houses. The east bank answers with Lujiazui and the 632 metre Shanghai Tower, still the second tallest building in the world. Between them run plane tree avenues, shikumen lanes and a museum circuit that costs nothing to enter. Below are the ten experiences worth your time (each mapped) plus where to eat, drink and shop between them.
Landmark· Zhongshan East First Road, Huangpu District
The Bund runs 1.5 kilometres along the Huangpu, from Waibaidu Bridge in the north to Yan'an East Road in the south, and the 52 buildings behind it are the reason people call it a museum of architecture: Gothic, baroque, Renaissance and neoclassical, built when this was the financial centre of the International Settlement. The promenade is free and open all year. Walk it north to south as the Lujiazui towers switch on.
Landmark· 501 Middle Yincheng Road, Pudong New Area
At 632 metres this is the second tallest building in the world, and the lifts that reach the 546 metre observation deck took three Guinness World Records in 2016, including the fastest in the world at 20.5 metres a second. The 118th floor deck is a triangular ring of floor-to-ceiling glass with the whole city under it. Doors open at 08:30 and a standard adult ticket is 180 yuan.
Museum· 201 People's Avenue, People's Square, Huangpu District
The bronzes, ceramics, painting and calligraphy galleries here are the reason to give People's Square a morning rather than a walk-through. Admission is free, the building opens 09:00 to 17:00 with no entry after 16:00, and it closes on Mondays outside national holidays. Since 1 September 2025 individual visitors simply walk in through the South Gate with photo ID.
A classical Ming garden of rockeries, ponds and halls, hemmed in on all sides by the bazaar that grew up around it. Entry is 40 yuan from April to June and September to November and 30 yuan the rest of the year, and the garden runs 09:00 to 16:30 with last entry at 16:00, closed Mondays. Come early: the bazaar outside is at its calmest before ten.
Plane tree avenues, 1920s and 1930s villas and the densest run of original architecture in the city, centred on Wukang Road and the flatiron Wukang Mansion of 1924. This is a walking neighbourhood: the highlights sit ten to twenty minutes apart on foot, and the coffee, boutiques and small restaurants between them are the point as much as the buildings.
China's first state-run museum of contemporary art, in a converted riverside power station whose chimney still stands over the Huangpu. The permanent collection is free and the building runs Tuesday to Sunday, 11:00 to 19:00. Some special exhibitions are ticketed separately, so check what is on before you cross the river.
Day trip· Zhujiajiao Ancient Town, Qingpu District
A canal town of stone bridges and Ming and Qing lanes, and the easiest one to reach: Metro Line 17 from Hongqiao Railway Station takes about an hour, then it is a fifteen minute walk to the old town. Entry to the town itself is free, and individual sites inside charge separately. A boat holds up to six people and runs 80 to 150 yuan per boat for fifteen to twenty minutes.
Gold roofs and a Burmese jade Buddha, wedged between the malls and office towers of West Nanjing Road, which is exactly what makes it worth the stop: no other temple in the city sits this deep in the commercial centre. Entry is 50 yuan on ordinary days and doubles over public holidays. Doors open at 07:30 and close at 17:00.
Theme park· Shanghai Disney Resort, Chuansha New Town, Pudong New Area
The park opens at 08:30 and runs to somewhere between 20:30 and 22:30 depending on the date, and one-day tickets are priced by demand: from 475 yuan on low-season weekdays, 599 on regular days and 719 at weekends, through summer and over Chinese public holidays. Weekend and holiday dates sell out, so book before you travel.
Transport· Pudong International Airport Maglev Station, Pudong New Area
The airport line covers the 30 kilometres to Longyang Road in about eight minutes, which makes the ride itself the attraction. A standard single is 50 yuan, or 40 with a same-day flight ticket, and a combined single plus 24 hours of unlimited metro is 55. Longyang Road connects straight onto Metro Lines 2, 7, 16 and 18.
Three to four days. That covers the Bund and Lujiazui, two museums, Yu Garden, a long walk through the former French Concession and one half day out at a water town. Two days works if you drop the day trip.
What is the best time of year to visit Shanghai?+
October and November. Autumn is short here, and it brings mild temperatures around 20°C, lower humidity and the year's clearest air. March to May is the other good window, with cherry blossom from late March. July and August are hot, humid and wet.
Do you need a visa for China?+
Often not, for a short stay. Citizens of 55 countries can transit visa-free for up to 240 hours through 65 ports, Shanghai included, provided they hold a confirmed onward ticket to a third country or region. Separate visa-free entry agreements cover other nationalities. Check your own passport against the current rules before booking.
How do you pay for things in Shanghai?+
With your phone. Alipay and WeChat Pay run almost everything and both now accept foreign cards, so set one up before you arrive. Cash is still legal tender and still refused in practice by plenty of small shops.
Is Shanghai expensive?+
Less than its skyline suggests. Hotels, cocktails and Michelin tables are priced like any global city, but transport and everyday food are not: metro fares start at 3 yuan, a basket of soup dumplings costs less than a coffee, and four of the museums worth your time charge nothing.
Where to eat
Best restaurants in Shanghai
Shanghainese classics, soup dumplings and the tables worth booking ahead.
Shanghai's only three Michelin star restaurant, and the fifth year running it has held them. Stefan Stiller cooks one set menu for one small room, so book weeks out.
A one-star kitchen in a 1930s villa on Zhenning Road, served in private rooms rather than a dining room. The place to eat the local repertoire properly.
A 1986 dumpling shop near Huanghe Road that grew into a small chain without losing the original. Crab roe when it is in season, plain pork when it is not.
An ivy-trellised garden terrace on the 29th floor of The Shanghai EDITION at 199 East Nanjing Road, a block back from the water and the least formal of the four.
Opened in Pudong in February 2024 at roughly 113,000 square metres, about three times the People's Square building, with more than twenty permanent galleries. Free, 10:00 to 18:00, closed Thursdays.
David Chipperfield's riverside building at 2600 Longteng Avenue, running three exhibitions a year from the Centre Pompidou collection. Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00.
Around 33,000 square metres of raw concrete vaults at 3398 Longteng Avenue, holding one of the largest private collections in China. Admission runs 50 to 100 yuan by exhibition.
A former textile mill at 50 Moganshan Road, now a cluster of independent galleries and studios. Entry to the park and most galleries costs nothing; the walk from Jiangning Road station takes about ten minutes.
Rockeries, ponds and pavilions behind a wall in the middle of the old city. 40 yuan April to June and September to November, 30 the rest of the year, closed Mondays.
The oldest and largest temple complex in Shanghai, at 2853 Longhua Road, with its pagoda beside it. Ten yuan to enter, open 07:10 to 16:30, and the bronze bell is struck 108 times at midnight on New Year's Eve.
The most atmospheric quarter in the city, running across western Huangpu and eastern Xuhui. Wukang Road holds the densest stretch of original 1920s and 1930s architecture.
Shikumen stone-gate houses restored into a dining and shopping quarter in 2001, and the site of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
A grid of narrow shikumen lanes off Taikang Road, packed with craft shops, studios and small bars. Free to wander, and most shops run until around 22:00.
The finance district across the water, where the Shanghai Tower, the World Financial Center, Jin Mao Tower and the Oriental Pearl stand within a few blocks of each other.
A reclaimed industrial waterfront in Xuhui that now runs a line of museums along Longteng Avenue, and hosts the city's biggest art fair every November.
The pedestrianised run between People's Square and the Bund, lined with more than 600 shops, department stores and food counters. Shops keep roughly 10:00 to 22:00; the street itself never closes.
Around 54,000 square metres and more than a hundred luxury labels at 1266 West Nanjing Road, at the top of the city's luxury pecking order. Roughly 10:00 to 22:00 daily.
Three floors of tailors and fabric sellers at 399 Lujiabang Road, five minutes from Lujiabang Road station on Line 8. Allow a fitting and several days for anything made to measure.
Canals, stone bridges and Ming and Qing lanes, an hour out on Line 17 from Hongqiao Railway Station. Entry to the town is free; boats run 80 to 150 yuan per boat.
A thousand-year-old canal town inside the city limits, five minutes' walk from Qibao station on Line 9. Free to enter, and the closest thing to a water town you can do in half a morning.
Thirty minutes from Hongqiao by high-speed train, and the classical gardens are the reason to go. The Humble Administrator's Garden is the largest of them.
West Lake is 45 minutes away on the fastest G trains, on a corridor running more than 250 departures a day. Metro Line 1 from Hangzhou East puts you on the eastern shore at Longxiangqiao.
The bazaar around Yu Garden is hung with zodiac lanterns for about five weeks around Spring Festival. The 2026 edition ran 26 January to 3 March on the year of the horse.
Mid-Mar
Chinese Grand Prix
Formula 1 at the Shanghai International Circuit in Jiading, run over the weekend of 13 to 15 March in 2026. Hotels north-west of the city book out with it.
Late Mar
Cherry blossom season
Two to three weeks from late March into early April. Gucun Park in Baoshan holds the biggest planting, and the avenue by Hongkou Football Stadium is the easiest to reach.
Jun
Shanghai International Film Festival
The 28th edition ran 12 to 21 June 2026, drawing entries from more than a hundred countries. Public tickets go on sale days before and sell fast.
Sep
Shanghai Tourism Festival
The classic season runs from 1 September to 6 October, opening with the float parade down Huaihai Road. A summer season fills July and August with events across the districts.
Early Nov
China International Import Expo
The ninth edition takes 200,000 square metres of the National Exhibition and Convention Center from 5 to 10 November 2026. Expect hotel rates near Hongqiao to double.
Mid-Nov
West Bund Art & Design
The city's biggest art fair, spread over five venues and 26,000 square metres in Xuhui, with every gallery in Shanghai timing an opening around it.
Early Dec
Shanghai Marathon
A course that starts on the Bund and runs west through the former French Concession. The 2026 race is on Sunday 6 December, with places drawn by ballot.
Getting around
Shanghai transport & airports
How to arrive and move around the city.
PVG
Pudong International
Thirty kilometres east of the centre and the hub for long-haul flights. Metro Line 2 runs into town from Terminals 1 and 2, first train 06:00 and last 22:30, and the Maglev covers 30 km to Longyang Road in about eight minutes for 50 yuan, or 40 with a same-day flight ticket.
Closer in on the western edge, mostly domestic and regional routes, and joined onto Hongqiao Railway Station and the metro under one roof. Metro Line 2 links it to Pudong airport in about an hour and a half.
Signed in English throughout and the fastest way across the city. Fares are distance-based: 3 yuan for the first 6 km, then 1 yuan more for every 10 km after that, charged on the shortest route between your two stations. Pay by transport card or mobile wallet.
Hongqiao Railway Station puts Suzhou about 30 minutes away and Hangzhou about 45, on a corridor running more than 250 departures a day from roughly 06:00 to 22:30. Bring the passport you booked with: it is your ticket at the gate.
Pleated dumplings holding pork and hot broth under a thin skin. The city's best-known export, and best eaten where the baskets are steamed to order.
Shengjianbao
Pan-fried buns with a thicker wrapper: crisp and browned underneath, soft on top, finished with sesame and spring onion.
Hongshao rou
Pork belly braised slowly in soy, sugar and Shaoxing wine until it turns glossy and dark. The dish that defines the local taste for a little sweetness.
Scallion oil noodles
Congyou banmian. Noodles tossed through oil infused with slowly caramelised spring onion and soy. Technique rather than ingredients.
Hairy crab
Steamed Yangcheng Lake crab eaten with ginger and vinegar, prized for the roe. Strictly autumn, roughly September to November.
Youtiao and soy milk
A fried dough stick with hot soy milk, sweet or savoury. One of the four staples of the Shanghai breakfast counter.
Cifantuan
Glutinous rice packed around a youtiao with pork floss and pickles, wrapped tight and eaten walking. Breakfast, not lunch.
Smoked fish
Xun yu. Grass carp marinated with scallion, ginger, wine and sugar, then fried and glazed. A Chinese New Year fixture served cold.
Shanghai fact sheet
Shanghai at a glance
The essentials worth knowing before you go.
Country
China
Region
Yangtze River Delta, East China
Population
24.85 million (2025, permanent residents)
Founded
Shanghai County approved under the Yuan in 1292
Nickname
Shen
Language
Mandarin, with Shanghainese spoken locally
Currency
Chinese yuan renminbi (CNY)
Time zone
UTC+8, no daylight saving
Calling code
+86 21
Airports
Pudong International (PVG), Hongqiao International (SHA)
Power
220V, Types A, C and I
Emergency
110 police, 120 ambulance, 119 fire
Interesting facts
Shanghai covers 6,340.5 square kilometres and held 24.85 million permanent residents in 2025.
The Shanghai Tower rises 632 metres, and its lifts took three Guinness World Records in 2016 including the world's fastest at 20.5 metres a second.
The Yuan government approved the creation of Shanghai County in 1292, which is generally taken as the start of the city.
The Bund's 1.5 kilometres of waterfront carry 52 preserved buildings in Gothic, baroque, Renaissance and neoclassical styles.
Shanghai Museum East opened in Pudong in February 2024 at about 113,000 square metres, roughly three times the size of the original on People's Square.
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