Suzhou Private Day Trip from Shanghai with Bullet Train Option: Explore the 'Venice of the East'
5.0
195 Ratings
Shanghai
Embark on a private day trip from Shanghai to Suzhou, the 'Venice of the East.' Explore the city's canals, historical buildings, and classic gardens. Choose between a bullet train or private car for transportation and enjoy a customizable itinerary with optional upgrades for lunch and entrance fees.
Duration: 9 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Shanghai - Your wonderful day excursion begins with a comfortable hotel pick up in Shanghai, follow your guide travel to Suzhou with the transportation option you booked. If you book the fast train / bullet train option, you will enjoy an exciting 30-minute train ride to Suzhou. On the way, spend few mins to discuss with the guide for a tailor-made itinerary. As exclusive private tour, your itinerary is fully flexible and can be 100% customized around you. Following is the sample itinerary and you are welcome to tell your guide if need make adjustment during the tour.

  • The Classical Gardens of Suzhou - Typically, Upon arrival, visit one of the top four famous gardens in China-the Humble Administrator’s garden ,listed in the UNESCO World Heritage ,it is the largest garden in Suzhou built from Ming Dynasty, designed with the unique Taihu rockeries, delicate pavilions, ponds , beautiful flowers, lush greens ,150 different Bonsais. Appreciate the charming and elegance of the traditional Chinese garden while learning the interesting history, culture, custom from your guide. If you prefer a more intimate garden, you could substitute to the other garden such as Master of Nets Garden, Lingering Garden, Lion Forest Garden etc.

  • Pingjiang Road - Next head to Pingjiang historic Road, explore the “boutique stone paved street” full of interesting arts, old residences, crafts, local traditions etc. Choose to enjoy a relaxing gondola ride to fully immerse yourself in the charm of the little “Oriental Venice”.
    After that take a break and treat yourself with a delightful local lunch, try some of the local popular dishes with the recommendation from your expert guide.

  • Tiger Hill - Continue the fun afternoon adventure with your guide, based on your own preferences, you will have the option of visiting the 13th century Buddhist temple with classic garden complex , or you could choose to visit the interesting silk factory located in the old Japanese Concession where you will enjoy fun learning experience of the fascinating silk process from the little silk worm to the fine materials. Or visit to famed Tiger Hill and enjoy fun walking up to the Asia No.1 leaning pagoda: Huqiu Pagoda.

  • Shantang Street - Depends on the time you have, you may also visit China No.1 ancient street, enjoy the dynamic culture and beautiful water town scenery while walking cross the “Fortune Bridge”, various local streets food, arts, see the ancient city gate and wall etc.
    As mentioned, the itinerary can be fully customized, if you prefer, you could also substitute the above-mentioned sites to the following other popular sites:

  1. Panmen Scenic area;

  2. Museums: Suzhou Museum, Suzhou Silk Museum, Garden Museum of Suzhou;

3)Temple: Hanshan Temple, Beisi Temple etc.

After an enjoyable day, you will travel back to Shanghai with your guide with the convenient drop off at your downtown Shanghai hotel or other downtown area as per your requests.

What's Included
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off in downtown Shanghai area
  • Professional guide
  • Transportation based on your tour option
  • Local tasty lunch with ‘All Inclusive Tour’
  • Boat ride in the canal with ‘All Inclusive Tour’
  • Entrance fee to a garden with ‘All Inclusive Tour’
What's Not Included
  • Entrance fees to the garden and boat ride (If”All incluisve” option is not selected)
  • Lunch, food and drinks (if “ All Inclusive “option is not booked)
  • Outskit hotel pick up and drop off(Can be arranged at surcharge)
Additional Information

Suzhou, fondly referred to as the ‘Venice of the East,’ is famed for its intricate canals, historic structures, and traditional gardens. Explore the city’s must-visit locations and tucked-away gems from Shanghai on this exclusive one-day excursion, which provides transport via a fast/bullet train option (or choose a private vehicle with a chauffeur,) a tailor-made itinerary, and the choice to upgrade to include meal and entry costs.

  • Children must be accompanied by an adult
  • Passport name, number, expiry and country is required at time of booking for all participants (for fast train ticket reservation)
  • A current valid passport is required on the day of travel
  • Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
  • Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
Location
Shanghai
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(195 Ratings)
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Grandtour21128350617
May 27, 2024
Amazing day in Suzhou - Annie has been giving a wonderful tour in Suzhou for us. She is very knowledge and professional about Suzhou, Hangzhou, Shanghai, etc. She definitely can tell you a lot of history and interesting stories alone the way. If you want to know Suzhou or Shanghai better, you have to ask for Annie! We had a great time today. :)
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Paul_k
May 23, 2024
Easy way to see Suzhou during peak tourist season - This was our second visit to Suzhou, our first was in 1995. Our guide picked us up at our hotel in a private car and took us to the train station. I don't believe that we could have purchased the Bullet Train tickets, found the correct platform, know what train was ours and found the location of our seats on the train without this experienced guide. As has been the case in the past it is difficult to find anyone who speaks English in this largest city in China. However, the Bullet Train was a fantastic piece of technology. Very smooth acceleration and deceleration and believable speed! Suzhou was extraordinarily crowded at this time in April which was during the short school break. This resulted in a crush of people. The positive aspect was seeing children, teens and multigenerational families having a good time. The boat ride on the canal was peaceful and relaxing. The walks along the main canal were carnival-like but were a sign that China is a much more prosperous country than 30 years ago. Our guide navigated all of this with skill and gave us a wealth of information about everyday life in China (her English was perefect). This was the easiest way to see this classic tourist spot.
Review provided by Viator
Manuel_p
May 22, 2024
Suzhou beautiful one day tour !!! - Sunny was great, she Taylor our last day in Shangai to have the experience visiting Suzhou including the bullet train. Every step was perfectly arrange before during and after. Kudos to Sunny great guide fluently English and kind all the way. Thank you Sunny for the great day Money invested greatly worth it
Review provided by Viator
Y9884frrobp
May 20, 2024
Great experience - Sophie was a great guide. Her local knowledge was great and we got around very easily. She even accommodated my desire for a Sichuan lunch spot.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Bernard
May 20, 2024
Great day trip to Suzhou - We had an amazing time with Annie as our guide. She was extremely thoughtful throughout the trip and we learnt so much from her on the historical / cultural significance of all the places we visited. Highly recommend to anyone wanting to do a quick day trip from Shanghai!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Donaldsu1268os
May 20, 2024
Wonderful day with Annie - Annie's guided trip to Suzhou was exceptional. Her knowledge of the city's history and culture enriched the experience, while her organization ensured a seamless journey. From the picturesque gardens to the vibrant markets, every moment was captivating. Annie's enthusiasm and professionalism made this day trip unforgettable. Thank you for the most amazing day!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dr_h
May 19, 2024
Exploring the Best of Shanghai with Annie! - We received excellent service from Annie. She was kind, considerate and spoke perfect English. She knew everything about Shanghai and pointed out beautiful landscape places for family pictures. She took us to a delicious local restaurant to have lunch, flagged down DiDis and navigated us safely through the High Speed train station and the boat river tours. We had an amazing experience with Annie!
Review provided by Viator
Nora
May 12, 2024
Fantastic day trip to Suzhou - We had an informative and fun time in Suzhou thanks to our wonderful guide Annie. Annie was Knowledgeable about the area and shared amazing facts about the area and culture. We learned so much! We love taking photos and she was great about letting us know the best places for photo ops. Annie suggested a wonderful place for lunch and helped us with ordering our meal. It was delicious! She was warm, personable, and had a great sense of humor. We made many impromptu stops along the way to sample hot chocolate take a lot of photos, but Annie still managed to keep us on track so that we wouldn’t miss our train. I have done a fair amount of international traveling with different tour groups, and the experience you have may come down to the tour guide you have. We used Viator to book our tour, but no matter which tour company you make your tour reservations with, be sure to ask Annie. Happy travels!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
162lismore
May 12, 2024
Character Filled - If you are traveling to Shanghai and have some spare time the trip to Suzhou is easily captured in a day. Travelling by Bullet train it is a fast and easy trip to Suzhou to experience life in another time surrounded by locals in ancient costume, the trip to visit the local town and travel by boat down heritage canals is worth doing. As English is not widely spoken, Sunny’s private tour made our experience easy to navigate and removed any stress around communication. Suzhou is a bustling town which can be quite overwhelming as it is a tourist hub for internal Chinese tourists so can be quite busy. I would recommend Sunny who had a vast knowledge of the local history of Suzhou.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Patryk_k
May 11, 2024
Amazing trip with the best guide ever! - This trip was one of the best I had in my entire time in China. The sights in Suzhou are truly beautiful, the experience of riding a bullet train is great, and the guide is amazing! My guide was Ruby, she had great knowledge, was extremely nice and helpful, and was overall a great person! :) I can 100% recommend this tour to anyone!
Review provided by Viator
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up to 15 guests
1 Adult
June 2024
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