3 Days in Shanghai: A Day-by-Day Itinerary by Metro, with What to Book

Three days is enough to see Shanghai properly if each day stays in one part of the city. Day 1 covers People's Square, Nanjing Road and the Bund at dusk, all on the Puxi side of the river. Day 2 crosses to Lujiazui for an observation deck, then comes back for Yu Garden and an evening in Xintiandi or Tianzifang. Day 3 is your choice: the water town of Zhujiajiao, a slow walk around Jing'an and Wukang Road, or a full day at Shanghai Disneyland. Only two things on this route need booking before you arrive: Disneyland tickets, and a ticket for the Shanghai Museum's People's Square branch, which currently shows a paid special exhibition. Everything else you can buy on the day.

How the plan works, and what to book when

The Huangpu River splits Shanghai in two. The west bank, Puxi (浦西, "west of the Huangpu"), holds the Bund, Nanjing Road, the old town and the former French Concession. The east bank, Pudong (浦东, "east of the Huangpu"), holds the Lujiazui towers and, much further out, Disneyland. Each day below sits on one side of the river, or crosses it once, so you never ride back and forth. Most stops are on metro Line 2, Line 10 or Line 14, and all three run through the centre.

The order of the days is not fixed. What decides it is the weekly closing day, because two of the big stops share one. The museum at People's Square closes on Mondays except public holidays, and so does Yu Garden. If one of your days falls on a Monday, make it Day 3.

Here is the booking timeline, from first to last:

• As soon as your dates are fixed: Disneyland, if you are going. Tickets are for one date only, and the price changes by date on a six-level calendar that the resort publishes 30 days ahead; buy on the resort's official app, website or WeChat mini program. Each ticket is tied to one ID, one ticket per ID per day, and you show the same ID at the gate (for most visitors, the passport you booked with). Booking at least 10 days ahead gets an early-bird discount, but discounted tickets follow their own terms, so read the refund rules before you pay. A standard-price ticket bought directly from Disney's official channels, with no coupon and no date change, can be refunded in full until 23:59 seven days before your visit; from six days before until the day before, the fee is 80 yuan per ticket per day, and on the day itself it cannot be refunded.
• Once your Day 1 date is fixed: the People's Square museum. A ticket is required during the special exhibition on ancient American civilizations, which runs until 14 November 2027. Book it then, and check the price and open time slots on the Shanghai Museum's official website, which also posts the current opening hours.
• Nothing to book: the rest. The museum's East branch in Pudong lets individual visitors walk in with a passport, with no ticket for the permanent galleries. Yu Garden sells tickets at its gates and on its official mini program, with no reservation needed. Shanghai Tower's observation deck has a ticket office on site, where a passport works as ID. The streets of Zhujiajiao are free to enter.
• The night before each day: check closing days and the weather. The East branch closes on Tuesdays, and the People's Square museum and Yu Garden close on Mondays. Low cloud is the one thing that ruins a deck visit, so look at the forecast before you commit to Day 2.

The table below has the tickets, booking rules and closing days for the main sights in one place:

One more check: compare your dates with China's public holidays. During the October National Day week and on New Year's Eve, some metro exits near the Bund and Yu Garden close in the evening, and over the Spring Festival the Yu Garden area runs one-way crowd control. Our Golden Week guide has the dates, and the timing section further down explains what changes.

Day 1: People's Square, Nanjing Road and the Bund at sunset

This day is a straight line from west to east. You start at People's Square, walk the length of the Nanjing Road pedestrian street toward the river, and finish on the Bund as the lights come on. It is mostly walking, so wear good shoes.

Morning: the Shanghai Museum at People's Square. The museum is at 201 Renmin Avenue, on the south side of People's Square, and is open 9:00 to 17:00 with last entry at 15:00. Take the metro to People's Square station (Lines 1, 2 and 8 all stop there) and go in the morning. With last entry at 15:00, a late start can leave you shut out. Two hours is a good amount of time for the exhibition. Remember this is a paid special show, not the free museum many older guides describe. The branch reopened with it in July 2026 after a two-month closure.

If ancient American art does not interest you, or your Day 1 is a Monday, go to the East branch in Pudong instead. It has the museum's large permanent collection, is open 10:00 to 18:00 with last entry at 17:00, and is closed on Tuesdays. Take Line 2 to Shanghai Science and Technology Museum station and use Exit 8. One gap to know about: the East branch's calligraphy and painting galleries have been closed for refurbishment since late September 2026, another painting gallery closes from 16 November 2026, and the other galleries stay open. After the East branch, ride Line 2 back west under the river to East Nanjing Road and pick up the plan from there.

A third choice for the morning, if temples interest you more than museums: the Jade Buddha Temple. It has been free to enter since 2023, except over the Spring Festival. It opens 8:00 to 16:30, with no booking, and the walk is about five minutes from Exit 3 of Jiangning Road station on Line 13.

Lunch: the time-honored restaurants beside Nanjing Road. The old restaurants that used to be on Yunnan South Road moved in February 2026. They now sit on South Shanxi Road, Middle Fujian Road and Middle Jiangxi Road, a short walk from the pedestrian street. Expect queues at peak meal times. Arrive before noon or after 13:30. Our Shanghai food guide explains what to order at each one.

Afternoon: walk Nanjing Road East to the river. The pedestrian street is free and never closes, and most shops along it open from about 10:00 to 22:00. Walk east, toward the river. If you need a break, the visitor service centre at the No. 1 Department Store entrance is the place to ask for directions. If you would rather ride, East Nanjing Road station on Lines 2 and 10 is at the river end of the street. Exits 1, 2 and 4 come up on Nanjing Road itself.

Evening: the Bund. The Bund promenade is free and open 24 hours. Get there about an hour before sunset. Check the sunset time for your date, because it moves a lot through the year. That way you see the old bank buildings, built between 1920 and 1936, in daylight, then watch the Pudong towers light up across the water. In the cooler months the riverside lights normally run from about 18:00 to 22:00, and in summer from 19:00 to 23:00; the city can change this on the day for heat or big events. Walk south along the river. The deeper guide to viewpoints, the river cruise and the light times is our Shanghai skyline guide.

If you have energy left, cross the river after dark on the public ferry. The Dongfu Line between Fuxing East Road pier and Dongchang Road pier runs until about 21:00; the Dongjin Line runs only in the daytime.

Day 2: Lujiazui, Yu Garden and an evening in Xintiandi or Tianzifang

Day 2 starts in Pudong and ends back in Puxi. On a weekday, go up a tower in the morning, when queues are short and the air is often clearest, then cross back to the old town before lunch, see Yu Garden in the early afternoon, and spend the evening in a restored lane neighbourhood. This order follows the map, and on weekdays Yu Garden in the afternoon is manageable. On weekends and holidays the garden fills up through the day, so use the swapped order in the crowds section below.

Morning: one observation deck in Lujiazui. Take Line 2 or Line 14 to Lujiazui station. Exits 3 to 7 come up on Century Avenue at Middle Yincheng Road, the side where Shanghai Tower's ticket office stands, at 501 Middle Yincheng Road. Pick one deck, not three. Here is how they differ:

• Shanghai Tower is the highest, with its observatory on floors 118 and 119. Adult tickets are 180 yuan, and it opens at 8:30, with last entry at 21:00.
• Jin Mao Tower has its deck on the 88th floor, 340.1 metres up, and is the cheapest at 120 yuan for adults. It opens at 8:00, and from there you see the two taller towers right beside you.
• The Oriental Pearl Tower is the pink-ball tower in every photo of the skyline. It is open 8:00 to 22:00, last entry 21:00. Its official packages include a combo at 259 yuan with a toy museum and one at 279 yuan with a river cruise; check the tower-only price on its official WeChat account. A government page in late 2024 listed the tower-only ticket at 199 yuan, so confirm the current price before you go.

Give the deck about an hour and a half, including the lift queue. If you would rather book in English before the day, you can also look for deck tickets on Klook. If the towers are in cloud when you wake up, skip the deck and use the morning for the museum branch you did not see on Day 1. Our skyline guide compares the three decks in more detail.

Late morning: cross back to the old town. The quickest way is Line 14, which runs directly from Lujiazui station to Yuyuan Garden station. At Yuyuan Garden, Exits 1, 4 and 7 are signed for the garden. The slower way is on the water. The Dongjin Line ferry runs from Dongchang Road pier, on the Lujiazui riverside, to East Jinling Road pier at the south end of the Bund. It carries foot passengers only and runs until about 18:15 from the Pudong side. A ride costs 2 yuan. From the Puxi pier it is a walk south and inland to the old town.

Lunch and early afternoon: Yu Garden and the old town. Eat first in the bazaar around the garden. Nanxiang Mantou Dian, the soup-dumpling (xiaolongbao, 小笼包) restaurant most tied to Shanghai, is in the Yuyuan Garden Malls. Its Yuyuan Road branch opens 7:30 to 20:30. Then go into the garden itself. Yu Garden is a Ming-dynasty private garden, begun in 1559. It opens 9:00 to 16:30, and the gates stop letting people in at 16:00, according to the garden's official visitor notice. That is why lunch must not run long. An adult ticket costs 40 yuan from April to June and September to November, and 30 yuan in the other months. Give the garden an hour to an hour and a half.

The bazaar outside the garden, Yuyuan Bazaar, is a separate thing. It is a free shopping and food street that stays open around the clock. The City God Temple next to it opens 8:30 to 16:30. Our Yu Garden guide covers what to see inside, the two entrances and the temple.

Evening: Xintiandi or Tianzifang. Both are old neighbourhoods of shikumen (石库门, "stone-gate") lane houses, the brick terraces Shanghai built in the late 1800s and early 1900s. They suit different moods, so pick one:

• Xintiandi is the polished one. Its early-20th-century shikumen houses now hold restaurants, bars and shops. It is a good choice for a sit-down dinner. Xintiandi station is on Line 10, the same line as Yuyuan Garden, so it is a short ride.
• Tianzifang is the tighter, busier one, a maze of narrow alleys off Taikang Road with small shops and cafés. It is free and open all day, and its visitor service centre is at 200 Taikang Road. It is best in the late afternoon and early evening, before the small shops close. Dapuqiao station on Line 9 is the closest stop.

Day 3: pick one of three, Zhujiajiao, Jing'an and Wukang Road, or Disneyland

The third day depends on what you came for. If you want old China on the water, choose Zhujiajiao. If you want to slow down and see the city people live in, choose Jing'an and Wukang Road. If someone in your group has been waiting for Disneyland all year, choose Disneyland. Only Disneyland needs a ticket bought in advance.

Zhujiajiao water town (half a day, or most of a day). This is the easiest water town to reach from Shanghai, because the metro goes there. Line 17 runs from Hongqiao Railway Station to Zhujiajiao station, and you reach Hongqiao Railway Station from the centre on Line 2 or Line 10, so allow extra time for that first leg. Trains leave about every 10 minutes, the ride takes roughly 37 to 41 minutes, and the fare is 6 yuan. From Exit 1, either walk about 1.3 kilometres to the old town or take bus 1510, the town's tourist shuttle, for 1 yuan. The town's streets are free. Three gardens and museums inside charge entry, and a combined ticket for all three costs 60 yuan. The hand-rowed boats are priced per boat, 200 or 300 yuan depending on the route, and each boat carries up to six people. Go on a weekday morning if you can. The town has closed for whole days during typhoons, so check its official site if a storm is forecast. Our Shanghai day trips guide compares Zhujiajiao with Suzhou, Hangzhou and the other water towns if you are weighing up a longer trip.

Jing'an and Wukang Road (a slow day on foot). This is the day for people who want to sit in cafés, look at old buildings and not queue for anything. Start at Jing'an Temple, the gilded Buddhist temple right by Jing'an Temple station on Line 2; check its current ticket and opening hours at the gate. If you started Day 1 at the museum, the free Jade Buddha Temple described there also fits well on this morning. After lunch, take a taxi or the metro to the Wukang Road and Anfu Road area, named one of China's first national tourism and leisure districts in 2022. Its best-known building is the ship-shaped Wukang Mansion, designed by László Hudec and built in 1924. Walk along Wukang Road and Anfu Road with no fixed plan. The visitor centre at No. 393-A Wukang Road is the place to ask for directions. Shanghai Library and Jiaotong University stations on Line 10 are both close by.

Shanghai Disneyland (a full day). Disneyland is a full day, out at the far end of Line 11. Get off at the last stop, Disney Resort station, and walk to the main gate from Exit 1 or Exit 4. Bring the ID you booked with, usually your passport, because your ticket is tied to it. If you stay for the evening, note the last train: from Disney Resort station toward Jiading North it leaves at 22:30. Some popular rides use a free Standby Pass that you claim in the official app after entering. Ticket types, the food rules and how to plan the day are all in our Shanghai Disneyland guide.

Getting around: metro lines, the river and last trains

The whole route runs on a few metro lines and one optional ferry:

• Day 1: Line 2 (People's Square, East Nanjing Road), with Line 10 also at East Nanjing Road. Add Line 2 east to Shanghai Science and Technology Museum if you visit the East branch.
• Day 2: Line 2 or 14 to Lujiazui, Line 14 to Yuyuan Garden, then Line 10 to Xintiandi or Line 9 to Dapuqiao. The Dongjin ferry is the scenic option across the river.
• Day 3: Line 17 from Hongqiao Railway Station for Zhujiajiao, Line 2 for Jing'an Temple, or Line 11 to the end for Disneyland.

The interactive Shanghai metro map and route planner shows each day's transfers. the WaysChina app

Paying for rides. The simplest way is to tap a contactless Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB or UnionPay card on the gate reader, with no ticket to buy, as long as the card has enough credit and contactless payment switched on. The other option is the official SH MaaS app (随申行, Suíshēnxíng). It has an English version, takes an overseas phone number, and gives you one QR code for metro, bus and ferry, paid with a linked foreign card. If you will ride a lot, a metro day pass costs 18 yuan for 24 hours or 45 yuan for 72 hours, though neither pass covers the maglev or the airport line. The SH MaaS three-day pass, at 47.8 yuan, also covers buses and the river ferries. The payment table in our Shanghai travel guide compares every option side by side.

Last trains. Each line, and each station, has its own first and last train times, so check before a late dinner. On Friday and Saturday nights, Lines 1, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 13 run later than usual, but Line 2, the backbone of this route, does not. The Shanghai last-train times page lists them by station. Line 2 is also your airport line. The last train from People's Square toward Pudong Airport leaves at 22:33.

Where to stay. A hotel within walking distance of a Line 2 station between People's Square and East Nanjing Road puts Day 1 at your door and Days 2 and 3 one ride away. If you are comparing areas, you can search that stretch on Booking.com.

Shorter trips, kids, rain and crowds

Only 48 hours. Drop Day 3 and keep Days 1 and 2 as written, because they cover the classic sights. If you are in Shanghai on visa-free transit and land around midday, start with the Day 1 afternoon: Nanjing Road, then the Bund at dusk. The next morning, take the Lujiazui deck, then Yu Garden, then leave for the airport from the centre. The museum is the piece to cut. Our 240-hour visa-free transit guide explains the entry rules, and the Shanghai airport guide covers the trip in and out.

With kids. Children 1.3 metres tall or shorter ride the metro free with an adult. The same 1.3-metre line, or age 6 and under, gets them into Yu Garden free. At Jin Mao, children under 1 metre go up free and children between 1 and 1.3 metres pay 60 yuan. The bigger change is pace. Cut each day to two main stops, put a long lunch in the middle, and use Day 3 for Disneyland, where children under 3 go in free. On tired-legs days, the City Sightseeing hop-on hop-off bus helps. Its Tourist Line 1 links People's Square, the Bund, Yu Garden and Xintiandi. A one-day ticket costs 60 yuan, and children 1.3 metres and under ride free without a seat, one per adult. You can buy it at the stops, on its WeChat mini program, or on Klook; a screenshot does not count as a ticket. Our guide to travelling in China with kids covers the rest.

When it rains. Rain hurts Day 2 most: a deck in cloud shows you nothing, and Yu Garden is outdoors. Swap the deck for a museum. The East branch of the Shanghai Museum is open every day except Tuesday. The China Art Museum in Pudong, in the former Expo China Pavilion, opens 10:00 to 18:00 and closes on Mondays. The Power Station of Art, the contemporary art museum on the Puxi riverside, opens 11:00 to 19:00 and also closes on Mondays. Keep the Bund for whichever evening is clear; it is open all night and needs no ticket.

Beating the crowds. At Yu Garden, be at the gate when it opens at 9:00. For the 2025 Spring Festival, police put the daily peak around the garden at 14:00 to 19:00, and the bazaar fills up through the day. On a weekend, swap the Day 2 order: Yu Garden at opening, then Line 14 across to Lujiazui for the deck in the afternoon, then Line 14 back to Yuyuan Garden and Line 10 on to Xintiandi for the evening. That costs you one extra river crossing by metro, which is worth it to see the garden before the crowds. On the Bund, sunset is calmer than the hour after dinner, and early morning is almost empty. Weekends are noticeably busier at the decks, Yu Garden and Disneyland, so put Disneyland on a weekday if you can.

Chinese public holidays are a different situation. During National Day 2026, the exits of East Nanjing Road station on Lines 2 and 10 closed from 16:00 every evening, along with Line 14's Yuyuan Garden station. Cars were banned from the Bund and Lujiazui waterfronts from 16:30 to 23:30. At National Day 2025, police held walkers back and let them onto the Bund in waves, on one-way loops. If your trip overlaps the October holiday week or the Spring Festival, see the Bund in the morning, not the evening. Our Golden Week survival guide has the dates to avoid.

In short: book Disneyland and the People's Square museum ahead, and leave everything else for the day. Keep Monday away from Day 1 and Day 2, check your last train each night, and save the evening hours for the Bund. If one part of the plan matters most to you, the single-sight guides above have the details. Then put the route into the metro planner the night before each day.

Last updated: November 2026