Must-sees · Shanghai · PVG
What to do during a layover in Shanghai?
A few hours between flights at Pudong? The Maglev speeds towards the city at 300 km/h and the Bund is less than an hour away. Here are eight ideas, with exact directions from the airport.
Before heading into town
First question: can you enter China? Passports from most European Union countries, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea and around fifty other countries are visa-exempt for thirty days, according to the official National Immigration Administration list. Others, including the United States, may enter without a visa for up to ten days if they are in transit to a third country. The LAYOVO calculator gives you the rule for your passport.
Second question: how much time do you really have? Pudong is around forty kilometres from the centre: between the aircraft, immigration, travel and returning to the gate, a seven-hour layover rarely leaves more than two hours in the city.
Plan my layover with LAYOVOTo reach the city, the Maglev, a magnetic-levitation train, links the airport to Longyang Road station in eight minutes, from 7 h 02 to 21 h 42, for 50 yuan one way. The metro takes over from there. Metro line 2 also leaves from the airport, more slowly but later in the evening.
Locally, Google and most Western apps do not work on the Chinese network, and payments are mainly made by phone (Alipay or WeChat Pay, which accept foreign cards). For taxis, the local app is DiDi; also keep your destination’s address written in Chinese.
The time shown runs from the terminal exit to the destination, including waiting time. Maglev timetables and fares come from the official Shanghai airports website; durations between stations, taxis and admission prices are LAYOVO estimates.
01 · Promenade · photography · 55 min–1 hr 10 min from Pudong
The Bund, Shanghai on both sides of the river
- A quick look
- 20 minThe view of Lujiazui from the promenade
- Take your time
- 45 minThe whole promenade, as far as Garden Bridge
- Price
- FreeFree access to the promenade.
On the west bank of the Huangpu, the Bund lines up banks, hotels and trading companies from the 1920s: columns, domes and the Customs House clock. This is the Shanghai of the foreign concessions.
Opposite, across the water, Lujiazui’s skyscrapers have risen in thirty years: the Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai Tower and their neighbours. Two centuries face each other across the river.
How to get there from Pudong
DiDiStraight to the door, no transfersEnter “The Bund” in the app · price shown upfront50 minOpen DiDiPublic transportMaglev CNY 50 + metro ≈ CNY 3 to 6
- 10 min
- 8 min → Longyang Road
- 12 min–15 min → East Nanjing Road
- 10 min
After 21 h 42, no more Maglev: metro line 2 also leaves from the terminal (≈ 1 h 15 to the centre).
DirectionsTaxi or DiDi≈ 160–200 CNY metered (≈ 45 km, official Shanghai fare schedule; total to be checked)
02 · Garden · history · 1 hr–1 hr 15 min from Pudong
Yu Garden, a scholar’s garden in the heart of the old city
- A quick look
- 30 minThe bazaar and lakeside teahouse
- Take your time
- 1 hrThe garden and its pavilions
- Price
- ≈ 40 CNYGarden entry (rate to be checked); free access to the bazaar.
Designed in the sixteenth century by a senior official for his elderly parents, Yu Garden is a miniature world: rockeries, pavilions, carp ponds and walls undulating like dragons.
Around it, the old city bazaar and its teahouse on the lake, reached by a zigzag bridge: according to belief, evil spirits can only move in straight lines.
Guided tours of Yu Gardenon GetYourGuide
How to get there from Pudong
DiDiStraight to the door, no transfersEnter “Yu Garden” in the app · price shown upfront50 minOpen DiDiPublic transportMaglev CNY 50 + metro ≈ CNY 3 to 6
- 10 min
- 8 min → Longyang Road
- 12 min–15 min → East Nanjing Road
- 3 min → Yuyuan Garden
- 5 min
After 21 h 42, no more Maglev: metro line 2 also leaves from the terminal (≈ 1 h 15 to the centre).
DirectionsTaxi or DiDi≈ 160–200 CNY metered (≈ 45 km, official Shanghai fare schedule; total to be checked)
03 · Shopping · walk · 50 min–1 hr from Pudong
Nanjing Road, neon and department stores
- A quick look
- 20 minA stretch of the street
- Take your time
- 45 minThe pedestrian street to the Bund
- Price
- FreePedestrian street; purchases depend on the shops.
More than a kilometre of pedestrian street between People’s Square and the Bund: department stores from the 1930s, pastry shops, silk and tea shops, and a forest of illuminated signs.
It is the simplest way to reach the Bund from the metro, mingling with Shanghai’s strolling residents.
How to get there from Pudong
DiDiStraight to the door, no transfersEnter “Nanjing Road” in the app · price shown upfront50 minOpen DiDiPublic transportMaglev CNY 50 + metro ≈ CNY 3 to 6
- 10 min
- 8 min → Longyang Road
- 12 min–15 min → East Nanjing Road
- 2 min
After 21 h 42, no more Maglev: metro line 2 also leaves from the terminal (≈ 1 h 15 to the centre).
DirectionsTaxi or DiDi≈ 160–200 CNY metered (≈ 45 km, official Shanghai fare schedule; total to be checked)
04 · Panoramic views · photography · 40 min–55 min from Pudong
Shanghai Tower, the city from above
- A quick look
- 25 minLujiazui’s towers from the circular walkway
- Take your time
- 1 hrGo up to the observation deck
- Price
- ≈ 180 CNYObservation deck entry (rate to be checked).
At 632 metres, Shanghai Tower is China’s tallest tower. Its twisting silhouette reduces wind resistance, and its lifts are among the fastest in the world.
On the 118th floor, the observation deck offers all of Shanghai: the Bund, the bends of the Huangpu and, on clear days, the city stretching to the horizon.
Shanghai Tower ticketson GetYourGuide
How to get there from Pudong
DiDiStraight to the door, no transfersEnter “Shanghai Tower” in the app · price shown upfront40 minOpen DiDiPublic transportMaglev CNY 50 + metro ≈ CNY 3 to 6
- 10 min
- 8 min → Longyang Road
- 8 min–10 min → Lujiazui
- 10 min
After 21 h 42, no more Maglev: metro line 2 also leaves from the terminal (≈ 1 h 15 to the centre).
DirectionsTaxi or DiDi≈ 150–180 CNY metered (official fare schedule; total to be checked)
05 · Museum · art · 1 hr–1 hr 15 min from Pudong
Shanghai Museum, five thousand years of Chinese art
- A quick look
- 20 minPeople’s Square
- Take your time
- 1 hr 30 minThe main galleries
- Price
- FreeBy reservation, passport required (arrangements to be checked).
On People’s Square, the building resembles an ancient bronze cauldron: round above for the sky, square below for the earth. Inside is one of the finest collections of Chinese art.
Ritual bronzes, ceramics, jades, paintings and calligraphy: in an hour and a half, travel through China’s entire history.
How to get there from Pudong
DiDiStraight to the door, no transfersEnter “Shanghai Museum” in the app · price shown upfront50 minOpen DiDiPublic transportMaglev CNY 50 + metro ≈ CNY 3 to 6
- 10 min
- 8 min → Longyang Road
- 18 min–20 min → People’s Square
- 8 min
After 21 h 42, no more Maglev: metro line 2 also leaves from the terminal (≈ 1 h 15 to the centre).
DirectionsTaxi or DiDi≈ 160–200 CNY metered (≈ 45 km, official Shanghai fare schedule; total to be checked)
06 · Temple · culture · 1 hr 10 min–1 hr 25 min from Pudong
The Jade Buddha Temple
- A quick look
- 20 minThe main courtyard
- Take your time
- 45 minThe temple and its halls
- Price
- ≈ 20 CNYEntry, plus a surcharge for the jade Buddha hall (rates to be checked).
This working temple was built to house two Buddhas carved from white jade, brought back from Burma by a monk at the end of the nineteenth century.
Walk through courtyards where incense burns, gilded halls and upturned roofs, among the buildings of the Putuo district.
How to get there from Pudong
DiDiStraight to the door, no transfersEnter “The Jade Buddha Temple” in the app · price shown upfront55 minOpen DiDiPublic transportMaglev CNY 50 + metro ≈ CNY 3 to 6
- 10 min
- 8 min → Longyang Road
- 25 min–28 min → Jing’an Temple
- 5 min → Changshou Road
- 10 min
After 21 h 42, no more Maglev: metro line 2 also leaves from the terminal (≈ 1 h 15 to the centre).
DirectionsTaxi or DiDi≈ 180–220 CNY metered (official fare schedule; total to be checked)
07 · Crossing · photography · 1 hr–1 hr 15 min from Pudong
The Huangpu ferry, the locals’ cruise
- A quick look
- 10 minThe ferry quay
- Take your time
- 30 minThe return trip
- Price
- ≈ 2 CNYPublic ferry (fare and timetables to be checked).
You do not need a cruise to see Shanghai from the water: public ferries cross the Huangpu all day, for a few yuan, between the Bund and Lujiazui.
Ten minutes close to the water, among barges, with the Bund’s façades on one side and towers on the other.
How to get there from Pudong
DiDiStraight to the door, no transfersEnter “Jinling Road ferry landing” in the app · price shown upfront50 minOpen DiDiPublic transportMaglev CNY 50 + metro ≈ CNY 3 to 6
- 10 min
- 8 min → Longyang Road
- 12 min–15 min → East Nanjing Road
- 15 min
- 10 min → Dongchang Road
After 21 h 42, no more Maglev: metro line 2 also leaves from the terminal (≈ 1 h 15 to the centre).
DirectionsTaxi or DiDi≈ 160–200 CNY metered (≈ 45 km, official Shanghai fare schedule; total to be checked)
08 · Neighbourhood · cafés · 1 hr 5 min–1 hr 20 min from Pudong
Xintiandi, the shikumen houses
- A quick look
- 25 minThe shikumen lanes
- Take your time
- 1 hrA walk and lunch
- Price
- FreeFree access to the neighbourhood; meals depend on the restaurant.
Shikumen, grey-brick houses with stone doorways, were Shanghai’s typical housing in the early twentieth century. In Xintiandi, they have been restored as cafés, restaurants and shops.
It was also here, in one of these houses, that the Chinese Communist Party’s first congress was held in 1921.
How to get there from Pudong
DiDiStraight to the door, no transfersEnter “Xintiandi” in the app · price shown upfront50 minOpen DiDiPublic transportMaglev CNY 50 + metro ≈ CNY 3 to 6
- 10 min
- 8 min → Longyang Road
- 18 min–20 min → People’s Square
- 2 min → South Huangpi Road
- 8 min
After 21 h 42, no more Maglev: metro line 2 also leaves from the terminal (≈ 1 h 15 to the centre).
DirectionsTaxi or DiDi≈ 160–200 CNY metered (≈ 45 km, official Shanghai fare schedule; total to be checked)
A good habit: leave some breathing room
The best layover gets you back to the airport relaxed, rather than taking in the most sights. Choose a neighbourhood, the Bund or the old city, and leave a generous margin for the return: the last Maglev leaves before 22 h and departure checks take time.
