5 Days in Nanjing: First-Timer Plan

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Five days builds on the 4-day core, Fuzimiao and the Qinhuai River, a full Purple Mountain day, a Presidential Palace/Ming Wall morning followed by a solemn Massacre Memorial afternoon, and a day at Qixia Mountain, then adds a fifth day out to Suzhou by high-speed rail. If a rail day trip doesn’t interest you, the 3-day plan is the core version; the 6 and 7-day plans add a second rail day trip on top.

Book these before you go

  • Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum’s free timed reservation, via the official website or WeChat, passport-ID required
  • Check the official memorial site for the Massacre Memorial’s current entry requirement
  • Suzhou high-speed rail tickets via Nanjing South
  • Hotels : book ahead if any date edges into Golden Week (1-7 Oct) or Labour Day (1-5 May 2026)

Day 1: Fuzimiao, Qinhuai River, and Xinjiekou

Start at the Confucius Temple (Dacheng Hall, ¥30) and wander the lantern-lined lanes along the Qinhuai River. Add the Jiangnan Imperial Examination Hall (¥50), where the replica exam cells, reportedly just 1.33m wide, give the strongest sense of how grueling China’s civil-service exam system actually was. Spend the afternoon in Xinjiekou, the city’s dense commercial core and the Metro Line 1/2 interchange, then come back to the river after dark for a Qinhuai night cruise (¥80/person, about 50 minutes).

Day 2: A full day on Purple Mountain

Start at Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum (free, but reserve your passport-ID slot ahead via the official website or WeChat), the 392-step granite ascent that only reveals the tomb platform above once you’ve climbed it. Walk or shuttle to Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum (¥70), the Hongwu Emperor’s tomb and part of the UNESCO-listed “Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties” (see the official listing ), and give its 1,800m Sacred Way its own hour. Finish at Linggu Temple (¥35, included in the ¥100 Purple Mountain combo ticket), where the all-brick Beamless Hall and the climbable 1929 Linggu Pagoda round out the day. Book a Purple Mountain tour if you’d rather not manage the reservation and shuttle logistics yourself.

Day 3: The Presidential Palace, the Ming Wall, and the Massacre Memorial

Spend the morning at the Presidential Palace (¥40; enter via the new west entrance, since the historic gatehouse has been closed since December 2024), then walk a stretch of the Ming City Wall, either the Taicheng section along Xuanwu Lake or Zhonghua Gate’s fortress courtyards (prices and hours per travelchinaguide.com ).

Give the afternoon fully to the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, shortened after first mention to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall. It commemorates roughly 300,000 people killed after the city fell to Japanese forces in December 1937. Entry is free and the hall closes Mondays; check the official memorial site for the current reservation requirement before you go. This is a memorial, not a photo stop: keep your visit quiet and unhurried, and give it the whole afternoon rather than squeezing it in around other plans.

Day 4: Qixia Mountain

Bus 194-197, 206-207, or 327 out to Qixia Mountain, about 22km northeast, for the Thousand Buddha Cliff’s 294 rock-cut shrines, the white-stone Sarira Pagoda, and Mirror Lake’s Nine-Bend Bridge. Entry is ¥25, rising to ¥40 during peak maple season (roughly November into early December). Hours run 7am-5:30pm. This is genuinely an easy half-day, morning-to-afternoon, so you’re back in the city with the evening free.

Day 5: Suzhou by high-speed rail

Take the high-speed train from Nanjing South to Suzhou, effectively 40-50 minutes on the same frequent Shanghai-bound service. Suzhou’s classical gardens carry their own UNESCO World Heritage listing, distinct from Nanjing’s Ming Xiaoling designation, so spend the day moving between two or three of them rather than trying to see every garden in the city. Book train tickets through Trip.com’s English-language booking tool rather than the Chinese-only 12306 site, and buy a round-trip so you’re not hunting for a same-day return seat at the station. Head back to Nanjing by evening; this is a day trip, not an overnight.

Getting around and where to stay

Xinjiekou suits days 1 and 3; Purple Mountain (day 2) and Qixia Mountain (day 4) are both reached via Metro Line 2 plus a bus or shuttle onward; day 5 runs entirely through Nanjing South Railway Station. Compare hotel rates on Booking.com , and book ahead if any of your dates edge into Golden Week (1-7 October) or Labour Day (1-5 May 2026), when rates spike citywide.

One concrete tip: buy the Suzhou round-trip ticket before you leave Nanjing that morning, not after you arrive. Same-day return seats on the busiest Shanghai-corridor trains can sell down fast on weekends and holidays.