7 Days in Nanjing: First-Timer Plan

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Seven days only makes sense framed honestly as Nanjing plus wider Jiangnan: the 6-day core (Fuzimiao, a full Purple Mountain day, the Presidential Palace and Ming Wall, a solemn Massacre Memorial afternoon, Qixia Mountain, and day trips to Suzhou and Yangzhou), plus a third, lighter rail day out to Zhenjiang. The 5-day plan trims back to a single day trip if three rail days feels like too much train time.

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
  • Rail tickets for Suzhou, Yangzhou, and Zhenjiang 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.

Day 6: Yangzhou by high-speed rail

Yangzhou sits on the Nanjing-Qidong line rather than the Shanghai corridor; the exact minutes vary by service, but the route runs well under an hour given the line’s 2016 electrification upgrade. Spend the day at Slender West Lake (¥120, styled after Hangzhou’s West Lake), the classical gardens He Yuan and Ge Yuan, and Daming Temple, a 5th-century foundation rebuilt after Taiping-era damage. Note there are two stations, the older Yangzhou Railway Station and Yangzhoudong (opened 2020); confirm which one your train actually uses before you head to the platform.

Day 7: Zhenjiang, then departure

Zhenjiang is the closest of the Shanghai-corridor stops to Nanjing, a lighter day to close out the trip. Draws include Jinshan (Golden Hill) Park, its monastery and pagoda tied to the “Legend of the White Snake,” Beigushan Park overlooking the Yangtze with lantern-lit paths after dark, and Jiaoshan, a small river-island park with temples. Entry runs ¥30-50 per park plus roughly a ¥10 pagoda supplement; budget 1-2 hours per stop. Head back to Nanjing South by early evening to connect to your onward flight or train.

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; days 5 through 7 run entirely through Nanjing’s rail stations. 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: keep Zhenjiang for the last day, not the middle of the week. It’s the lightest of the three rail day trips, and a low-key closing day beats trying to end the trip on a full garden-hopping itinerary at Suzhou or Yangzhou scale.