7 Days in Shanghai: First-Timer Plan
A full week in Shanghai means you can actually slow down, and it means you can reach every corner of the city, including the parts most visitors never find, without ever needing to leave the municipality. This is the itinerary I’d hand a friend who asked me to plan the whole thing, and it builds on the 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 day versions if you’d rather start shorter.
Book these before you go: a French Concession or Bund hotel (Agoda) for the full week, a Shanghai Tower skip-the-line ticket (GetYourGuide), and a Zhujiajiao water town tour (Viator).
| Day | Focus | Key cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | French Concession, Xintiandi | Free to wander |
| 2 | The Bund, Shanghai Museum East, river cruise | Free museum entry |
| 3 | Shanghai Tower, Lujiazui skyline | Y180 Shanghai Tower deck |
| 4 | Zhujiajiao water town, Yu Garden | Y30-40 Yu Garden entry |
| 5 | Hongkou: Duolun Road, 1933 Old Millfun, Ohel Moshe | Free to wander |
| 6 | Nanjing Road, Jing’an Temple, Longhua Temple | Y50 Jing’an Temple entry |
| 7 | Suzhou Creek, M50, departure | Free to wander |
Day 1: French Concession Arrival
Land at Pudong, Metro Line 2 straight to your hotel, skip the Maglev, it only reaches Longyang Road, not downtown, so it saves nothing once you count the transfer. Spend the afternoon wandering Wukang Road and Anfu Road in the French Concession, no fixed plan required. Walk through Xintiandi for the architecture, good for a look, not really the meal. Dinner at Jia Jia Tang Bao, xiaolongbao locals actually queue for, Y20-30, cash or mobile pay.
Day 2: The Bund and River
Morning at the Bund, free, 24/7, best early before the crowds. Shanghai Museum East out in Pudong, also free, and since a 2025 policy change needing zero advance reservation for individuals, just show up with ID, a genuine upgrade over the old booking system at the original branch. Afternoon river cruise to see the skyline from the water. Return to the Bund after dark, roughly 7pm to 10pm, when Pudong lights up properly, worth doing twice in one trip.
Day 3: Iconic Landmarks
Shanghai Tower observation deck, 118th floor, about Y180, genuinely the best view in the city, open from 8:30am. If you’d rather save a third of the price, Jin Mao Tower next door gives you a view of Shanghai Tower’s own silhouette instead, the one thing the taller tower can’t show you. Afternoon in Lujiazui taking in Pudong’s futuristic skyline at street level, it’s spectacle over substance after dark, the district goes quiet once the offices empty out, but the view itself justifies the walk. Dinner options are strong here; Din Tai Fung is a reliable backup if you want polished xiaolongbao, just remember it’s Taiwanese, not Shanghainese, competent but not the local experience.
Day 4: Zhujiajiao Water Town
Metro Lines 2 or 10 to Hongqiao Railway Station, then Line 17, gets you to Zhujiajiao in about 70 minutes, free canals to wander and Y8-30 per sight or about Y80 for a combined ticket, an easy half-day rather than a full one. Head back into the city by early afternoon and use the rest of the day for Yu Garden, Y30-40 well spent on the 1559 garden itself, but skip the bazaar surrounding it entirely, it’s fake-antique retail aimed squarely at tourists and a separate free space from the ticketed garden anyway.
Day 5: Hongkou’s Hidden History
Cross Suzhou Creek into Hongkou, a neighborhood most Shanghai itineraries skip entirely because it doesn’t photograph like the Bund. Spend the morning on Duolun Road, a quieter 1920s-30s literary street where Lu Xun and other writers once gathered, lined with period buildings and bronze statues, a calmer alternative to the crowded French Concession for the same architectural era. From there, 1933 Old Millfun is a short ride away, a former British-designed 1933 slaughterhouse whose raw-concrete ramps and light-wells now hold shops and event spaces, one of the strangest and most photogenic buildings in the city. Round out the afternoon at the Ohel Moshe Synagogue area, the physical site of Shanghai’s WWII Jewish refugee quarter, a genuinely different historical thread from the standard concession-era story and quiet relative to its significance. Head back across the river for dinner, this neighborhood isn’t a food destination the way the French Concession is.
Day 6: Shopping, Jing’an, and the Oldest Temple in the City
Nanjing Road in the morning for shopping and people-watching, free but also the highest scam-density stretch in the city, so stay alert around anyone striking up an unsolicited English conversation. Jing’an Temple, about Y50, an active working temple between skyscrapers. In the afternoon, make the trip south to Longhua Temple, founded in 977 AD and Shanghai’s oldest and largest temple complex, grounds free and Y10 for the main halls; the seven-story pagoda next to it is exterior-viewing only but genuinely under-visited given it’s more historically significant than Jing’an and pulls a fraction of the crowd, simply for sitting further from the sightseeing core. Dinner somewhere serious, save one of your best meals for the back half of the trip.
Day 7: M50 and Departure
Morning at Suzhou Creek and the M50 Art District, a former industrial zone turned gallery hub that most visitors never find in a shorter trip, worth the detour even with a flight later that day. Grab lunch nearby, do any last souvenir shopping, then head to Pudong via Metro Line 2 or a taxi from the official rank for departure.
Getting Around
Metro fares run Y3 to about Y8 across 20 lines, now the world’s longest network by route length, 5:30am to 11pm. Alipay’s transit QR works citywide, or skip the app entirely, foreign contactless cards tap directly at the turnstile with no setup at all.
Before You Go
Install and test a VPN before you fly, not after landing, Google, WhatsApp and Instagram are all blocked and downloading one from inside the country isn’t possible. Check the 240-hour visa-free transit rules if you’re eligible, travelers from 55-plus countries get it with a confirmed onward ticket, verify the current terms for your specific nationality before you book, the rules genuinely differ by passport. Avoid National Day, October 1-7, entirely, prices spike and every attraction on this list gets uncomfortably crowded. Late March through May and September through November give you the best weather for all this walking, clear skies and manageable humidity, while summer brings 30-35C heat with the added misery of the mid-June to mid-July plum rain season soaking everything in prolonged drizzle. Pack layers and comfortable shoes over anything else, this itinerary covers serious ground. And if a week still isn’t enough and Suzhou, Hangzhou or the wider rail network are calling, that’s genuinely its own trip, one I’ve built out separately in Shanghai as your gateway to China .