Shanghai 3-Day Itinerary 2026: Day-by-Day Plan, Costs and Rain

Yes, three days is enough for Shanghai if you group each day by district. Budget about CNY 250–350 per person for tickets and metro, start Day 1 on the Bund by 8 a.m., and keep the Shanghai Museum East as your rainy-day swap; it is free and closed Tuesdays.

**Day 1 — The Bund, Yu Garden and the river crossing** | Time | Stop | Transport | Entry fee | Meal stop | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 8:00 a.m. | Bund promenade | Metro Line 2 or 10 to East Nanjing Road | Free | Coffee riverside | | 9:30 a.m. | Yu Garden, Old City | Metro Line 10 to Yuyuan Garden | CNY 40 peak, CNY 30 low season | Xiaolongbao at the bazaar | | 1:00 p.m. | Nanjing Road | Walk west from the Bund | Free | Pastry stalls | | 3:00 p.m. | Huangpu ferry to Dongchang Road | Walk from East Jinling Road pier | CNY 2 | — | | 4:00 p.m. | Lujiazui waterfront | Walk from the pier | Free | Early dinner in a mall | | 8:00 p.m. | Bund after dark | Metro Line 2 back | Free | Nightcap in the Old City |

Morning is the whole trick on the Bund. By 8 a.m. the promenade belongs to joggers and wedding photographers; by 10 the tour groups stand three deep at the rail. Walk north past the old customs house, then cut inland to the Old City, where Yu Garden opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 4:30 p.m., last entry 4 p.m. — a detail that catches people out, because the bazaar stays busy long after the gates shut. The garden rests on Mondays. Peak admission is CNY 40 from April 1 to June 30 and September 1 to November 30; low season is CNY 30.

**Day 2 — People's Square and the former French Concession** | Time | Stop | Transport | Entry fee | Meal stop | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 9:00 a.m. | Shanghai Museum | Metro Lines 1, 2 or 8 to People's Square | Free; closed Mondays | Museum café | | 12:00 p.m. | Huanghe Road | Walk 10 minutes west | Free | Soup dumplings | | 1:30 p.m. | Wukang and Anfu roads | Metro Line 10 to Shanghai Library | Free | Coffee | | 4:00 p.m. | Tianzifang | Metro Line 9 to Dapuqiao | Free | Street snacks | | 6:30 p.m. | Xintiandi | Metro Lines 10 or 13 | Free | Shanghainese dinner |

The Shanghai Museum on People's Square is the best free hour in the city, and its bronze and ceramics galleries suit restless children. It runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., last entry 3 p.m., closed Mondays except national holidays. After lunch on Huanghe Road, ride one stop to the plane-tree avenues around Wukang Road, where bicycle bells and laundry lines show the Shanghai locals live in. Tianzifang is the browsing stop; Xintiandi is where the evening restaurants are.

**Day 3 — Pudong, the science museum and the maglev** | Time | Stop | Transport | Entry fee | Meal stop | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 8:30 a.m. | Shanghai Tower, 118F | Metro Line 2 to Lujiazui | CNY 180 | — | | 10:30 a.m. | Shanghai Museum East | Metro Line 2 to Century Avenue | Free; closed Tuesdays | Museum café | | 1:00 p.m. | Lujiazui lunch | Walk along Century Avenue | Free | Mall food halls | | 2:30 p.m. | Science and Technology Museum | Metro Line 2, museum station | CNY 45 adult, CNY 22 student | Snack counter | | 4:30 p.m. | Maglev to Pudong Airport | Metro Line 2 to Longyang Road | CNY 50, CNY 40 with same-day air ticket | — |

Day 3 is the one children remember, because it starts 546 meters in the air and ends on a train that floats. The Shanghai Tower lift reaches the 118th floor in 55 seconds; go at opening, when the haze is thinnest. The Science and Technology Museum across the river is a half-day in itself, with robots, a rainforest hall and IMAX theaters. Then ride the maglev: 30.5 kilometers to Pudong Airport in under eight minutes at up to 300 km/h.

**The rainy-day alternative.** From mid-June to early July the plum rains settle over Shanghai, and typhoon days can shut the riverfront. Swap the Day 2 lane walk for the Shanghai Museum East at 1952 Century Avenue: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., last entry 5 p.m., free, no reservation, closed Tuesdays. Add the indoor 118F Tower deck (CNY 180, 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.), then eat through the Lujiazui malls. If rain lands on a Tuesday, use the People's Square branch: free, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., last entry 3 p.m., closed Mondays. Save the ferry and the Bund for the next clear evening.

The money is smaller than visitors expect. Metro fares start at CNY 3 for up to 6 km and rise by CNY 1 for every 10 km after that, and contactless Visa, Mastercard, American Express and JCB cards tap through the gates. The pedestrian ferry costs CNY 2, so roughly CNY 250–350 per adult covers the tower, the gardens, the science museum and the maglev. Two things matter more than saving: book the tower and any special exhibition a day ahead, and put each day's biggest sight in the morning.

US passport holders flying on to a third country can use China's 240-hour visa-free transit — 10 days, 57 eligible nationalities, 65 open ports — with a confirmed onward ticket; a plain round-trip holiday still needs a tourist (L) visa, and processing at a Chinese visa application center usually takes about four business days. From Pudong Airport, the maglev plus Metro Line 2 is the fastest run downtown; the Airport Link Line covers Hongqiao to Pudong in about 40 minutes for CNY 26. Send us your dates, and a ChinaMira specialist will build these three days around you.