# Suzhou and Hangzhou from Shanghai?



## ValHam (Jan 23, 2015)

Would like to visit Suzhou from Shanghai and Hangzhou - What would be the easiest route - How long would I need in each city?  Would appreciate any recommendations - what would the weather be like in Dec?


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## lily28 (Jan 23, 2015)

You can take day tours from Shanghai to Suzhou and hangzhou.  Hangzhou is farther away than Suzhou. Both cities can be done via day trip but ideally 2 days are better in hangzhou. If you don't want to do organized tour, you can take the fast train to Hangzhou and get around via taxi.  I have only travel to china in spring, summer and autumn, so i don't know about dec weather.


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## LisaH (Jan 23, 2015)

Both Suzhou and Hangzhou are beautiful but in different ways. Like Lily said, Suzhou is closer and you can easily take an organized day tour. By high speed train, Hangzhou is about an hour away. Both train stations (Shanghai and Hangzhou) can be reached by subways from the city center. I was just in Shanghai and Hangzhou around Christmas/New Year. It's cold by CA standard but not unbearable. I agree that Hangzhou would be better for at least a 2-day visit. However, while I was there, friends came from Shanghai to visit me for a day and we did hikes to a few places, walked along the West Lake, and had a wonderful lunch, all done by public transportation. We know the place pretty well so it's easy to manage.


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## ValHam (Jan 24, 2015)

Perhaps I should just go for the day on the high speed train to Suzhou -My husband and I prefer to just travel around ourselves - without a tour - We could go just to Hangzhou for 2 nights.  We want to leave enough time and not feel rushed.  Thanks -


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## lily28 (Jan 24, 2015)

If you stay 2 days at Hangzhou, then stay at a hotel by the west lake.  It is very scenic and is the highline of the city. You can hire a small boat to tour the lake and ride on a bigger boat to the island in the middle of West Lake.  There is a very famous restaurant along the bank of the West Lake that serve very good but relatively expense local cuisine.  
There is also a famous Buddha temple outside the city; it will take > 1 hour by public transportation.  We took taxi there from the west lake and costed <$10 us.  Once there, there are local tour guides for hire who can provide very good history and information. 
I am not sure whether you plan to base at Shanghai and take side trips.  When we used the high speed train 4 years ago to Hangzhou from Shanghai, there were not much space on the train for big luggages.


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