Plan Shanghai by district and river side before assigning attractions to days. Pudong, the historic centre, Suzhou Creek and Hongqiao create different transport patterns, while the two airports need separate arrival plans.
Use these sections to choose daily themes. Check official transport, museum and site information for live access.
Save every hotel, museum branch and transport endpoint in both English and Chinese before travel. Branch names and broad district labels can hide a long final walk, so the map should settle the route before the attraction list does.
AI-assisted destination research by Top10 Shanghai Editorial. Suggested plans are editorial choices; sources and their scope appear below.
01
Start with the correct airport
Confirm PVG or SHA, terminal and hotel district. The airport guide compares metro, Maglev, Airport Link Line and official taxi by the complete route.
Save the destination address in Chinese and keep a payment backup.
- Count onward transfers.
- Follow official signs after arrival.
- Shanghai Airport to City: Metro, Maglev or Taxi?
Choose Shanghai airport transport by airport, terminal, district, luggage and arrival time using official metro, Maglev and taxi guidance.
02
Choose museums by district
Shanghai Museum operates separate branches, while other art institutions cluster in different districts. The museum guide prevents a collection day from becoming a cross-city commute.
Check the exact branch and current exhibition.
- Pin the branch, not only the institution name.
- Choose one district cluster.
- Shanghai Art Museums by District
Choose among Shanghai Museum East, Museum of Art Pudong, West Bund Museum, Power Station of Art and China Art Museum by collection and area.
03
Match science museums to the family
The science-museum guide compares institutions by subject, location and attention demand. Build the day around one anchor and confirm current ticketing on its official page.
Keep the return route simple after a large museum.
- Choose by age and subject.
- Check the exact venue status.
- Shanghai Science Museums for Families
Compare Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, Natural History Museum and Astronomy Museum by subject, location and booking effort.
04
Pick one riverfront perspective
The Bund and Pudong face each other but tell different urban stories. The riverfront and ferry guide explains how public ferries, promenades and viewpoints fit together.
Use current ferry information rather than treating a crossing as guaranteed.
- Choose the bank before the route.
- Keep a bridge or metro fallback.
- Shanghai Riverfronts and Ferries Guide
Choose between the Bund, North Bund, Pudong and West Bund, then decide whether a public ferry or cruise belongs in your Shanghai plan.
05
Follow industry along Suzhou Creek
The Suzhou Creek feature links warehouses, mills, banks and newer cultural uses. It works as a focused walk rather than an attempt to cover the whole waterway.
The historic-streets article then helps distinguish shikumen fabric from commercial recreation.
- Walk one section closely.
- Respect residential lanes.
- Suzhou Creek: Industry, Memory and Art
Read Shanghai's industrial, wartime, postal and creative history along Suzhou Creek through Sihang Warehouse, M50 and the old Post Office.
- How to Read Shanghai's Historic Streets
Learn the difference between shikumen lanes, lilong housing, villas and adapted heritage at Xintiandi, Tianzifang, Nanchang and Wukang roads.
06
Compare Yuyuan and Nanjing Road
Yuyuan Garden and the Old City preserve a designed and religious-commercial setting; Nanjing Road explains a later axis of retail and city life.
Use the two features to compare periods without claiming either street or garden is frozen in time.
- Check entry arrangements.
- Expect active commercial use.
- Inside Yuyuan Garden and Shanghai's Old City
Understand Yuyuan Garden as a Ming private garden, a Jiangnan composition and part of a larger Old City district of temple, market and renewal.
- How Nanjing Road Explains Modern Shanghai
Follow Nanjing Road from the Bund to Jing'an to understand pedestrian retail, department stores, People's Square and protected residential lanes.
Before you decide
Planning questions
What information do I need before planning a Shanghai arrival?
Confirm PVG or SHA, the terminal and the precise hotel address. Save the destination in Chinese as well as English, compare the complete journey and keep a payment backup. The airport guide separates transport options by their useful endpoints.
Sources: Shanghai Municipal People's GovernmentWhy does the Shanghai museum branch matter?
A museum name alone is insufficient for route planning. Check the specific branch, its current exhibition and its location relative to the hotel before arranging the rest of the day. Use the district-based museum guide to avoid unnecessary cross-city travel.
Sources: Shanghai MuseumHow should I combine the Bund and Pudong?
Decide which riverfront perspective is the main visit, then check the actual crossing you intend to use. A ferry, promenade and viewpoint are different parts of the plan; current operating information should settle the connection between them.
Sources: Shanghai Municipal People's GovernmentCheck the details
Sources for your plan
Use the linked operators and institutions to check current arrangements. Each reference states the limited points it supports.
- Transportation at Shanghai airports ↗Shanghai Municipal People's Government · Research date 2026-09-14
Airport locations, terminal structure, Pudong Maglev and metro connections, Hongqiao metro lines, taxi ranks and Airport Link Line orientation; page updated June 4, 2026.
- Welcome to the Shanghai Museum ↗Shanghai Museum · Research date 2026-09-14
Current official domain, separate East and People's Square branches, addresses, current announcements and exhibition navigation.
- Shanghai Science and Technology Museum ↗Shanghai Science and Technology Museum · Research date 2026-09-14
Official visit, ticket, transport, permanent-exhibition and facility navigation for the main Science and Technology Museum.
- The Bund ↗Shanghai Municipal People's Government · Research date 2026-09-14
The Bund's protected waterfront status, length, former financial and trading buildings and orientation across the Huangpu River.
- Spend a day in Shanghai - Citywalk along Suzhou Creek ↗Shanghai Municipal People's Government · Research date 2026-09-14
Suzhou Creek Bay's industrial, commercial and financial history and an official sequence of warehouse, bank and mill sites.
- XINTIANDI ↗Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism · Research date 2026-09-14
Xintiandi's shikumen preservation, early twentieth-century architectural context and conversion from residential to commercial and cultural uses.
- Yuyuan Garden ↗Shanghai Municipal People's Government · Research date 2026-09-14
Ming private-garden origin, protected status, principal landscape elements and connection with City God Temple and Yuyuan Garden Malls.
- Nanjing Road ↗Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism · Research date 2026-09-14
Nanjing Road's origin as a Bund-to-racecourse route, department-store and commercial development and present mix of established and new retail.