A weekend in Hangzhou
Bijgewerkt op: 2 sep
Practical information
Hangzhou can easily be reached by train from Shanghai. Make sure you book your train tickets in advance. We booked only a week ahead and had to travel to Hangzhouxi, which is much further from the city, because the other trains were already fully booked.
Hangzhou has too much to offer for just one weekend. If you want to see a lot but still enjoy a relaxing time, plan carefully — but don’t over-plan either. Temples are huge, and distances can be long.
Skip the organised tea plantation tours or guides. We booked one and wouldn’t recommend it. It’s better to just take a Didi there yourself. Tours just take you there and allow you to pick for a while, often ending at tea farms where they try to sell you products. It's better to explore yourself.
Factor in shuttle buses. Some temples can only be reached by shuttle bus, so keep this in mind when planning.
Walk as much as you can. Many areas are perfect for exploring on foot.
See the West Lake show “Enduring Memories of Hangzhou.” Bring earplugs if, like me, you’re sensitive to loud noise. Don’t bother booking VIP tickets. If you need a contact to arrange your tickets, let me know — we were very happy to be able to show our tickets on our phone, instead of queuing at a ticket office to exchange them for paper tickets.
Check my separate story on West Hangzhou. I revisited the tea plantation area on other weekends and explored it much more in depth.
What we did
We caught a train on Friday evening after work and stayed at this hotel, which is both very decent and comfortable, and conveniently located near the lake. It's ideal for a first-time visitor who prefers not to stay in the tea plantations.
On Saturday morning, we strolled to the lake and enjoyed a pleasant walk. We avoided the famous bridge due to the heavy crowd, choosing a quieter path. Simply head right, slightly off the main road and uphill, and you'll discover pagodas, tea houses, temples, and other intriguing sights. That side is very relaxed.
After having a tea we randomly took a taxi to the Lingyin temple. To be honest, we weren't that well prepared and just picked one temple. The taxi took us to the shuttle bus stop and within ten minutes we were on one of the buses. Lingyin temple was crowded, but definitely worth a visit. The statues in the caves, the temple, the surroundings, we loved it all. We had lunch near the temple and it was actually very good. Just pick one of the crowded local restaurants and you'll be fine.
Instead of taking the bus back, we decided to walk to the West Lake and it was beautiful! I can't tell you exactly how we did it, but we just opened Google maps and tried to follow a path that would take us through nature and parks as much as possible. We arrived back at the lake (other side) in the late afternoon when the light was stunning and the vibe was relaxed.
Because we booked the West Lake show in the evening, we decided to slowly walk in that direction and stay in the area. We were a little bit disappointed because on that side there weren't any nice coffee bars or cafés to have a drink while the evening fell. We had to go to a very uninviting Starbucks because there was nothing else. The show itself was very good, though, and I would definitely recommend going if you're in Hangzhou!
After the show we went back to the hotel area and had a cocktail somewhere on the street where there was a market.
