Shanghai on $35, $110 or $320 a day
China's neon-lit financial capital — the colonial Bund facing the futuristic Pudong skyline across the Huangpu, plane-tree lanes of the old French Concession, and the F1 Chinese Grand Prix at the vast Shanghai International Circuit in Jiading each spring. A city of dumpling houses, rooftop bars and the world's busiest metro.
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Plan by budget
One city, three ways to travel it.
How much does Shanghai cost per day? Budget travellers get by on about $35 a day, mid-range trips run around $110, and luxury starts near $320 — accommodation, food, transport and activities included. That makes Shanghai the joint 42nd cheapest of 110 cities for a mid-range trip (see all 110 ranked).
Daily budget · Budget
Budget Shanghai is astonishingly cheap on food and transit — soup dumplings for $2, a metro ride for under 50 cents, and hostels in the old town. Street eats and free riverside walks carry the days.
Where your money goes
How to Get There
Where to Stay
Reliable budget chain hotel steps from the Bund waterfront
Map ↗ Check prices on Klook →Long-running backpacker hostel walkable to the Bund and old town
Map ↗ Check prices on Klook →Rooftop-terrace hostel near People's Square metro interchange
Check prices on Klook →Where to Eat
Crispy-bottom sheng jian bao, a Shanghai breakfast institution
Bustling snack street of scallion pancakes, skewers and noodles
Sample 3-Day Itinerary
The Bund and the Old City
Sheng jian bao at Yang's Fry Dumplings, then the Bund from end to end.
Yu Garden's rockeries and pavilions, and the bazaar around them.
The Bund again after dark, when Pudong lights up across the river.
The museum and the Concession
Soup dumplings at Jia Jia Tang Bao, then the free Shanghai Museum on People's Square: bronzes, ceramics and calligraphy.
The plane-tree lanes of the French Concession, out to Wukang Road.
Skewers and scallion pancakes on Wujiang Road.
A water town
Metro Line 17 to Zhujiajiao, a canal town of stone bridges.
A boat on the canals and lunch by the Fangsheng Bridge.
Back into town for the neon of the pedestrian Nanjing Road.
Set up Alipay with a foreign card before arriving — cash is nearly obsolete. The metro to the F1 circuit (Line 11 to Anting) is trivially cheap. Nanjing Road and the Bund cost nothing to wander.
Daily budget · Mid-range
Mid-range unlocks stylish concession boutique hotels, Michelin-cheap dumpling institutions, and speakeasy cocktail bars. Shanghai delivers huge value at this tier.
Where your money goes
How to Get There
Where to Stay
Carbon-neutral boutique in the leafy former French Concession
Map ↗ Check prices on Klook →Ian Schrager design hotel off Nanjing Road with rooftop bars
Map ↗ Check prices on Klook →Mid-market chain hotel with straightforward rooms and breakfast included at most properties.
Check prices on Klook →Where to Eat
Cult Shanghainese home cooking — the red-braised pork is legendary
Map ↗Elegant Shanghainese in a restored villa, private-room dining
Sample 3-Day Itinerary
Shanghai from the top
Yu Garden early, before the tour groups, and xiao long bao at Nanxiang Steamed Bun.
The observation deck of the Shanghai Tower, China's tallest building.
A Huangpu River night cruise between the Bund and Pudong.
The Concession
The French Concession's lanes and the alleys of Tianzifang.
The Propaganda Poster Art Centre, in the basement of an apartment block.
Shanghainese cooking at Fu 1088 in its 1930s villa.
Suzhou by fast train
A high-speed train to Suzhou, about half an hour, for the Humble Administrator's Garden.
The canals of Pingjiang Road and the Suzhou Museum.
Back to Shanghai for Yunnan cooking at Lost Heaven.
Stay in the former French Concession for atmosphere and walkability. A river cruise at night frames the skyline best. Book Grand Prix grandstand seats early — the main straight is the longest in F1.
Daily budget · Luxury
Luxury Shanghai is sky-high Pudong suites, three-Michelin-star tasting menus, and the Bund's grande-dame hotels. The skyline-bar scene is world-class.
Where your money goes
How to Get There
What to Do
Where to Stay
Heritage Bund address with the famous Long Bar restored
Map ↗ Check prices on Klook →The Bund's finest — art-deco grandeur facing the Pudong skyline
Map ↗ Check prices on Klook →Five-star international hotel with a full spa, notable restaurants and the service standard the brand implies.
Map ↗ Check prices on Klook →Where to Eat
Paul Pairet's modern French brasserie overlooking the river
Three-Michelin-star vegetarian in a serene teahouse setting
Three-Michelin-star Italian on the Bund from Umberto Bombana
Ten-seat multisensory tasting, one of the world's most exclusive tables
Sample 3-Day Itinerary
The Bund in style
A private historian along the Bund's banks, hotels and trading houses.
Afternoon tea at the Peninsula.
Ultraviolet's ten-seat multisensory dinner.
Suzhou privately
A private car and guide to the classical gardens of Suzhou.
The Suzhou Museum, designed by I. M. Pei for the city his family came from.
Italian at 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana on the Bund.
Rooftops
The Shanghai Tower's observation deck before the crowds.
The vegetarian tasting menu at Fu He Hui.
A curated night across the rooftop bars of the Bund and Pudong.
The Bund's Peninsula and Waldorf, or Pudong's Ritz and Four Seasons, all deliver. For the GP, hospitality suites overlook the snail-shaped Turns 1–3. Book Ultraviolet months ahead.
About Shanghai
When to go, and what it's like on the ground.
Best time to visit
March–May and September–November are mild; the Grand Prix runs in spring. Summers are hot and humid, winters grey and cold.
Humid subtropical: hot muggy summers (Jun–Aug, 30–35°C), cool damp winters (Dec–Feb, 3–8°C), pleasant spring and autumn.
- January: 5°C average high, 9 rain days, low crowds
- February: 7°C average high, 10 rain days, low crowds
- March: 11°C average high, 12 rain days, moderate crowds
- April: 16°C average high, 12 rain days, high season
- May: 21°C average high, 12 rain days, high season
- June: 25°C average high, 14 rain days, moderate crowds
- July: 29°C average high, 12 rain days, moderate crowds
- August: 29°C average high, 11 rain days, moderate crowds
- September: 25°C average high, 12 rain days, high season
- October: 20°C average high, 9 rain days, high season
- November: 14°C average high, 8 rain days, moderate crowds
- December: 8°C average high, 8 rain days, low crowds
Getting around
Getting around Shanghai
One of the world's best metros — 20 lines, cheap, English signage; Maglev links Pudong airport at 300km/h. Didi ride-hailing works in-app. Very walkable in the concessions.
A travel eSIM gets you online the moment you land in China — data plans start at $4 — no roaming bill, no queue for a local SIM, and nothing to swap in and out of your phone. Install it before you fly.
On foot
Walking routes in Shanghai.
The colonial waterfront, the shopping street behind it, and the Ming dynasty garden in the old city.
Plane-tree streets, the shikumen lanes, the propaganda poster basement and the power station turned gallery.
Where to stay
Shanghai, neighbourhood by neighbourhood.
People's Square & Nanjing Road
The hub of the metro, three lines under one square: the Shanghai Museum, the pedestrian end of Nanjing Road and the city's best-value hostels and chain hotels.
Best for budgetThe Old City
The old walled city around Yu Garden: the bazaar, the City God Temple and some of the last lanes of shikumen houses. Cheap rooms and street food, fifteen minutes' walk from the Bund.
Best for budgetFormer French Concession
The tree-lined lanes west of the centre: art deco apartments, garden villas turned into boutique hotels, Wukang Road and the bars of Yongkang Road. The most walkable part of the city.
Best for mid-rangeJing'an
Around the gilded Jing'an Temple: malls, office towers, many of the best cocktail bars and good mid-range hotels, between the Bund and the Concession.
Best for mid-rangeThe Bund
The banks and trading houses of the waterfront facing Pudong's towers across the Huangpu: the Peninsula, the Waldorf and the rooftop bars, with Nanjing Road at the back door.
Best for luxuryPudong (Lujiazui)
The skyline itself: the Shanghai Tower, the Jin Mao and the Pearl Tower, with hotels on floors where the view is the point. Quiet at night; the Bund is one metro stop away.
Best for luxuryLocal etiquette
Dos & Don'ts
Do
- Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay with a foreign card before you arrive
- Carry your passport — hotels, trains and some sights need it
- Pour tea for others before yourself
- Give and take business cards and gifts with both hands
- Use a map app that works in China — Google Maps does not
- Book the big museums ahead; many need your passport number
Don't
- Stand chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice
- Tip — it is not expected
- Expect Google, WhatsApp or Instagram to work without a VPN
- Follow friendly "students" on Nanjing Road to a tea house — it is a well-known scam
- Point at people with chopsticks
- Talk politics loudly in public
Useful phrases
Say it like a local.
Beyond the city
Day trips worth the journey.
Suzhou
Classical gardens, canals and I. M. Pei's Suzhou Museum.
Zhujiajiao
A canal town of stone bridges and Ming and Qing houses.
Hangzhou
West Lake, its causeways and pagodas, and the Longjing tea villages in the hills.
Wuzhen
A water town of canals, old dye works and wooden houses on stilts.
Shanghai International Circuit
The Chinese Grand Prix track in Jiading, with tours outside race weekend.
Where to eat
Must-try dishes.
Xiao Long Bao
Soup dumplings: pork and hot broth in a pleated skin, bitten open on a spoon.
Sheng Jian Bao
Pan-fried soup buns with crisp bottoms, sesame and spring onion.
Hong Shao Rou
Pork belly braised red and glossy in soy, sugar and Shaoxing wine.
Hairy Crab
Yangcheng Lake mitten crab, steamed, in season from September to November.
Cong You Ban Mian
Noodles tossed in scallion oil fried until the onions turn dark and sweet.
Drunken Chicken
Poached chicken steeped cold in Shaoxing wine.
Ci Fan Tuan
A breakfast roll of sticky rice around a fried dough stick and pickles.
Travel insurance
Do I need travel insurance for China?
Travel insurance is strongly recommended for any trip to Shanghai. Safety is rated Extremely safe with very low street crime; main hazards are traffic and taxi/scam touts near tourist sites. — even in safe destinations, unexpected medical emergencies or trip cancellations can be costly. Make sure your policy covers emergency medical treatment, hospitalisation, trip cancellation, and emergency evacuation.
Visa note: Many nationalities qualify for 144-hour visa-free transit or the 10-year tourist visa; check current China rules before travel.. Some countries require proof of travel insurance as part of the visa application.
Good to know
FAQ: Shanghai travel questions
Is Shanghai safe to visit?
Extremely safe with very low street crime; main hazards are traffic and taxi/scam touts near tourist sites.
When is the best time to visit Shanghai?
March–May and September–November are mild; the Grand Prix runs in spring. Summers are hot and humid, winters grey and cold. Humid subtropical: hot muggy summers (Jun–Aug, 30–35°C), cool damp winters (Dec–Feb, 3–8°C), pleasant spring and autumn.
How much does a trip to Shanghai cost per day?
- Budget $35–$75 / day
- Mid-range $110–$230 / day
- Luxury $320–$850 / day
Do I need a visa to visit China?
Many nationalities qualify for 144-hour visa-free transit or the 10-year tourist visa; check current China rules before travel.
How do I get around Shanghai?
One of the world's best metros — 20 lines, cheap, English signage; Maglev links Pudong airport at 300km/h. Didi ride-hailing works in-app. Very walkable in the concessions. Shanghai has a metro system. Taxi base fare ~$14. Day pass ~$3.
Is tipping expected in Shanghai?
No tipping culture — not expected in restaurants or taxis. Mobile pay (Alipay/WeChat) is near-universal.
What currency is used in China?
The local currency is CNY, and the official language is Mandarin Chinese.
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