Hangzhou and Suzhou Travel Guide: West Lake, Gardens, Trains

Hangzhou and Suzhou are the pair Chinese travellers have long summed up as "heaven above, Suzhou and Hangzhou below". Hangzhou has West Lake, which you can walk around for free, plus Lingyin Temple and the Longjing tea fields. Suzhou has UNESCO-listed classical gardens and an old canal street. High-speed trains link them in about 1.5 to 2 hours. This guide says where to go, how to connect the two cities, and what we could not verify. Entry rules, payments and internet limits are on the China hub. Facts were checked on 16 and 17 October 2026.

Who the two cities suit

They suit people who like slow walks by water, gardens and temples more than skyscrapers or theme parks. Wikivoyage says Hangzhou was the capital of the Southern Song dynasty from 1127 to 1276 and that West Lake became a World Heritage Site in 2011. Suzhou has long been a centre of Wu culture, and its classical gardens are listed as 9 gardens. If you want shopping malls or amusement parks, a bigger city such as Chengdu or Beijing fits better.

Plan around two things. Both cities sit in the lower Yangtze region, where rain falls on 8 to 15 days in every month (see the climate table), and on China's public holidays the lake and gardens are packed.

The cities in words

Hangzhou

• West Lake and Hubin. The lake is in the city centre. Hubin on the east shore has lakeside parks and boat piers. Wikivoyage puts the walk around the lake at about 12 km, and the east shore is reached by Metro Line 1 at Longxiangqiao or Fengqilu station.
• Su Causeway and the lake islands. Su Causeway is almost 3 km long and dates from 1189, per Wikivoyage. Boats go to Three Pools Mirroring the Moon island from piers around the lake.
• Wulin. The business district north of the lake, with metro lines and hotels at many price levels.
• Lingyin and Longjing. West of the lake, some distance from Hubin, reached by bus or taxi. Details are on the Lingyin page.
• Xixi and Hangzhou East station. Xixi wetland is in the north-west. Hangzhou East is the main high-speed rail hub in the east.

Suzhou

• The old city. Wikivoyage describes a rectangle of about 6 x 3 km that holds most sights. You can walk between them if it is not too hot, but pavements are narrow and parked scooters crowd them.
• Humble Administrator's Garden, Suzhou Museum and Pingjiang Road. These sit close together in the north-east corner. Pingjiang Road runs south from there into the centre.
• Guanqian Street. A pedestrian shopping street in the centre.
• Suzhou railway station. On the ring road north of the old city, on Metro Lines 2 and 4, a 20 to 30 minute walk from the old city per Wikivoyage.
• Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) and Jinji Lake. East of the old city, with many hotels.

Hangzhou: main sights

West Lake. Walking around the lake costs nothing. Wikivoyage says the lake is open 24 hours and free. A 2012 article by Hangzhou News says West Lake is a 5A scenic area with no entrance fee and that 52 parks and museums (73%) around the lake were free that year. That figure is old and does not prove everything is free today. Boats and some sights inside cost extra. Boat prices we collected from Hangzhou city media are on the West Lake page.

Lingyin Temple and Feilaifeng. A large Buddhist temple west of the lake, next to the rock carvings of Feilaifeng. Since 1 December 2025 there has been no entry fee, but you must reserve a named slot at least one day in advance, and foreigners can reserve with a passport (official notice). Quotas, hours and rules are on the Lingyin Temple page.

Longjing (Dragon Well) tea fields. Wikivoyage says the tea fields are free to visit, that picking generally runs from the first week of March to after the May holiday, and that tea bought then is best. We did not check road routes to the tea villages or tea prices in the shops.

Xixi National Wetland Park. Wikivoyage says it opened in May 2005, lies in the far west of the city and suits bird and wildlife watching. We have not checked the entry fee and hours on the park's official site.

Leifeng Pagoda. Wikivoyage says it was built in 977 and rebuilt in 2000, with escalators and a lift, and that the original foundation can be seen through glass on the ground floor. The CNY 40 entry it lists dates from March 2018 and is too old to rely on. Check the current price.

Suzhou: gardens and canal streets

The classical gardens. Wikivoyage says the World Heritage listing "Classical Gardens of Suzhou" covers 9 of the best gardens, built between the 11th and 19th centuries, including the Humble Administrator's Garden, the Lingering Garden and the Master of the Nets Garden. Each charges its own fee. The Humble Administrator's Garden is the best known. Fees, hours and booking are on the Humble Administrator's Garden page.

Pingjiang Road. Wikivoyage describes an old stone-paved street more than a thousand years old, lined with shops that keep the traditional building form, running south from near the Humble Administrator's Garden. It has several cafes, and the northern end where shops thin out is quieter. We did not check shop hours or canal activities.

Suzhou Museum. Wikivoyage says I.M. Pei designed it, that it is open Tuesday to Sunday 09:00 to 17:00 and sits near the garden's entrance. It also mentions booking at the main branch, which suggests you may need to reserve ahead. We have not checked the museum's own site.

Tongli and Zhouzhuang water towns. Wikivoyage says Suzhou tour companies run trips to several water towns including Zhouzhuang, Tongli and Luzhi, all within an hour of central Suzhou. Tongli is about 30 km to the south, as noted in its listing for the Retreat and Reflection Garden. We have not checked town entry fees or bus times.

Connecting the two cities by train

We queried China Railway's 12306 system for travel on Tuesday 20 October 2026 and read it on 16 October 2026. Times and train counts change daily, so check 12306 again before you buy. We did not check fares.

"Typical" is the median train that day. Suzhou has several stations: choose Suzhou (苏州) for the old city. Wikivoyage says Suzhou station is north of the old city on Metro Lines 2 and 4, while Suzhou North (苏州北) serves Beijing-line trains and is out in the suburbs. Foreigners can buy tickets on the English 12306 site and app with a passport after identity verification, covered on the China hub. Wikivoyage says the station vending machines do not work without a Chinese ID, so foreigners must buy at a counter with a passport.

If you fly into Shanghai, both cities are a short train from Hongqiao station, as the table shows: 45 minutes to Hangzhou East and 25 minutes to Suzhou at the fastest. We have not compared air fares into Shanghai and Hangzhou, and we have no Shanghai page in this section yet.

Getting to Hangzhou and Suzhou by air

We have not opened the airlines' schedules or Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport's own timetable (the airport site's search needs a date). The only data we found is from a ticket aggregator, which showed some low-cost services from Thai airports; it also mixes in connecting flights and changes by season, so it is a hint that nonstop service may exist, not a confirmation. For your own origin, check the airline's schedule and prefer a flight without a change.

Suzhou has no civil airport. Wikivoyage lists Shanghai (Pudong and Hongqiao), Hangzhou or Nanjing. If you land at Hangzhou, take the train from Hangzhou East to Suzhou as in the table.

From Xiaoshan Airport (HGH) into Hangzhou

We did not check the metro terminus names, first and last trains or real metered fares. Wikivoyage warns that taxis are scarce during festivals and in rain. Use a ride-hailing app or take the metro instead.

Seasons and weather

Hangzhou climate normals for 1991 to 2020 from Wikipedia (not official). Suzhou is similar: January high 8.1 and low 1.8, July high 33.0 and low 26.1.

In our view April and May and October and November are the most comfortable months for walking. October has the fewest rain days in the table, but 1 to 7 October is China's National Day week when crowds are heavy and Wikivoyage warns that taxis are hard to find. June has the most rain days, July and August are hot and humid, and January lows fall to about 2 C. For the tea harvest at Longjing, Wikivoyage says early March to after the May holiday.

How many days, and where to start

Our suggestion, not official guidance.

• 3 days (one city, or rushed). Hangzhou for 2 days: West Lake and Su Causeway on day one, Lingyin and the tea fields on day two. Then the train to Suzhou for a day on Pingjiang Road and the Humble Administrator's Garden.
• 4 to 5 days (recommended). Hangzhou for 2 to 3 days including Xixi or a water town, then the train to Suzhou in the late morning and Pingjiang Road in the afternoon. The next day, enter the Humble Administrator's Garden when it opens, add the Suzhou Museum, and spend half a day at Tongli or Zhouzhuang.
• If you continue to Shanghai. Shanghai is not part of this package; use the train table to reach Hongqiao.

Where to stay

We checked 12 hotels on their own sites across 8 areas of the two cities: West Lake and Hubin, Wulin, Qingchun Road, Hangzhou East station, Xixi, Pingjiang and Guanqian, Suzhou station and Suzhou Industrial Park with Jinji Lake. See where to stay in Hangzhou and Suzhou.

Links on this page and our earnings

The search buttons on this page open providers' hotel search pages. As of 17 October 2026 we have no registered affiliate link for Hangzhou or Suzhou accommodation and earn no commission from them yet. We have not compared prices. You can book directly with a hotel or any provider you like.

Hand-picked places to stay

Examples of established Hangzhou hotels, spread across areas and budget bands. Every fact below was checked against the hotel's own website or a reputable source on 2026-10-16 and links to that source. We have not stayed at these places and give no ratings; we show no prices because rates change daily. The band is the property class (hostel or guesthouse, mid-range, upscale), not a live price.

Frequently asked questions

How this guide compares

We read China Highlights' Hangzhou guide and Travel China Guide's Hangzhou page as English benchmarks on 17 October 2026. China Highlights (updated 14 July 2026) is a good first-time itinerary with tea villages and water towns, but its transport section gives no train durations, station names or fares, and it gives no prices or opening hours. Travel China Guide's page (updated 18 August 2025) is a history article with no train times, prices, hotels or mention of Lingyin. This page gives a dated 12306 timetable table, names the stations to choose, prints the official Lingyin booking rules and says where our facts come from.

See also

• China hub: entry rules, payments, internet, trains
• Where to stay in Hangzhou and Suzhou
• West Lake: free to walk, boat prices
• Lingyin Temple: free entry, booking required
• Humble Administrator's Garden, Suzhou
• Xi'an travel guide
• Chengdu travel guide

Prices, schedules and entry rules change. Figures here are approximate as of 2026; always confirm on the official or operator page before you book. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.