Things to do in Shanghai
Shanghai the way regulars do it: good food, real neighbourhoods, one great cocktail.
This is Shanghai for someone who wants to eat well without a reservation six weeks out, spend mornings in places that still belong to the city, and end each night with a drink worth sitting over. Three days cover the Bund, Jing'an and the French Concession without once feeling like a checklist.
Day 1: Colonial waterfront, then dinner across the river
A morning on the Bund and an art museum in a restored Art Deco building, pan-fried dumplings at Yang's for lunch, dinner across the river at Langyifang, and the Waldorf's Long Bar to close.
- 9:30 AM
The Bund 外滩
Walk the colonial waterfront facing the Lujiazui skyline, best early before the crowds build.
Map - 11:00 AM
Rockbund Art Museum 上海外滩美术馆
Contemporary art in the restored Art Deco Royal Asiatic Society building just off the Bund; Wed to Sun from 11.
Map - 12:30 PM
- 7:30 PM
Langyifang 廊亦舫
Refined Chinese cooking on the Pudong side of the river, with the Bund lit up across the water.
Map - 9:30 PM
The Long Bar at the Waldorf Astoria
The Long Bar at the Waldorf Astoria, legendary colonial-era bar, proper cocktails, atmospheric, and wraps up well before midnight.
Map
Day 2: Jing'an temples, Sichuan heat, French dinner
A gilded temple, a craft-heavy villa museum and a French restaurant locals actually return to make this the day most visitors never have.
- 9:30 AM
Jing'an Temple
Start the morning at this gilded, active Buddhist temple tucked among the malls, a genuinely local ritual.
Map - 12:30 PM
Sichuan Citizen
Sichuan staples in a relaxed Donghu Road room; order the dan dan noodles and the mapo tofu.
Map - 2:30 PM
Shanghai Museum of Arts And Crafts 上海工艺美术博物馆
Lacquer, embroidery and jade carving inside a white French Renaissance villa on Fenyang Road.
Map - 7:30 PM
Racines French Restaurant ＲＡＣＩＮＥＳ根法餐厅
A small French restaurant in the old French Concession lanes for an unfussy, well-cooked dinner.
Map - 9:30 PM
Liquid Laundry
Big Huaihai Road gastropub with house-brewed beer and wood-fired pizza, a short walk from Racines.
Map
Day 3: Dumplings, typewriters, Shanghainese home cooking
A neighbourhood xiaolongbao spot for lunch, a genuinely odd typewriter museum in the afternoon, and Jesse for the kind of Shanghainese dinner you'll be talking about on the flight home.
- 10:30 AM
Haisu Greenland 海粟绿地
A calm neighbourhood park for a slow morning loop before dumplings on Yuyuan Road.
Map - 12:30 PM
- 2:00 PM
Luhanbin Typewriter Museum 陆汉斌打字机博物馆
Rooms of antique typewriters from one man's collection; message ahead to check it's open.
Map - 7:30 PM
Jesse Restaurant
Cramped and classic Shanghainese: red-braised pork and smoked fish. Book ahead.
Map
Where to stay
JIA Shanghai
JIA Shanghai sits right in Jing'an, walkable to Day 2 in full and a straight metro ride to the Bund and French Concession.
Upper House Shanghai
A luxury house in Jing'an near Racines and Liquid Laundry; a splurge for this plan.
Make Shanghai your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App StoreBefore you go
Book ahead
- Yu Garden: a few days ahead
- Shanghai Tower: a few days ahead
- Shanghai Museum: a few days ahead
- Shanghai Museum East: a few days ahead
- Lost Plate Shanghai Food Tour: a few days ahead
- UnTour Food Tours Shanghai: a few days ahead
Skip these
- Never follow a stranger to a tea ceremony, tea festival, bar, massage or student art venue they choose.
- Skip the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel; take the metro or the ferry for the same crossing.
- Photograph Oriental Pearl Tower from the Bund instead of climbing it; Shanghai Tower is the better deck.
- Avoid cheap Delta bus combos with silk, jade and tea factory shopping stops; Suzhou is 30 minutes by train.
The full Shanghai travel guide: when to go, safety, getting around