4-Day Xi'an to Shanghai Tour with Shanghai Disneyland

Summary

Day 1: Xi'an to Shanghai by Train
Day 2 Shanghai: Yu Garden, Nanjing Road, The Bund
Day 3 Shanghai: Shanghai Disneyland
Day 4 Shanghai: Jade Buddha Temple, Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center, French Concession, Shanghai departure

Day 1: Xi'an to Shanghai by Train

Xi'an to Shanghai by Bullet Train

Your day starts with a private pickup from your Xi'an hotel, and your driver takes you to the station for the high-speed train to Shanghai, a ride of roughly six and a half hours across eastern China. When the train arrives, your guide is waiting at the exit with a Your Way Holiday sign, helps with your bags, and drives you to your hotel so the changeover is quick and clear. Your train time and pickup are confirmed the night before, so you can turn up, board and let the journey unfold.

A Free Evening on the Shanghai Waterfront

After you check in, the rest of the day is yours. Shanghai is easy to enjoy on foot in the evening: a walk along the Bund to watch the lit skyline, a riverside dinner, or an early night after the journey are all good choices. If you want suggestions for where to eat or how to get around, your guide is happy to point you toward metro lines and DiDi pickup spots near your hotel.

Day 2 Shanghai

Yu Garden and the Old City

Yu Garden, laid out in the Ming dynasty more than 400 years ago, is the classical garden of old Shanghai. Pan Yunduan built it as a quiet retreat for his parents, and its pavilions, rockeries, zigzag bridges and koi ponds show the Jiangnan garden style at its most compact. The market streets around it still sell tea, silk and pastries. In the yards near Dianchun Hall and in front of Yuhua Hall stands the Exquisite Jade Rock, a porous garden stone about four metres tall brought from Lake Tai, counted among the three most celebrated rocks of the region.

Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street

In the afternoon your driver brings you to Nanjing Road, one of the most famous shopping streets in China and a working timeline of Shanghai retail, from old department stores and tea houses to glass flagship shops. The central stretch is closed to traffic, so you can walk it slowly, step into the arcades, and watch the neon build as dusk comes on. Your guide can point you to a tailor, a bakery, or a quiet courtyard tea house when you want a break.

The Bund Waterfront

Later the same day you walk the Bund, the waterfront promenade on the west bank of the Huangpu River. Along it stands a row of early-twentieth-century banks and trading houses designed in Gothic, Baroque, Neoclassical and Art Deco styles, sometimes called a museum of architecture. Across the water the Pudong towers, the Oriental Pearl, Jin Mao and the World Financial Center, rise behind them. The old stone facades set against the lit night skyline make the most photographed view in Shanghai, and dusk is when it looks its most striking.

Back to Your Hotel

Your driver collects you after the walk and takes you back to your hotel, so the day ends without you having to work out the metro or a crowded bus home. It is a long but easy day on foot, and the evening is yours to rest or to head out again for dinner if you still have energy.

Day 3 Shanghai

Shanghai Disney Resort

After an easy morning transfer from your hotel, your guide walks you to the gates of Shanghai Disney Resort, the first Disney park in mainland China, sited in Pudong and operated by the Shanghai Shendi Group together with Walt Disney. It opened in June 2016 and spreads across seven themed lands, including Mickey Avenue, the Gardens of Imagination, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland and Toy Story Land. Your guide helps you plan the day around the rides and shows that matter most to you.

Gardens of Imagination

The Gardens of Imagination are the design centerpiece of this park and the heart of Shanghai Disneyland, a ring of formal Chinese gardens rather than the single hub used at other Disney sites. Seven garden rooms each take a theme of family, friendship or happiness, planted with topiary, water channels and hedgerows. From here the sightline runs straight down to the castle, and the quiet paths are a good place to step off the crowd for a photograph.

The Garden of the Twelve Friends

Set within these gardens is the Garden of the Twelve Friends, which pairs each animal of the Chinese zodiac with a Disney character, Rat with Mickey and Tiger with Tigger among them, worked into large tiled mosaics. It is a clever piece of park design made for this China resort, and a favourite spot for families to hunt out all twelve figures. Give it a slow look on the way to the castle rather than hurrying past.

Dumbo the Flying Elephant

One of the gentlest rides in Fantasyland, Dumbo the Flying Elephant lifts you on a set of spinning model elephants that you raise and lower yourself from a control in each seat. It is aimed at younger children and at anyone who wants a calm raised view of Fantasyland rather than a thrill, and the queue is usually short enough to fit in between the bigger attractions.

Fantasia Carousel

Near the gardens stands the Fantasia Carousel, a hand-painted double-decker carousel themed to the Disney film Fantasia, with carved horses on two levels and an organ playing tunes from the films. Rides are short and unhurried, and it is a good place to let children burn off energy between attractions. It sits close to the Alice in Wonderland maze, so the two pair well on the same loop.

World of Marvel

In Tomorrowland, the World of Marvel gathers characters from the Marvel films into themed meet-and-greet spots and interactive attractions, including a superhero session aimed at families. If you have young fans of those films this is a natural stop; if not, it is worth a brief look on your way to the rides you would rather give more time to.

Lunch Inside the Park

Around midday you break for lunch at one of the restaurants inside the park, from quick-service counters to a sit-down place near the pirate show. Your guide can read the wait times with you and suggest whether it is worth walking back out to Mickey Avenue for food. Bring a refillable bottle, as drinking water stations are spread through the lands.

Fantasyland and Enchanted Storybook Castle

After lunch you move into Fantasyland, the largest such land in any Disney park, dominated by the Enchanted Storybook Castle. This is not the Cinderella castle of the Florida or California parks: at about 70 metres it is the tallest and largest Disney castle ever built, and the only one you can walk up through, with several chambers telling different stories and a viewing point over the park. Around its base sit the classic rides and the small fairytale courtyard.

Alice in Wonderland Maze

In the Gardens of Imagination, the Alice in Wonderland Maze is a hedge labyrinth built around the Lewis Carroll story, entered through several doors and filled with scenes and characters, the Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter among them, and a garden of red roses kept for the Red Queen. It is shaded and calm, more of a slow wander than a ride, and a good spot to regroup on a warm afternoon.

The Hunny Pot Spin

Back in Fantasyland, the Hunny Pot Spin drops you into one of eighteen oversized honey jars that spin under your own control, themed to Winnie the Pooh. It is a light, easy ride aimed at small children, with music and a bright splash of colour. Older guests will enjoy it mainly for the photograph, but it is a quick and pleasant stop between the larger attractions.

The Winnie the Pooh Track Ride

Also in Fantasyland, a slow track ride glides through the Hundred Acre Wood, meeting Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore in scenes from the stories. It is calm, dark and gentle, the closest thing in the park to a moving storybook, and one of the rides most worth doing twice if you are travelling with young children.

Heading Back to Your Hotel

At the end of the day your guide and driver meet you at the exit and drive you back through the city to your hotel, so you do not have to work out the metro or a late ride-share with tired children in tow. On the way back your guide can flag somewhere for breakfast the next morning, leaving you free to rest before your open day in Shanghai.

Day 4 Shanghai, Leave Shanghai

A Free Day in Shanghai

Your last day is left open on purpose, with no guided schedule, so you can give it to whichever side of Shanghai interests you most. Your guide and driver are on call if you want them and can arrange a car to anywhere on this list or off it. If you would rather take it easy, the streets around your hotel and the nearest metro station make a good way to finish the trip.

Jade Buddha Temple

For a quieter start, the Jade Buddha Temple in the Jing'an district is a working Buddhist monastery rather than a museum, known for two pale jade Buddha figures brought from Burma in the nineteenth century. Incense, chanting and worshippers are part of daily life here, so visit respectfully and keep your voice low. The carved hall doors and the rows of smaller statues are worth an early arrival.

Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center

If you are interested in how the city grew, the Urban Planning Exhibition Center near People's Square is a whole museum devoted to Shanghai itself. Its centerpiece is an enormous scale model of the inner city, and around it the exhibits trace the waterfront from a river trading port to the grid of towers and metro lines planned for the future. It is a good indoor option on a wet day.

The Former French Concession

For a softer side of the city, walk through the Former French Concession, where plane trees arch over narrow lanes lined with 1920s brick houses, cafes and small galleries. The streets around Wukang Road and Fuxing Park are the nicest to wander on foot, and the afternoon is when the terrace cafes are most lively. It is an easy place to combine shopping, coffee and a slow lunch.

Getting Around and Staying in Touch

Getting about Shanghai is straightforward: the metro is clean, cheap and far-reaching, and a DiDi ride-hail is easy to order from your phone if a station is inconvenient. Your guide stays reachable on WeChat throughout, so you can ask for directions, a restaurant booking, or a good place to be picked up. Keep your hotel card handy for the drive back.

Your Departure by Train

As the four days finish, your guide and driver help you check out and drive you to the station for the high-speed train back to Xi'an, or, if you are staying on, back to your Shanghai hotel. Your bags are loaded and you are walked to the gate so all you have to do is board, with the return journey timed to leave your last morning clear.

Price Per Person in US Dollars