China and Thailand in 18 days

05:30 – 07:00

Airport to hotel

Passport control takes 30–45 minutes: no visa needed, with the waiver in force until 31/12/2026. Then taxi or DiDi — 30–40 min and 55–70 CNY per car to Jiefangbei (two cars for the group), with the hotel address written in Chinese on your phone screen. The metro is not worth it: line 10 does not open until 06:30 and, if you wait for it, it is ~50 min for 7–8 CNY (line 10 to Zengjiayan, change to line 2, off at Linjiangmen) — cheap, but with luggage and no sleep the taxi wins easily.

07:00 – 11:00

First morning

Bags to the hotel and pay for early check-in on at least one room: normal check-in is in the afternoon, and taking turns in the shower changes the whole day. Have a proper xiaomian breakfast (see the stage’s food guide) — a bowl of chilli noodles at eight in the morning is exactly what everyone here does. Then nap with an alarm: 90 minutes, not one more. Sleeping three hours today buys you insomnia tonight and jet lag dragged all the way to Yangshuo.

11:00 – 14:00

Midday · Jiefangbei on foot

All on foot from the hotel. The Liberation Monument (1946) hemmed in by towers; Bayi snack street (八一路好吃街) to graze along; the Luohan Temple (罗汉寺, 10 CNY), Buddhist and still working, wedged between skyscrapers. Finish with Kuixinglou (魁星楼), the building you enter at street level on the 22nd floor and leave on the 1st onto a different street. Chongqing is the "8D city": here the ground floor depends on which way you arrive.

14:00 – 17:30

Afternoon · one of the two staircases

Same idea both times — pick by how your legs feel, a good half hour each, skippable without drama if the group is wrecked. Shibati (十八梯, free, always open, Jiaochangkou metro exit 11): the "eighteen flights" that linked the upper city to the port, rebuilt in 2021 — big, restored and very photogenic, with teahouses and stalls. Shancheng Alley (山城巷, free): far smaller and unmade-up, a long balcony over the Yangtze where people still live.

17:30 – 19:30

Sunset · Nanshan

The classic postcard: the whole Yuzhong peninsula, both rivers wrapped around it, from the Nanshan Yikeshu viewpoint (南山一棵树, 30 CNY, 9:00–22:00). A 30–40 min taxi, 60–80 CNY from Jiefangbei; going up via the Yangtze cableway is the pretty version, but slots vanish and tomorrow you will have it better organised. Get there 40 minutes before sunset —around 19:00 in September— to watch the city light up.

Zero-effort alternative

Eling Park (鹅岭公园, free), ten minutes from the hotel: Kansheng Tower and the confluence of the two rivers below. Less spectacle, no journey.

19:30 – 22:00

Evening

Since you are already up there, dinner on Nanshan’s spring-chicken street (see the food guide): reasonably spicy and no pot — hotpot is tomorrow. On the way back, Hongyadong lit up from Qiansimen bridge (the photo) or from Cangbai Lu at street level (the wall of light). Free, but in high season you need a timed slot from the 洪崖洞 mini-program; the lights go off around 22:00–22:30.

If you land wrecked

Minimum plan, no guilt: shower, nap, Eling Park at dusk, a quick dinner near the hotel and Hongyadong at night, ten minutes away on foot. It is the only day of the trip you can throw overboard without losing anything unrepeatable — tomorrow you see Chongqing in full.

08:00

First thing · book the cableway

Buy the Yangtze cableway (长江索道) slot for this afternoon now: 30 CNY one way on the WeChat mini-program 重庆索道公司, choosing station and time band. In high season slots sell out 2–3 hours ahead —turning up at 15:00 and being offered 20:00 is normal— so book the 17:30–18:00 band in the morning. If it is gone: queue at the booth, or cross the river on the Chaotianmen ferry for a few yuan.

08:30 – 11:00

Morning · Ciqikou

Ciqikou (磁器口, free, metro line 1), and at 8:30–9:00 or it will be impossible: by mid-morning the main street is a souvenir corridor walked in single file. The good part is the side alleys dropping towards the Jialing, the Baolun Temple (宝轮寺, 9th-century, buried inside the village) and the stalls of freshly fried mahua (陈麻花). An hour and a half is plenty: out by 11:00.

11:00 – 12:00

Late morning · Liziba

From Ciqikou: line 1 to Daping, change to line 2, one stop. The viewing platform (观景台) is outside the gates and free: the monorail goes in through the 6th floor of a residential block and out the other side, with a train every 2–4 minutes — no waiting. Better still: get on and ride Liziba → Zengjiayan suspended over the river. It is the best viewpoint in the city and it costs 2 CNY.

12:00 – 15:30

Midday · Three Gorges Museum

Lunch around Jiefangbei or Shibati (see the food guide) and then the museum (三峡博物馆, free, 9:00–17:00, last entry 16:30, closed Mondays — Saturday the 12th is fine). You must book a slot 1–7 days ahead on the 大美重庆 mini-program and enter with your passport. Inside, two halls justify the visit: the Three Gorges —the valley the reservoir swallowed, with whole towns moved up the hillside— and Chongqing as wartime capital (1938–1946), bombed for six years. Ninety minutes covers it. Across the square, free to look at, the Great Hall of the People (1954): a Temple of Heaven at Soviet scale.

Cultural alternative

Huguang Guild Hall (湖广会馆, 30 CNY, 9:00–17:30, closed Mondays): the 18th–19th-century Huguang guild courtyards, telling the story of the mass migration that repopulated Bayu. It is where you see Sichuan opera face-changing (变脸) —the trick of masks vanishing with no visible method— inside the 40-minute "Drunken Bayu" show. Quick, cheap version: a Ciqikou teahouse runs its own face-changing and fire-breathing turn for 28–30 CNY with tea included, late afternoon and evening.

16:00 – 18:30

Afternoon · the cableway and Longmenhao

The cableway, from Xiaoshizi (Yuzhong) to Shangxinjie (Nan’an): five minutes suspended over the river — the shot that appears in every film made here. On the far bank, Longmenhao old street (龙门浩老街, free): restored former-concession houses up the slope, café terraces and the best head-on view of the skyline of Yuzhong, which is exactly what you came for. Back by taxi (~20 CNY) or on your second cableway ticket.

18:30 – 20:00

Dusk · Hongyadong

From outside, which is how it works (洪崖洞): eleven floors of mock stilt houses hung off the cliff, lit up around 19:00. The photo, from Qiansimen bridge; the impact, from below, on Cangbai Lu. Inside it is a shopping mall — though one where floors 1 and 11 both open onto a street. Free, with a timed slot via mini-program in high season.

Evening · hotpot

And here it is serious (see the food guide: the places marked "Day 2"). Expect a 30–60 minute queue at the good ones —you take a number and wait with tea and sunflower seeds— order 鸳鸯锅 (yuanyang, the split pot) if anyone in the group cannot take chilli, and wear nothing that is not going straight into the wash: beef tallow stays in clothes and hair.

To finish (optional)

Two Rivers night cruise (两江游) from Chaotianmen: about 60 minutes, 60 CNY on deck and ~120 in an air-conditioned cabin, with departures until 21:00–21:30. The uncomfortable truth: if you have already done the cableway and Nanshan, the boat shows you the same skyline from a third angle. A good plan if the group still has energy; no loss at all if you go to bed.

If you would rather leave the city

Dazu Shike (大足石刻), the only World Heritage site Chongqing has: some 50,000 Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian figures carved into the rock between the 9th and 13th centuries, much of it with original pigment. High-speed train from Chongqing West or Shapingba (26–33 min, ~40 CNY second class) to Dazu South, plus a 30-minute taxi to Baoding mountain (50–60 CNY); combined ticket 140 CNY. It takes the whole day and replaces the city one: only worth it if someone is pulled more by Buddhist art than by the megacity. The Wulong karst is 2.5 h each way and does not fit.

Rain plan B

Three Gorges Museum + Huguang Guild Hall + Hongyadong (which does have a roof inside) + hotpot. The whole day works undercover; the only casualty is the cableway, and in fog it does not show you much anyway.

15:09 – 16:10

Transfer in Shangrao

Arriving at 15:09, a T4 around 16:00 leaves almost an hour of margin without leaving the station. It is the line that carries on towards Wuyuan and Huangshan North: 20+ trains a day and a 45–60 minute ride. Miss the target and the next one leaves within the hour; the last runs after 21:00.

17:00 – 18:00

Arrival in Tunxi

From Huangshan North to the hotel, taxi or Didi (~30 min, 50–80 CNY; the station is 25 km from Tunxi). The Old Street Yun Zhu sits on Laojie itself. As you check in, ask for what the rate includes: two “Hui Show” (徽韵) tickets and two Xin’an cruise vouchers. Tonight is the night to use them, and there are three of you for two tickets: decide there.

18:00 – 19:30

Sunset · Laojie

Tunxi’s old street (屯溪老街): a kilometre of Ming and Qing arcades with tea, ink and brush shops, which are the good Huizhou souvenir. Wander it without a plan and have dinner on it. If you got the cruise vouchers, the Xin’an boat leaves from the pier beside the street: ask reception for the time.

Evening · Huizhou dinner on Laojie

Order chòu guìyú (臭鳜鱼, fermented mandarin fish: smells fierce, tastes glorious), máo dòufu (毛豆腐, grilled “hairy” tofu) or dāobǎnxiāng (刀板香, cured pork belly). Reliable names: Laojie Diyilou (老街第一楼, the classic, 73–100 CNY/pers.), Dasha Huicaiyuan (大傻徽菜园, more local, ~59) or Chenglong Jiudian (成隆酒店, by the river, ~80).

Before bed

Close the two-day driver package with the hotel: tomorrow Tangkou at 06:50 with the suitcases (checked out), the mountain and ending in Hongcun, where you sleep; on Saturday pick-up in Hongcun at 10:00, Xidi, Bishan and ending at the station. Buy the mountain water and picnic now: nothing is open at 06:30 tomorrow.

If the transfer goes wrong

Trains to Huangshan North keep running past 21:00, so a late G2340 only costs you the wait for the next one. If the connection collapses altogether, a Didi from Shangrao to Tunxi is ~2 h 30 on the motorway and 500–700 CNY per car: expensive, but it saves the night. Warn the hotel if you will arrive after 22:00.

06:30 – 07:40

Before going up

Up at 06:30, with a picnic and 1–1.5 L of water each bought the night before (a bottle costs 6–10 CNY up top). Pre-booked car at 06:50 (150–200 CNY, ~50 min; alternative bus, 20 CNY and 1 h): at the transfer centre of the Huangshan South Gate, in Tangkou, by 07:40 (黄山风景区南大门换乘中心, 汤口镇; show it to the driver: it is the only place you need to reach). The mountain is 黄山 (Huángshān) and the park, 黄山风景区. Checked out, suitcases in the car: tonight you sleep in Hongcun. Compulsory shuttle to 云谷寺 (Yúngǔsì), the lower station of the Yungu cable car (19 CNY, ~20 min). It is a Friday and the park opens at 07:00: at 08:15 at Yungu you are among the first, ahead of the groups.

08:15 – 15:45

The circuit

Go up via Yungu (云谷索道, 80 CNY, big cabins — the groups crowd the other side early) around 08:15. Route: White Goose Ridge → optional detour to Shixin peak (始信峰, +40–60 min) → Beihai → Paiyunting viewpoint (~10:30) → West Sea Grand Canyon downhill, loops 1 and 2 to the bottom (2–2.5 h of stairs hung off the granite, the best of the day) → monorail from the bottom to Tianhai (100 CNY) → picnic → Bright Summit (光明顶, 1,860 m) → Baibu Yunti stairway downhill → Greeting Pine (迎客松, ~15:00) → Yuping cable car down (玉屏索道, 90 CNY; the lower station is 慈光阁, Cíguānggé, where the shuttle back to Tangkou picks you up). Total: ~10–12 km, ~7 h, thousands of steps — demanding but doable with normal fitness.

Luggage storage and Didi · it works without a driver too

The transfer centre has official luggage storage (行李寄存, 10–20 CNY per bag per day, until the last shuttle): since you go up Yungu and come down Yuping, both shuttles return here, so bags are dropped and collected in the same place. With that, Friday works on Didi: Tunxi to Tangkou at 06:50 answers fine (destination 黄山风景区南大门换乘中心, 150–200 CNY; or the bus from 屯溪客运站, ~20 CNY, hourly from 06:30), and at 16:30 there are taxis and daytime Didi at the gate to 宏村停车场 (100–130 CNY). A private driver is only essential on Saturday.

Shortcuts

If the clock bites (the limit is the 16:30 car at Tangkou, to get into Hongcun before 17:30), in this order: 1) skip Shixin; 2) swap the full canyon for loop 1 + Feilaishi rock → Bright Summit (saves ~45 min and 100 CNY, but you lose the best part); 3) short circuit without the canyon (4–5 h). Tiandu peak — open in 2026, with Lianhua closed on rotation — does not fit: a brutal extra 2.5–3 h, a 15:00 checkpoint, and a free reservation that opens 2 days ahead at 21:00 and vanishes.

Mist and rain

Expect 10–17 °C at the summit (8–10 less than the valley): layers, a rain shell (ponchos sell for 10–20 CNY up top) and grippy soles, since wet polished granite skates. In mist or drizzle, go up anyway: it is the classic Huangshan aesthetic, it opens and closes by the minute, and the sea of clouds is most likely right after a front. In sustained heavy rain, do not go up (the canyon would close): swap the two days. Today, with the same driver, Xidi, Bishan and Hongcun with the lanterns; tomorrow the mountain with the train behind it (down by 15:45, car at 16:25, station by 17:20). Real-name tickets can be re-dated up to 24 h before.

15:45 – 17:15

The way down · to Hongcun

Down by ~15:45, shuttle to the visitor centre and car at 16:30 towards Hongcun (宏村, 30 km, 40–50 min). Go in through the main gate before 17:30 with the online ticket (94 CNY, real-name with passport; valid 3 days with re-entry, so it also covers tomorrow by day). The driver drops you in the car park with the suitcases and his day ends here; tomorrow he picks you up in the same spot at 10:00. The guesthouse is 10 min on foot over flagstones: ask them to come and meet you with a trolley.

17:30 – 21:00

Sunset and evening · Hongcun

At 17:30 the ticket offices close and the village empties at once: sunset over South Lake (~18:05), lanterns lit on the pond from 18:30 and, when scheduled, the fish-lantern parade (鱼灯巡游; in 2025, Friday, Saturday and Sunday: confirm on the park’s WeChat the day before). Walk the Half-Moon Pond (月沼) and the Crouching Tiger bridge with the houses lit; the paid interiors, Chengzhi Hall included, are already shut and belong to tomorrow. Dinner inside, seated and unhurried: Huajinglou (画景楼, pond views, ~68 CNY/pers.) or Hongcun Diyilou (~50).

Night · sleeping in Hongcun

After dinner, walk to the guesthouse: nobody drives, nobody waits. Tell the guesthouse your afternoon arrival time (the village closes to traffic and the day’s ticket gets you through the gate at any hour). No compulsory early start tomorrow, but South Lake at 06:30, misty and empty, is Hongcun’s best hour, and it is free for those sleeping inside.

06:30 – 08:00

Dawn · empty Hongcun

No compulsory alarm, but it is worth it: South Lake with the mist lifting and the bridge to yourselves, the Half-Moon Pond with the houses reflected and neighbours washing in the channel. This is the Hongcun day-trippers never see. Breakfast at any stall in the village or at the guesthouse.

08:00 – 10:00

Morning · inside Hongcun

The paid interiors open around 08:00 and the groups arrive at 09:00: go first to Chengzhi Hall (承志堂, 1855, the “commoner’s Forbidden City”: 45–60 min for its gilded carvings), then the Wang clan hall and Nanhu Academy, clockwise. At 09:45, suitcases and off to the car park: the driver at 10:00.

10:30 – 12:45

Mid-morning · Xidi

Xidi (西递), 20 min by car: the Hu Wenguang arch (1578, the only surviving pailou), the Hu clan hall (敬爱堂) and austere lanes with actual residents. 2–2.5 h. The Chinese saying nails it: "Hongcun is a painting, Xidi is a book" — they are not redundant; here architecture and interiors rule.

13:00 – 16:00

Lunch and afternoon · Bishan

Between Xidi and Hongcun, a village with no ticket and no groups (碧山). The Bishan Bookstore (rural branch of Librairie Avant-Garde inside an ancestral hall, with a café) and the Pig’s Inn (猪栏酒吧) for an unhurried lunch. It is the real counterpoint to the ticketed villages, and today it takes the whole afternoon: the car collects you here at 16:15.

16:15 – 17:15

To the station

Leave Bishan at 16:15 with the driver: ~50 km to Huangshan North (黄山北站), ~55 min. Do not leave this leg to Didi: Bishan (碧山村) is a village, no car may turn up at that hour, and there is a train behind it. A car closed in advance, or at the very least have the Pig’s Inn order one for 16:15 as soon as you sit down to lunch. At the station by 17:15 for the 18:25 → 21:11 train (see T5: the 17:26 only if you are well ahead; ~19:56 as a last resort). Dinner is on board or in Shanghai: buy something in Bishan or at the station.

Optional

Mukeng (木坑竹海, 35 CNY, 1 h): the Crouching Tiger bamboo sea, 5 km from Hongcun; its glass bridge (60 CNY) is skippable. With yesterday’s legs and the train behind you, only if you are well ahead at 15:00: it sits between Hongcun and Xidi, so it would come before Xidi.

Morning (until 10:30) · no alarm

Sleep in. A shengjianbao breakfast near the hotel (see the food guide) and metro line 2 from People’s Square to Shanghai Science & Technology Museum (上海科技馆), 15 minutes: the museum is next door.

10:30 – 13:00

Late morning · Shanghai Museum East

The big museum (上海博物馆东馆, free; book on its mini-program if you can, and bring your physical passport; opens at 9:00, closed on Tuesdays). Since 2024 this is where the ritual bronzes, the ceramics and the classical painting live: the best collection of ancient Chinese art after Beijing’s and Taipei’s. Two and a half hours well spent; the bronzes floor is the one not to skip. On Sundays there is a queue at the door, and a booking bypasses it.

13:00 – 14:30

Lunch

Two metro stops to Lujiazui and lunch under the towers: the restaurant floors of IFC Mall or Super Brand Mall, with the river from the upper levels. Nothing memorable, everything easy, and ten minutes on foot from the tower.

14:30 – 17:00

Afternoon · Lujiazui on foot

Lujiazui’s raised circular walkway (free) rings the three towers, the Jin Mao, the “bottle opener” (SWFC) and Shanghai Tower, and is the only spot where you see all three at once. Then the Binjiang riverside promenade southwards, with the whole Bund opposite and benches in the shade: this is the hour for doing nothing after Anhui.

17:00 – 19:00

Sunset · Shanghai Tower

Floor 118 (~180 CNY), 632 metres and the lift in under a minute. Go in an hour before sunset (around 17:50 in late September) and you get day and night on the same ticket: the entire Huangpu bend and the Bund lights coming on towards 18:45. The timed ticket is bought the day before on Trip.com (see bookings: the train ride will do). In haze you see less than from the Bund: check the sky at midday and, if it is murky, keep the tower for Tuesday afternoon, between the Concession and the Bund (it is one ferry ride from the Bund).

19:00 – 21:30

Evening · the river by ferry

Walk down to the Lujiazui ferry pier (陆家嘴轮渡站, 10 min) and cross to the Bund on the city ferry: 2 CNY, five minutes and the same view as the 120 CNY cruise, only shorter. You land at Jinling Dong Lu, at the foot of the promenade, and have dinner around there (the day-12 places in the food guide work just as well today). The Bund is back in the plan on Tuesday at sunset: today, having it opposite is enough.

Rain plan B

The museum stretches into the whole afternoon without effort and the ferry runs regardless. The tower is not worth its ticket in the rain: it moves to Tuesday afternoon, between the Concession and the Bund.

07:00 – 08:15

Before leaving · metro to the park

A quick breakfast and metro line 2 from People’s Square to Jiangsu Road (江苏路), change to line 11 to its terminus, Disney Resort (迪士尼站): ~1 h 05 door to door, 7 CNY. By taxi or Didi it is 45 min and 100–130 CNY. Target: at the gate by 08:15, with your physical passports (checked with the ticket) and security cleared before opening.

08:30 – 10:30

Opening · Zootopia and TRON first

In September the park opens around 08:30 (confirm the exact time in the app, it changes by day). Straight in and to the right: Zootopia (疯狂动物城), the new land, with its Hot Pursuit ride, the park’s longest queue by midday. Then TRON Lightcycle Power Run in Tomorrowland: the motorbike coaster, the best ride in the park. With both done before 10:30 the day is won.

10:30 – 13:00

Late morning · Fantasyland and Adventure Isle

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (the family coaster), Peter Pan’s Flight and the Voyage to the Crystal Grotto, the boat ride passing beneath the castle (奇幻童话城堡). Then Adventure Isle: Roaring Rapids genuinely soaks you (poncho or quick-drying clothes) and Soaring Over the Horizon, the simulated flight over the world, the other big queue: watch the wait time in the app and go in when it drops under 40 min.

13:00 – 14:00

Lunch

Inside it is pricey and middling (80–120 CNY a set): you may bring sealed food and drink, no glass, no alcohol, so a morning picnic from 7-Eleven or FamilyMart saves the queue. If you would rather sit down, the Royal Banquet Hall inside the castle is the expensive character table, and Barbossa’s Bounty in Treasure Cove the most entertaining one.

14:00 – 18:00

Afternoon · Pirates, the parade and the rest

Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure (Treasure Cove) is the ride many people come to this park rather than another for: boats, screens and sets that exist in no other Disney. The Mickey’s Storybook Express parade runs down Mickey Avenue in the early afternoon (time in the app): kerb spot 20 min before. Then the rest as your legs allow: Jet Packs, Buzz Lightyear, the Camp Discovery ropes and walkways, or simply sitting in the castle gardens.

18:00 – 20:15

Dusk · dinner and the castle lit

An early dinner inside or in Disneytown, the shops-and-restaurants strip outside the gate (no ticket needed, re-entry to the park on the same ticket): everything from the Cheesecake Factory to regular Chinese food. At 19:30 head back in and find a spot facing the castle, on the Mickey Avenue side: the night show fills the plaza half an hour before.

20:30 – 21:30

Night · the show and the way back

ILLUMINATE!, fireworks, projections and water over the castle, around 20:30 (time in the app; in September the park closes at 21:00 or shortly after). When it ends everyone heads for the metro at once: wait 15 minutes on Mickey Avenue with the shops open and go down afterwards. Line 11 to Jiangsu Road and line 2 to the hotel, ~1 h 05; the last line 11 train from Disney leaves around 22:30. At the hotel by 23:00.

Optional · Disney Premier Access

The paid skip-the-line is bought in the app on the day, per ride (from ~80–120 CNY each) or as a bundle. On a September Monday it is rarely needed if you are in at opening; if at 11:00 Soaring or Pirates show over 60 min, buy just those two. There is no free version: the old FastPass is gone.

Rain plan B

The park does not close for rain and the big rides (Pirates, Soaring, TRON, Zootopia, Mine Train) are indoors or run regardless; only the parade and, in a storm, the night show are lost. Ponchos cost 30–40 CNY inside; better to bring your own. In an all-day downpour, swap Disney for Tuesday’s plan and keep Disney for Tuesday: the real-name ticket can be re-dated in the app up to the day before.

07:30 – 09:00

Breakfast

On the street, not at the hotel. The four heavenly kings (四大金刚) are gone from the stalls by 9:30, and they are the breakfast Shanghai is losing. The queue-and-institution alternative: Jia Jia Tang Bao, which also falls on the way to People’s Square (see the food guide).

09:00 – 11:00

Morning · Yuyuan

The garden (豫园, 40 CNY, 9:00–16:30, last entry 16:00) is booked on the mini-program with your passport number: sales open 14 days ahead and it is one ticket per person per day; there is a box office too. Be at the gate at 9:00 — it is two hectares and by 11:00 you shuffle in single file. Look for the Exquisite Jade Rock (a Song-dynasty Taihu stone, the house treasure), the dragon walls rippling over the roofs and the opera stage. Outside, the bazaar is free: the Huxinting teahouse mid-pond and the zigzag bridge, with nine turns because evil spirits can only walk straight.

11:00 – 13:00

Late morning · the old town

Today is Tuesday: People’s Square (the historic building, free with your passport, 45 min), the Power Station of Art and Rockbund are open; the Shanghai Museum East, the bronzes, is closed, but you saw it on Sunday. These two hours disappear on their own in the Yuyuan bazaar and the old town, which start at the gate you just walked out of; if you still fancy a museum, the People’s Square building is on the way to the Concession.

13:00 – 14:30

Lunch

Two schools, both in the food guide: the crab-roe xiaolongbao at Nanxiang, inside the bazaar —go up to the 2nd or 3rd floor, the ground floor is takeaway only— or the benbangcai table at Lan Xin, already in the Concession, which drops you exactly where the afternoon starts.

14:30 – 18:00

Afternoon · the Concession on foot

About 4–5 flat km in the shade of the plane trees, unhurried. Come out of the metro (lines 10/11, Jiaotong University) at Wukang Mansion (武康大楼, 1924, by the Hungarian Hudec), the prow presiding over the junction; walk up Wukang Lu with its plaques of famous residents; cross to Anfu Lu (cafés, small shops and the best people-watching of the trip); pass the Wulumuqi Lu market; carry on along Fuxing Xi Lu to Sinan Mansions and Fuxing Park —at 17:00, dominoes, cards and open-air ballroom dancing— and end at Tianzifang, shikumen lanes turned into shops (touristy and fun), or Xintiandi, the polished expensive version.

If you want fewer people

Columbia Circle (上生新所, free): a 1920s American club, an art deco pool and a bookshop. And Zhang Yuan (张园), Jing’an’s restored shikumen block.

18:00 – 19:30

Sunset · the Bund

From Waibaidu Bridge to Yan’an Lu along the raised promenade. The 1920s facades at your back and Pudong in front: the lights come on around 18:45–19:00 in late September, and those twenty minutes of still-blue sky with the city already lit are the photo of the trip. The sightseeing tunnel under the river (50 CNY of psychedelic lighting) can be skipped guilt-free. If you want the version with a drink, the terraces at Bund 18 or the House of Roosevelt look at the same thing from above.

Practicalities on the last full day

Confirm which airport your flight leaves from (Hongqiao ≠ Pudong) and check in online; weigh the bags with everything you bought; keep 100–200 CNY in cash for tomorrow; and buy the tea and gifts today, because at the airport they cost triple. And one rule: no excursions tomorrow. Suzhou and Zhujiajiao belong to today.

Evening

Farewell dinner, and this one you book from home (see the food guide: the places marked "Day 12 · farewell"). Then the last walk along the Bund — much of Pudong’s lighting goes off around 22:00, so go before that. Tomorrow only the airport remains.

After dinner (optional)

Huangpu river cruise: about 50 minutes, 115–135 CNY at night in high season from Shiliupu pier, with departures until 21:00. It is the only way to see both banks at once and moving. The more Shanghainese alternative: the old jazz band at the Fairmont Peace Hotel, playing since the eighties with musicians who have long gone grey.

Rain plan B

Yuyuan handles rain better than it looks (the galleries are roofed), Tianzifang is covered in stretches, and between the Power Station of Art and a teahouse in the bazaar the whole afternoon disappears. The Bund under an umbrella is still the Bund.

07:00 – 08:00

Before leaving · the empty Bund

Shanghai’s best last hour is the Bund at 7:00: nobody there, old men doing tai chi and the haze lifting off Pudong. A shengjianbao breakfast on the way back and check-out at 08:00. Only if the hotel is central; otherwise sleep half an hour longer and leave it.

08:15 – 09:35

To the airport

It is Pudong (PVG), not Hongqiao: they are a good hour apart and mixing them up is this trip’s classic mistake. Metro line 2 takes ~1 h and some trains force a change at Guanglan Road (platform opposite); a taxi is 45–70 min and ~200 CNY, which split between you and with suitcases works out better. The Maglev is a treat: getting to Longyang Road is already 30–40 min of metro.

12:05 – 15:35

The flight · Spring Airlines

9C7281, terminal 2, 4 h 30 to Suvarnabhumi — and an hour you get back on landing, because Thailand is one hour behind. Spring is a real budget airline: 7 kg of hand luggage (20 × 30 × 40 cm) and checked bags are bought separately, in 10 kg steps. Buy them online weeks ahead: at the counter you pay a lot more. No meal included either.

15:35 – 16:45

Landing · formalities

Thailand asks for no visa, but it does ask for the TDAC, the digital arrival card, filled in before you fly. With that, passports and bags take a bit over an hour. Before leaving the terminal: an eSIM or a local SIM (AIS or TrueMove, ~300 THB for a week with plenty of data) and some cash in baht — Samet’s national park fee is not paid by card.

16:45 – 19:30

On the road · to Ban Phe

A private car booked from home, with the driver holding your name at arrivals: 180 km on Motorway 7 and, since the airport is on the east side, you never touch central Bangkok or its traffic. 2 h 30 – 3 h and 2,000–2,600 THB per car including tolls. There is a toilet-and-7-Eleven stop halfway.

19:30 – 20:00

The speedboat · the last hop

The last scheduled ferry from Ban Phe leaves at 18:00, so by then it no longer exists: you cross by private speedboat, ten minutes, 1,800–2,500 THB for the whole boat plus a 200–500 night surcharge. Have the hotel lock it in, with a time and a pier: turning up in Ban Phe after dark to haggle is the one way this day goes wrong.

Before bed

Dinner happens on the island, not on the boat. On Sai Kaew the beach places serve past 22:00, tables set out on the sand and the fish on ice by the door. A pad thai, a cold Chang and bed: tomorrow is the first day of the trip with nothing to visit.

06:15 – 07:00

Sunrise · if China wakes you

You are coming from an hour ahead, so you will wake up by yourselves. The island faces east: the sun comes up over the sea from any beach and at that hour Sai Kaew is empty. At its north end stand the mermaid and the prince from Phra Aphai Mani, Sunthorn Phu’s epic, which is set precisely here — it is the statue in every photo of Samet.

09:00 – 12:30

Morning · the beaches, north to south

You walk them along the coast path, and each cove is smaller and quieter than the last: Sai Kaew (the big one, with loungers and music), Ao Hin Khok, Ao Phai (the sweet spot between service and calm), Ao Tubtim, Ao Nuan — tiny, wedged between rocks, the most hidden — and Ao Cho. With a swim in each one, that is the morning gone.

12:30 – 14:00

Lunch · the fish on ice

At the beach places the fish and shellfish sit on ice by the entrance: you point at a piece, they weigh it in front of you and you pay by weight. Ask for it phao, grilled with salt, with som tam and rice alongside. Confirm the price before it goes on the grill — it is the only possible friction of the day.

14:30 – 17:00

Afternoon · Ao Wong Duean

The crescent to the south: 500 m of sand closed off by two rocky headlands, the island’s second beach and the best balanced for an afternoon — calm water, real shade and kayaks for hire (~300 THB an hour). Ten minutes by songthaew from Sai Kaew.

17:45 – 18:45

Sunset · Ao Prao

The only west-facing beach, on the far side of the island: fifteen minutes by songthaew and the whole sunset. There is not much more than three resorts and a strip of sand, and that is enough. Head back before it is fully dark: the track has no lighting.

19:00 – 21:30

Evening · fire on the sand

Dinner at Ploy Talay, on Sai Kaew: the loudest and the most fun place on the beach, tables sunk into the sand and a fire show at 20:00. For a seat with a view you have to sit down around 19:00. About 200–300 THB a head if you go easy on the seafood.

09:00 – 13:00

Morning · the snorkelling boat

Booked the night before, at any beach place or through the hotel: four hours around the island by Koh Kudee and the eastern islets, with two or three snorkelling stops and gear included. On a shared boat, 600–900 THB per person; a private longtail for the group runs 2,500–3,500 THB. Wear a T-shirt: midday sun here burns you in half an hour.

Alternative · if the sea is up

September is the southwest monsoon and there are days when the boats do not sail. The land alternative is the viewpoint: twenty minutes of short, steep climbing from the central track, with the whole island and the islets below. Do it early or late — at midday, do not even think about it.

13:30 – 14:30

Lunch

Back on the beach, the usual and no ceremony: pad thai, crab fried rice or a clear tom yam. 80–150 THB a plate anywhere, and an hour in the shade before moving again.

15:00 – 18:00

Afternoon · the south, on foot

From Wong Duean southwards the island empties: Ao Thian (Candlelight Beach, sand broken up by granite boulders), Ao Wai — the prettiest on Samet and practically private — and Ao Kiu, almost at the tip. Walk it along the path, a good hour, or take a songthaew to Ao Wai and walk back.

Before bed

Last island night. If you want a change of scene, eat at Ao Wong Duean: quieter than Sai Kaew, tables just as deep in the sand. And lock in tomorrow’s transfer with the hotel — ferry time, which Ban Phe pier, and the car waiting.

08:00 – 12:00

Morning · the last swim

Check-out at 11:00 and bags to reception, where they will keep them without a fuss. The last morning goes entirely on whichever beach you liked best; at 12:00, a quick lunch in Na Dan and off to the pier. Keep dry clothes handy: you reach the car covered in salt.

13:00 – 13:40

The ferry

From Na Dan a slow ferry leaves every hour until 17:00 (40 min, 50–70 THB) and speedboats go when they fill (10 min, 150–300 THB). With luggage and no hurry, take the slow one: go up on the top deck and watch the island pull away. In Ban Phe, careful: there are several piers and the driver waits at one of them — confirm which before you board.

14:00 – 16:45

The road

Private car to Bangkok: 2 h 30 – 3 h on Motorway 7, 2,000–2,600 THB. It is a Saturday and the afternoon run into the city genuinely jams, so the last stretch can stretch to a long hour. Have him drop you at the hotel door, not at the nearest metro entrance.

17:00 – 19:00

Evening · landing in Sukhumvit

Your neighbourhood is one straight road with the skytrain (BTS) running above it and the soi — numbered side lanes — branching off: even numbers north, odd numbers south. With that you cannot get lost. Unpack, shower and get a foot massage in any shopfront on the street (250–350 THB an hour) to shake off the drive.

19:30 – 23:00

Night · Jodd Fairs

Bangkok’s night market of the moment, in Ratchada: a thousand food stalls under coloured awnings, beer in an ice bucket and not a tour bus in sight. MRT Thailand Cultural Centre, exit 4, open daily 17:00 to 01:00. What you order is leng saap, the spicy pork spine you eat wearing plastic gloves.

Alternative · a rooftop instead of the market

If the drive has finished you off, the short plan is Octave, on the roof of the Thonglor Marriott: three levels of terrace, 360º over the city and the BTS stop at the door. Opens at 17:00. One drink costs what a whole dinner costs at the market, and that is Bangkok too.

09:00 – 13:00

Morning · Chatuchak

Fifteen thousand stalls across 27 sections, and it only opens Saturdays and Sundays, 09:00 to 18:00. Go in via MRT Kamphaeng Phet, exit 2, which comes up inside the market by the plant section rather than in the crush at the main gate. Give up on seeing it all before you start, and arrive early: after 12:00 the heat under the awnings is serious.

13:00 – 14:00

Lunch · Or Tor Kor

Same metro station, exit 3, and across the road: Or Tor Kor, the tidiest food market in Bangkok: counters of curry to take away, moo ping off the grill, cut fruit and the best mango sticky rice in the city. You eat standing, it costs 100–200 THB and it is the best meal of the day.

15:00 – 17:00

Afternoon · air conditioning on purpose

At that hour you get out of the sun deliberately, and there are two ways. One: a two-hour Thai massage, 700–900 THB at a proper chain like Health Land, booked in the morning because Sundays fill up. Two: the malls, which here are a genuine plan — Terminal 21 at Asok, each floor decorated as a different city, or the Emporium/EmQuartier/EmSphere complex at Phrom Phong.

17:30 – 19:00

Sunset · Benjakitti

The wetland park they built on an old tobacco factory, ten minutes’ walk from Asok: raised wooden walkways over the lagoons, actual herons and the city’s towers rising behind. It is the best place in Bangkok to watch the sun go down without buying a drink, and at that hour half the city comes out to run.

19:30 – 23:00

Night · rooftop and dinner

The drink, at Octave (BTS Thonglor): three levels of terrace and a full 360º turn over the city, from 17:00. For dinner afterwards, Thonglor and Ekkamai are right there, with everything from plastic tables to tablecloths. Mind the rooftop dress code: no flip-flops, no vests, and they check at the lift.

Alternative · postcard Bangkok

If the Grand Palace wins out in the end, you have to leave at 08:00 and give it the whole morning: it opens at 08:30, closes at 15:30, costs 500 THB and requires covered shoulders and knees (the hotel sarong will not do). Next to it are Wat Pho with the reclining Buddha and, across the river for a few baht, Wat Arun. That is the day gone and Chatuchak left out: pick one.

Before bed

Pack tonight, not tomorrow: the flight leaves at 09:15 and you need to be out of the hotel by 05:45. Order the taxi at reception before you go up, and do not count on hotel breakfast — at that hour there is none.

05:45 – 06:30

The transfer

Taxi from Sukhumvit: 30–40 minutes at that hour and about 350–450 THB, plus tolls, which are paid separately and in cash (roughly 100 THB — have it loose). The Airport Rail Link starts at 05:30 from Phaya Thai, but with luggage at six in the morning the taxi wins easily. Book it at reception the night before.

06:30 – 09:15

At Suvarnabhumi

Etihad check-in on level 4 of the terminal, then passport control, which at seven in the morning is the airport’s rush hour. Watch the gate: some departures leave from the SAT-1 satellite, reached by an automated train that adds a good fifteen minutes. Check it on the boarding pass as soon as you have it.

09:15 – 19:40

The flight · two legs

EY403 to Abu Dhabi (6 h 20, Airbus A350) and EY103 to Madrid (7 h 35, Boeing 787 operated by Air Europa for Etihad). A meal on both. You leave at 09:15 on Monday and land at Barajas T4 at 19:40 the same Monday: the clock gives you five hours back.

12:35 – 14:05

The connection · ninety minutes in Abu Dhabi

Short but legal: ninety minutes in Terminal A, without collecting bags — they are checked through to Madrid — and without clearing customs. You cross the transit security check and walk a fair way, because the terminal is enormous. Do not linger: check the screen the moment you are off the plane and head straight for the gate.

If the first leg is late

With ninety minutes of margin, a delay of more than 45 minutes on EY403 eats the connection. If it happens, tell the crew during the flight and ask for assistance on arrival: since it is a single Etihad ticket, rebooking you on the next flight to Madrid is their problem, not yours.