Private Day Excursion to Suzhou and ZhouZhuang Water Village from Shanghai
Description
You will experience two picturesque towns in this private day tour. Su Zhou is one of the oldest towns in Southern China with its nice climate and beautiful gardens, was known as "Paradise on Earth". Zhou Zhuang is the No.1 Water Village in China and always be called "Oriental Venice" because of the interconnected waterways and old residences. Enjoy convenient round trip transportation from your Shanghai hotel or cruise terminal on this enriching tour. You will visit the UNESCO world heritage Master of Nets Garden, Grand Canal, Silk Factory and have a Chinese-style gondola ride in Zhou Zhuang Water Village. An authentic Chinese lunch in Su Zhou is also included. Besides, you will have a professional guide offers informative narration of the sites and share knowledge of China with you.
Tour Options
Itinerary
This full-day exploration of Suzhou City and ZhouZhuang Water Village starts at 8:30 from your hotel or cruise terminal in Shanghai, where your private guide will pick you up and head to Suzhou. The first stop of the day will be the Master-of-Nets Garden. It is the smallest one of the Suzhou residential gardens but is considered as one of the most impressive ones in town. Its unique design, ethereal beauty, and enduring cultural significance have seen it proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Pan Gate was the only entrance to the wall that surrounded ancient Suzhou. It is so famous for its complex of both land and water city gates that many times, people directly refer to it as the "Land and Water Gate".
Afterward, head to the No.1 silk mill. At the factory, you will see complete production of silkworm raising, cocoon sorting, cocoon boiling, reeling, yarn spinning, and packing. Furthermore, at the product exhibition hall, you will see a collection of products produced by this factory.
Then you'll have lunch in a local Chinese restaurant near the Ancient Grand Canal. You will try some local dishes.
After lunch, you will be driven to ZhouZhuang Water Village. Wander about the heart of the village you will get a real feel for local life by the water and enjoy lovely scenes of white-washed houses, stone bridges and traditional-style houses by a boat ride.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Infant meals not included
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
Reviews(34)
You know a wonderful culture amazing views our guide Jaime explained everything very well with a lot of culture
Tom provided a lot of valuable and interesting historical context to my visit to Suzhou and Zhouzhuang Water Village. Some of the historical stories are funny and smart. Tom introduced me to great street food during the tour. Definitely will do another tour with Tom next time I am in Shanghai.
Wonderful tour. Tom was an incredible guide. Great experience and wish we could do it all over again!
Great trip. Tom was very knowledgeable and considerate. My second time to both places (my wife’s first) and I still enjoyed it.
I was picked up directly from the hotel, then went to the ‘Nets Garden’. Tom our TourGuide knew a lot, especially the year who made history and when. It seemed a bit rushed. In the end we got 10 min alone and you can say that too. It's a really nice garden. Nice to look at, but don't find a place to linger forever. Afterwards we went to a canal/bank , was nice but if you have ever been to the Main also not much different. Then we went to a silk factory. I was given a private tour. With me was a married couple they got a tour in Spanish. Mine was in English. The tour was really cool and the products are mega! Would have liked to buy half the store empty, but unfortunately didn't have as much free weight left in the suitcase, so it only became smaller things, like tie and pillowcase. After that, we're out for dinner. That was super relaxed. Tom organized everything. You just had to sit down and eat. It was delicious. Then highlight the Zhouzhuang. You need your passport to enter and you had to buy the tickets at another location. Tom organized everything for us, though. We just had to give him the passport, 5 min later we got the passport again and then we drove on to the entrance from the water city. That's where we first took the boat trip. The city is really beautiful. After that we got another hour to stroll around free rather it went back at 4 pm. Shortly before 6pm I was back at the accommodation. On the whole a really successful day 😊
Tom was an excellent guide. He spoke great English, was very knowledgeable of the history and gave us great recommendations for Shanghai. Our lunch that was included was also very delicious. The car was clean and comfortable. The whole process was easy which gives you ease of mind when traveling.
We were picked up from our hotel by Mary and driver for our excursion to visit Suzhou and the ZhouZhuang water village. We also visited a silk museum which was very interesting. At ZhouZhuang we visited a couple of mansions and finished the tour there with a boat ride on the canals. This village was very picturesque. We were also shouted to lunch.
A great tour overall with highlights being the Master of the Nets Garden and boat ride through Zhouzhang village. Plenty of interesting information and experiences. Mary was a brilliant guide.
Brilliant day trip to Suzhou and Zhouzhuang water town with Mr Tom Zhang our English-speaking guide and driver. We started at 8:30am sharp from our hotel in Downtown Shanghai and returned by 5pm. Tom is fluent in English and is very knowledgable. Highly recommended.
Tom was a great tour guide who was very knowledgeable about the areas he showed us! All activities were planned to maximize the time we had.
