Private Suzhou and Zhouzhuang or Tongli Tour from Shanghai
Description
This private day trip from Shanghai will allow you to see the typical south-east (Jiang’nan) style water-way city Suzhou and the No.1 water town Zhouzhuang or Tongli with about 900 years history. Enjoy a great city and water village overview as well as the local culture from your professional guide. Since this exclusive private tour is just made for you and your party, you can enjoy the travel journey at your own pace. Take this wonderful opportunity to discovery the beauty of the "Oriental Venice".
Tour Options
Itinerary
Your local great guide and the driver will pick up at your Shanghai hotel at your preferred time. Hop on to the comfortable, air-conditioned MPV van and enjoy the nice ride to Suzhou. On the way, spend few mins to discuss with your guide and choose the sites to visit in Suzhou. Follow is the recommended itinerary, as private tour, your itinerary is totally flexible and be sure to let the guide know if need make adjustment .Typically, upon arrival at Suzhou, choose to visit the one of the top classic gardens: The Master of Net’s Garden, spend quality time to explore different sections, appreciate the charming and elegance of the thousand years old garden while learning the interesting history, culture, custom from your guide.
Next you have the option to choose another site in Suzhou, such as Suzhou Silk Factory, enjoy a fascinating silk process from tiny silk worm baby to the fine finished materials. Or you could choose to visit other site such as Beisi Pagoda, Leaning Pagoda at Tiger Hill or Panmen scenic area. After the morning activities, take a break and enjoy a local delightful lunch based on your own dietary requests.
Continue the fun afternoon tour to famous water town, if you choose ZhouZhuang option, you will take a stroll in the old alley streets to soak up its charms and admire famed twin bridges. Plus, visit Mr. Shen Wansan’s House, the courtyard residence of a 14th-century tycoon whose wealth inspired the envy of the first of China's Ming emperor. Admire the classical architecture of Shen’s House as you learn about his fascinating life, you may choose to enjoy a relaxing gondola ride to fully appreciate the beautiful township scenery. If you choose Tongli water town option, you will vist the UNESCO-listed Tuisi Garden,walk cross lucky three Ring bridges, explore the stone-paved alley streets and enjoy an optional gondola boat ride to immerse yourself in the serene and picturesque township scenery. Your tour will then finish with a transfer and drop-off back at your hotel in downtown Shanghai or other downtown area as per requests.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Private pick up and drop off is provided anywhere in dowtown Shanghai. Ourskirts area as PVG airport/Disneyland area ,Songjiang district pickup and drop off can be arranged at surcharge.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- Please wear comfortable shoes
Reviews(45)
Roy, our tour guide, came punctually to our hotel to pick us up for the Suzhou tour. He spoke English well and on the way in the car already began explaining to us what we would be seeing and experiencing for the tour. Roy kept very good time, was extremely knowledgeable about the places we visited. Our first stop was at the Humble Administrator's Garden. There, he was able to explain many details about the layout, artifacts and history of the place. His knowledge was amazing! As lunch was not included in the tour, we asked Roy to recommend a lunch venue and the restaurant he recommended didn't disappoint. Next, we visited the water town of Zhouzhuang, where Roy also shared information about this place. I'd like to add that Roy was very caring as I have to walk with a walking stick and he was always making sure that I'm ok and warning me of uneven surfaces. We would definitely recommend Roy as a tour guide. Before we said our goodbyes, Roy even recommended to us 3 interesting places in Shanghai to visit, where we went and enjoyed ourselves.
We had a one day private tour for four persons. The trip was well organized with a good driver and clean spacious vehicle. Our local guide was knowledgeable and allowed us to go at our own leisure pace - skipping the theatrical and commercial parts. Nice local lunch was organized by the guide and included in the tour. Overall enjoyable and good value. Nice drive in the countryside. Thanks to guide Lulu and Mr. Xu the nice driver.
Great tour to Tongli with guide Rita who was very friendly and knowledgeable. She was flexible and keot our kids entertained during the tour as well. Highly recommend Sunny tours!
Our day tour out of Shanghai to the water town Tongli with private driver and guide Rita was excellent. Rita did an amazing job explaining topics of interest and kept the tour exciting for our 3 young kids. She was very flexible, which was just what we needed. Tongli is an enjoyable and less crowded water town experience. Highly recommend! This was our 3rd booking with Sunny tours this trip and we recommend them for all your Shanghai and Hangzhou tours and transfers.
We had a great trip out of Shanghai with our tour guide Rita. She is very experienced and knowledgeable. She explained to us in details the history of the venues. she was also very patient with us. My family spent much time in shopping and looking at those interesting small shops around. As a result we ended quite late but Rita was very accommodating. She speaks very good English too. A highly recommended trip for everyone!
Our guide, Roy, is exceptionally attentive and helpful. I brought my parents, who require special care, and Roy provided the necessary assistance.
The Private Suzhou and Zhouzhuang Tour from Shanghai proved to be a convenient option for those with limited time to plan their trip. However, the experience had its highs and lows. The Good: - One of the undeniable highlights of the tour was the inclusion of a private air-conditioned Mercedes minivan. This not only ensured a comfortable journey but also added a touch of luxury to our travel experience. - The guide accompanying us was knowledgeable and went the extra mile to provide detailed insights into the historical and cultural significance of the sites we visited. Could Be Better: - The itinerary appeared to be disproportionately focused on Suzhou, somewhat overshadowing the potentially more captivating Zhouzhuang. - A significant part of our time was spent navigating Suzhou, including cross-city travel to places like Tiger Hill. Unfortunately, the visit to Tiger Hill was limited to a quick photo stop downstairs, without the opportunity to ascend the pagoda. This particular stop was added on the day of the tour, consuming more time than anticipated. - The biggest disappointment came when we finally arrived at Zhouzhuang which is China's number one water town. Contrary to the promised 3hours, we were only given half an hour to explore this enchanting destination. This limited time frame left us without the chance to leisurely stroll around or experience the highly anticipated boat ride along the picturesque canals. In conclusion, the Private Suzhou and Zhouzhuang Tour from Shanghai is a suitable choice for those seeking a hassle-free and comfortable travel experience. However, improvements in the tour's balance between Suzhou and Zhouzhuang, as well as better time management at the various stops, could elevate the overall satisfaction of participants.
Dear Guests, Thank you for taking the tour with us and we appreciate your input and tips to help us have better time management of the tour. Indeed Suzhou and Zhouzhuang water town in a day could be rushed if you choose to cover more than 2 sites in Suzhou city itself, but the good point is that our exlcusive private tour allow our guests to have flexibility to choose and adjust the pace during the tour. We wish you could inform your guide duringt the tour you no need to cover so many places ( Our guide wanted to show you as much she could in the time frame you have but due to the unpredicatable traffic and you told us that you must return to Shanghai by 18.30 that same day and ready for your night meeting, which did not leave you enough time to have a deep visit in Zhouzhuang as you wanted.) For the Tiger Hill Pagoda , it's bit far away out of Suzhou city, and the pagoda is not allowed to climb due to the culture protection, normally we just see from outside. We did inform you that we will just see pagoda from outside pre-the tour , you are totally fine with the arrangemnt. If this was not a significant stop for you , we also wish you could tell the guide on the tour and we would have skipped it and save more time for Zhouzhuang water town you prefered. Thank you again for your kind attentiond! We are always striving to ensure a most memorable experience for our guests, 100% customer satisfaction is always our ultimate goal and we are always at our endevor to make it!
We had an amazing day with Sunny. The day was designed around our needs and Sunny ensured we got to see exactly what we wanted. It was fabulous the right amount of info sharing combined with allowing us to just enjoy.
Sunny and Linda were both wonderful and friendly guides! Apart from seeing historic areas of Suzhou, Tongli and the silk museum - they also explained to me the history behind all the areas and gardens we visited which I absolutely loved! As my Chinese was limited so they helped me with simple tasks like getting the tickets to access the areas we needed to go to, ordering food during lunch and getting milk tea. Would highly recommend both to be your guides!
Our tour guide was Rita. Thanks to her we were able to get a great tour of a nice house if Suzhou followed by a relaxing walk and boat ride along the water town of Zhouzhouang. Her knowledge of history, poetry and high culture was a welcome addition to the experience. Highly recommended!
