杭州 · 3 days

Hangzhou

West Lake is a designed shore, not a wilderness and not a palace. Give the city the lake, one temple, and a meal that is not a lakeside banquet. The hills to the west are the tea.

The sky

Today and the next few days

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This is the city forecast, in Celsius. A mountain, gorge, or dune an hour away can be a different day. Data comes from Open-Meteo and is refreshed on this site.

Stay near

East of the lake, on a metro line

Give it

Three days, one of them on foot

Book first

Lingyin, on a weekend

Watch for

Lakeside restaurants with a view and a dull kitchen

Walk a causeway in the morning and leave the painted ten views alone. Lingyin is the booked half day to the west. Leifeng Pagoda is the one paid look back at the water. Longjing is a bus into the tea hills, not a shop on the shore.

Hangzhou East is the huge high-speed station. The metro into town is the move. The airport is to the east as well, a different ride from the rail station.

The local palate is often sweeter and less violent than Sichuan. Dongpo pork and vinegar fish are the plates with pages. A meal facing the water is usually paying for the water.

Getting around

How you actually move.

Metro from Hangzhou East station to the lakeside. Bikes and walking are the right speed on the causeways. Buses climb toward Lingyin and Longjing; a taxi is reasonable for the temple if you already have a slot.

Xixi Wetland is in the west of the city, a separate metro ride, not a stroll from Broken Bridge. Do not try to see the lake, the temple, and the wetland before lunch.

Where to sleep

A neighborhood, not a booking ad.

East of the lake, in the old downtown with a metro stop, puts dinner and the morning walk in reach. It is the default.

The west shore is quieter and farther from the station. Sleep there only if the lake is the whole trip. Hotels that advertise a window onto the water are often the ones with the tired restaurant underneath.

Eat this, not a poster of it