We did a very small portion of Shanghai in just 3 days!@ Here’s what I loved and would recommend!
The bus tour- Shanghai is large and spread out, so this is your best bet to see as much as possible. We used the bus tour to get to the BUND (the very European section of Shanghai along the river, pearl tower, and Yu Garden). The Bund was my absolute favorite, but I have a thing for European architecture, so it was absolute heaven to me! Yu garden was jammed pack with people, shoulder to shoulder, beware. The biggest struggle about Shanghai was the language barrier, truly no one spoke english-you are on your own. China needs extra patience and pre-trip planning. Also keep in mind the culture in China is very comfortable with pushing, yelling, and shoving. It is the norm here. As westerners this may be shocking, but again understanding their cultural norms helps guard expectations.
The Four seasons at Shanghai spoke english and helped us every step of the way, truly one of the most impressive hotels we’ve ever stayed. Finding kid toiletry kits and kid-sized robes was a wonderful touch. Their infinity pool on the fortieth floor was unmatched. Those views. Breathtaking.
On our last day we did Shanghai Disney and it was beyond amazing, we needed more time there. Since the park was built in 2016 it contained all the latest and greatest tech, mind-blowing truly. A must do with kids!
If I had another day I would have done an excursion out of the city to the old water town: Zhujiajiao Ancient town about 1,700 years old.
[…] the same rule of thumb when visiting Disneyland, (our hong kong disney trip, tokyo disney, and shanghai disney) stay away from weekends and aim for the second half of the day and you won’t have to battle […]