Zhejiang is a coastal province in eastern China, on the southern shore of the Yangtze River Delta and the East China Sea. It is one of China's smallest provinces by land area yet one of its wealthiest and most densely populated, anchored by the historic capital Hangzhou and its famous West Lake. Zhejiang is celebrated for its canal-laced water towns, sacred Buddhist mountain of Putuo Shan, tea plantations, and a coastline scattered with thousands of islands.
Top day trips
Handpicked excursions within easy reach.
Wuzhen Water Town
Wuzhen is a canal town split into two managed sections, Dongzha (East Scenic Zone) and Xizha (West Scenic Zone), with Xizha being the larger, more atmospheric area where visitors can stay overnight in converted guesthouses. Stone bridges, wood-lattice houses on stilts over the water, and a working dye workshop give a sense of a Jiangnan trading town, though the scale of restoration and the entry-ticket system make it feel curated rather than lived-in. It works well as a single, unhurried day if you focus on Xizha, or as an overnight if you want to see the lanes lit up after the day-trip crowds leave.
Highlights: Hand-poled wooden boat ride along the Xizha canal · Blue Nankeen Exhibition Hall's indigo-dyeing workshop · Evening lantern lighting along the canal-side lanes · Mulian Theatre folk opera performances · Century-old pawnshop museum and wood-carving workshops
Xitang Water Town
Xitang is a canal town known for its covered corridor walkways (langpeng) that run along the water's edge, letting you walk for long stretches sheltered from sun or rain - a feature distinct from the other Zhejiang water towns. It has nine intersecting canals and over a hundred small lanes and alleys, and unlike Wuzhen it isn't fully walled off into a single ticketed enclosure, so parts of the town blend into ordinary local life. It suits a relaxed day of walking and boat-watching rather than a checklist of sights.
Highlights: Nine intersecting canals crossed by dozens of stone bridges · Yanyu Corridor, a kilometre-long covered canal-side walkway · Xitang Number One Alley, a lane less than a metre wide · Evening lantern reflections along the main canal · Chenjiaci Ancestral Hall and traditional craft workshops
Shaoxing Old City
Shaoxing's old city is a working city built around canals rather than a preserved theme-park town, home to Lu Xun's former residence and neighborhood, the birthplace of Shaoxing rice wine, and the calligrapher Wang Xizhi's Orchid Pavilion tradition. Because it's a real city center rather than a single ticketed scenic zone, a day here mixes museum visits, canal-side streets, and ordinary shops and eateries, giving a different texture from the water towns further north. It suits visitors who want cultural and literary history alongside the canal scenery.
Highlights: Lu Xun's Former Residence and Memorial Hall · Cangqiao Historic Street's canal-side Ming and Qing architecture · Black-awning wupeng canal boats poled by boatmen · Shen Garden (Shenyuan), a classical garden linked to poet Lu You · Bazi Bridge, one of China's oldest surviving stone bridges
Nanxun Ancient Town
Nanxun grew wealthy from the silk trade in the late Qing and early Republican periods, and its old town shows this in a way the other Zhejiang water towns don't: several large merchant compounds here mix traditional Chinese courtyard architecture with Western-style rooms, wood paneling, and stained glass, reflecting the trade connections of Nanxun's silk merchants. It's generally less crowded than Wuzhen or Xitang, which makes the canal walks and mansion visits feel less rushed.
Highlights: Zhang Shiming's Former Residence, blending Chinese and European architecture · Xiaolianzhuang Garden, a classical private garden with lotus ponds · Baijian Building, a long row of Qing-dynasty riverside houses · Tongjin Bridge, the town's largest stone arch bridge · Canal boat rides past former silk-merchant warehouses
Moganshan
Moganshan is a hill retreat above Deqing known for its bamboo forests and a cluster of early-20th-century Western-style stone villas built as a summer escape for foreign residents and later Chinese officials, giving the mountain a distinctly different character from the canal towns nearby. Today it mixes a scenic area with paved trails through bamboo groves and viewpoints with a village of boutique guesthouses converted from the old villas, and it's popular as a cooler-air escape from Hangzhou's summer heat.
Highlights: Bamboo Sea (Zhuhai), a dense moso bamboo forest with walking trails · Colonial-era stone villas around Yin Shan Jie · Wuling Waterfall near the main scenic area entrance · Panoramic hiking routes to Jianzhu Peak and Tashan · Cool mountain climate, popular as a summer escape from the heat
Qiandao Lake (Thousand Island Lake)
Qiandao Lake is a large reservoir created in the 1950s when the Xin'an River was dammed, submerging an old county town and leaving over a thousand forested hilltops as islands across the water. It's the furthest of these day trips from Hangzhou and is built around boat tours between island clusters rather than walking a historic town, so the day is shaped by ferry schedules and the specific island route you choose. It suits visitors who want lake and forest scenery over architecture or history.
Highlights: Meifeng Island's viewing tower with panoramic lake views · Boat tours through the reservoir's more than 1,000 forested islands · Clear reservoir water formed by the 1950s damming of the Xin'an River · Steamed Qiandao Lake fish, the area's signature dish · Lakeside promenade and pier at Chun'an town
Trips by distance
How far you can go in a day.
Getting there
Transport options for day trips.
- Tours
- Organized day tours from Hangzhou to Wuzhen, Xitang, or Moganshan run from around CNY 250-450 (about USD 37.26-67.06) per person including round-trip transport and a guide
- Private
- Private car with driver from about CNY 500-700 (about USD 74.52-104.32) per day, bookable through hotel concierges or apps like Didi Premier; useful for Moganshan and Qiandao Lake
- Public
- High-speed rail from Hangzhou East covers Shaoxing, Wenzhou, and Tongxiang (for Wuzhen); intercity coaches from Hangzhou's bus stations reach Wuzhen, Xitang, Moganshan, and Qiandao Lake directly
- Rental
- Self-drive rental is impractical without a converted Chinese license; hired cars with drivers from about CNY 300-500/day (about USD 44.71-74.52) work well for multi-stop canal-town or hill itineraries
Multi-day tours from Zhejiang
If you have longer than a day, these are organised multi-day trips that start here.
Browse multi-day tours from ZhejiangWe may earn a commission from bookings made through this link.
Day trip tips
Make the most of your excursions.
Book high-speed rail tickets on the 12306 app or Trip.com in advance for Shaoxing and Wenzhou trips - popular departure times sell out on weekends and holidays
Canal towns like Wuzhen and Xitang charge a scenic-area entrance fee - buy tickets online in advance to skip the gate queue
Weekend and public-holiday crowds at Wuzhen, Xitang, and Moganshan are heavy - a weekday visit or an early morning start is far more comfortable
Qiandao Lake and Moganshan trips work best with a hired car or driver, since the sights are spread out and public bus frequency drops outside peak season
Bring a passport for train ticket purchase and any hotel or guesthouse check-in on overnight extensions of these trips