Private Shanghai Tour: Aquarium, Bund, Yu Garden & Tower

Free cancellation

1/9

Duration7h–8h

GroupPrivate

LanguagesEN · DE +4

PickupAt your hotel

A single guide means the itinerary bends to what interests you, not a fixed schedule.

This private guided tour of Shanghai pairs a knowledgeable English-speaking guide with door-to-door pickup and entrance fees to five major stops: Yu Garden's classical pavilions and Nine Bend Bridge, the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium's 155-meter submarine tunnel and 15,000 water creatures, Shanghai Tower's 118th-floor observation deck and highest bookstore, the Bund's 26 historic buildings, plus the local Bird and Flower Market and fabric tailoring district. The guide recommends lunch spots based on your preference and adjusts the day's pace to match your interests.

7h–8h

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Shanghai's highlights with guide

Meet guide at hotel at 09:00 a.m.
Transfer to Shanghai Old City by public transport
Walk around Shanghai Old City and old alleys
Visit Yu Garden and Zigzag Nine Bend Bridge
Visit Mid-Lake Pavilion Teahouse
Visit South Bund Fabric Market
Explore Bird and Flower Market
Guide recommends local dining options
Transfer to Pudong New Area
Walk along Lujiazui Ring Bridge
Visit Shanghai Ocean Aquarium
Visit Shanghai Tower and Duoyun Books
Take express elevator to 118th floor observation deck
Admire panoramic views from 119th floor
Transfer to the Bund
See 26 buildings of various architectural styles
See Bund City Sculptures, Monument to the People's Heroes, Huangpu Park, Waibaidu Bridge
Transfer back to hotel

The Experience

Your guide meets you at your hotel at 9 a.m. and the day starts in Shanghai Old City—the narrow alleys where the earliest banks, gold shops and tea houses of Shanghai once stood. Walking here is how you see how Shanghainese people actually live, not through a bus window. Then you move to Yu Garden, the largest ancient garden in Shanghai, built as a private estate during the Ming Dynasty. The pavilions, halls and rockeries are small in footprint but contain every element a classical Chinese garden should have; you'll cross the Zigzag Nine Bend Bridge (the number nine symbolizes good luck in Chinese tradition) to reach the Mid-Lake Pavilion Teahouse, the oldest teahouse in the city.

The afternoon shifts to modern Shanghai. At the South Bund Fabric Market, hundreds of tailors work in one building—80 percent of customers are foreign visitors who come to commission bespoke clothing. Your guide can walk you through choosing fabric and connecting with a tailor if that interests you. The Bird and Flower Market, at the crossing of Tibet Road and Fangbang Road, fills with locals hunting for bonsai, live birds, fish and insects; it's one of the few places where you're standing alongside residents doing their own shopping, not tourists. Your guide will recommend a place to eat—small local eatery or full-service restaurant, your call.

The Shanghai Ocean Aquarium sits in Pudong's finance district and holds more than 300 species and 15,000 water creatures. The main draw is the submarine viewing tunnel, 155 meters long, where you walk through acrylic and watch sharks, rays and schools of fish swim overhead and past the glass. The exhibits span ten zones—China, South America, Australia, Africa, Southeast Asia, Cold Water, Polar, Deep Ocean and more—with rare species like poison dart frogs, leafy sea dragons and emperor penguins. From there you take the express elevator up Shanghai Tower (632 meters, the city's tallest building) to the 118th-floor observation deck in 55 seconds. Before heading to the top, stop at Duoyun Books on the 52nd floor, the highest bookstore in China, designed like a landscape garden with bookshelves shaped as mountains. The final stop is the Bund, where you walk past 26 buildings spanning different architectural styles—the Peace Hotel, Shanghai Customs House, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank—and look across the Huangpu River at the Pudong skyline.

What’s included

Knowledgeable tour guide in your choice of language.
private transportation with door-to-door hotel pickup and return.
entrance fees to Yu Garden, Shanghai Ocean Aquarium, and Shanghai Tower.
bottled water throughout the day.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleStroller friendlyInfant seats availablePets welcome

Operated by MoreFunAsia

Is this one for you?Book this tour if you want a single guide who knows Shanghai well enough to adjust the day to what actually interests you—the pace stays yours, not locked to a group schedule. The private format also means you're not waiting for others to board a bus or move through the aquarium tunnel; your guide moves when you're ready.

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