ESPAÑOL

Most tourists visit Suzhou as a day trip from Shanghai.

AIRPORT

There is no airport; the closest is the small Sunan Shuofang International Airport, in Wuxi, or those of Shanghai, Hangzhou and Nanjing. Both Shanghai Pudong and Hongqiao have long-distance buses that go directly from the airport to the city and vice versa:

• Pudong: one every hour, 80 ¥. From 6:20 to 22:00 to the airport and from 10:40 to 19:40 to Suzhou.
• Hongqiao: one every hour, 50 ¥. From 10:00 to 19:00.
• Hangzhou Airport: 30 ¥. We do not know the schedules.

TRAIN

The most recommended transport is, as almost always in China, the train. There are 4 stations, among which 2 stand out:

• Suzhou Railway Station. It is very large and by far the most important. It’s on the high-speed line between Shanghai and Nanjing, so there are more than 100 trains a day to get to and from both cities. Recall that Shanghai has 3 main train stations, to take into account when buying tickets. Its location is excellent for visiting the city on a day trip, as it is located next to the northern part of the moat that surrounds the historic center; Without a doubt it is option number 1 for the majority of travelers. We arrived from Shanghai Central and came back from here in second class, it only took 35 minutes to go and 24 minutes back. As in all large stations, departures are upstairs and arrivals downstairs.

DESTINATION	KIND OF TRAIN	FREQUENCY AND SCHEDULE	DURATION	PRICE FROM (¥)
				1st/2nd class	Soft/Hard Sleeper/Hard seat
Shanghai (all stations)	Both	Every 10 min, 24 hours (less frequent from 00:00 to 5:00)	25m-1h30h (slower are night trains)	60/40	95/65/15
Nanjing	Both	Every 10 min, 24 hours (less frequent from 00:00 to 5:00)	1h30m-3h	165/ 105	125/87
Hangzhou	Both	Every 30m-1h from 08:03 to 04:43 am	1h30m-4h30m	180/110	140/95/40
Huangshan	Normal	18:02 and 21:14	9h40m		230/155/80
Beijing	Normal	4 daily, from 13:24 to 21:54	11h-21h		450/290/150
Guilin North	Normal	11:30	23h30m		540/375/190
Shenzen (no direct to Hong Kong)	High-speed	8:03 and 9:29	12h30m	940/600
	Normal	18:02	28h30m		720/480/260
Chongqing North	High-speed	5 daily, from 6:46 to 10:03 (am)	10-12h	580/485
	Normal	14:44	25h		660/430/230
Chengdu	Both	9 daily, from 6:46 to 22:22	15-45h	700/580	750/500/275
Xi’an	Normal	22 daily, de 4:10 to 23:41	14-27h		510/340/140
Lhasa	Normal	20:58	46h		1230/830/400

• North Station. Especially useful for those who come or go to Beijing. It is almost 9 km north of the previous one, so if we used this station, we should take the metro (line 2 red, the only one that gets there), that will take us to the center. Virtually all trains of this station are high speed.

DESTINATION	KIND OF TRAIN	FREQUENCY AND SCHEDULE	DURATION	PRICE FROM (¥)
				1st/2nd class	Soft/Hard Sleeper/Hard seat
Shanghai (95% to Hongqiao)	95% are high-speed	Every 15-30m from 8:25 to 00:51, plus one at 4:00 am	25m	65/35
Nanjing South	High-speed	Every 10-30m from 5:52 to 20:47, plus 2 more at 1:25 am	1h15m-3h	165/ 100
Hangzhou East	High-speed	12 daily, from 8:25 to 19:21	1h35m	180/110
Beijing South	High-speed	17 daily, from 6:55 to 18:11	5h30m		885/525
Shenzen (no direct to Hong Kong)	High-speed	9:37	12h30m		940/ 590
Chongqing North	High-speed	7:50	12h20m	1670/1045
Chengdu	High-speed	7:50	10h30m	1500/900
Xi’an	High-speed	5 daily, from 6:34 to 16:36	6-8h	1050/640

• New District and Industrial Park stations are about 5km west and east of the historic center. Fewer trains arrive there, and therefore only are recommended to travelers who stay in these areas .

BUS

There are three bus stations, the main ones being the following two:

• South Station. The most practical, since it is immediately south of the historic center:
  • Shanghai: 38 ¥, 90 minutes, every 30 minutes.
  • Nanjing: 75 ¥, 2h15m, every 20 minutes.
  • Hangzhou: 65 ¥, 3h, every 20 minutes.
• North Station, adjacent to the North Train Station. Although it is renovated, it offers fewer destinations:
  • There are no buses to Shanghai.
  • Nanjing: 75 ¥, 2h15m, frequent.
  • Hangzhou: 65 ¥, 3h, frequent.

There are buses to much more remote places, but all those going north (Beijing, Xi’an…) will pass through Nanjing, and those going south (Guilin, Hong Kong…) do so via Hangzhou.

MORE ESSENTIAL INFORMATION IN SUZHOU:

<WHEN TO GO, WHERE TO EAT AND SLEEP, DANGERS AND PROBLEMS               GETTING AROUND AND TO NEARBY VILLAGES>

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