How to Travel from Shanghai to Putuoshan (Mount Putuo)?

Driving from Shanghai to Zhoushan, the city with the closest wharfs to Putuoshan, takes merely about 3.5~4 hours. And getting from Zhoushan to Putuoshan needs only about 10~20 minutes. Therefore, you can get from Shanghai to Putuoshan by private car plus ferry in 4~4.5 hours around. This is the most convenient and most efficient way to get from Shanghai to Putuoshan, because you won't waste a lot of time to find the wharfs, airports and train stations! You can travel from your hotel in Shanghai to Putuoshan in ease and convenience.

We China Discovery also offer such warm private car service. If you are in need, please feel free to contact us!

☛ 2 Days Putuoshan Classic Tour from Shanghai

Shanghai Pudong International Airport offers about 1~2 flights to Zhoushan Putuoshan Airport. The flight journey needs about 1 hour. Zhoushan Putuoshan Airport is only 3.6 kilometers and 10 minutes away from Zhujiajian Wugongzhi Wharf by car, which is the closest wharf and has the most frequent ferries to Putuoshan. If you are flight lovers, you can take the flight to Zhoushan, and then ride a ferry at the nearby Zhujiajian Wharf to Putuoshan.

Warm tip: Sometimes there may be no flight arranged from Shanghai to Putuoshan. You are suggested to check the real-time flight schedules.

Some independent visitors prefer to ride a ferry from Shanghai to Putuoshan directly. Shanghai Luochaogang Wharf and Shanghai Wusong Wharf provide about one daily ferry to Putuoshan each. Luochaogang offers a ferry to Putuoshan departing in the early morning. The whole ferry journey takes about 4 hours. Wusong Wharf, which is closer to Shanghai downtown area, has one night ferry to Putuoshan, which sets out at night and arrivers at Putuoshan in the noon of the next day. The entire ferry trip takes about 12 hours. There is also a wharf named Xiaoshangshan Wharf, which though belongs to Zhoushan but shares a closer distance to Shanghai. It has one daily ferry to Putuoshan too. And its ferry ticket includes the bus from Shanghai Pudong Long Distance East Station to get there.

If you want to travel from Putuoshan side back to Shanghai, there are also 2 ferries available. One makes departures in the early afternoon, and the other sets out in the early evening. Here are the ferry schedules from Shanghai to Putuoshan and Putuoshan to Shanghai for your reference:

Many coach stations in Shanghai, like Shanghai Nanpu Bridge Long Distance Tourist Passenger Station (上海南浦大桥长途旅游客运站) and Pudong Long Distance East Station (浦东长途东站), also provide long-distance bus/coach to Zhoushan. You can ride one of those coaches to Zhoushan city downtown area first, and then make a transfer to its wharfs to take a ferry to Putuoshan. The long-distance bus/coach ride takes about 5 hours. And from the downtown area in Zhoushan, it needs about 15 minutes to its Shenjiamen Banshengdog Wharf and about 10 minutes to its Zhujiajian Wugongzhi Wharf. These two wharfs both have ferries to Putuoshan, while only Wugongzhi Wharf operates ferry service at night.

At present, both Putuoshan and Zhoushan City are inaccessible by high speed train. If you want to visit Putuoshan by high speed train, you are required to get to the nearby Ningbo City first. Ningbo offers frequent high speed trains from Shanghai (2~2.5 hrs.), Shenzhen (7.5 hrs.), Xiamen (5 hrs.), Fuzhou (3.5 hrs.), etc.

From Ningbo, you can ride a ferry at its Baifeng Wharf (白峰码头) to Putuoshan. Every day, there are about 2 ferries scheduled. Besides, you can take a private car to Zhoushan to catch a ferry to Putuoshan.

Warm tip: Driving from the railway station to Baifeng Wharf needs 1~1.5 hours. And it takes about 1.5~2 hours if you drive from the railway station to the wharfs in Zhoushan. Considering there are more frequent ferries in Zhoushan, you are suggested to get to Zhoushan to catch a ferry.

Usually, a classic Putuoshan tour from Shanghai takes 2 days around. During such a tour, visitors book a private car service in advance, and then they will start a worry-free tour upon arriving at the airport / train station in Shanghai. The first day is for Putuoshan arrival and the exploration of the southern part of Putuoshan, including the landmark site - the Goddess of Mercy Statue. The next morning is to get up close to the soul heart of Putuoshan, including its most significant temples like Fayu Temple, Huiji Temple, etc. The rest of the day is for leisure hiking and travelling back to Shanghai. It is also very popular to spend 1~2 days more in Shanghai to savor the highlights of this metropolis, like the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Bund, etc.

☛ 2 Days Putuoshan Classic Tour from Shanghai

Some visitors also prefer to extend their Putuoshan tour to Hangzhou even other famous Buddhist places in China, such as Mount Wutai, Mount Emei, Mount Jiuhua, etc.

☛ 4 Days Hangzhou Putuoshan Brief Tour

☛ 5 Days Buddhism Tour to Mount Putuo & Mount Jiuhua from Shanghai

What's your preference? If you have any personal travel ideas, you can also contact us to customize a perfect tour!

Looking for a worry-free Putuoshan Tour without checking ferry schedules and visiting routes? Travel with us China Discovery and let our professional travel consultant help you. No matter you are coming from Shanghai, Ningbo, Hangzhou or any other cities in and out China, we will carefully customize a perfect Putuoshan tour with your say, including your interests, budget, group size, time and every special need. Our experienced and knowledgeable guide will choose the best ferry to/from Putuoshan and introduce you the background of Putuoshan and Guanyin (Avalokitesvara, the Goddess of Mercy)!

If you are interested, please feel free to contact us!