How to Get to & around Suzhou

Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (上海虹桥国际机场, SHA)

Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport is about 90 km (about 1.5 hours' drive) away from Suzhou City. It serves frequent domestic flights to China's major cities (like Beijing, Xian, Guangzhou, Guilin, Chengdu, Tianjin, Kunming, Qingdao, etc.) and some international (regional) flights to some cites (including Seoul, Tokyo, Macau, Hong Kong, Taipei, etc.).

Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station are just adjacent. As your airplane lands at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, you can conveniently take a high speed train to Suzhou. The fastest high speed train takes only 25 minutes. Read more about Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and Flights Schedule>

Shanghai Pudong International Airport (上海浦东国际机场, PVG)

Shanghai Pudong International Airport is about 140 km (about 2 hours' drive) away from Suzhou City. As a main international airport of China, it operates a lot of international flights to more than 90 international cities in different continents (including Asia, Oceania, Europe, America, Africa, etc.) and many domestic flights to more than 60 domestic cities (including Beijing, Xian, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Guilin, Chengdu, Kunming, Changsha, Qingdao, Lijiang, etc.).

From Shanghai Pudong Airport, you can take a coach to Suzhou which takes about 3 hours. It is also available to get to Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station or Shanghai Railway Station by metro or public bus and then take a high speed train to Suzhou. Read more about Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Flights Schedule>

Wuxi Sunan Shuofang International Airport (苏南硕放机场, WUX)

Wuxi Sunan Shuofang International Airport is located in Wuxi City, about 40 km away from Suzhou City. It connects some international cities (like Osaka, Nagoya, Singapore…) by international flights and major cities of China (like Beijing, Xian, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Lijiang, Dalian, Qingdao, Shenyang, Harbin, etc.) by domestic flights.

It is available to take an airport shuttle bus from Sunan Shuofang Airport to Suzhou North Railway Station and the whole bus journey is around 45 minutes long. You can also take a metro or airport shuttle bus to Wuxi Railway Station and then take a high speed train to Suzhou.

Distance: about 100 km (about 2 hours' drive or about 0.5~1 hour's high speed train)

Generally speaking, Shanghai is the best gateway to Suzhou, because it is close to Suzhou and easy to reach. As the best preface of a China tour, Shanghai can be reached by both international flights and domestic flights easily, and it offers a lot of things to see and to do. After your Shanghai trip, you can conveniently take a high speed train to Suzhou. Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station runs high speed trains to Suzhou Railway Station, Suzhou North Railway Station and Suzhou Xinqu Railway Station, while Shanghai Railway Station runs high speed trains to Suzhou Railway Station, Suzhou North Railway Station and Suzhou Yuanqu Railway Station. The high speed train journey takes 0.5~1 hour only. There are also some normal trains running from Shanghai South Railway Station and Shanghai Railway Station to Suzhou Railway Station, taking 45 minutes to 1.5 hours usually. Besides trains, you can also get to Suzhou from Shanghai by coach.

Helpful Links: Transfer between Shanghai and Suzhou | How to Plan Shanghai Suzhou Tours

Best-selling Shanghai Suzhou Tour: 4 Days Shanghai Suzhou Excellent Tour

Distance: about 230 km (about 3 hours' drive or about 1~2 hour's high speed train)

As the old capital of 6 dynasties and present provincial city of Jiangsu City, Nanjing is also a great tourist destination for travelers who are interested in Chinese history. After exploring the history of China in Nanjing, Suzhou is a great extension for more cultural exploration. Taking high speed train is the most recommended way to travel from Nanjing to Suzhou. There are more than 180 daily high speed trains running from Nanjing South Railway Station and Nanjing Railway Station to Suzhou Railway Station and Suzhou North Railway Station. Taking a high speed G-trains, you can even get to Suzhou from Nanjing within 1 hour. Besides high speed train, you can also have a more budget trip, but it needs longer time to get to Suzhou.

• Helpful Links: Nanjing to Suzhou Transfer | Nanjing Tours

Best-selling Nanjing Suzhou Tour: 5 Days Jiangsu Tour (Suzhou, Wuxi & Nanjing)

Suzhou to Tongli Water Town Transfer

Tongli Water Town is located southwest of Suzhou and about 25 km away from the city area. It not only features with water town views of beautiful bridges, flowing rivers and old residential houses, but also enjoys the elegance of the Classical Gardens of Suzhou. Retreat & Reflection Garden, listed as UNESECO World Heritage site is just hidden in this water town. If you want to travel from Tongli Water Town after your Suzhou City exploration, you can choose to take metro Line 4, take a bus or call a taxi. If you want a comfortable and efficient transfer, you can use the private service of China Discovery. It needs only 40 minutes in a private car.

Helpful Links: Detailed Suzhou to Tongli Transfer | Tongli Water Town

Suzhou to Zhouzhuang Water Town Transfer

Zhouzhuang Water Town, once honored as the No.1 Water Town of China, is worth visiting as well. Here can you see many bridges in different shapes and various lanes lined with old houses as well as some historical sites. Located about 45 km away from Suzhou City, Zhouzhuang can be reached by private car in a duration of 1 hour usually. You can also take a public bus to Zhouzhuang directly, and the whole bus trip takes about 1.5 hours. You can also get to Kunshan by high speed train which cost about 10~30 minutes, and then take a bus or taxi which needs another 50 minutes.

Helpful Links: Detailed Suzhou to Zhouzhuang Transfer | Zhouzhuang Water Town

Suzhou to Luzhi Water Town Transfer

Compared with famous Tongli and Zhouzhuang, Luzhi Water Town is a more lowkey and peaceful town. If you want to enjoy the authentic flavor water town near Suzhou, it is a better choice. The old streets, old canals and old buildings may make you wonder if you really walk in the world 2,500 years ago. It is just located about 35 km away from Suzhou City, needing about 1 hour's drive. During the period from 07:00 to17:00, there are regular buses running from Suzhou North Bus Station, Suzhou South Bus Station and Suzhou Beiguangchang Bus Station to Luzhi Water Town. The bus trip takes about 1~1.5 hours.

Helpful Link: Luzhi Water Town

Main Transportation Tools in Suzhou City

Boat: By boat is the most relaxing way to admire the charm of Suzhou and cruising on the Grand Canal is most popular among tourists. The cruise from Xinshiqiao Dock to Shantang Street is the essence of the whole canal, because you can not only admire the super old city gate towers of ancient Suzhou, prosperous ancient Shantang Street and the weathered old buildings along the bank.

Taxi: Taking a taxi is probably the easiest means of getting around Suzhou. It is convenient to call a taxi almost everywhere. And the drivers here are happy to give useful suggestion to visitors if you understand Chinese.

Subway: There are 4 metro lines available in Suzhou so far. Line 1 running between Mudu in west and Zhongnan Street can take you to Mudu, Lindun Road and Xiangmen, from which stations you can easily transfer to Mudu Ancient Town, the Master of the Nets Garden and Pingjing Road separately. Line 2 starts from Qihe in north and ends in Sangtian Dao in south, passing through Suzhou North Railway Station, Suzhou Railway Station and Shantang Street. Line 3 runs from Suzhou Xinqu Railway Station to Weting and Line 4 runs between Longdaobang to Tongli. Learn more details about Suzhou Metro Lines and Map>

Public Bus: You are able to get to most of the tourist sites by Suzhou public bus. Seeing bus stops designed with garden-style will be a great joy. All the bus-stop-announcing is said in Chinse Mandarin and you can also listen to the Suzhou soft dialect additionally in some tour buses. If you don't understand Chinese Mandarin, preparing a map will be helpful.