Kunming to Dali: by Train, Bus & Flight

Kunming to Dali by Bullet Train

Travel from Kunming to Dali by bullet trains is a comfortable, convenient and time-saving way for toursits. There are over 20 D trains every day from Kunming to Dali and nearly same number in reverse. The trains depart from Kunming Railway Station (昆明站) to Dali Railway Station (大理站) from the early morning hours to the late night around 06:30-21:30. Since the whole bullet train traveling needs only about 2 to 3 hours, it's really a great way of transportation for your travel between Kunming and Dali.

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Kunming Railway Station

Dali Railway Station

Kunming to Dali by Bus

It sings in the local folk song named Yunnan eighteen strange points, “the trains are not faster than buses in Yunnan”. Before the finished building of high-speed railway, taking a bus from Kunming to Dali or from Dali to Kunming is the most common transport way for local people, it takes only about 4 hours, and there are many distance coaches departing from Kunming West Bus Terminal from the early morning to the late afternoon to different stations in Dali City, and from Dali to Kunming for tourists free choice. Even nowadays, there are still many local people choose to travel in this way. Let’s take a look at the bus schedule between Kunming and Dali at below for your reference.

From Kunming to Dali:

From Dali to Kunming:

(Note: the above information of number of buses, bus stations, time, prices, etc. is only for your reference, since they could be slightly changed according to practical situation. You could contact our professional travel expert for the detailed and newest information of buses between Kunming and Dali.)

Kunming Bus Stations

Kunming West Bus Terminal is situated a little far away from the city downtown, and near Kunming West Railway Station. You could take the local Metro Line 3 to get there for about 40 minutes, or take a taxi for about 30 minutes from and city center.

Kunming Bus Station is located in the downtown, very close to Kunming Railway Station, and you could take local bus for about 30 minutes or a taxi for about 15 minutes with about 3.5km to get the station from the city center. As there are many trains between Kunming and Shilin County, you could get to the Stone Forest by the bullet trains for about 25 minutes followed by another 15 minutes of a local taxi driving.

More detail information about How to Get to the Stone Forest

Dali Bus Stations

All the above stations in Dali are located at the downtown area and close to each other. To get to Dali Old City, you take the local bus for about 1.5 hours, or take a taxi for about 30-40 minutes; to get to the Three Pagodas, it needs about 1.5-2 hours by bus, and about 30-40 minutes by taxi; to get to Cangshan Mountain, it needs about 30 minutes by taxi, and 1.5-2 hours by bus; to get to Erhai Lake, it needs about 40 minutes by taxi. It takes about 4 hours to get to Shaxi Ancient Town by bus transfer and 2.5 hours by private car.

Check more about How to Get to Shaxi Ancient Town From Dali