A causeway crossing West Lake with the Hangzhou hills behind it

Itinerary

One Day in Hangzhou

A single-day shape for Hangzhou that covers the lake properly and adds one hill branch, without pretending the city fits into one afternoon.

HangzhouOne dayItinerary

3 min readReviewed September 12, 2026

Circa24 on Wikimedia Commons

Overview

One day in Hangzhou works if you accept a simple limit: the lake plus one hill branch. Add a second branch and the day becomes a race between taxis.

The Shape of the Day

Start at the east shore before 8am, while the causeways are still quiet.
Cross one causeway on foot, and take a boat if the queue is short.
Eat lunch near the water rather than chasing a destination restaurant.
Spend the afternoon on one hill branch

Lingyin Temple or the Longjing tea hills.
Finish with dinner by the lake, or head to Hangzhou East for an evening train.

Morning: The Lake Before the Crowds

Begin at Longxiangqiao on metro Line 1, which puts you a short walk from the east shore. From there the lake opens up in stages: the shoreline first, then the causeways, then the hills on the far side.

Walk one causeway rather than circling the water. The Su Causeway gives you the long crossing with hills on both sides, and it is the walk most people picture when they imagine Hangzhou. A boat is the better use of an hour than a second causeway, because it puts you on the water and gets you closer to the islands.

Choose Your Afternoon: Temple or Tea

Both branches are west of the lake, which is why doing both in one day is a mistake. Pick one, and let the other belong to a second visit.

Branch	Time needed	Choose it when	Tradeoff
Lingyin Temple	Half a day	You want the strongest single site: a working temple and a cliff of Buddhist carvings	Tour groups arrive by mid-morning, and it is a taxi or bus ride from the water
Longjing Tea Village	Half a day	You want walking, tea terraces, and a slower afternoon	It is spread across hillsides with no single gate, so it takes longer to feel finished

Evening

If you are staying the night, eat near the lake and walk the shore after dark. If you are returning to Shanghai, give yourself an hour to reach Hangzhou East and book the train in advance: the last departures fill up on Sundays and holidays.

If You Are Coming From Shanghai

The high-speed line from Shanghai Hongqiao reaches Hangzhou East in about 45 minutes on the fastest services. Take an early departure, follow the day shape above, and take a late train back rather than trying to squeeze the temple and the tea hills into the same afternoon.

Metro Line 1 at Hangzhou East connects directly to the lake area, so you do not need a taxi to start the day.

What to Skip

Chasing all ten classic lake scenes is a checklist, not a day out; the names are spread around the shoreline and you will spend the afternoon in transit. Likewise, the combination of lake, temple, and tea hills in one day is technically possible and reliably unpleasant.