Planning budget
≈ €1,148(CN¥9,000 original)Rate snapshot 2026-08-26Three cities in ten days is the honest limit, and the reason is arithmetic rather than taste. Each move costs you half a day once you add the station, the security queue and the transfer at the other end, so a fourth stop does not buy a fourth place — it buys two more travel afternoons taken out of the three you already have. The budget shown is a mid-range figure for ten days on the ground, including the two rail legs and excluding your international flights.
Two things need booking before you arrive: the Palace Museum, which uses real-name timed entry against the passport you travel on, and both train legs, which open fifteen days out and sell out on popular departures. Everything else can be decided a day ahead. If your dates fall in the National Day week at the start of October or around Spring Festival, either book the whole route weeks in advance or move it.
The route
Day-by-day route
- Day 01
Arrive in Beijing
Clear immigration with the arrival card already filed, check the payment apps work on something small, and keep the first evening to one hutong walk.
Beijing
- Day 02
The imperial core
Use your pre-booked Palace Museum slot for the morning, then cross to Jingshan for the view back over the roofs you just walked through.
Beijing
- Day 03
A day on the Great Wall
Leave early for a maintained section such as Mutianyu or Jinshanling and be on the wall before the coach groups arrive from the city.
Beijing
- Day 04
Hutongs and the Temple of Heaven
Pair the park at its early-morning best, when locals are exercising in it, with a slow afternoon in the lanes around the Drum Tower.
Beijing
- Day 05
Fast train to Xi’an
Four and a half hours south-west, then walk or cycle the Ming wall at dusk once you have dropped the bags inside it.
Xi’an
- Day 06
The Terracotta Army
Take the first slot of the day for the pits an hour east of the city, and give the afternoon to the Shaanxi History Museum or a long lunch.
Xi’an
- Day 07
Xi’an morning, then the coast
Eat through the streets either side of the Muslim Quarter, then take the afternoon train east and arrive in Shanghai for dinner.
Xi’an · Shanghai
- Day 08
The Bund and the concessions
Walk the waterfront early before the crowds, then spend the afternoon under the plane trees of the former French Concession.
Shanghai
- Day 09
One more Shanghai day
Choose a water town like Zhujiajiao, a museum morning or simply the neighbourhoods you ran out of time for yesterday.
Shanghai
- Day 10
Depart Shanghai
Allow for the airport transfer from whichever of the two airports you fly from, and confirm which one the night before.
Shanghai
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Where to sleep
Find a place to stay
Compare options after choosing the neighbourhood that fits your evenings and transport plan.
Getting there
Compare flight options
Check dates and departure airports without tying the editorial route to one partner.
Sources
- China Railway 12306 booking and ticket rules, China State Railway Group, accessed
- Forbidden City ticket booking and entry notice, The Palace Museum, accessed
- China travel planning, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China, accessed