Classic West Lake
7 stops · 6.8 km · ~4 h · nearly all free · 7 stops
- Duanqiao
- Gushan
- Yuewang Miao
- Quyuan Fenghe
- Sudi
- Huagang Guanyu
- Leifeng Ta
145 places · MICHELIN 2026, Black Pearl 2026, UNESCO and TikTok · no Eater coverage
Tap a route and it gets drawn on the map, stop by stop.
Tap a pin to see photos, rating and how to get there by metro, lake bus or on foot. Turn on a route to follow the numbered path.
This interactive map of Hangzhou (China) brings together 145 hand-picked places: 53 attractions, 43 restaurants, 25 cafés and 24 shops. It also includes 5 walking routes with their stops in order. For every place you get what it is, a practical tip and how to get there by public transport. It is free, works on your phone and needs no sign-up.
· Curated by the HOLASIM team · How we make the maps
Tap a route to see it drawn on the map, stop by stop.
7 stops · 6.8 km · ~4 h · nearly all free · 7 stops
6 stops · 8 km · ~6 h · buses 7, 27 and 87 · 6 stops
6 stops · 3.3 km · ~3 h · every museum free · 6 stops
7 stops · 4.4 km · ~4 h · Metro Lines 1 and 7 · 7 stops
6 stops · 60 km · ~9 h · Metro Lines 2, 3 and 4 · 6 stops
西湖 · Xihu
A UNESCO site and the poetic heart of China: a free lake, open around the clock, that shifts with every light.
Tip: The real shoreline loop is 13.4 km: budget 3 to 4 hours on foot, not two. Grab a public bike if time is short.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, then 4 minutes on foot to the Hubin waterfront.
Featured in: UNESCO · Xinhua · medición propia sobre coordenadas
Show on map苏堤 · Xihu
Nearly 3 km of willow-lined causeway with six bridges, raised by poet Su Dongpo in the 11th century. The lake's postcard.
Tip: Enter from the south end at dawn: the mist over the water lasts until 8 and nobody is there.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, then tourist bus Y9 to Suti; or 25 minutes on foot from Hubin.
Featured in: UNESCO · Time Out
Show on map白堤 · Xihu
The short causeway: one kilometre from Broken Bridge to Gushan island, lined with alternating willows and peach trees.
Tip: At 5:30 pm in October the light rakes across Baochu Pagoda: that is the frame you want.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, then 12 minutes on foot north along the waterfront.
Featured in: UNESCO · 杭州本地宝
Show on map断桥残雪 · Xihu
The bridge from the Legend of the White Snake. It is not broken: the name comes from snow melting unevenly on it.
Tip: It is the most crowded spot on the lake between 10 and 4. Come before 8:30 and you get the bridge to yourself.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, then 15 minutes on foot north along the waterfront.
Featured in: UNESCO · TikTok · 小红书
Show on map孤山 · Xihu
The lonely hill: imperial gardens, museums and the best lake view from dry land. All of it free.
Tip: Climb behind the provincial museum: there is an unsigned lookout with the whole lake and almost nobody up there.
🚇 Tourist bus Y9 to Gushan; or 20 minutes on foot from Metro Line 1 Longxiangqiao via Bai Causeway.
Featured in: UNESCO · Time Out
Show on map西泠印社 · Gushan
China's oldest seal-engraving society, founded 1904, climbing the Gushan slope among carved stones.
Tip: The top pavilion has a carp pond and zero tourists: take the stone steps all the way up.
🚇 Tourist bus Y9 to Gushan, then 3 minutes on foot; or 22 minutes walking from Hubin.
Featured in: UNESCO · 浙江省文旅
Show on map浙江省博物馆 孤山馆 · Gushan
The historic branch inside the imperial Wenlan Pavilion: Liangzhu jade, Song lacquer and an 18th-century library.
Tip: You book through the WeChat mini-program with your passport; without mobile data you do not get in. Switch your eSIM on first.
🚇 Tourist bus Y9 to Gushan, 2 minutes on foot. Closed Mondays.
Featured in: 浙江省博物馆 · OSM
Show on map岳王庙 · Xihu
Temple to the Song general betrayed in 1142. Four kneeling iron figures have been paying for it for eight centuries.
Tip: Entry CNY 25, paid by Alipay. The mausoleum at the back is the best part and almost nobody reaches it: push to the last courtyard.
🚇 Tourist bus Y9 to Yuemiao; or Metro Line 3 to Huanglongdong, then 15 minutes on foot.
Featured in: UNESCO · 杭州本地宝 2026
Show on map曲院风荷 · Xihu
A garden of lotus ponds and wooden bridges where the breeze smells of blossom. Free, huge and near-empty mid-afternoon.
Tip: By October the lotus has dried and the garden turns graphic: broken stems over water, a guaranteed black-and-white shot.
🚇 Tourist bus Y9 to Quyuanfenghe; or 10 minutes on foot south of Yue Fei Temple.
Featured in: UNESCO · OSM
Show on map郭庄 · Yanggongdi
The best-preserved private garden house on the lake, from 1907. Ten yuan to have a classical garden nearly to yourself.
Tip: Order tea in the waterside pavilion: for the price of a coffee you get the finest private terrace on West Lake.
🚇 On Yanggongdi causeway; tourist bus Y9 to Guozhuang, or 12 minutes on foot from Quyuan Fenghe.
Featured in: UNESCO · 杭州本地宝 2026
Show on map花港观鱼 · Xihu
A free park with red-carp ponds, a peony garden and the biggest lawn on the lake to sprawl on.
Tip: Buy a packet of fish food at the gate: two yuan and it keeps kids busy for half an hour.
🚇 Tourist bus Y9 to Huagang; or 10 minutes on foot from the south end of Su Causeway.
Featured in: UNESCO · 杭州本地宝
Show on map太子湾公园 · Xihu
The park of streams and water mills, famous for its tulips in spring and for its red maples in autumn.
Tip: It is the natural gateway to Manjuelong: the osmanthus trail climbs from the back of the park.
🚇 Tourist bus Y9 to Taiziwan; or 12 minutes on foot from Huagang Guanyu.
Featured in: UNESCO · 杭州本地宝
Show on map雷峰塔 · Xihu
Rebuilt in 2002 over ruins from the year 977, with a lift and a 360-degree lake view at sunset.
Tip: Entry CNY 40. The basement with the original ruins of the tower that collapsed in 1924 is the part nobody expects.
🚇 Tourist bus Y9 to Jingcisi; or 15 minutes on foot from the south end of Su Causeway.
Featured in: UNESCO · chinafortravelers 2026
Show on map三潭印月 · Xihu
The island on the one-yuan note: three stone lanterns in the water and an island garden inside a lake.
Tip: Take the 4:30 pm boat: you come back with the lake backlit and the three lanterns cut against the sun.
🚇 Boat from Hubin or Huagang pier; combined ticket CNY 55 (plain boat) or CNY 70 (painted boat).
Featured in: UNESCO · chinafortravelers 2026
Show on map西湖音乐喷泉 · Hubin
Hangzhou's most crowded free show: jets of water, light and Chinese classical music over the lake.
Tip: It runs at fixed evening times and fills up 40 minutes early. Watch from the north pier: fewer people, better angle.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, exit D, then 3 minutes on foot to the waterfront.
Featured in: TikTok · 小红书 · OSM
Show on map保俶塔 · Baoshi Shan
The slender spire on Precious Stone Hill: the silhouette that closes every photo of the lake from the south.
Tip: Climb for sunset and come down with a torch: the path is lit and the night view of the lake is the best there is.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, 20 minutes on foot to the base, plus a 25-minute stair climb.
Featured in: UNESCO · TikTok
Show on map抱朴道院 · Geling
A yellow-walled Taoist monastery clinging to the Geling slope, where alchemist Ge Hong hunted immortality.
Tip: Monks still live here and it is not a museum: enter quietly and do not photograph the main altar.
🚇 A 30-minute climb from Beishan Road; Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, then 18 minutes on foot to the trail.
Featured in: UNESCO · OSM
Show on map黄龙洞 · Qingzhiwu
A Taoist garden with yellow bamboo, live Yue opera and a waterfall pouring over a stone dragon's head.
Tip: Live Yue opera runs mid-morning and mid-afternoon, included in the CNY 15. Sit at the front, there are twenty chairs.
🚇 Metro Line 3 to Huanglongdong, then 8 minutes on foot; tourist bus Y9 also stops here.
Featured in: 杭州本地宝 2026 · OSM
Show on map灵隐寺 · Lingyin
Founded in 326, the most important Buddhist temple in southern China. Since December 2025 entry is free.
Tip: Real-name booking with your passport is required in the 杭州灵隐飞来峰 mini-program on Alipay or WeChat, at least a day ahead. No data, no entry.
🚇 Metro Line 3 to Huanglongdong, then bus 7 to Lingyin, about 25 minutes door to door. Open 7:30-17:30, last entry 17:00.
Featured in: Xinhua 19-nov-2025 · China Daily · 杭州政协网
Show on map飞来峰 · Lingyin
The peak that flew here: 345 Buddhas carved into limestone between the 10th and 14th centuries, inside damp caves.
Tip: The fat Maitreya in the rock dates to 1000 AD and is the original laughing Buddha. Step into Qinglin cave: empty and ice-cold.
🚇 Same gate and same booking as Lingyin Temple; Metro Line 3 to Huanglongdong, then bus 7.
Featured in: Xinhua 19-nov-2025 · UNESCO
Show on map永福寺 · Lingyin
The temple hidden in bamboo above Lingyin, with stepped pavilions and a teahouse at the very top.
Tip: The monks roast their own tea in the upper pavilion. Climb to the end: 90% of people turn back before it.
🚇 Inside the same Lingyin precinct, 12 minutes uphill from the main temple.
Featured in: Xinhua 19-nov-2025 · 小红书
Show on map上天竺法喜讲寺 · Shangtianzhu
Yellow walls against a green mountain: the temple that made Hangzhou go viral online, and it is still free.
Tip: The shot you saw online is the yellow wall with the tree shadow, at 3:30 pm. Earlier the sun hits flat and ruins it.
🚇 Bus 7 or 324 to Shangtianzhu from Lingyin, 10 minutes; or 20 minutes on foot along Meiling Road.
Featured in: 小红书 · TikTok · OSM
Show on map龙井村 · Xihu
The village that names China's most famous tea, between green terraces and family teahouses.
Tip: Good Longjing is spring tea, picked before Qingming. Anything sold as an autumn crop is not West Lake tea.
🚇 Bus 27 or 87 to Longjingcun from the west shore of the lake, about 25 minutes.
Featured in: 西湖龙井茶产地保护 · OSM
Show on map梅家坞 · Xihu
A whole valley of tea plantations, with fewer tourists than Longjing and teahouses where you linger for hours.
Tip: Walk into any house with a 茶 sign and ask to see the roasting wok: many families still roast by hand.
🚇 Bus 103 or 324 to Meijiawu from the lake, about 35 minutes; tourist bus Y9 also stops here.
Featured in: 西湖龙井茶产地保护 · OSM
Show on map满觉陇 · Xihu
Seven thousand osmanthus trees on one hillside. In October the air here is literally sweet and the village smells of sugar.
Tip: Full bloom in 2026 started the weekend of 10 October. Come at 7:30 am: the dew concentrates the scent.
🚇 Bus 87 to Manjuelong; or 20 minutes uphill on foot from Taiziwan Park.
Featured in: 腾讯新闻 8-oct-2026 · 杭州市园文局
Show on map九溪十八涧 · Xihu
Nine streams and eighteen bends: a stepping-stone trail crossing a creek over and over under the forest.
Tip: Do it top-down from Yangmeiling: all downhill, the stream with you, and it spills straight out at the Qiantang river.
🚇 Bus 4 to Jiuxi from the lake's south shore, 20 minutes; or walk down from Yangmeiling.
Featured in: UNESCO · OSM
Show on map中国茶叶博物馆 双峰馆区 · Shuangfeng
The historic branch of China's only national tea museum, ringed by plantations and with no perimeter wall at all.
Tip: Free but booked through the museum's official WeChat account. The two branches differ: this one holds the collection.
🚇 Bus 87 or 27 to Shuangfeng, then 400 metres on foot. Open 9:00-16:30, closed Mondays.
Featured in: 中国茶叶博物馆 · 墙根网 2026
Show on map中国茶叶博物馆 龙井馆区 · Wengjiashan
The second, newer and prettier branch, set among the tea terraces of Wengjiashan. Also free.
Tip: Yes, these are two separate museums 2 km apart and plenty of people go to the wrong one. This one has the better terrace and shop.
🚇 Bus 27 or 87 to Chabo Longjing Guanqu stop, then 100 metres on foot. Open 9:00-16:30, closed Mondays.
Featured in: 中国茶叶博物馆 · 墙根网 2026
Show on map中国丝绸博物馆 · Yuhuangshan
The world's largest silk museum: working looms, Han dynasty robes and a natural dyeing workshop.
Tip: The best rainy-day plan in the city, and it is free. The Xiaofeng bookshop at the entrance pours the best coffee around.
🚇 Bus 12 or 42 to Zhongguo Sichou Bowuguan; or 20 minutes on foot from the lake's south shore.
Featured in: 中国丝绸博物馆 · OSM
Show on map玉皇山 · Yuhuangshan
Jade Emperor Hill, between lake and river: a Taoist temple on top and views to both sides.
Tip: From the top you see the lake on one side and the Qiantang on the other. The only view in Hangzhou with both waters.
🚇 Bus 42 to Yuhuangshan, then a 40-minute climb; or Metro Line 4 to Shuichengqiao and 20 minutes on foot to the base.
Featured in: UNESCO · OSM
Show on map虎跑 · Hupao
The tiger's spring, the water Longjing is brewed with. Fifteen yuan and a bamboo forest to yourself.
Tip: Lay a coin flat on the spring water: surface tension holds it up. The local trick for centuries.
🚇 Bus 4 or 42 to Hupao; or Metro Line 4 to Shuichengqiao then bus 42, about 20 minutes.
Featured in: 杭州本地宝 2026 · OSM
Show on map六和塔 · Zhijiang
A pagoda from the year 970 above the Qiantang, raised to calm the tidal bore. Seven storeys outside, thirteen inside.
Tip: Twenty yuan to enter and ten more to climb. Climb it: from the top you get the 1937 bridge and the whole river.
🚇 Metro Line 4 to Shuichengqiao then bus 4, about 20 minutes; or bus 308 from Hefang Street.
Featured in: 杭州本地宝 2026 · OSM
Show on map城隍阁 · Wushan
A seven-storey tower on Wushan hill with the best combined view of lake, old city and river.
Tip: Go up at sunset: from the seventh floor you watch the lake light up on one side and Qianjiang New City on the other.
🚇 Metro Line 7 to Wushan Square, then a 15-minute climb up the hill; or bus 8 to Wushan.
Featured in: 杭州本地宝 2026 · OSM
Show on map河坊街 · Qinghefang
The old town's pedestrian street: 1874 pharmacies, hand-painted fans, hammer-pulled candy and plenty of noise.
Tip: The touristy stretch is the middle. Duck into Dajing Lane, the side alley: that is where the good cafés and the locals are.
🚇 Metro Line 7 to Wushan Square, which exits onto the street; or Metro Line 1 to Dingan Road and 6 minutes on foot.
Featured in: Time Out · TikTok · OSM
Show on map南宋御街 · Zhongshan Zhonglu
The avenue the Song emperors paraded along, rebuilt by architect Wang Shu with a stream and glass over the ruins.
Tip: Look at the glass floor panels: the original Song paving is three metres below. Wang Shu won the Pritzker for work like this.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Dingan Road, exit C, then 3 minutes on foot.
Featured in: Time Out · OSM
Show on map南宋德寿宫遗址博物馆 · Shangcheng
The retired emperor's palace, opened in 2022 over its own excavation, with reconstructed vermilion walls.
Tip: Free but with advance WeChat booking and a daily cap. The projection over the excavated foundations is the best part.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Dingan Road, then 10 minutes east on foot along Wangjiang Road. Closed Mondays.
Featured in: 杭州市文旅局 · OSM
Show on map胡雪岩故居 · Yuanjinxiang
The mansion of Qing China's richest banker: a rockery garden, rare timbers and thirteen linked courtyards.
Tip: Twenty yuan for the most expensive private house ever built in China. Nobody goes, and it is Hangzhou's best Qing garden.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Dingan Road, then 12 minutes on foot; or bus 8 to Hexiang Lu.
Featured in: 杭州本地宝 2026 · OSM
Show on map拱宸桥 · Gongshu
The 1631 stone bridge marking the southern terminus of the Grand Canal, the longest waterway on earth.
Tip: It is the end of 1,794 km of canal that start in Beijing. Cross it at night: the water mirrors the whole arch.
🚇 Metro Line 5 to Gongchenqiao, exit C, then 5 minutes on foot.
Featured in: UNESCO · OSM
Show on map桥西历史街区 · Gongshu
The bridge's west bank: 1920s industrial sheds turned into museums, workshops and bookshops.
Tip: The block's three museums (fan, umbrella, scissors) are free and include hands-on workshops.
🚇 Metro Line 5 to Gongchenqiao, exit C, cross the bridge and you are there.
Featured in: UNESCO · OSM
Show on map中国扇博物馆 · Qiaoxi
Silk, feather and sandalwood fans, with craftspeople painting them live in the back workshop. Free entry.
Tip: Ask to paint your own fan: the workshop runs about CNY 30 and you carry it away dry in twenty minutes.
🚇 Metro Line 5 to Gongchenqiao, exit C, then 4 minutes on foot. Closed Mondays.
Featured in: UNESCO · OSM
Show on map中国刀剪剑博物馆 · Qiaoxi
China's museum of the cutting edge: bronze swords, Zhang Xiaoquan scissors and a forge working in front of you.
Tip: It shares a building with the fan museum: both free, and between them two hours vanish.
🚇 Metro Line 5 to Gongchenqiao, exit C, then 5 minutes on foot. Closed Mondays.
Featured in: UNESCO · OSM
Show on map京杭大运河博物馆 · Gongshu
Seventeen hundred kilometres of canal explained with models, real barges and a navigation simulator.
Tip: The only museum that explains why Hangzhou exists: the canal made it the empire's river port.
🚇 Metro Line 5 to Gongchenqiao, exit C, then 3 minutes on foot to the canal square. Closed Mondays.
Featured in: UNESCO · OSM
Show on map小河直街 · Gongshu
A street of two-storey timber houses on the canal, with neighbours still living there and few souvenir shops.
Tip: Arrive on the canal water bus: around CNY 3, half an hour from Wulinmen, the best cheap ride in town.
🚇 Metro Line 5 to Xiaohe, then 8 minutes on foot; or the canal water bus from Wulinmen.
Featured in: UNESCO · 小红书 · OSM
Show on map大运河杭钢公园 · Gongshu
Hangzhou's steelworks turned into a park: blast furnaces, cooling towers and skating under rusted structures.
Tip: The most photographed place in Hangzhou online in 2026 and still free. Come at sunset, with the rust glowing orange.
🚇 Metro Line 10 to Hangganglu, then 10 minutes on foot. North of the centre, budget 35 minutes from the lake.
Featured in: 小红书 · TikTok · OSM
Show on map西溪国家湿地公园 · Xixi
China's first urban wetland national park: 11 km² of channels, reeds and persimmon trees, best seen by boat.
Tip: A single ticket is CNY 80 and boats cost extra: CNY 60 electric, CNY 100 an hour for the rowed one. Book by WeChat.
🚇 Metro Line 3 to Xixi Shidi Nan (Zhoujiacun gate) or Hongyuan; Metro Line 19 to Xixi Shidi Bei.
Featured in: 墙根网 2026 · 西溪湿地官方
Show on map良渚古城遗址公园 · Yuhang
UNESCO heritage since 2019: the capital of a 5,000-year-old civilisation, with walls, dams and rice fields.
Tip: Open 9:00-17:00, last entry 16:00. The internal shuttle is CNY 20 extra and you need it: the site runs for kilometres.
🚇 Metro Line 2 to Liangzhu (45 min from the lake), then bus 1222M or 7437M to the south gate, 20 min more. About 1h15 total.
Featured in: UNESCO · 去哪儿 2026
Show on map良渚博物院 · Yuhang
A David Chipperfield building in yellow stone, holding the Liangzhu ritual jades that prove 5,000 years of statehood.
Tip: Do the museum first and the park after: without the jades and the models, the ruins are just grass fields.
🚇 Metro Line 2 to Liangzhu, then bus 348 or a taxi, about 12 minutes. Closed Mondays.
Featured in: UNESCO · OSM
Show on map宋城 · Zhijiang
A Song dynasty theme park with the Romance of the Song Dynasty show, one of the most-watched on earth.
Tip: The park is skippable, the show is not. Buy the ticket that includes it and arrive an hour early for a good seat.
🚇 Metro Line 4 to Zhijianglu then bus 103, about 20 minutes; or a direct taxi from the lake, 25 minutes.
Featured in: OSM · 宋城演艺
Show on map浙江省博物馆 之江馆 · Zhijiang
The new 2023 branch: a hundred thousand square metres above the river, with Liangzhu jades and original Song painting.
Tip: Free but with a WeChat booking and a daily cap that sells out. Book the night before, the moment slots open.
🚇 Metro Line 6 to Zhijiang Wenhua Zhongxin, then 5 minutes on foot. Closed Mondays.
Featured in: 浙江省博物馆 · OSM
Show on map印象西湖 岳湖 · Yuehu
Zhang Yimou's show staged on the lake water: dancers walking on the surface, with no visible stage.
Tip: Two shows a night, 19:40 and 21:10, about 60 minutes. Stalls from around CNY 298. Bring a layer: it gets cold over the water.
🚇 At Yuehu, opposite Yue Fei Temple; tourist bus Y9 to Yuemiao, then 5 minutes on foot.
Featured in: 墙根网 2026 · 浙江在线 21-mar-2026
Show on map杭州国际会议中心 日月同辉 · Qianjiang New City
The Sun and the Moon: a golden sphere and a curved tower by the river, the new skyline Hangzhou built itself.
Tip: At 7:30 pm the light show starts across the riverside towers. Watch from the Binjiang bank opposite: it all fits in frame.
🚇 Metro Line 2 or 4 to Civic Center, exiting straight onto the plaza.
Featured in: OSM · 小红书
Show on map杭州奥体中心体育场 大莲花 · Xiaoshan
The Big Lotus: 80,000 seats under 28 steel petals, the 2023 Asian Games venue, and still without a sponsor name.
Tip: It lights up every night even with no event on. The best angle is from the pedestrian bridge on the west side.
🚇 Metro Line 6 to Olympic Sports Center, exiting straight into the complex; 25 minutes from the lake.
Featured in: OSM · Wikipedia 2026
Show on map天目里 · Xihu
Renzo Piano's complex: seventeen aluminium buildings around a courtyard of olive trees, art, cinema and design.
Tip: The courtyard is public and free. The basement bookshop and the BY ART MATTERS gallery are the real reason to come.
🚇 Metro Line 3 to Gudang, then 12 minutes on foot; or bus 49 to Tianmuli.
Featured in: 小红书 · OSM
Show on map楼外楼 · Gushan
Open since 1848 on the lake shore: the restaurant where the Hangzhou culinary canon was written.
Tip: Order dongpo pork and West Lake vinegar fish, and book a window table: the view beats the food.
🚇 Tourist bus Y9 to Gushan, then 2 minutes on foot; or 20 minutes walking from Hubin along Bai Causeway.
Featured in: 中华老字号 · MICHELIN 2026 沪苏浙 (seleccionado)
Show on map知味观 仁和路总店 · Hubin
The 1913 house that turned Hangzhou dim sum into a brand: pork buns, xiaolongbao and osmanthus cakes.
Tip: The street window does takeaway with no queue: that is where October's osmanthus cakes live.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, exit C, then 4 minutes on foot along Renhe Road.
Featured in: 中华老字号 · MICHELIN 2026 沪苏浙 (seleccionado)
Show on map奎元馆 · Zhongshan Zhonglu
Hangzhou's noodle cathedral since 1867. Pian er chuan was born here, with bamboo, pork and pickled greens.
Tip: The dish is pian er chuan, not the prawn one. Eat before 11:30 or queue for forty minutes.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, exit D, then 7 minutes on foot along Zhongshan Zhonglu.
Featured in: 中华老字号 · MICHELIN 2026 沪苏浙 (seleccionado)
Show on map外婆家 西湖天地店 · Hubin
The chain that exported Hangzhou cooking to all of China, born right here: big plates, absurdly low prices.
Tip: Take a ticket in the WeChat mini-program as you leave the station: it saves forty minutes standing around.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, exit D, then 6 minutes south on foot along the shore.
Featured in: 杭州老字号 · Time Out
Show on map外婆家 西湖断桥店 · Beishan
The group's best-sited branch: picture windows over Broken Bridge and the same menu as ever.
Tip: Book for 5:30 pm: early dinner, lake in golden light, none of the 7 pm queue.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, then 15 minutos north on foot along the waterfront.
Featured in: 杭州老字号 · OSM
Show on map绿茶餐厅 龙井路店 · Longjing Lu
The chain's original site, in a house among tea plantations: shrimp bread, beggar's chicken and an eternal queue.
Tip: Order jiaohuaji, the clay-wrapped chicken you crack open at the table with a mallet. It takes 40 minutes: order on arrival.
🚇 Bus 27 or 87 to Shuangfeng, then 6 minutes on foot; or a taxi from the lake, 12 minutes.
Featured in: 杭州老字号 · 大众点评
Show on map新白鹿餐厅 · Wulin
The locals' favourite: classic dishes at half the lakeside price and a menu of two hundred options.
Tip: Order the fish-head casserole and the crab tofu. You pay with Alipay at the table, no waiter involved.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Fengqi Road, exit B, then 6 minutes on foot.
Featured in: 大众点评 · OSM
Show on map方老大面馆 文二店 · Xihu
A MICHELIN Bib Gourmand for a bowl of noodles with crisp eel that has been the city's best for twenty years.
Tip: Opens at noon and closes when the eel runs out, usually before 1:30. Get there by 11:30.
🚇 Metro Line 2 to Gudang, then 12 minutes on foot; or bus 33 to Wen'er Lu.
Featured in: MICHELIN 2026 沪苏浙 Bib Gourmand · OSM
Show on map菊英面馆 · Shangcheng
The noodle shop featured on A Bite of China: eel and pork broth simmered twelve hours in a clay pot.
Tip: A four-table place, cash or Alipay. Ask for the eel noodles with the broth on the side so they stay firm.
🚇 Metro Line 4 to Nanxingqiao, then 10 minutes on foot; or bus 8 to Wangjiang Lu.
Featured in: 舌尖上的中国 · OSM
Show on map慧娟面馆 · Shangcheng
A neighbourhood noodle shop with workers and office staff queuing at seven in the morning. Hangzhou's most honest pian er chuan.
Tip: Breakfast here is noodles, not coffee. Come at 7:30, order pian er chuan and watch the real city start up.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Dingan Road, then 12 minutes east on foot along Wangjiang Road.
Featured in: 大众点评 · OSM
Show on map皇饭儿 王润兴 · Qinghefang
The restaurant that, legend says, fed a disguised Emperor Qianlong while he travelled. Founded in 1796.
Tip: The house dish is yudou fu, the emperor's fish tofu. Go up to the first floor: downstairs is tourist traffic.
🚇 Metro Line 7 to Wushan Square, then 5 minutes on foot along Hefang Street.
Featured in: 中华老字号 · OSM
Show on map张生记 · Shangcheng
The king of laoya bao, the old-duck and bamboo-shoot soup that defines a whole Hangzhou winter.
Tip: The duck soup comes in a pot for four. For two, order the half portion and add the Longjing prawns.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Dingan Road, then 10 minutes northeast on foot; or Metro Line 2 to Qingchun Guangchang.
Featured in: 杭州老字号 · OSM
Show on map杭州酒家 · Shangcheng
A 1950s state restaurant that never changed the menu: textbook Hangzhou cooking with no concessions.
Tip: Order Song Sao soup, the sour fish broth from the 12th century. They do it better than Louwailou at half the price.
🚇 Metro Line 2 to Qingchun Guangchang, exit A, then 7 minutos on foot.
Featured in: 杭州老字号 · OSM
Show on map东坡阁 · Hupao
An eating house at the foot of the tiger spring, built around the dongpo pork that gives it its name.
Tip: The natural stop after Hupao and before Six Harmonies. Order the dongpo pork and the autumn bamboo shoots.
🚇 Bus 4 or 42 to Hupao, then 4 minutes on foot; or Metro Line 4 to Shuichengqiao then bus 42.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map梅家坞一号 · Meijiawu
Tea-village cooking in the Meijiawu valley: Longjing prawns made with tea from the house next door.
Tip: Longjing xiaren are made with whole fresh leaves, not powder. Ask which harvest the tea is before you order.
🚇 Bus 103 or 324 to Meijiawu, then 5 minutes on foot; tourist bus Y9 also stops here.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map朴墅餐厅 · Qingzhiwu
The Qingzhiwu villa that took Hangzhou cooking into the Instagram era, with a garden and a two-hour weekend queue.
Tip: Book on WeChat three days ahead or eat at 5 pm. A weekday lunch is the only real gap.
🚇 Metro Line 3 to Huanglongdong, then 15 minutes on foot to Qingzhiwu; or bus 82 to Yuquan.
Featured in: 小红书 · 大众点评 · OSM
Show on map金沙厅 四季酒店 · Lingyin Lu
One MICHELIN star and three Black Pearl diamonds: Hangzhou cooking raised to Cantonese fine-dining standards.
Tip: Hangzhou's only three-diamond Black Pearl. Book weeks ahead and take the lunch menu: it costs half.
🚇 Inside the Four Seasons on Lingyin Road; tourist bus Y9 to Quyuanfenghe, then 8 minutes on foot.
Featured in: MICHELIN 2026 沪苏浙 1★ · 黑珍珠 2026 三钻
Show on map西湖国宾馆 紫薇厅 · Yanggongdi
Two Black Pearl diamonds inside the lake's former state guesthouse, with its own garden and water views.
Tip: The hotel garden is open to diners: arrive an hour early and walk it, it is the private West Lake.
🚇 Tourist bus Y9 to Yanggongdi, then 6 minutes on foot through the hotel drive.
Featured in: 黑珍珠 2026 二钻 · OSM
Show on map桂语山房 满觉陇店 · Manjuelong
A MICHELIN star right in the osmanthus valley: chef-driven Hangzhou cooking in a teahouse ringed by trees.
Tip: In October they cook with the valley's osmanthus. Ask for a table in the upper gallery, facing the blossoming slope.
🚇 Bus 87 to Manjuelong, then 5 minutes on foot; or a taxi from the lake, 12 minutes.
Featured in: MICHELIN 2026 沪苏浙 1★ · 黑珍珠 2026 一钻
Show on map新荣记 西溪湿地店 · Xixi
A MICHELIN star and two Black Pearl diamonds: Taizhou seafood treated with reverence, inside the Xixi wetland.
Tip: It is very expensive and worth it: the fish arrives from the Taizhou sea each morning. Book two weeks ahead on WeChat.
🚇 Metro Line 3 to Xixi Shidi Nan, then an internal taxi; it sits in the park's Dazhong Xiuqi Cun zone.
Featured in: MICHELIN 2026 沪苏浙 1★ · 黑珍珠 2026 二钻 · 携程
Show on map里安 康莱德酒店 · Qianjiang New City
One Black Pearl diamond in the Conrad tower, with refined Zhejiang cooking and the new city at your feet.
Tip: Ask for a window table at dinner: the riverside light show starts at 7:30 and you watch it from your plate.
🚇 Metro Line 2 or 4 to Civic Center, then 6 minutos on foot to the hotel tower.
Featured in: 黑珍珠 2026 一钻 · OSM
Show on map席作 福建会馆 高德置地店 · Qianjiang New City
One Black Pearl diamond cooking Fujian food: long broths, seafood from the strait and slow-cooked rice.
Tip: Order fotiaoqiang, the broth that supposedly makes the monk leap the wall. It must be ordered a day ahead.
🚇 Metro Line 2 or 4 to Civic Center, then 5 minutes on foot to Gaode Plaza.
Featured in: 黑珍珠 2026 一钻 · OSM
Show on map好酒好蔡 潮目 天目里店 · Tianmuli
One Black Pearl diamond of Chaozhou cooking inside Renzo Piano's complex: raw shellfish and marinated goose.
Tip: Pair dinner with the BY ART MATTERS gallery in the same courtyard, which stays open late some days.
🚇 Metro Line 3 to Gudang, then 12 minutes on foot to Tianmuli; or bus 49 to Tianmuli.
Featured in: 黑珍珠 2026 一钻 · OSM
Show on map安缦法云 · Fayun Nong
A 14th-century village turned luxury hotel, with rammed-earth dining rooms among bamboo and tea.
Tip: You can dine without staying. The stone lane through the village is public: walk it before you sit down.
🚇 Between Lingyin and Faxi; bus 7 to Lingyin, then 12 minutes on foot along Fayun Nong.
Featured in: Aman · OSM
Show on map小杨生煎 西湖店 · Xihu
Shengjian straight off the griddle: crisp base, boiling broth inside, sesame on top, for small change.
Tip: Bite the side first or the broth will scald you. Four shengjian and a soup come to under CNY 20.
🚇 Tourist bus Y9 to Quyuanfenghe, then 3 minutes on foot; or 25 minutes walking from Hubin.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map东伊顺 · Qinghefang
A halal lamb grill in the heart of the old town: charcoal skewers, naan bread and cold beer until late.
Tip: The old town's midnight option, when everything else has shut. Order skewers by the ten, not one by one.
🚇 Metro Line 7 to Wushan Square, then 4 minutes on foot along Hefang Street.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map吴记 寻味江南 · Hubin
Short-menu Hangzhou cooking two blocks from the lake, at neighbourhood prices and without tour groups.
Tip: Order xihu cuyu, the vinegar fish: here they use sea bass and it comes out far less sweet than the tourist version.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, exit C, then 5 minutes east on foot.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map一品烧麦 · Hubin
Sticky-rice and pork shaomai, steamed in bamboo baskets stacked to the ceiling. Pure Hangzhou breakfast.
Tip: Opens at 6:30 and by 9 there is nothing left. Order shaomai, a tea egg and savoury soy milk.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Fengqi Road, exit C, then 5 minutes south on foot.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map万松岭炒菜店 · Wansongling
Neighbourhood wok cooking at the foot of the hill: five tables, a handwritten menu and prices from ten years ago.
Tip: No English menu and no photos: point at what the next table is eating. Carry cash in case the QR fails.
🚇 Metro Line 4 to Nanxingqiao, then 12 minutes uphill on foot; or bus 42 to Wansongling.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map吴山烤禽 · Hubin
Roast chicken and duck hanging in the window, lacquered and crisp. Eat standing or take it wrapped in paper.
Tip: Half a bird and a beer in the lakeside park: the cheapest, best dinner a hundred metres from the water.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, exit C, then 5 minutes on foot.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map秀才羊肉面馆 · Zhongshan Zhonglu
Mutton noodles in a white broth simmered since dawn, a dish that only shows up in Hangzhou in autumn.
Tip: Mutton is an autumn and winter dish in Hangzhou: in October the season has just begun and the broth is fresh.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, exit D, then 8 minutes on foot along Zhongshan Zhonglu.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map平乐面馆 · Shangcheng
A noodle stall that opens before dawn, with a pork broth pot that has not gone out in decades.
Tip: If you have jet lag, this is the plan: at 6 am it is the only thing open and it is full of real people.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Dingan Road, then 14 minutos east on foot along Wangjiang Road.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map九佰碗 · Jianqiao
A local noodle chain with nine different broths and canteen prices. Where the east-side office crowd eats lunch.
Tip: Order pian er chuan with a fried egg on top: that is how a Hangzhou local eats it on the way to work.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Jiubao or Metro Line 9 to Jianqiao; 6 minutes on foot from either.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map伊兰西湖面点 · Hubin
A halal dough house by the lake: clay-oven bread, hand-pulled noodles and northwestern lamb stews.
Tip: The only decent halal option steps from the lake, and one of the few where you watch the noodles pulled by hand.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, exit D, then 8 minutos south on foot.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map继宏饭店 · Nanshan Lu
A family canteen between Leifeng Pagoda and Jingci Temple, with fish of the day and tables on the pavement.
Tip: The only non-touristy thing within 500 metres. Point at the fish in the tank and say steamed.
🚇 Tourist bus Y9 to Jingcisi, then 3 minutes on foot; or 15 minutes on foot from Su Causeway.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map西溪里 · Xixi
A wetland restaurant with a deck over the water and Xixi river fish: the park's natural lunch stop.
Tip: Order river shrimp and persimmon in syrup: in October the Xixi persimmons are exactly right.
🚇 Metro Line 3 to Hongyuan, then 12 minutes on foot inside the park; a Xixi ticket is required.
Featured in: OSM · 西溪湿地官方
Show on map梅家坞6号花园餐厅 · Meijiawu
A garden canteen at the far end of the tea valley, miles from the noise: home cooking and a free teapot after.
Tip: After the meal they let you linger with the teapot at no charge. The perfect plan for a whole October afternoon.
🚇 Bus 103 or 324 to Meijiawu, then 15 minutes on foot deeper into the valley.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map弄堂里 · Wuchang
A Hangzhou chain styled as a 1930s alley, with lanterns, an old radio and home-style cooking.
Tip: It sits in the west, near Alibaba. If you do Xixi in the morning, it is the lunch stop on your way.
🚇 Metro Line 5 to Wuchang, then 8 minutes on foot; or Metro Line 3 to Zijingang Dong and bus 89.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map胡家大院私房菜 · Binjiang
A private kitchen south of the river: set menu, two seatings a night and dishes you will not find on any menu.
Tip: Booked only by phone or WeChat, and allergies must be flagged when you book: no menu, no changes at the table.
🚇 Metro Line 1 or 6 to Binjiang, then 10 minutes on foot; 20 minutes from the lake across the river.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map老李饺子 · Jianggan
Northeastern dumplings boiled fifty at a time, with black vinegar and raw garlic. Open until one in the morning.
Tip: Order the pork and napa cabbage ones and ask for the Zhenjiang black vinegar on the side: it comes over-sweetened.
🚇 Metro Line 4 to Jingfang, then 8 minutes on foot; or Metro Line 2 to Qianjiang Lu and bus 39.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map小丫头饭店 · Lingyin
The family canteen just outside the Lingyin gate: what the temple workers eat, at village prices.
Tip: Eat here and not inside the precinct: in there everything costs triple and it is canteen food.
🚇 Bus 7 to Lingyin, then 6 minutes on foot down the approach road.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map花港茶室 · Huagang
Simple cooking inside the carp park: noodles, fried tofu and Longjing tea looking onto the pond.
Tip: The only place to eat inside the park and there is no entry charge. Order the noodles with bamboo shoots.
🚇 Tourist bus Y9 to Huagang, then 5 minutes on foot inside the park, which is free.
Featured in: OSM · 西湖景区
Show on map竞舟茶楼 · Xihu
A teahouse with a kitchen in the city's west: midday dim sum, mahjong tables and no tourists at all.
Tip: The midday dim sum buffet includes endless tea and costs less than a lakeside coffee. Until 2 pm only.
🚇 Metro Line 2 to Fengtan Road, then 10 minutes on foot; or bus 33 to Jingzhou Lu.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map湖畔居茶楼 湖滨店 · Hubin
The classic teahouse over the water: bottomless pot, a wooden table and the whole lake behind the glass.
Tip: The per-person price covers tea, nuts and a snack buffet. Stay three hours: that is the point.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, exit D, then 8 minutes north on foot along the shore.
Featured in: 中华老字号 · OSM
Show on map龙井茶室 · Longjing Cun
The teahouse beside the dragon well, where the spring water itself brews the village Longjing.
Tip: Ask for spring Longjing and ask which year: if they offer autumn leaf, it is not West Lake tea.
🚇 Bus 27 or 87 to Longjingcun, then 5 minutes uphill on foot to the spring.
Featured in: OSM · 西湖龙井茶产地保护
Show on map安缦法云咖啡 · Fayun Nong
A café in a Ming-dynasty tea house restored by Aman, among bamboo and the old pilgrims' lane.
Tip: No need to stay or book: the village lane is public and the café serves anyone.
🚇 Bus 7 to Lingyin, then 12 minutes on foot along the Fayun Nong lane.
Featured in: Aman · OSM
Show on map山舍咖啡 · Manjuelong
A coffee cabin among tea plantations on the road between Longjing and Manjuelong. Terrace, dog and valley view.
Tip: In October they make a latte with valley osmanthus. It is a short season: two weeks and it is gone.
🚇 Bus 87 to Manjuelong, then 10 minutes on foot; or bus 27 to Longjingcun and 15 minutes downhill.
Featured in: 小红书 · OSM
Show on map纯真年代书吧 · Baoshi Shan
A bookshop café clinging to the hill below Baochu Pagoda, with the best lake terrace in the whole city.
Tip: It stays open late and is the best place in Hangzhou to watch dusk over the lake with something hot in hand.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, then 20 minutes on foot, 12 of them stairs up the hill.
Featured in: 小红书 · OSM
Show on map舒羽咖啡 · Qiaoxi
Poet Shu Yu's café at the foot of Gongchen Bridge: books, wooden tables and the Grand Canal flowing past.
Tip: Ask for the canal window table: in the afternoon the cargo barges go by and it is hypnotic.
🚇 Metro Line 5 to Gongchenqiao, exit C, cross the bridge and it is 3 minutes on foot.
Featured in: 小红书 · OSM
Show on map觅会咖啡 · Qiaoxi
Third-wave specialty in a Qiaoxi warehouse, with its own roaster and pour-overs made in front of you.
Tip: Order a pour-over of Yunnan beans: China has grown coffee for forty years and almost nobody knows.
🚇 Metro Line 5 to Gongchenqiao, exit C, then 4 minutes on foot along Qiaoxi Zhijie.
Featured in: 小红书 · OSM
Show on map大井咖啡馆 · Dajing Xiang
A café in the big-well alley behind Hefang Street, where the old town's specialty scene has settled.
Tip: The whole alley holds six or seven good cafés in a hundred metres. Walk it before you choose.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Dingan Road, exit C, then 5 minutes on foot to Dajing Xiang.
Featured in: 小红书 · 腾讯新闻 dic-2025 · OSM
Show on map猫的天空之城 河坊街店 · Qinghefang
A bookshop café where you write a postcard to your future self and they post it on the date you pick.
Tip: Write the postcard and ask them to send it a year out: it lands at home once you have forgotten the trip.
🚇 Metro Line 7 to Wushan Square, then 5 minutes on foot along Hefang Street.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map悦览树 新华书店咖啡馆 · Jiefang Lu
The bookshop café that never closes: Hangzhou's first 24-hour spot, with reading lamps and silence.
Tip: If you land at dawn or have jet lag, it is the only civilised thing open at 4 am downtown.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, exit D, then 6 minutes on foot along Jiefang Road.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map淺弄咖啡 · Qingzhiwu
Specialty in the Qingzhiwu alley, the low-house district against the mountain where the art students go.
Tip: Qingzhiwu has more cafés per square metre than anywhere in Hangzhou and appears in no printed guide.
🚇 Metro Line 3 to Huanglongdong, then 14 minutes on foot to Qingzhiwu; or bus 82 to Yuquan.
Featured in: 小红书 · OSM
Show on map布田咖啡 NO.SWEET · Yuquan
No sugar by principle: short espresso, alternative milks and light-roast beans, near the botanical garden.
Tip: Ask for something sweet and they will argue. Take the barista's recommendation: that is why you came.
🚇 Metro Line 3 to Huanglongdong, then 16 minutes on foot; or bus 82 to Yuquan and 5 minutes.
Featured in: 小红书 · OSM
Show on map溪上咖啡 · Xixi
A café over the water at the edge of the Xixi wetland, with a wooden deck and herons passing two metres away.
Tip: It is on the free side of the wetland: you get the Xixi landscape without the CNY 80 ticket.
🚇 Metro Line 19 to Xixi Shidi Bei, then 12 minutes on foot; it sits outside the park's ticketed zone.
Featured in: 小红书 · OSM
Show on map光线咖啡 · Wulin
Minimalist specialty in the Wulin district: a long bar, quiet music and the best flat white downtown.
Tip: The neighbourhood café for people who work in Wulin. At 8 am it is the best portrait of working Hangzhou.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Fengqi Road, exit B, then 6 minutes on foot.
Featured in: 小红书 · OSM
Show on map黑彩虹咖啡 · Wulin
A small roastery with a weekly rotation of origins and a bar where the barista walks you through each bean.
Tip: They sell roasted beans to go in 100 g bags: the best edible souvenir you will bring back from China.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Fengqi Road, exit B, then 7 minutes on foot.
Featured in: 小红书 · OSM
Show on map福盖儿咖啡 · Beishan
A café and chocolate shop a block from Broken Bridge, with thick hot chocolate and not one tour bus.
Tip: The bolthole when Broken Bridge is unbearable: a hundred metres from the chaos and always with free tables.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, then 14 minutes north on foot, turning off before Broken Bridge.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map简诺咖啡 南宋御街店 · Zhongshan Zhonglu
A café in a house on the imperial street, with windows onto the stone pavement the Song emperors walked.
Tip: Sit at the window: the imperial street at night, lanterns on and empty, is another city.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Dingan Road, exit C, then 4 minutes on foot up the imperial street.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map纳利咖啡 · Qinghefang
A courtyard café in the old town, hidden behind a plain wooden door just off Hefang Street.
Tip: Push the wooden door even if it looks shut: the courtyard inside is ten metres from the crowd and silent.
🚇 Metro Line 7 to Wushan Square, then 5 minutes on foot along Hefang Street.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map咖飒咖啡 · Hubin
A design café two blocks from the lake, with its own pastry counter and a marble bar full of laptops by morning.
Tip: The best place to work near the lake: plugs at every table, and your eSIM covers you if the wifi stalls.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, exit D, then 7 minutes south on foot.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map拉姆咖啡 · Hubin
A small coffee bar by the lakeside park, roasting its own and pouring a flat white at half the waterfront price.
Tip: Order it to go and cross to the park: the waterfront coffee costs twice as much and you drink it on the same pavement.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, exit D, then 7 minutes south on foot along Nanshan Road.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map一羊咖啡 · Gudang
A neighbourhood café in the west, roasting its own and drawing designers who work at Tianmuli.
Tip: It is ten minutes from Tianmuli: pair them in one morning and you have Hangzhou's whole design circuit.
🚇 Metro Line 3 to Gudang, exit A, then 8 minutes on foot.
Featured in: 小红书 · OSM
Show on map之间咖啡 · Xihu
A café gallery with rotating shows by local photographers, between the Zhejiang campus and the botanical garden.
Tip: Shows change every three weeks and entry is free. Ask whether the photographer is around: usually they are.
🚇 Metro Line 3 to Gudang, then 14 minutes on foot; or bus 33 to Dongyuecun.
Featured in: 小红书 · OSM
Show on map华欧法式烘焙 咖啡 · Xihu
A genuinely French bakery in Hangzhou: sourdough baguette, hand-laminated croissants and decent coffee.
Tip: If you have had ten days of noodles for breakfast, this is the reset. Croissants come out of the oven at 8.
🚇 Metro Line 3 to Gudang, then 15 minutes on foot; or bus 33 to Dongyuecun and 4 minutes.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map大屋顶书馆 · Liangzhu
Liangzhu's giant roof: a bookshop, café and auditorium under a timber canopy that is an architectural landmark.
Tip: Pair it with the Liangzhu museum on the same trip: twenty minutes apart, and both justify the detour.
🚇 Metro Line 2 to Liangzhu, then bus 487 or a taxi, 12 minutes. It is 45 minutes from the lake.
Featured in: 小红书 · OSM
Show on mapManner 咖啡 河坊街店 · Qinghefang
China's best-loved specialty chain: quality espresso for 15 yuan and a discount if you bring your own cup.
Tip: Bring your own cup and they knock off CNY 5. You order only through the WeChat mini-program: you need data.
🚇 Metro Line 7 to Wushan Square, then 4 minutes on foot along Hefang Street.
Featured in: OSM · 大众点评
Show on map杭州大厦 · Wulin
Zhejiang's temple of luxury: six towers of international brands and the city's densest run of boutiques.
Tip: There is a tax-refund desk for foreign visitors on level one: keep your receipts and passport handy.
🚇 Metro Line 1 or 3 to Wulin Square, exiting straight into the shopping basement.
Featured in: OSM · 杭州大厦官网
Show on map湖滨银泰 in77 · Hubin
Five pedestrian blocks between lake and city: contemporary Chinese fashion, flagships and the most-walked street around.
Tip: Blocks C and E are the good ones. The Chinese design labels sit in E, and they are the one thing you cannot buy at home.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, exit C, straight onto the pedestrian street.
Featured in: OSM · Time Out
Show on map工联CC · Hubin
The mall of Hangzhou's youth scene: second-hand clothes, independent labels and figurine shops.
Tip: The basement is the biggest vintage clothing market downtown and almost no tourist goes down. Open until 10 pm.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, exit C, then 5 minutes northeast on foot.
Featured in: 小红书 · OSM
Show on map杭州解百 · Hubin
The 1930 department store, the oldest in Hangzhou, with the local-food floor in the basement.
Tip: The food basement is the real buy: sealed Longjing tea, osmanthus sugar and dried bamboo shoots.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, exit D, then 4 minutes on foot along Yan'an Road.
Featured in: OSM · 杭州老字号
Show on map西湖银泰 · Qingbo
A compact mall on the edge of the old town, with a big supermarket and a cheap food court.
Tip: The closest supermarket to the lake: water, fruit and snacks at normal prices, not sightseeing prices.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Dingan Road, exit B, then 5 minutes on foot.
Featured in: OSM
Show on map杭州嘉里中心 · Wulin
An office, hotel and retail complex on Yan'an Road, holding the mid-range international brands.
Tip: It links to the station underground: in the rain you cross from Fengqi to Wulin without stepping outside.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Fengqi Road, exit A, then 3 minutes on foot.
Featured in: OSM
Show on map国大城市广场 · Wulin
A Wulin mall holding one of the whole city's best restaurant floors, up on levels five and six.
Tip: The restaurant floors are the perfect rain plan: twenty different kitchens on one level with air conditioning.
🚇 Metro Line 1 or 3 to Wulin Square, exiting straight into the mall.
Featured in: OSM
Show on map西溪印象城 · Xixi
The big western mall next to Xixi: an ice rink, cinemas and Hangzhou's largest food floor by far.
Tip: If you take kids to Xixi and it starts raining, this is the shelter: ten minutes from the wetland's south gate.
🚇 Metro Line 3 to Xixi Shidi Nan, then 10 minutes on foot; or Metro Line 5 to Wuchang and a bus.
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Show on map龙湖滨江天街 · Binjiang
The mall across the river in the tech district, with young labels and queues for the pop-ups.
Tip: Chinese brand pop-ups run two weeks and never return. Check what is on before you cross the river.
🚇 Metro Line 1 or 6 to Binjiang, then 6 minutes on foot; 20 minutes from the lake across the river.
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Show on map远洋乐堤港 · Gongshu
A canalside mall holding one of China's largest bookshops and water views from the roof terrace.
Tip: Pair it with Xiaohe Zhijie: ten minutes on foot along the canal bank and it rounds out a half day.
🚇 Metro Line 5 to Xiaohe, then 10 minutes on foot; or Metro Line 10 to Chezhan Dong.
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Show on map运河上街 · Gongshu
A shopping arcade at the foot of Gongchen Bridge, with canal craft shops and a local food court.
Tip: The shelter stop when it rains on the canal: two minutes from the bridge and from the three museums.
🚇 Metro Line 5 to Gongchenqiao, exit C, then 4 minutes on foot.
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Show on map中国丝绸城 · Fengqi Lu
A covered street of hundreds of silk stalls: scarves, robes, made-to-measure qipao and fabric by the metre.
Tip: You haggle and pay with Alipay. Ask to see the 100% silk certificate: much of the cheap stuff is polyester.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Fengqi Road, exit D, then 8 minutes east on foot.
Featured in: OSM · 杭州市商务局
Show on map吴山夜市 · Hubin
Hangzhou's classic night market: four hundred stalls of clothes, accessories and trinkets from 6 pm.
Tip: Haggle to half the opening price without guilt. Have Alipay ready: almost nobody takes cash now.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Longxiangqiao, exit C, then 6 minutes on foot along Renhe Road.
Featured in: OSM · Time Out
Show on map吴山花鸟城 · Wushan
A market of birds, crickets, fish and bonsai: three floors of the China guidebooks skip, smelling of jasmine.
Tip: Go to the third floor: that is where the fighting crickets live in bamboo cages, a thousand-year tradition still going.
🚇 Metro Line 7 to Wushan Square, then 5 minutes on foot; or Metro Line 1 to Dingan Road and 8 minutos.
Featured in: OSM · 小红书
Show on map张小泉 河坊街店 · Qinghefang
Scissors and knives from the brand founded in 1663, one of the oldest in China still in production.
Tip: They go in checked baggage, never carry-on. The embroidery scissors are the perfect gift and weigh nothing.
🚇 Metro Line 7 to Wushan Square, then 4 minutes on foot along Hefang Street.
Featured in: 中华老字号 · OSM
Show on map朱炳仁铜雕艺术馆 · Qinghefang
The house of Hangzhou's copper master: an entire home clad in copper, with workshop and shop open to all.
Tip: The copper house is free to visit even if you buy nothing. Zhu Bingren made the Xiangji temple pagodas.
🚇 Metro Line 7 to Wushan Square, then 4 minutes on foot along Hefang Street.
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Show on map胡庆余堂 · Dajing Xiang
The 1874 traditional pharmacy founded by Hu Xueyan: timber counters, herb drawers and a museum inside.
Tip: The pharmacy still trades: you can buy chrysanthemum tea or liquorice lozenges at the original counter.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Dingan Road, exit C, then 6 minutes on foot along Dajing Xiang alley.
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Show on map王星记扇厂 · Chaohuiqiao
The 1875 fan factory that supplied the Qing court: black lacquered-paper fans, painted by hand.
Tip: The black lacquered-paper fan is the house original and you will not find it at the airport.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Xihu Wenhua Guangchang, then 12 minutes on foot; or bus 23 to Chaohuiqiao.
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Show on map万事利丝绸汇 · Jianqiao
High-end Hangzhou silk: the house that made the state gifts for the G20 and the Asian Games.
Tip: It is expensive and it is real silk, certified. For a scarf that lasts twenty years, come here and not to silk street.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Zhabanong, then 10 minutes on foot; or Metro Line 9 to Jianqiao.
Featured in: OSM · 万事利官网
Show on map晓风书屋 桥西店 · Qiaoxi
Hangzhou's best-loved independent bookshop, in a canal warehouse, with an excellent Chinese art section.
Tip: They stock Chinese-edition art and photo books you cannot get abroad, at a third of the price.
🚇 Metro Line 5 to Gongchenqiao, exit C, cross the bridge and it is 3 minutes on foot.
Featured in: OSM · 小红书
Show on map晓风书屋 丝绸博物馆店 · Yuhuangshan
The silk museum branch: textile and design books, a coffee bar and a courtyard among mulberry trees.
Tip: The best coffee around, inside a free museum: enter through the park gate, no ticket needed.
🚇 Bus 12 or 42 to Zhongguo Sichou Bowuguan; it sits at the museum entrance, which is free.
Featured in: OSM · 中国丝绸博物馆
Show on map西溪果麦书店 · Xixi
A design bookshop on the wetland's edge, with windows onto the water and a careful Chinese literature selection.
Tip: It is on the free side of Xixi: walk in, read with a wetland view and skip the park's CNY 80.
🚇 Metro Line 19 to Xixi Shidi Bei, then 8 minutes on foot; it is outside the park's ticketed zone.
Featured in: OSM · 小红书
Show on map杭州茶叶市场 · Jianguo Lu
The wholesale tea market: dozens of stalls where locals buy their Longjing at the real price.
Tip: Ask to taste before buying: that is the norm. The same Longjing costs a third of the Hefang Street price here.
🚇 Metro Line 1 to Dingan Road, then 12 minutes northeast on foot; or Metro Line 2 to Qingchun Guangchang and 8 minutes.
Featured in: OSM · 杭州市商务局
Show on map梅家坞村 茶叶 · Meijiawu
The valley's tea houses sell straight from the grower: you see the plantation, the roasting wok, and taste first.
Tip: Good Longjing is spring tea picked before Qingming, not autumn leaf. Ask to see the date on the sealed pack.
🚇 Bus 103 or 324 to Meijiawu from the lake, about 35 minutes; tourist bus Y9 also stops here.
Featured in: 西湖龙井茶产地保护 · OSM
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