Tours, sightseeing tours, activities & things to do | Viator.comSuzhou and Zhouzhuang Water Village Day Trip from Shanghai
based on 33 reviews of Suzhou and Zhouzhuang Water Village Day Trip from Shanghai
Read what other Viator.com travelers think about the Suzhou and Zhouzhuang Water Village Day Trip from Shanghai. What they loved, what they liked and what they think could be improved, it's all here to help you make the most of your next trip.
Lunch was very, very disappointing otherwise the tour was good and well worth doing.
Reviewed by: Robin B, United Kingdom, November 2008
Great experience. Tour guide and transportation were excellent.
Reviewed by: Chris S, Australia, October 2008
Great day out! Interesting diversity of sights & history, which contrasted nicely with big city Shanghai. Everything ran like clockwork & excellent English speaking local guide. The only negative was excessive time spent at Suzhou silk factory - OK for lunch break & short tour, but extra time better spent in Zhouzhuang water village.
Reviewed by: Greig D, Australia, July 2008
It is the Zhouzhuang water village which was very interesting. The gondola ride reminded me more of the floating market tour in Bangkok, rather than the gondola ride in Venice. I agree with a previous review that it would have been better if we can spend more time in the village. The Suzhou component wasn't much, with only a visit to a small garden and a stopover at a bridge. The silk factory was too hard sell, and a shorter period of time can be spent there. I also agree that the Chinese buffet would have been better than the Western buffet, seeing that there was a section for the former in the restaurant. The biggest downside was the really late pickup, and my repeated calls to the office were not answered, so I got frantic that the tour might have missed us.
Reviewed by: Anonymous, Philippines, May 2008
We thoroughly enjoyed the tour as it was well-organized and well-escorted. After I called to reconfirm, I received a phone call the next day from the tour guide to update the pick-up time and everything ran to schedule. The tour guide was very knowledgeable, offering insight about China's culture well beyond the scope of the tour sites. The bus driver seemed a little confused, however, about how to get around but the tour guide helped him with directions! The tour offered a diverse program -- garden visits, silk factory tour, strolling through Zhouzhuang, as well as a gondola ride and time for browsing and shopping. The only disappointment was the western buffet at the silk factory. The tour operator, of course, had no control over the quality.
Reviewed by: Robert T, United States of America, March 2008
Excellent value! Our tour guide was very nice and helpful. Zhouzhuang is beautiful!
Reviewed by: Maranda C, Canada, January 2008
The places, both Suzhou and Zhouzhuang, are stunning. They're beautiful. The local guide is also great. However, the lunch was not good in terms of quality and taste.
Reviewed by: Apple K, Thailand, January 2008
These two charming locations are definitely worth a visit. They epitomize the lifestyle of former Chinese periods and also give an excellent contrast to the residential landscape and pace of city life in Shanghai. The only downside of the day was the expectation and constant pressure to purchase souvenirs by the employees when we were taken to locations like the Pearl Center.
Reviewed by: Janet H, New Zealand, September 2007
This was a good day out. I would definitely recommend this trip. The water village is beautiful and something different from the city of Shanghai. The tour guide was informative and spoke excellent English. Thumbs up!
Reviewed by: Shane P, United Arab Emirates, August 2007
Our tour turned out to be private, just the two of us, the guide, and driver. Our guide was wonderful, funny and full of interesting stories about life in China. She taught us some Chinese too. Much of the tour is spent on the road. Suzhou is a good hour from Shanghai, Zhouzhuang an hour and a half, and the roadside scenery is just flat open land dotted with factories. It is still interesting, though. We loved the boat ride in the water village. We went on a Monday, so it wasn't at all crowded at either stop. the silk factory visit was okay if you're shopping for silk, though lunch there was pretty awful. We were steered to the "Western buffet" -- try to get the "Chinese buffet" if you can.
Reviewed by: Anonymous, United States of America, August 2007
Great trip. Driver and suide successfully overcame difficulties we had with local traffic and made the trip a great experience.
Reviewed by: Dan L, Canada, May 2007
I found the trip worthwhile. The tour leader spoke good English and was knowledgeable about the places we visited. He did fall asleep though on our long journey to and from Suzhou and I thought it would have been more interesting if he could have told us about the areas we were traveling through.
I particularly enjoyed the silk research institute and Zhouzhuang Water Village. The lunch provided was a nice meal at a very nice restaurant.
Transport was old and uncomfortable. Spent too long in the garden and silk factory. Water village was great. Travelling back took forever.
Reviewed by: Anonymous, United Kingdom, April 2009
The guide was good, not rushing.
Reviewed by: Ling L, Germany, October 2008
Experiencing Suzhou was okay, not on the top of my list of things to do outside of Shanghai. Zhouzhuang was a lot more interesting. I think if our driver wouldn't have nodded off while driving out to the countryside, the tour would have been a lot better. It just put a damper on the tour itself. However our tour guide was fantastic, informative and a lot of fun to be around.
Reviewed by: Anonymous, United States of America, March 2008
