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Where to Stay in Shanghai

Shanghai's two halves face each other across the river, and which side you sleep on changes the trip. Puxi, the west bank, has the colonial Bund, the plane-tree lanes of the French Concession and almost all the street life. Pudong, the east bank, has the skyscrapers you photograph from Puxi. Here is where to base yourself, area by area.

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By Emma7 min readPublished
Table of contents
The Pudong skyline lit up at night seen from the Bund waterfront in Shanghai
Photo: DvTor8303 · CC0

In Brief

Where should you stay in Shanghai?

Stay in Huangpu near the Bund for a first visit - you are walking distance from the waterfront, Nanjing Road and the Yu Garden, with metro lines in every direction. The French Concession is the most charming area for a second trip or a longer stay, Jing'an is the best all-round mix of food, shopping and transport, and Pudong suits skyline views and business trips but is short on street life. Shanghai's metro is excellent, so anywhere on lines 1, 2 or 10 works.

Key takeaways

  • First visit: Huangpu or the Bund, walkable to the waterfront, Yu Garden and Nanjing Road.
  • The French Concession has the best atmosphere but the fewest big-brand hotels and no Bund views.
  • Pudong is for skyline views and business - the good photos are taken from the other side.
  • Set up a mobile payment app and a VPN before you arrive; cash is barely used and many sites are blocked.

Shanghai neighborhoods at a glance

The best areas to stay in Shanghai, compared for vibe, price and who each suits.

AreaBest forPriceIn a word
Huangpu & the Bundfirst timers, sightseeing$$$Colonial waterfront, the classic skyline view, everything walkable
Former French Concessionromance, food$$Plane trees, lane houses, the best cafes and bars
Jing'anfirst timers, shopping$$Best all-round base: food, malls, temples and metro lines
Xintiandi & Huaihai Roadluxury, shopping$$$Restored lane houses, upmarket dining, central and polished
Pudong (Lujiazui)luxury, families$$$Skyline hotels, huge rooms, thin on street life
Hongkou & North Bundbudget, sightseeing$Cheaper rooms, river views, a short hop from the centre
Xujiahuishopping, budget$Malls, electronics and transport, out beyond the Concession
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Best areas to stay in Shanghai

Ranked best-first, with the vibe, who it suits and an honest catch for each. Tap a filter to match an area to your trip.

Find your area - what matters most?

All 7 areas in Shanghai, best first.

  • Huangpu & the Bund in Shanghai

    Huangpu & the Bund

    $$$ · High-end

    Colonial waterfront, the classic skyline view, everything walkable

    Best for:First-timersSightseeingLuxury

    The historic core on the west bank, where the 1920s banking houses of the Bund face Pudong's towers across the water. Nanjing Road, the Yu Garden and People's Square are all walkable, and the riverside promenade at night is the image most people have of Shanghai.

    Good to know
    The most touristed part of the city, so prices are high and the Bund promenade is crowded from late afternoon onwards. Rooms with a river view cost a significant premium - the view is free from the promenade itself.
    See Huangpu & the Bund hotelsLive prices for your dates
  • Former French Concession in Shanghai

    Former French Concession

    $$ · Mid-range

    Plane trees, lane houses, the best cafes and bars

    Best for:RomanceFood & wineNightlife

    Quiet streets shaded by plane trees, 1920s villas and shikumen lane houses converted into boutiques, coffee shops, wine bars and restaurants. It is the most pleasant part of Shanghai to simply walk around, and where most long-stay visitors end up wishing they had booked.

    Good to know
    Fewer international chain hotels and more boutique properties and serviced apartments. Some of the prettiest streets are a walk from the nearest metro, so check the distance before booking. No skyline views.
    See Former French Concession hotelsLive prices for your dates
  • Jing'an in Shanghai

    Jing'an

    $$ · Mid-range

    Best all-round base: food, malls, temples and metro lines

    Best for:First-timersShoppingFood & wine

    A dense, modern district built around the golden Jing'an Temple, with excellent restaurants, big malls, good hotels at every price point and interchange metro stations that get you anywhere fast. It blends the French Concession's walkability with better transport.

    Good to know
    Less immediately atmospheric than the Bund or the Concession - it is a working city district rather than a sight. That is precisely why it is good value and convenient for a longer stay.
    See Jing'an hotelsLive prices for your dates

  • Xintiandi & Huaihai Road

    $$$ · High-end

    Restored lane houses, upmarket dining, central and polished

    Best for:LuxuryShoppingNightlife

    Xintiandi rebuilt a block of shikumen lane housing as an upscale pedestrian precinct of restaurants and bars, and the surrounding Huaihai Road is the city's smartest shopping street. Central, safe, easy and comfortable, with the French Concession next door.

    Good to know
    Polished to the point of sterile, and priced accordingly - this is the most expensive dining in the city. Great for a comfortable first trip, less so if you want the messier, more interesting Shanghai.
    See Xintiandi & Huaihai Road hotelsLive prices for your dates
  • Pudong (Lujiazui) in Shanghai

    Pudong (Lujiazui)

    $$$ · High-end

    Skyline hotels, huge rooms, thin on street life

    Best for:LuxuryFamilies

    The financial district on the east bank, where the Shanghai Tower, the Pearl Tower and the Jin Mao stand together. High-floor hotel rooms here have genuinely spectacular views, and the area is spacious, clean and easy with children or luggage.

    Good to know
    The classic Shanghai photograph is of Pudong, taken from the Bund, so staying here means looking at the wrong side. Street life is minimal and distances between buildings are big. Fine for a night or two or a business trip; the metro under the river takes minutes.
    See Pudong hotelsLive prices for your dates
  • Hongkou & North Bund in Shanghai

    Hongkou & North Bund

    $ · Budget

    Cheaper rooms, river views, a short hop from the centre

    Best for:BudgetSightseeing

    North of Suzhou Creek, this old district holds the Jewish Refugees Museum, the 1933 slaughterhouse turned creative complex, and a stretch of riverfront being rebuilt as the North Bund with new hotels and river views at lower prices.

    Good to know
    Less polished and with fewer restaurants aimed at visitors, but on the metro and only a few stops from the Bund. The best value option if you want river views without Huangpu prices.
    See Hongkou & North Bund hotelsLive prices for your dates
  • Xujiahui in Shanghai

    Xujiahui

    $ · Budget

    Malls, electronics and transport, out beyond the Concession

    Best for:ShoppingBudgetFamilies

    A major shopping and transport hub south-west of the centre, with a cluster of malls, electronics markets, a Jesuit cathedral and several metro lines crossing. Hotels here cost less than anywhere central and rooms tend to be larger.

    Good to know
    It is a commercial junction rather than a place with charm, and you will commute in for the sights. Sensible if you are staying a week, want space and do not mind 20 minutes on the metro each way.
    See Xujiahui hotelsLive prices for your dates

Where not to stay in Shanghai

Shanghai is a very safe city and no district is off-limits to visitors. The real trap is distance rather than danger: hotels advertised as Shanghai that sit near Hongqiao or Pudong airport, or out past the outer ring road, look like bargains and then cost you an hour each way. Check the metro line and station before booking anything that seems unusually cheap. The second mistake is booking Pudong for a short sightseeing trip - the views from your window are excellent but almost everything you want to walk to is on the other bank.

Getting around Shanghai

The metro is the answer to nearly everything: it is vast, cheap, signed in English and reaches both airports. Lines 1, 2 and 10 link most of the areas visitors stay in, and line 2 runs from Hongqiao all the way to Pudong airport. The Maglev covers the Pudong airport run in about 8 minutes if you want the novelty. Taxis and ride-hailing are inexpensive but slow in traffic. Two practical things to sort before arrival: set up Alipay or WeChat Pay, since cash and foreign cards are awkward almost everywhere, and install a VPN if you rely on Google, WhatsApp or Instagram.

Where to stay in Shanghai: FAQ

The questions travelers ask most when choosing an area.

Huangpu, around the Bund. You can walk to the waterfront promenade, Nanjing Road, People's Square and the Yu Garden, and the metro connects to everything else. It is the most expensive and most crowded part of the city, so the honest alternative is Jing'an, which trades the historic setting for better value, excellent food and superb metro links while staying genuinely central. Both are on the Puxi side, which is where you want to be for a first trip.

Puxi for a first visit, almost always. Pudong has the skyscrapers and the high-floor hotel rooms with spectacular views, but the famous photograph of Shanghai is taken from the Bund looking at Pudong - so staying there means being inside the view rather than in front of it. Pudong is also spread out, with long distances between buildings and little street life. Puxi has the Bund, the French Concession, the food and the walkable neighbourhoods. The metro under the river takes only a few minutes if you want to visit the towers.

It is the most enjoyable area to be based in, particularly on a second trip or a longer stay. Plane-tree streets, 1920s villas, converted lane houses and the best concentration of cafes, wine bars and independent restaurants in the city make it the one district people walk around for its own sake. The trade-offs: fewer big-brand hotels and more boutiques and apartments, no skyline views, and some of the prettiest streets sit a solid walk from the nearest metro station. Check that distance before booking.

Less than most people expect, with a wide spread. Bund-facing rooms in Huangpu and the luxury towers in Pudong are priced like any global city, but Jing'an, Hongkou and Xujiahui offer good modern hotels well below Western European or North American rates for the same standard. Food ranges from a few pounds for excellent street dumplings to some of the priciest fine dining in Asia in Xintiandi. The metro costs very little. Where budgets go wrong is booking a river-view room when the same view is free from the Bund promenade.

Yes - the metro is one of the best in the world, cheap, extensive, signed in English and connected to both airports. Lines 1, 2 and 10 cover nearly every area a visitor would stay in. Two things catch people out though. Cash is barely used and foreign cards are often refused, so set up Alipay or WeChat Pay before you travel. And Google, WhatsApp and Instagram are blocked, so install a VPN in advance - you cannot download one easily once you are there.

Three full days covers the city well: the Bund, Yu Garden and Nanjing Road on one, the French Concession and Xintiandi on another, and Pudong's towers plus a museum on the third. A fourth day lets you add a water town like Zhujiajiao, an hour out, which is the best short trip from the city. Shanghai rewards slow wandering more than checklist sightseeing, so if you only have two days, spend one of them walking the Concession rather than queuing for an observation deck.

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Photos via Wikimedia Commons, used under their respective licences.