17 October 2026
Sleep there only if the lake is the plan
When to sleep in Hangzhou and when to go back to Shanghai the same day.
A day trip from Shanghai reaches West Lake and returns. It is crowded at noon. That is still the right shape if Hangzhou is a photo on the way through.
Sleep there when you want a morning at the lake before the groups, or when Shanghai was never the point. Do not move the whole first trip inland by an hour just to save a hotel rate.
- Related pageThe guide this note sits next to