4-Hour Private Customized Shanghai City Tour
Recommended by 100% of travelers
Shanghai, China
- 4 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Rather than struggling to plan your own itinerary, make the most of Shanghai on a private half-day tour. Available morning, afternoon, and night, it’s the perfect introduction for first-time China visitors. Just pick two or three attractions, perhaps the Bund, a Huangpu River cruise, a temple, a skyscraper, or a market, and design your dream day out. Entrance fees are at your own expense: upgrade to include a private car.
- Get to the heart of Shanghai with personalized insights from a private guide
- Customize your tour to suit your unique interests
- Choose between morning, afternoon, and evening tours to suit your schedule
- Your guide will accompany you from your hotel: upgrade for a private car
What's Included
- Private professional guide
- Private transfer (only if Tour with Private Car Tour Option is selected)
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- All Entrance fees
- Transportation (if Tour Only Option is selected)
- Personal expense
- Food and drinks
- Airport pickup and drop-off service
- Gratuities
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Itinerary
1
The Bund (Wai Tan)
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Yu Garden (Yuyuan)
1 hour • Admission Ticket Not Included
3
Jade Buddha Temple
1 hour • Admission Ticket Not Included
4
Former French Concession
1 hour • Admission Ticket Free
5
Shanghai Tower
1 hour • Admission Ticket Not Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Wheelchair accessible
- Please wear comfortable walking shoes
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- For the Pudong airport layover travelers, please meet up either at Maglev Train Longyang Rd Station ( You can easily take Maglev train from Pudong airport to Longyang Rd Station in 7 minutes ), Or Pudong airport with extra pick-up charges applied.
- If hotel is located at outskirt of Shanghai, please meet up either at Fairmont Peace Hotel ( the concierge area ) or your hotel with extra pick-up charges applied.
- Near public transportation
- Transportation is wheelchair accessible
- Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
5.0
based on 91 reviews
Jenney_T, Aug 2025
Absolutely excellent! Penny was the perfect guide, so knowledgeable and articulate and a real ambassador for her home city. We loved it
Andrew_H, Apr 2025
This was the perfect half day tour of Shanghai. Penny was punctual, communicative, and provided great historical background and information about Shanghai. It was perfectly timed so that we were able to see the French Concession, the Bund, the Yew Garden, and the Shanghai Tower while taking a break for an authentic meal. We would recommend this tour very highly.
Melissa_I, Mar 2025
The tour conducted by Penny was an amazing time. We enjoyed it! She had a wealth of knowledge to share, and was flexible customizing the tour based on our interests. I would highly recommend a tour with her and this agency.
Ana_S, Mar 2025
Penny was an excellent guide, actually she was more like a friend! She catered the tour to my preferences and went over and above to make my experience in Shanghai comfortable and really fun! highly highly recommend Penny!
Mark_P, Aug 2024
Penny is an exceptional tour guide, accommodating and adaptable should you wish to visit a particular site or attraction, has a good sense of humour, an extensive knowledge of Shanghai history and stories to tell, and her English is exceptionally good. Would highly recommend Melody Tours for your next visit to Shanghai.
Arjun_S, Jul 2024
Penny is so funny and intelligent, she is an excellent guide around Shanghai. She knows so much about this city and its history it's truly impressive. We had a blast, can't wait until we come back to this wonderful city.
Chris_H, Jun 2024
This was an amazing "Get to Know Shanghai" tour. Penny our guide was full of stories & history about the city. She had heaps of fun facts & interesting tidbits to share.
Penny went over & above to make this a great experience for us. I would thoroughly recommend this tour.
Thank you
Victoria, Alicia & Chris
Carolyn_C, Jun 2024
Penny gave us an amazing tour of the beautiful Yu Garden, the Shanghai tower, and the Jade Buddha Temple. At each stop and on the way, she provided many details to educate us about the Chinese culture at these locations. Penny was very professional and friendly. She helped us bargain when we wanted to buy things and gave us a great restaurant recommendation and directions to cruise port for River cruises. We highly recommend this private tour.
Cynthia_S, Jun 2024
Kelly is a really first rate guide! She went at my pace, explained a lot, showed me where to find delicious food and even helped me purchase special gifts. Totally helpful! Highly recommended.
Juliet_M, May 2024
I was on a solo trip as I twinned this with a work trip. Penny my guide met me at the train station. She catered the trip to the items that I wanted to see and more.
The Yu Garden was beautiful. Don’t miss the 400 year old Gingko tree.
We went up a tower to have a view of the French quarter. I learned a lot from Penny about the history.
The Jade Buddha Temple is a must. This was a unique experience for me.
Penny went over and beyond to make sure I was safe and comfortable. She with the driver took me to my hotel. After this she spent time with me to make sure that I made it safely to my boat tour which I had booked later.
I truly had the most experience because of Penny. x
Lawrence_C, May 2024
Ms. Penny met me at my hotel, she helped me craft an agenda, and then we were off on a fantastic, informative, and fun tour of Shanghai. Riding the Metro and walking, I not only saw highlights of Shanghai but learned a lot of very interesting history along the way. Ms. Penny is the definition of a professional guide: knowledgeable, fun, engaging, and she taught me about using Alipay for payments and using taxis in China. I wanted to see an out-of-the-way propaganda poster museum and she not only got me there but she fully explained the nuances of the posters from pre-Maoist times until the present. This was a master class by a true, highly talented professional guide. I absolutely recommend this tour whether you know what you want to see or are looking for tips and suggestions. Ms. Penny is amazing.
Piril_A, May 2024
Highly recommended! Lovely Judy decides on the route as per your preference & interest. I explored the major attractions & city-highlights from old & new Shanghai in 4-hours. Judy makes sure that you enjoy the tour, gives good & enough explanation. Very good experience + language barriers & great city tips!
Paul_S, Feb 2024
My best friend and I were blessed to have Ms. Penny as our guide. From start to finish she asked me about my tour preferences and what I was most interested in. She also helped me at the markets, suggested local eateries, and was extremely informative on the history of China 🇨🇳 and Shanghai. I will be forever grateful for you Penny, and consider you a lifelong friend. I hope to see you again, many blessings your way. 💖
Lisa_C, Nov 2019
With limited time for a tour, we booked a four hour private tour with a private car. We were met promptly in our hotel lobby by Fei Fei, our guide for the morning. We had listed a few specific ideas for places to visit but as is often the case, it was the places that we did not choose but were taken to by Fei Fei that were the most enlightening. We stumbled on a produce market from the Hunnan region and tasted apples, oranges, wickedly strong rice wine and Hunnan chilli sauce. Fantastic. Fei Fei also told us what it was like to live in Shanghai - not just the sort of information that can be gained from a guide book. Highly recommended.
sanborncynthia7, Nov 2019
This was a very good choice. My guide, Penny, was very friendly and knowledgable, and able to adapt the half day to me interests. Highly recommended.
Michael_M, Sep 2019
This was a very good tour of some of the historical sites in the city. My tour guide, Penny, is very knowledgeable and speaks perfect English. She was able to adapt my tour around the times I had available. I would highly recommend.
Byron_J, Jul 2019
Kathy our tour guide knew all the things to see and we did a lot in a very short time. Her knowledge was excellent along with her English. Pointing out key features in the Gardens that we would have missed if we just walked through added additional knowledge as we toured. The temples with her knowledge added a lot of insight.
Kamini_D, Jun 2019
We had a great time with Kathy who was so patient, finding us lunch as we had just arrived long haul & then adapting to our ever changing needs! The Jade temple was the highlight for me. Ask for Kathy!!
SiewPeng_L, Jun 2019
We enjoyed our walking tour of the city. Lily our guide talked to us about where we could go and we went specifically to places of interest to us. We had the option to walk or take the metro and Lily pointed out many things of interest to us as we went along. Shanghai is full of history and very cosmopolitan at the same time. We had a much deeper understanding of the people and the place by just talking to Lily, she had much to share from history to architecture to technology and what drives Shanghai today. I highly recommend it.
NorthStar53934456940, Jun 2019
I was very pleased with the tour. I chose to see the Jade Buddha Temple, Yu Garden and the French Concession. We got a late start, and this was a lot to see, but these attractions seemed a great way to get acquainted with the history of Shanghai. My guide was Christina. She kept us on track with the time (I had a plane to catch at the end of the tour), while providing in depth information and insights about each site we visited. Christina is knowledgeable and personable. She was Able to answer questions, and provided cultural insights and tips. I would highly recommend both this tour, and my guide Christina.
hudsonwarner, Sep 2018
Penny from Shanghai Melody through Viator is a 5 star guide! She is so very knowledgeable, friendly, creative and flexible. Met us and took us on a private custom combined walking, taxi tour of many sights in the French concession and was an expert historian and very fun. So good in fact that I booked an additional half day to see sights she recommended; and old 1700s private home/library not open to the public, Confucius temple, and Peace Hotel to name a few.
Cynthia_H, Jun 2018
You cant go wrong with private, customized tour with Kelly! She contacted me directly to ask about my preferences so I really felt she wanted to ensure my tour was exactly what I wanted. We started at the Bund, with Kelly sharing the history of this historical area. We toured the Fairmont Peace Hotel where Kelly showed me the obvious Art Deco touches and how some things were hidden during the Cultural Revolution. Next, we walked through the Yu Garden with its 500 year history. Last, we walked through some streets of Old Shanghai with a special treat of visiting the owner of one the oldest homes in Shanghai. It was a hot day and Kelly made sure I had water and restroom stops as needed. Kellys pace and knowledge of the sights we visited was impressive. I highly recommend.
Karen_B, May 2018
Kelly was an excellent, very accommodating and personable tour guide. She took lots of lovely photos for me. She is very knowledgeable about the culture, food and must-see places to visit. This is my first time to travel in Shanghai and Kelly made sure I had the best time given I was only there for a few days. This tour is new on Viator and what makes it really good is that it is highly customised to your needs. You get to choose what you want to do and where you want to go. Kelly really gave good recommendations. I also booked Kelly for a dinner tour the following 2 nights since I wanted to try some of the best restaurants in Xintiandi and the Bund. You can easily arrange this with Kelly for a reasonable price. It was a very pleasant experience to visit Shanghai.
I highly recommend this tour! Kelly is one of the best tour guides I have had and she will definitely make your visit really worthwhile.
From $79.50
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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