Private Evening Tour: VIP Huangpu River Cruise and Shanghai Lights
Recommended by 98% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Shanghai, China
- 3 to 4 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
See the city of Shanghai light up at night, without worrying about language barriers or navigating, on this private evening tour, which takes you to top attractions such as Yuyuan Old Street, Xin Tian Di, and the skyscrapers of Lujiazui. Take in panoramic views of the city from the VIP deck of a cruise along the Huangpu River, and then choose to be dropped off back at your hotel or to continue your evening out on the town.
- Safely explore Shanghai's top evening attractions, including Xin Tian Di
- Private tour ensures a memorable experience for just your party
- VIP river cruise provides panoramic views of the city from the upper deck
- Private round-trip hotel transfers, or stay out and make your own way home
What's Included
- Private hotel pickup and drop-off
- Private Driver/guide
- VIP Class River Cruise Seat
- Bottled water
- Private vehicle
- DinnerShanghai Soup Dumpling Dinner if you choose Evening Tour with Dinner option
- Personal expenses
- Food and drinks if you choose Private Evening Tour option
- Gratuities
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Pickup details
You will be picked up by your guide holding a sign with your name in your hotel lobby or at the Cruise Terminal. If your hotel is beyond the free pickup area, don't hesitate to get in touch with the supplier to confirm.
Itinerary
1
Yuyuan Old Street
40 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Huangpu River Cruise
1 hour 20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
3
Pudong New Area
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
4
Xintiandi
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.9
based on 177 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
The tour overall is nice,
The walk around the old city and the shopping area is beautiful.
The waiting time to get in the cruise was longer than expected as it was busy day but as soon I got in the cruise the view was incredible beautiful 10/10
I highly recommend this tour. The guide tour person in charge was also nice, professional and knowledgeable.
Our Shanghai night tour, including the Old City and the Huangpu River cruise, was absolutely amazing. The city looks breathtaking at night. Tom was an excellent guide—friendly, knowledgeable, and well-organized. He shared many interesting stories and made the whole experience enjoyable and memorable. I highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Shanghai!
Amazing tour, the Bund was spectacular at night on the boat and Autumn was an excellent guide that did a great job personalizing the tour
Great way to see the highlights of Shanghai. Alex was fantastic, gave us a lot of information and insights to life in Shanghai.
This was an absolutely fantastic experience. Our guide Autumn was extremely knowledgeable and an excellent communicator. Autumn’s personality was a delight and this was a trip my Grandfather and I won’t forget! Also, the entire experience was organised incredibly efficiently and we were very grateful to be collected and dropped off at each stopping point. VIP Service!
The guide and driver made it very enjoyable. The VIP seats were the best. The lights were spectacular and Shanghai is definitely recommended. Our guide was Linda and she is very knowledgeable and fun.
We had a wonderful tour exploring the beautiful night lights along the Huangpu River and the charming atmosphere of Yuyuan Old Street. The cruise offered stunning views of Shanghai’s illuminated skyline, making it a truly memorable experience. Our tour guide, Mary, was very knowledgeable, friendly and spoke very good English. She shared many interesting facts and stories about the city’s history and culture. As an added bonus, Mary is a great photographer and helped us capture fantastic photos throughout the tour. Thank you to the driver as well who ensured we reached our stops safely and for the excellent navigation.
Linda was absolutely amazing — so friendly, warm, and welcoming from the moment we met her. She is incredibly knowledgeable about the local history and shared so many interesting facts and stories throughout the experience. You can tell she truly loves what she does. Her kindness and enthusiasm made everything even more enjoyable. Highly recommend touring with Linda!
Great experience. Clear communication. On time pickup. Awesome tour sites. Roy was informative and his command of language was impeccable.
If you’re visiting Shanghai and only do one thing, make it this evening tour with Tom. What an experience!
We spent the night cruising along the Huangpu River with the stunning Pudong skyline lit up before us — absolutely breathtaking. Tom then guided us through the atmospheric lanes of Old Shanghai and the beautiful French Concession, bringing both neighbourhoods to life with stories and insights we simply wouldn’t have found in any guidebook.
Tom is everything you want in a guide: incredibly knowledgeable, wonderfully patient, and genuinely friendly. His English is excellent, making communication completely effortless throughout the evening. He also took us to some fantastic spots to pick up a few local treasures to bring home — and crucially, he knew exactly where to go for the best prices. No tourist traps here!
Shanghai truly is a different city by night, and Tom knows how to show it off at its very best. We came away with memories, a few great souvenirs, and a deep appreciation for this remarkable city.
Highly, highly recommended. Book this tour — you won’t regret it!
Tonight we explored the beautiful city lights of Shanghai with an amazing river cruise along the Huangpu River. Seeing the skyline, the glowing towers, and the city reflections on the water was unforgettable. From historic buildings on the Bund to the futuristic skyline of Pudong, every moment felt like a movie scene.
Big thanks to our guide Patrick for making the tour fun, informative, and smooth throughout the evening.
The places of the tour were great but the guide was kind of in a hurry. Maybe due to the time of cruise we should catch up but there wasn’t so much time to do in the tour. It was like we were just passing by. That at the end of the tour, we decided to stay and didn’t bother them bringing us back to the hotel.
Linda was a great guide around Shanghai! The boat tour was very nice - Shanghai at night was a sight to see
First half was an 1 hour cruise around the river - majority of buildings are covered in led's and whole area becomes both very colourful and atmospheric.
Second part is a road transfer to Yu Garden where the buildings are all bathed in pastel light, this highlighting their ancient design.
So that was the trip, but the whole event was made more than special by our guide 'Autumn'. Not only did she queue for hours during the afternoon before picking us up - this to ensure we had the best 'VIP' boat seating, she also managed to get us into all the Yu Garden areas before all the throngs of tourists arrived.
Finally she added another walk around the magically lite French Concession area. The whole trip was simply superb.
Hannah is the most amazing and passionate guide ever
A great photographer and teacher
Her knowledge of Shanghai is limitless
From the boat trip up and down the river to China town with it's ancient buildings and quaint shops and on to the French Concession with the bars and designer shops we learned all about Shanghai and it's history I highly recommend this tour
Turned up and got us on the boat and up the Shanghai Tower, but appeared more interested in seeing us off and going to dinner with his friend. Would recommend the tour but not the guide - Tom.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Hi Craig,
This is Tom and I'm the founder of this tour product.
Your tour guide is Patrick on that day. I sincerely apologize that Patrick’s service did not meet your expectations. We will provide further training for our guides to ensure they communicate more with guests, share more information, and make everyone feel at home. Thank you again for your valuable feedback.
Regards
Tom
Tom picked us up from our hotel, took us through the city where he gave us interesting facts and information on the way to the boat. Once there he ushered us to the proper boat where we enjoyed a VIP section of the boat complete with outdoor seating and a very comfortable interior. The city really must be enjoyed from the river at night. It’s quite nice. Afterwards we visited a couple “must see” areas before returning to the hotel.
Tom was professional, had a very comfortable van, was knowledgeable and a pleasure to spend time with.
I think Tom made this excursion a good value. I’m glad we chose a private tour.
Not enough great things to say about our guide Patrick! He was very knowledgeable and provided the perfect amount of history and information. Patrick is fun with good sense of humor and great English. This night tour was a perfect mix of activities. We started with the river cruise and enjoying the spectacular views of Shanghai night lights from the VIP viewing area. We then visited multiple locations in the Bund and French quarter. Stopped along the way to try different food and to the most beautiful pictures spots. Did i mention Patrick is also a great photographer too :) Highly recommend!!!!!
We had a fantastic evening tour with Tommy. The cruise was a highlight of our trip to Shanghai, which is a must , for every visitor. The other stops were very interesting and offered stunning photo opportunities. Tommy was an extremely good guide with extensive local knowledge and made the tour 10/10. I wish we could have toured with him every day.
Excellent tour guide. Excellent English and history knowledge. Tailored tour to our interests. Excellent lunch.
This river cruise is a must-do for the best views of the Bund and the Shanghai city scape. Be sure to go after sunset to marvel at the beauty of the Bund and its dazzling lights. Alex, our guide was very nice, patient, and knowledgeable. After the 1-hour cruise, we explored the highlights of Shanghai, such as the old Shanghai, the French concession, and the Xintiandi district. This tour is a great way to start your trip or to preview what the city has to offer!
Wonderful views of the city. Great chance to take pictures. Guide is a good photographer and good tour guide. Very friendly
Wonderful experience. Mr jemmy has been wonderful guide. Extremely polite and humble. His knowledge about city and china is excellent
Autumn was awesome! We were able to tailor the tour to suit our interests and she simply made it happen. The boat cruise was very well organised. The VIP section was worth it for the privacy and access to the best viewing platform. Our driver was very prompt and always in the right place at the right time. Thank you both
Mary was our guide, she was gave us a great experience. Spoke very good English. I am glad we were in the VIP section of the boat, it was very full!!
Great and knowledgeable tour guide. She helped me with great pictures. Would highly recommend this trip.
So nice having a private viewing area. Nothing but railing between ourselves and scenery. The view of city was spectacular. We then went to Old Shanghai. Beautiful in the day but really special at night. Trip was leisurely with minimal walking. Our guide Tom was great, pleasant, knowledgeable and spoke perfect English.
Thank you very much, Tom! We really appreciate the attention to detail! The evening was fun and worry free for us. Great information on not just the city's history. Thank you for sharing your experiences!
Lastly, great recommendations on what else to do with our spare time while in town. The Saturday at People's Park was a truly unique one!
Autumn was so amazing and friendly! So easy to talk to. She provided us with a total VIP experience on the river cruise to have the BEST view spot of the Shanghai city nighttime skyline! What a very memorable experience indeed! Afterwards, Autumn brought us to some spectacular nighttime spots throughout the city. Overall, a very enjoyable evening!
We highly recommend this tour. Our guide, Mary, was excellent and gave us wonderful insight into the area and the culture. Her English was excellent and she's a very well traveled guide. The river cruise was truly spectacular and afterwards we were taken, by a luxury van to other locations including Yu Garden, French Concession and walked through these areas to see them beautifully lit. It is definitely worth taking this evening tour as the city really lights up! Also the seeing Shanghai from the river cruise is spectacular!
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per personWas $128.00(-5%)
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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Private Evening Tour: VIP Huangpu River Cruise and Shanghai Lights
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