Shanghai Escape: Suzhou & Zhouzhuang Water Town Day Tour

We attended a tour to Water Village with our guide Clair. We have had a wonderful time and visited one of the most famous village near Shanghai. Clair was very informative and told us a lot about the history of Shanghai.

I was the only person on this tour - so I did feel a bit awkward as I prefer small group tours That said - my guide Winni was fantastic - friendly, knowledgeable and accommodating The drive to Suzhou was long - maybe 90 mins or so but the Administrators Garden was so picturesque and the architecture was amazing We grabbed lunch in a local restaurant and then made out way to the water town This town was the least packed of the water towns I have visited (not sure if its the location or the cooler weather - but I found it rather relaxing and I could admire the beauty (I visited Zhujiajiao in late May and there was no room to room) I would recommend this day trip

The trip to Su Zhou and Zhouzhuang was totally worth it! Both places are amazing and offer a very unique experience. Our tour guide, Michael was very familiar to the area, thus he told us many interesting facts about the visited places and also took marvelous photos of us at the nicest spots. He was also extremely friendly and helpful, and made sure that we enjoyed our time to the fullest! The whole tour was remarkable! The next day me and my mother booked another 4 hour tour through Shanghai. We visited many beautiful and fairy-like gardens, each with a very interesting story behind it. We also visited both modern and old part of the city, an amazing harmony formed between the two! Our tour guide, Rose was marvelous, she informed us about all the fantastic details and she showed us all around the place with the utmost excitement, which made our tour even better! Thanks to Michael and Rose, you guys are fantastic!! Here are some pictures!

Zhouzhuang was a very quaint and tranquil town. I enjoyed learning this portion the most. It unfortunately began to rain so we weren’t able to do the river boat cruise. Lunch was great and he helped with our dietary restrictions. Lots of vegetarian and gluten free options which is hard to come by in China. Next to Suzhou for the silk factory tour. It was fascinating but the ending leads your through a huge tacky silk market that is extremely expensive. The garden of the nest was nice but kind of small and I liked Yu Gardens more in downtown Shanghai as it has much more to offer visually. Our guide was very knowledgeable and we learned a lot! The biggest frustration is we were in the car a lot. It takes about 2 hours to the first town around and hour to the next and then it took over 3 hours to get back.

Had a wonderful trip to these two cities on March 11, 2019. Our tour guide Winnie was a delight. She was personable, with very good English ability. She was very responsive to our questions beyond just the tour cities, discussing topics such as Chinese wedding customs and family life in an engaging manner. The tour stops were as described in other reviews; the master-of-nets garden was a nice surprise--beautiful and peaceful in a very small acreage plot. Lunch was among the best we ate in our 3 weeks in China, and Winnie and the driver ate with us, which was a nice touch, since she was so engaging. Zhouzhuang has an interesting history and isn't as tourist trappish as I feared it might be. Taking a gondola ride gives a differing perspective of the town, with some great photo ops. We appreciated Winnie's flexibility--we had already toured a silk processing facility, so we just spent a short time at the silk facility so we could make a few purchases we'd failed to make at the other facility. Logistics were very good, communication by text/email was timely, and Winnie was actually early for our pickup. In summary, a very worthwhile day trip from Shanghai, with some great memories and photos.

We had a great time with our guide,Qingqing. She was full of information and spoke english very well.The Master of Nets Garden was great we felt very supported having a knowledgeable guide take us through the beautiful ancient residence. Visitng zhouzhuang was my favourite bit of the whole trip, and I enjoyed my included gondola ride.It' s a really great experience!

I was expecting a group tour but we got a surprise when we got picked up at the Marriott by Julie and the driver in a minivan. Due to it being low season with hardly any bookings, we ended up getting a private tour instead. Julie was very informative and tour was good. Kept it within our pace and Julie patiently waited as I took photos. Suzhou's main itinerary was the garden but the main highlight was Zhouzhuang, which has been preserved to look like the past. Lunch was quite good with a variety of about 6-7 dishes for the 4 of us. I would have given 5 stars if the driver acceded to my request to be dropped off nearer to People's Square but Julie explained that they could not dropped us off around there because of the lack of drop-off areas. They could have just dropped us off at the Royal Meridien or to the doorstep of any other building nearby. Anyway, that's past now but for China Vacation,take it as an advice to consider other drop-off points nearer to the Metro, especially if the tourist is not staying in any of the 4 drop-off hotels. Overall, the tour was good.

I highly recommend this day tour. It is well worth the hours driving. Provides a nice contrast to the hustle and bustle of Shanghai. We learned so much about the Scholars House versus the Businessmans house. The visit to the seaside village was relaxing. The Silk factory was fascinating. Best to buy silk products here as cheaper than in Shanghai I felt very able to do the walks even at my age. The lunch was delicious and I really enjoyed the company of the other people in the tour group.

It was a wonderful tour and my guide Mr.Feng made it exciting and was fluent in English, made us feel comfortable and gave very good detailing about Chinese History and Architecture. Take good care of us.

This is a great tour of two towns in China that reveal lots of Chinese history. It is an important tour opportunity. Our tour guide, Kenny, is extremely professional with a great personality, and very well versed in the history of the area. I have now known Kenny for over 14 years, and have recommended her to all our friends who were touring China. All our friends were equally impressed with Kenny and her tour agency.