Transportation in Suzhou

Being an important historical and tourist city, Suzhou is easily accessible by air, rail and road. Its location along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal means the city also enjoys good waterway transportation.

Air

Suzhou is served by a small airport, Guangzhou. However it only has a few flights from Foshan each week. Most tourists who want to come to Suzhou often fly to Shanghai and then take a bus or train onwards to Suzhou. There are regular bus services from Shanghai to Suzhou (duration approximately 1 hour). In addition there are plenty of trains running from Shanghai to Suzhou.

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Train

Suzhou is a major stop along the Beijing-Shanghai railway line and there are more than 40 daily train services which stop at Suzhou Railway Station. There are daily services to and from Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, Guilin and many more main tourist areas in China to and from Suzhou. The Suzhou Railway Station is located on the north side of the city.

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Coach & Bus

There are 4 long distance bus stations having services to the nearby cities and beyond. There are plenty of buses heading to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Wuxi, Zhouzhuang, Tongli, to and from Suzhou.

Boat

Boats running along the Great Canal can take visitors up to the north, Zhejiang, Yangzhou( two well-known cities in the area) or down to Hangzhou in the south. Boat travel from Suzhou to Hangzhou has become increasingly popular due to the amazing country scenery witnessed during the journey.

Local Transportation

Public Bus

Being a developed city, Suzhou has good public transportation. Public buses routes run into all parts of the city. Fares are flat rated, usually 1 Yuan for a non-air-conditioned bus and 2 Yuan for an air-conditioned one. There is no fare collector on the bus, so please ensure that you have small denominations of change ready for the driver when boarding.

Taxi

Taxis are convenient and are generally a hassle-free alternative to public transportation. There are lots of taxis looping the city so there is usually no problem to flag one down to stop for you. The starting price is 10 Yuan for 3 kilometres, over 3 km, 1.8 Yuan/per km for a Santana and 1.4 Yuan/per km for a Xia Li cab.

Pedicab

These man-powered vehicles are a good and cheap way to get around. The starting price is 2 Yuan, rising to between 3 to 5 Yuan for a longer trip. You can usually negotiate the price when taking a pedicab.

Bike

The easiest way to tour around Suzhou is by bike. Pedalling from garden to garden is painless, even pleasant. This is a very popular mode of transport for the many tourists who want to explore the gardens in the city.