Why this route
The most-travelled Hangzhou routes put West Lake at the core and branch out from there, and this itinerary follows that shape exactly. Days 1 and 2 belong to the lake itself: day 1 is a single walking line along the water — Duanqiao Canxue, the Bai Causeway, Gushan Hill (two hours), lunch at the Louwailou restaurant on Gushan Road, Quyuan Fenghe (one hour), the Spring Dawn on Su Causeway, Viewing Fish at Flower Harbour (one hour) and Mao’s Home Port (two hours) — while day 2 gathers the lake’s landmarks and the old town, from Liulang Wenying (one hour) and Leifeng Pagoda (two hours) to the island stop at Three Pools Mirroring The Moon (an hour and a half), then Wushan square (two hours), Hefang Street (one hour) and the West Lake Music Fountain. Split across two days, the lake circuit stays walkable instead of becoming one long slog.
Days 3 and 4 widen the lens. Day 3 opens with a short half hour at Feilai Feng before the longer stop at LingYin Temple (an hour and a half), then trades the temple for tea country at Longjing Village (two hours) and slows down along Nine creeks in misty forest (an hour and a half), closing at the Qiantang River Bridge. Day 4 anchors on Xixi Wetland Park (three to four hours) and eases out with Zhejiang University Yuquan Campus (one hour) and Qingzhiwu (one to two hours). The pacing is deliberate: each of the outer days is built around one heavy stop ringed with lighter ones, so the route grows calmer just as the scenery shifts from lakefront to wetland.
Day by day
Day 1 begins at Duanqiao Canxue and follows the Bai Causeway to Gushan Hill, which takes about two hours. Lunch is at the Louwailou restaurant on Gushan Road, in the West Lake scenic area. The afternoon continues with an hour at Quyuan Fenghe, a walk along the Spring Dawn on Su Causeway, another hour at Viewing Fish at Flower Harbour, and a final two hours at Mao’s Home Port.
Day 2 starts with an hour at Liulang Wenying, then gives two hours to Leifeng Pagoda before heading out onto the lake for Three Pools Mirroring The Moon, budgeted at an hour and a half. Back on shore, the route turns to the old town: two hours at Wushan square and an hour along Hefang Street, with the West Lake Music Fountain closing the day.
Day 3 opens with half an hour at Feilai Feng, followed by an hour and a half at LingYin Temple. Longjing Village takes two hours, and Nine creeks in misty forest another hour and a half. The Qiantang River Bridge ends the day as a stop with no fixed duration.
Day 4 devotes three to four hours to Xixi Wetland Park — the longest single block on the route — then winds down with an hour at Zhejiang University Yuquan Campus and one to two hours at Qingzhiwu.
Trade-offs
Day 1 is the densest of the four, and the flex sits on the causeways: Duanqiao Canxue, the Bai Causeway and the Spring Dawn on Su Causeway carry no fixed durations, so they stretch or shrink around the timed stops. If the afternoon runs long, cut Mao’s Home Port and its two hours and finish the day at Viewing Fish at Flower Harbour instead.
Day 4 is the easiest day to trim. Xixi Wetland Park alone needs three to four hours, so travellers with no taste for wetlands can drop the day entirely and finish after the West Lake Music Fountain on day 2; those who keep it can skip Zhejiang University Yuquan Campus and go straight from the park to Qingzhiwu. On day 3, the Qiantang River Bridge — the one stop with no set time — is the natural cut if Longjing Village and Nine creeks in misty forest run long.
