Base: Jiefangbei. Everything today is on foot or one metro stop. Sleep in; the city is better from 15:00 to 22:00. Do it with a guide →
The monument is the one flat square in a city with none. Use it as your compass for the next three days.
A public square on the 22nd floor of one building that is street level for the next one.
In through the 11th-floor street entrance, down through the stilt houses, out on the riverside road, then across to Qiansimen Bridge for the picture.
A place locals queue for, not the one with the English menu on the river. Nine-grid pot, 微辣 (mild) the first night, sesame oil with garlic.
Base: Jiefangbei. Metro Line 2 out, cableway back, one taxi to the night viewpoint. Wear real shoes.
Any shop with a queue of office workers. Say 二两小面 for a normal bowl, 豌杂 for peas and minced pork.
Line 2 two stops from Jiaochangkou. The viewing deck is below the station; trains pass every 3–5 minutes.
Climb the Kansheng Tower for both rivers in one frame. Leave by the back gate into Testbed 2 for coffee.
Start at the top of the alley. Stone steps, tea houses, a stretch of old city wall and the best quiet river views in the centre.
Walk down from the alley to the north station. Ride south; the skyline is behind you, so turn around.
Five minutes from the cableway south station. Restored 1930s lanes, river terraces, good coffee.
Taxi 20 minutes up the mountain. The whole peninsula lit up, both rivers, every bridge.
Base: Jiefangbei. Swap this day for Wulong or Dazu if you prefer nature or art.
Line 1 to Ciqikou. Walk the main lane while shutters are still going up, then the side alleys toward the river.
The tip of the peninsula where the two rivers meet. The Crystal sky bridge on the 47th floor on clear days; the free riverside square otherwise.
Three Gorges Museum (free, closed Mondays), a tea house in Jiaochangkou, or a massage.
An immersive show on a rotating stage, next to Ciqikou. No English needed.