FIELD GUIDE
A 7-Day Yunnan Itinerary from Kunming (With Train Times and Costs)
The classic one-week route: Kunming, Dali, Lijiang, and one mountain. Day-by-day plan, train times, where to sleep, and what to skip.
Seven days is the shortest trip that does Yunnan justice — one day to arrive, three in Dali, two in Lijiang, one to get out. Longer is better, but this is the route I give to friends with a single week.
The order matters: Kunming → Dali → Lijiang → out. Doing it backwards means you climb in altitude faster and spend your first days acclimatising instead of enjoying yourself.
Day 1 — Arrive Kunming, sleep, eat
Fly into 长水 airport (KMG). Kunming is at 1,900 m, mild all year, and honestly not a sightseeing city — it is a transport hub with good food.
- Take the metro line 6 into the city (¥5, 40 minutes) or a taxi (¥100, 50 minutes).
- Sleep near 翠湖 (Green Lake) or the 昆明站 area if you have an early train.
- Eat: 老滇过桥米线 for crossing-the-bridge noodles; anything on 文化巷 for dinner.
If your flight lands before 3 p.m. you could push straight to Dali, but the first night in Kunming makes the whole week calmer.
Day 2 — Train to Dali, old town evening
Morning high-speed train to Dali: about 2 hours, ¥145 second class, departures roughly every hour from 昆明站 or 昆明南站. Check 12306 for the exact times — they change seasonally.
From 大理站, bus 8 (¥3) or taxi (¥40) to the old town. Drop bags, then:
- Afternoon: walk the old town grid, 人民路 and 复兴路. Two hours.
- Sunset: 南门 (South Gate) for the wall and the light.
- Dinner: 人民路 upstairs restaurants, or 酸辣鱼 by the lake if you want to go local.
Sleep inside the old town for these two nights — you will be out on day trips, and being walkable to dinner matters more than a lake view.
Day 3 — Erhai Lake by e-bike
Rent an e-bike in the old town (¥60–80/day, bring your passport or a ¥300 deposit).
Ride north along the west shore: 才村 → 磻溪 → 喜洲 → back. That is about 60 km round trip, comfortable on one battery with a long lunch stop.
- 09:00 — leave the old town, ride to 才村, follow the lake road.
- 10:30 — 磻溪, the S-bend in the road over the water; the most photographed stretch of shoreline.
- 12:00 — 喜洲. Lunch: 喜洲粑粑 (sweet or savoury flatbread) and a bowl of 饵丝. Walk the market street and the Bai courtyards.
- 16:00 — ride back along the fields, not the lake road, for a different view.
If you have the range, continue to 双廊 on the east shore (the full loop is 120 km and needs a full battery day or a car).
Day 4 — Cangshan, then train to Lijiang
Morning on the mountain, afternoon on a train.
- 08:30 — 感通 cable car up (¥110 one way, ¥180 return). Walk the 玉带云游路 stone path for 2–3 km, either direction. The lake is 600 m below you and the cloud forest is above.
- 12:30 — down, lunch, collect bags.
- 15:00 — train to Lijiang, 2 hours, ¥34–55 depending on class. Buses also run (3.5 hours, ¥60).
Sleep in 丽江古城 (Lijiang old town) or, better for quiet, 束河 (Shuhe) — 20 minutes out, half the noise, similar prices.
Day 5 — Lijiang old town and 玉龙雪山
Lijiang's old town is a UNESCO site and a shopping mall at the same time. Go early: before 9 a.m. the lanes are empty, after 11 they are a river of tour flags.
- 07:30–09:30 — 四方街, 木府 (Mu Palace, ¥60), the back lanes up the hill for rooftop views.
- Afternoon — 玉龙雪山 (Jade Dragon Snow Mountain). The big cable car goes to 4,506 m; tickets are limited and sell out, so book a day ahead through your guesthouse (about ¥200 including the cable car, plus ¥100 park entry). Bring a jacket and take the oxygen canister seriously.
- Evening — 束河 for dinner if you want quiet.
Altitude note: 4,506 m is high enough to make people dizzy. Do not go up if you have a headache or a cold.
Day 6 — Choose one: 泸沽湖 or 沙溪
This is the day most itineraries waste. Two good options:
泸沽湖 (Lugu Lake) — 4 hours by road from Lijiang, a high-altitude lake with 摩梭 (Mosuo) villages. Needs two nights to be worth it; as a day trip it is a lot of driving for a few hours.
沙溪 (Shaxi) — 2 hours north of Dali on the old tea-horse road, a stone-walled market town that is still quiet. If you are looping back through Dali, this is the better use of a day.
Or stay in Lijiang and do 白沙 (Baisha) village — 30 minutes out, frescoes, and the best view of the snow mountain without a cable car.
Day 7 — Back to Kunming or fly out
Lijiang has direct flights to Kunming, Chengdu, Chongqing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. If you are flying home from Kunming, the train takes 3 hours (¥220 first class, ¥140 second) — allow 4 hours door to door.
What this costs
Per person, mid-range, excluding international flights:
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Trains (Kunming–Dali–Lijiang–Kunming) | ¥350–450 |
| Accommodation, 6 nights | ¥1,200–2,400 |
| Food | ¥70–120/day |
| E-bike, cable cars, entries | ¥700–900 |
| Total for the week | ¥3,000–4,500 |
What I would skip
- 昆明 sightseeing — the Stone Forest is 90 minutes out and crowded; not worth a day out of seven.
- The full Erhai loop in one day — 120 km on a scooter looks fun and ends in a flat battery at 5 p.m. in the wrong village.
- Two old towns back to back — Dali and Lijiang are both "old towns", but one is a living town and one is a stage set. Do not expect them to feel the same.
Train times and ticket prices were checked in November 2026. Verify seats on 12306 (or Trip.com for English booking) a few days ahead — high-speed trains do sell out around holidays.