10 day Yunnan Itinerary - How to plan, travel, where to stay and what to do

We spent 10 days travelling in Yunnan and it was such a good way to start off exploring China. We travelled Yunnan in this order: Kunming, Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La.

Travelling between cities, we took High-Speed trains as it was the most convenient mode of transport. Where to book high-speed train tickets within Yunnan: https://www.trip.com/t/MUAU1VadEP2

Kunming (Stone forest) (2 days)

1. Kunming is a first tier city in China and that is where you can take a day trip out to Shilin to see the stone forest.

2. We took a high speed train from Kunming Railway Station to Shilin West (about 45mins -1hr). At Shilin West, take another public bus to the actual stone forest area. There will be lines of buses outside Shilin West, so its pretty easy to spot them. The bus takes about another hour to reach. Exploring Shilin can take about half a day or a full day, we spent about 4-5 hours there. Be sure to book return tickets for the high-speed tickets in advance as it does sell out fast and there are limited spots available if you book last minute.

3. For tickets to the Shilin Stone Forest, we had to find the physical ticket booth after we alighted from the bus. We asked around and it was a short walk away.

4. Kunming is known as a stopover city, we recommend 1-2 days here!

Dali (3 days)

1. Around 2 and a half hours away from Kunming by high speed train.

2. Booked a day trip with our accommodation host. It took us to all the popular places around Er Hai Lake! Dali is pretty big if you want to explore the entire lake (around 1 hr to get from one side to the other side of the lake), so we thought that going on a tour would be the most efficient way to see everything!

3. Dali Xianlai Inn: https://www.trip.com/t/E5umIXOdEP2 - You can book the Dali Day trip from them if you stay at this accommodation

4. Canghai Yunshang Grassland is good for families and young kids or for anyone who likes farm animals like me.

5. We spent 2 nights in Dali, recommend staying at the Dali Ancient city itself!

   

   Canghai Yunshang Grassland

   

   Day trip in Dali - everyone on this trip pays a different rate. I think ours was one of the cheapest rates.

Lijiang (3 days)

1. Lijiang is the best city to visit in Yunnan in my opinion. We stayed in near ancient city too. Spent 3 nights in Lijiang.

   • Mancaoju Inn: https://www.trip.com/t/kMymIaedEP2 (Great location, value for money, cute resident cat, friendly and helpful host, but lacks heating if its during winter)

2. Around 2 hours away from Dali by high speed train.

3. Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Tickets (Yulong Snow Mountain Glacier Park Cableway + Round-trip Eco-Car + "Impression of Lijiang" Performance + Snow Kitchen Buffet): https://www.trip.com/t/Ljvn4wgdEP2

   • Book these tickets in advance as there are limited spots available everyday! These tickets were more expensive than normal but it helped us to secure the tickets vs having to ballot/bid for them on a chinese app platform (heard this could only be done the day before as well).

4. There are many “ping” (车/chē) aka car pool vehicles in Dali that you can book. Easiest way is to ask your host to help share a wechat contact with you to book the day before your day trip to Jade Dragon.

5. Most photoworthy place to book your traditional outfit photoshoot in Yunnan! The pricing is worth it too compared to the other cities.

   

   Watching the “Gold mountain” 金山 of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. They call this 金山 because when the sun rises, the mountain becomes golden.

Shangri-la (2 days)

1. Around 1 hour away from Lijiang by high speed train.

2. Great place to try tibetan food.

3. We didn’t really vlog Shangri-la but it was a small chill little town!

4. Heard that getting altitude sickness here was common but thankfully we didn’t experience it. Recommended to ascend slowly over a few days (like taking the train route we did) as compared to directly flying into the area, to avoid this.

Watch our Yunnan trips here:

Cheers,

Joanna