Home>>China Travel Guide>>Suzhou Guide>>Get in Suzhou by rail
Get in Suzhou by train
Myriad trains leave from Shanghai for Suzhou daily. The cost for a train is： local without air-con 20CNY for an approximately two-hour ride，or 50 CNY with air-con for an approximately 40-minute ride. Make sure to ask for the next earliest arrival time since booking the next new high-speed train often means a 2-hour wait in order to save 20 minutes on the travel time, hence arriving an hour or so later than the slightly slower train.
Trains are sometimes sold out and it would be a good idea to buy tickets ahead of time. There are some travel agencies that sell tickets in Shanghai, although you can also buy tickets at the train station, which has several ticket windows that cater to English speakers.
You can also reach Suzhou by high speed (CRH) or normal train from Nanjing. Suzhou trains leave from the main (North) train station, which is on the subway line. Trains run fairly frequently from Hangzhou.
On arriving at Suzhou train station, visitors will be confronted by a horde of people offering taxi rides and tours, which are a real nuisance. Ignore these and walk straight ahead about 30 meters to the taxi stand. There is often a queue, but it generally moves quickly. Alternately, turn left, walk the length of the station and a bit beyond, then look for an old-style Chinese-looking bridge on your right. Cross it. Then turn left and look for hotels on your right. Or continue straight off the bridge onto Renmin Lu which leads downtown.
Tip: You can buy tickets 6 days before you leave at the Ticket Hall at the east of the Suzhou Railway Station.
Address of Suzhou Railway Station: Chezhan Lu, Suzhou
Bus: 16 buses terminate at the Suzhou Railway Station, including No.1, 102, 103, 178, 19, 26, 518, 69 and 83.
