Nanjing in 2 Days on a Budget (Daily Costs)
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A 2-Day Nanjing Itinerary on a Budget
Two days is enough for Nanjing’s compact city core and nothing more: the Confucius Temple and Qinhuai River on one day, the Presidential Palace and a free stretch of the Ming City Wall on the other. It does not fit Purple Mountain, and it definitely does not fit a solemn half-day at the Nanjing Massacre Memorial - both need their own time, not a rushed add-on. Running total for the two days, sights and food only, roughly RMB 260-300 a day plus whatever your hotel costs. If you have more time, the 3-day , 4-day , 5-day , 6-day , and 7-day versions build outward from this same city-core spine.
Book these before you go:
- A Xinjiekou or Fuzimiao-area hotel for your two nights
- A Qinhuai River night cruise if you want the paid version rather than the free riverside walk
- If you decide to stretch to 3 days instead, book the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum passport-ID reservation ahead - it doesn’t fit this 2-day plan, but it’s the first thing to lock in if you extend
Day 1: Confucius Temple and the Qinhuai River
Morning. Start at the Confucius Temple (Fuzimiao), Dacheng Hall entry ¥30. Next door, the Jiangnan Examination Hall Museum (¥50) covers the imperial civil-exam system that once ran from this site - the replica exam cells, reportedly 1.33m wide, are a highlight most day-trippers skip.
Lunch. A bowl of duck blood and vermicelli soup, roughly ¥15-25, at an ordinary diner a couple of streets back from the temple rather than on the snack strip itself, where the same dish costs more for less.
Afternoon. Walk the Qinhuai lanes and, if the budget stretches, take the daytime river boat (¥60/person) past the Ming/Qing-style shophouses. If not, the walk itself is free and covers the same stretch of river.
Evening. Return at dusk for the free lantern-lit river view - Nanjing’s best-known night scene and the one thing worth seeing twice, once by day and once lit up. Dinner nearby; expect the Fuzimiao snack stalls to run a tourist markup, so a meal one or two streets away costs less for a bigger portion.
Day 1 running cost (RMB, per person): Dacheng Hall 30 + Examination Hall Museum 50 + meals ~60 + metro ~10 = ~150 (skip the museum and it drops to ~100)
Day 2: Presidential Palace, Free Wall, and Xuanwu Lake
Morning. Presidential Palace (¥40) - enter via the new west entrance, since the historic gatehouse everyone’s old guidebook photo shows has been closed since December 2024. Budget 2-3 hours; it’s billed as China’s largest museum of modern history, spanning Ming garden layout through the Republic-era government buildings where Sun Yat-sen took his 1911-12 inauguration oath.
Lunch. Salted duck, Nanjing’s signature dish, cold-sliced and served at almost any local restaurant for well under ¥50.
Afternoon. Walk the Taicheng stretch of the Ming City Wall along Xuanwu Lake - one of the wall’s free sections, not the paid Zhonghua Gate side - then continue along the lake’s free shoreline path. If you’d rather spend the afternoon indoors, Nanjing Museum (free, Metro Line 2 to Minggugong) is an easy add: 430,000-plus artifacts across six halls, no ticket needed.
Evening. Dinner and an evening wander around Xinjiekou, the city’s main shopping district and metro interchange, free to browse even if you’re not buying.
Day 2 running cost (RMB, per person): Presidential Palace 40 + meals ~60 + metro ~10 = ~110 (Ming Wall, Xuanwu Lake, and Nanjing Museum all free)
Two-day total: roughly RMB 260 per person for sights and food, before lodging - add your hotel rate on top (budget rooms in Xinjiekou or near Fuzimiao run roughly RMB 150-300/night).
Two days covers the city core honestly and nothing more. Skip Purple Mountain and the Massacre Memorial rather than rushing them - both deserve their own day, which is exactly what the 3-day itinerary adds. For the full free-and-cheap rundown, see our Nanjing budget guide .