Nanjing in 4 Days on a Budget (Daily Costs)

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A 4-Day Nanjing Itinerary on a Budget

Four days keeps the 3-day spine - city core, a Purple Mountain day, a solemn half-day at the Massacre Memorial - and adds one cheap day trip: Qixia Mountain, a ¥25-40 bus ride northeast of the city rather than a pricier high-speed-rail excursion. Running total for the four days on sights and food, roughly RMB 130-180 a day per person, plus lodging on top. The 5-day , 6-day , and 7-day versions add an HSR day trip to Suzhou or Yangzhou on top of this.

Book these before you go:

Day 1: Confucius Temple and the Qinhuai River

Morning. Confucius Temple (Fuzimiao), Dacheng Hall ¥30, then the Jiangnan Examination Hall Museum (¥50) next door.

Lunch. Duck blood and vermicelli soup, roughly ¥15-25, a few streets back from the temple.

Afternoon. Walk the Qinhuai lanes; skip the paid river-boat to keep costs down, the free riverside walk covers the same ground.

Evening. Return at dusk for the free lantern-lit river scene, dinner away from the marked-up Fuzimiao stalls.

Day 1 running cost (RMB, per person): Dacheng Hall 30 + Examination Hall Museum 50 + meals ~60 + metro ~10 = ~150

Day 2: Purple Mountain - Sun Yat-sen, Ming Xiaoling, Linggu Temple

Morning. Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, free main grounds (Music Hall +¥10), passport-ID reservation required ahead of time. Go early - 392 stone steps, zero shade.

Midday. Ming Xiaoling (¥70 standalone, included in the ¥100 Purple Mountain combo with Linggu Temple and Meiling Palace). Walk the full 1,800m Sacred Way - 12 pairs of stone animals in six kinds.

Afternoon. Linggu Temple, the timber-free Beamless Hall, and the climbable nine-story Linggu Pagoda, all included in the combo. Skip the Toutuo Ridge cable car (¥60/¥100) if you’re holding to a budget.

Evening. Dinner in Xinjiekou; salted duck at an ordinary local restaurant.

Day 2 running cost (RMB, per person): Purple Mountain combo ticket 100 + shuttle 10 + meals ~60 + metro ~10 = ~180

Day 3: The Nanjing Massacre Memorial and Presidential Palace

Morning. The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, shortened after first use to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall. Free entry, roughly 8:30am-4:30pm, closed Mondays; check the official memorial site beforehand for the current reservation status. This commemorates the roughly 300,000 civilians and unarmed soldiers killed after the city fell on 13 December 1937. It is a place of mourning - go with quiet, restrained conduct and budget extra time for the entrance queue.

Lunch. A simple meal nearby.

Afternoon. Presidential Palace (¥40) - enter via the new west entrance, since the historic gatehouse has been closed to entry since December 2024.

Evening. Walk the free Taicheng stretch of the Ming City Wall along Xuanwu Lake, then dinner in Xinjiekou.

Day 3 running cost (RMB, per person): Presidential Palace 40 + meals ~60 + metro ~10 = ~110 (the memorial and the wall/lake walk are both free)

Day 4: Qixia Mountain Day Trip

Morning. Bus 194-197, 206-207, or 327 to Qixia Mountain, about 22km northeast, roughly ¥25 entry (rising to ¥40 during peak maple season, November into early December). Thousand Buddha Cliff holds 294 rock-cut shrines and 515 statues, the tallest an 11m Amitabha.

Midday. Lunch near the mountain, then the white-stone Sarira Pagoda and Mirror Lake with its Nine-Bend Bridge.

Afternoon. Bus back into the city by mid-afternoon - Qixia is an easy half-day, no overnight needed. Use the remaining time for anything you missed: Nanjing Museum (free, Metro Line 2 to Minggugong) is the best value add if you haven’t been.

Evening. Last dinner in Nanjing - another round of salted duck or duck blood soup, whichever you liked best.

Day 4 running cost (RMB, per person): Qixia Mountain entry 25-40 + bus fare ~20 + meals ~60 = ~110-125

Four-day total: roughly RMB 550-565 per person for sights and food, before lodging.

Four days covers the city core, Purple Mountain, the memorial, and one genuinely cheap day trip without ever touching a high-speed-rail fare. If you want to add Suzhou or Yangzhou instead of - or alongside - Qixia, the 5-day itinerary is where that starts to fit. For the full free-and-cheap rundown, see our Nanjing budget guide .