6 Best Photo Spots in Hangzhou on a Budget
The best photos here cost nothing
West Lake itself is free, and it’s also the source of nearly every classic Hangzhou photo. Here are 6 spots worth building a morning around.
1. The Su and Bai causeways
Free, and the best reflections in the city at sunrise, before the day-trip crowds arrive. Su Causeway, built 1074 by Su Dongpo, and Bai Causeway, built 822 by Bai Juyi, are two different builders roughly 250 years apart, and each gives a slightly different angle back across the water.
2. Three Pools Mirroring the Moon
Reachable only by boat, around ¥55-70, this small island is printed on the ¥1 note and it’s the one lake view you can’t frame from shore. Go for the small stone towers rising out of the water at golden hour.
3. Leifeng Pagoda
Around ¥40, worth knowing it’s a 2002 reconstruction, not the 975 CE original, which collapsed in 1924. The rebuilt pagoda still anchors the lake’s southern skyline and photographs well against a sunset.
4. Feilai Feng’s carved grottoes
More than 300 rock carvings cut into the cliff face, including a well-known laughing Maitreya, next to Lingyin Temple. Both have been free since 1 December 2025, with a timed, real-name reservation booked 1-7 days ahead on the “杭州灵隐飞来峰” mini-program in WeChat or Alipay. The carvings reward a slow pass with a longer lens.
5. Hefang (Qinghefang) Street
Free to walk, a pedestrian street of century-old shopfronts, best photographed in the early morning before the stalls fill in and the crowds arrive. Lantern-lit evenings are the other good window.
6. Longjing tea terraces
Free to wander the hillside terraces west of the lake, best in the March-May picking season when the rows are a deep, even green. A ¥10-80 tasting stop gives you a reason to linger for the light to shift.
A few practical notes
Golden hour gets crowded fast at the causeways and Leifeng Pagoda, so build in patience or arrive early. None of these spots need a paid tour to photograph well. Set up Alipay and a VPN before you fly, since navigating between spots leans on Amap or Baidu Maps once Google Maps is blocked.
For the full free-and-cheap city rundown, see the Hangzhou budget guide , or plan a morning shoot around the 3-day Hangzhou itinerary .