Hangzhou abolished admission to the entire West Lake scenic area in 2002, the first Chinese city to do so. Add ¥2 buses, ¥1.5 bike-share, free museums with English signage, and canal-side noodle shops under ¥20, and three days here cost less than one in Shanghai.
The third and quietest causeway, built 1508 by prefect Yang Mengying, runs 3.4km along West Lake's western edge past Maojiabu fishing village and Wushan Square wetlands. Free, open 24 hours, and far emptier than Su Causeway — most tour buses never come here.
Founded 1867, Hangzhou's most famous noodle institution serves pian'er chuan (片儿川) — bamboo shoot, pickled greens and pork slice noodles — for ¥18-26. Order at the counter, take a ticket, sit at communal tables. Open 07:00-21:00 daily.
Free state museum on Solitary Hill inside the old Wenlan Pavilion imperial library complex, holding the 7,000-year-old Hemudu culture artefacts and the Yuan-dynasty Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains scroll fragment. Closed Mondays; 09:00-17:00, passport needed at entry.
A free 30-minute stone-step climb from Baoshi Hill's north entrance reaches the slender 1933-rebuilt Baochu Pagoda and the exposed 'purple cloud' rock ridge above it — the highest free sunset viewpoint over the whole lake. No gate, no ticket, no closing time.
Hangzhou's public water bus lines 1 and 2 run the Grand Canal — a UNESCO site since 2014 — from Wulinmen dock to the 1631 Gongchen Bridge. Departures every 30-60 minutes, 07:00-18:30, for a flat ¥3 with an Alipay transit code.
A restored Qing-era canal street of white-walled workers' houses north of Gongchen Bridge, lined with family kitchens selling ¥6 sheng jian bao, ¥8 dingsheng cakes and ¥10 wonton bowls. Residential, no ticket booth, and locals still hang laundry over the water.
The world's largest silk museum, free since 2016, on the slope below Yuhuang Hill. Displays 5,000 years of Chinese textiles including Han-dynasty tomb robes and a working Jacquard loom hall. 09:00-17:00, closed Monday mornings; reserve on WeChat the day before.
A 700-metre canal-side strip of about 60 cheap restaurants near Dadou Road, strongest for Zhejiang seafood stalls, ¥5 grilled skewers and Hangzhou-style crayfish. Busiest 19:00-23:00 with almost no foreign tourists.
The Longjing (Dragon Well) tea hills southwest of the lake are open farmland with free public paths between the terraces, linking Longjing Village, Manjuelong and the Dragon Well spring itself. Bus 27 or Y3 from the lake costs ¥2 and drops you at the village gate.
A free 5km stream valley trail from Nine Creeks bus stop up through bamboo forest and 18 stepping-stone creek crossings to Yang Meiling pass. No gate, no ticket, and shaded end to end — the standard local escape on hot afternoons.
A free ridge hike up 239m Yuhuang Hill between West Lake and the Qiantang River, passing the Ziyang Taoist temple ruins to the Bagua Tian — an eight-trigram ceremonial field the Song emperors ploughed each spring. Enter from the Baxiantai trailhead.
The 1937 double-deck bridge by engineer Mao Yisheng — the first modern bridge designed and built by Chinese engineers — anchors a free riverside walkway with sunset views to the Liuhe Pagoda and, in autumn, the Qiantang tidal bore.