Unveil Suzhou's Essence: Ultimate Private Day Tour

I believe this has to be one of the best ways to experience the top sites in Suzhou, especially for people on their first visit to China. My visit was 8 hours and took in the the primary cultural sites but you can discuss your preferences with the guide. My guide Jasmine, was very knowledgable about the local culture, history and buildings in Suzhou. Also very helpful for communicating in local shops and restaurants. It’s a real benefit to have a friendly English speaking guide who enhances each site you visit through detailed explanations while facilitating all ticket booking and entries. For transport; you have a dedicated driver, picking you up to travel from one place to the next. You avoid lost time and frustration with other methods of transport or parking.

We would highly recommend Your Way Holiday (Bonnie was our trip coordinator) and our brilliant Suzhou guide Molly if you are looking for an interesting and enjoyable private tour of Suzhou. Molly is highly knowledgable and she explained in an engaging manner the history and details of the sights we visited. The entire tour was fascinating and we learned a lot about Chinese history and culture. We travelled as a family of four and having Molly and our driver really made a lot of difference especially since we had young kids and we wanted to explore as much of Suzhou we could in 2 days. Thank you Molly and driver for letting us have such an enjoyable time in Suzhou!

I did a private tour in Suzhou with Your Way Holiday. Bonnie set the whole trip up with ease with May, my personal guide in Suzhou. I had some issues getting on the correct train from Shanghai (completely my fault) but they were so helpful getting me there and on track! The tour itself was full of information, May had a wealth of knowledge. I had some personal changes to the tour and they were very accommodation and got to see some stunning brocades! That alone was well worth it for me.

This is a tour to die for. Suzhou is always be in our bucket list. Through this tour we visited the main attractions in Suzhou: garden, temple and museum. May, our guide, could arrange our visit to Suzhou Museum at the last minutes. We are grateful for this because we are the fans of IM Pei the architect. She also suggested a VR show on Suzhou history. This is highly recommended. May is an excellent tour guide. She mastered Suzhou history and culture. We are pleased with her excellent services.

Very nice experience. Although the weather was very hot and humid, we still had a great time with our charming and professional guide. Recommendable!

May is simply amazing! She’s warm, friendly, resourceful, and patient. She’s very knowledgeable on the history and background information of the places we visited and she takes nice group pictures for our family. It was a joy to have her as a guide.

Our tour guide Chris picked us up at our hotel in Shanghai and we took 1.5 hours ride to Suzhou. Explored the ancient garden, silk factory, pan gate and 2 of Suzhou famous street. For someone who has never been to Suzhou, the day tour was a very fruitful one with Chris explained to us the story behind the garden and the beautiful Suzhou city. Took a lot of nice pictures as the weather was bright and sunny. Hope to come and explore other parts of China but not summer time 😅

Have some issues in deciding on our itinerary for the trip initially. But we decided to book our tour with China Private Tours although their price was slightly higher than another tour agent as they have very patiently & professionally attended to all our enquiries. And they did not disappoint. There was just a slight hiccup with the first driver, Mr Cheng, who picked us up from Shanghai to Hangzhou as he most probably had missed the turn to the side lane to drive in to the parking area of the hotel. The second driver, Mr Lu, who drove us around on the tour in Suzhou is extremely patient, thoughtful & helpful. Along the way when we urgently require a local mobile SIM card, he very nicely attended to our request to drive us to the shop. When we had some problem finding our accommodation for the night due to the restricted area, despite the late hours & rain, he patiently assisted us by communicating with the owner of the lodge & drove us to another location where we didn't need to walk to far. Anita, our tour guide in Suzhou, was wonderful. She was patient, caring, funny and helpful throughout the tour. She was very informative & could provide answers to many of our questions. As it was raining during the tour and we didn't have enough umbrella, she constantly ensure that we are shielded by sharing hers. This is definitely highly recommended tour agent to book your tour with!

Anita our tour guide was great and very nice. She can speak good English and knows a lot of history. She is a very lovely lady and we had a great time with her. Thank you Anita.

Great guide and very comfortable. We can also recommend the place that we need to go to this private tour then they'll manage time and schedule for us

Amazing experience! The entire day was wonderful. My tour guide Anita was delightful. She was equal parts informative, patient, funny and helpful throughout the entire day. The tour itself took me through the various historic gardens of Suzhou and each one was breathtaking. The silk factory was very informative, and I was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. The best part, however, was the water village at the end. A full tour around the old town, with stops at various spots, all of which were gorgeous, and peaceful. Had a wonderful time, would do it again in a heartbeat.

Charming Suzhou Venice of the East. Visited Zhouzhuang Water Town and Jinji Lake Area with lovely and friendly tour guide Anita, who is interesting and experienced. Through her sharing, I learned more about the history and culture of Suzhou. Enjoyed the tour and the time spent together. Thank you Anita.

I went on a tour around Suzhou with Anita who was a lovely, friendly tour guide. She was very informative and was always willing to answer any questions we had. I’m looking forward to returning to Suzhou to explore more and would definitely tour with Anita again.

The tour covered a lot of places and the staff were really friendly. Highly recommend as a way to get an insiders view of Suzhou!

My friends and I had an incredible tour around Suzhou with Anita who happily answered our questions and informed us about the history and legends of Suzhou in an engaging way that highlighted the area's beauty. I would love to go to Suzhou again to get to know this beautiful and ancient city.

Anita was a lovely tour guide today and was very informative. She also was very nice, I would definitely have a tour with her again :). Thank you very much.

Some of the precious charms of Suzhou were shown to us by Anita, an exceptionally well-informed and friendly tour guide, whose presentation of the stories of Suzhou brought together history, art, philosophy, lifestyle, and cuisine with remarkable ease. After exploring the lingering gardens, one of UNESCO's world heritage sites, and the impressive silk-factory, the three of us (including Anita) had lunch in the old city, in a busy and cozy restaurant, offering live atmosphere, which was made even further enjoyable by Anita's presence. The afternoon was devoted to some of the city's monumental spots, such as the ancient water and land gates. The driver was punctual and picked us up with hardly any delays through the entire day. I highly recommend this tour to anyone who wishes to be introduced to the gems of Suzhou. Ask for Anita to be your tour guide!

My wife and I had a great time with our guide Jack. We did a private tour Jack was flexible, knowledgeable and all around friendly. His English was great and he could share information based on his life in Suzhou, and provided a lively history of not just the city but the various dynasties and their effect on Suzhou. Mr. Ma, our driver was friendly and courteous, the car was air conditioned clean and he was always there to pick us up at the end of each walking segment. I would highly recommend this tour if you want to get a feel for the city.

The. Guide was knowledgeable about and proud of her city. Becky brought the gardens and temples and old city to life with stories about their history. The format was convenient, they picked me up from my exit gate at the train station and dropped me off there at the end, and the drive felt safe and secure the entire time. You could not do better than this tour if you only have a day to see the city.

Suzhous is a beautiful city, but the temples, gardens, and old city really only come to life when combined with the context - the stories and history provided by a good guide. My guide Becky was extremely knowledgeable about the history of her city, and clearly proud of it, and it made this tour a delight. I highly recommend this tour if you only have a day to spend in Suzhou

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour with Anita. She provided lots of information and was very accommodating to our group of 6, which included children and

Suzhou in China is a UNESCO World Heritage city, with more than 2,000 year history. Anita, our tour guide, spoke perfect English and was very knowledgeable of Suzhou history, it’s gardens, it’s local restaurants ( great Suzhou cuisine ), and it’s local shopping district and silk factory. Since Anita has travelled to Europe several times as a tour guide for Chinese groups, she understands western culture very well. We enjoyed her company very much. We recommend Anita as a tour guide.

My 9 year old son and I really enjoyed our tour of Suzhou. We will be living near Suzhou for the next 6 months, so this was a great introduction to the city that we hope to visit again and again. It was also great that we didn't have to worry about transportation to and from the bus station and around the city. Our tour guide, Sarah, shared much of the history about Panmen Gate, Lingering Gardens, the Silk Museum, and Pingjiang Road throughout the day. She also took the time to snap a few pictures of my son and I together, which was a rare and welcome treat for us to have those memories recorded. The city was beautiful and we can't wait to visit again!

Our guide, Sarah, knows Suzhou well! She explained many different things, and we received lots of details about architecture and history. The organisation of the tour was just perfect, and at the end, she even helped us for taking the train back to Shanghai. She was the best guide we had in our travel in China. Thank you so much!

Becky was an awesome tour guide! She and Mr Joe, our driver, made a great team. They were so flexible. Becky was also knowledgable and personable. She helped us so much! She had tips and facts that were pertinent and insightful. The sights she took us to were beautiful. She also picked an excellent restaurant for lunch, making great recommendations for what dishes. I will remember that amazingly flavorful meal for all my days. She helped us shop, translating between us and the vendors. She went above and beyond, lugging some of our packages back to the car and Mr Joe, so we might shop easier and taking photos and lending her phone to me, when I realized I left my phone behind and could not take photos. I was quite moved she would be so thoughtful. Becky was lovely all the way round and an excellent traveling companion. I would recommend Viator tours; the prices are quite good and they are smart enough to hire people like Becky.

We had a group of 5 attend this full-day tour. The booking was easy and the communication was excellent. Our guide was knowledgeable about all the areas that we visited. She took us to a restaurant for local cuisine and it was fabulous. We were the only Westerners in the restaurant which was a good sign for us. We were already in Suzhou when we booked so we did not require a transfer from Shanghai, only pick up and drop off from our hotel. We even had time to sneak in (which we paid for separately) a mini-boat ride. Our itinerary included the Lingering Gardens, Silk factory, Temple, city gate, lunch (we paid for) but not Tongli. Next visit we will book with them and see the other amazing sights we didn't have time to see this trip.

We hade a wonderful day, we visited the Master of the nets garden, silk factory and the Tongli watertown. Really good guide and a perfect driver!!

We arrived in Shanghai for business and had one day off, so we searched online for Shanghai side trip to Suzhou. We have booked a Suzhou Classic Tour-Full Day Tour. Our guide Nancy, sent her driver in the morning to the train station to collect my colleage and myself. You get the full experience on this tour--Lingering Garden, Pingjiang Steet, Buhhdist Temple, but also the Silk Factory and Panmen Gate. Our guide, Nancy, was fantastic, fun and patient. She was attentive and went at our pace. She even helped us to navigate the crowds and made the trip better. Our driver was also a very patient and good driver. There was impatient weaving through traffic or impatient tooting of horns or craziness that we had experience with others that we had used during our trip. It was a very pleasant, safe drive back to the train station. I would thoroughly recommend Suzhou Private Tour. Nancy is a very patient and pleasant and knowledgeable guide to show you around Suzhou. She is very passoinate about her country and is a fantastic representative, and an amazing tour guide. Her English skills are excellent and she will certainly give you your money's worth.

I was very impressed when I emailed Suzhou Private Tour and booked our one-day tour to Suzhou from Shanghai. I was traveling with my teenage son and it was our first trip to China. The information I received via email was extremely helpful and communicative. Our Guide Tina was fantastic. She's very friendly, patient and knowledgeable. The different sites in Suzhou were amazing, and the tour really brought to life the city's rich cultural history. Taking the tour really gave us a deep appreciation for the wenderful gardens and cultural significance of the area. There were never any unplanned detours or hidden costs, and her predictions about how long everything would take were right on. The door-to-door service even included dropping us off at a restaurant we had picked out for dinner at the end of the day, rather than back to the hotel where we had started. Thanks you Suzhou Private Tour and Tina for your hospitality! We thoroughly enjoyed visiting Suzhou with you and plan to return.

The Suzhou Classic full-day tour is an excellent way to catch all the highlights of Suzhou and its history for any first time visitor. The tour was excellent with our guide Sara. We were picked up from the hotel on time and the car was clean and comfortable. Sara's English was excellent and she tailored to tour to the things that my son and I were interested in seeing and learning about. Very knowledgeable about the history and the area. Nothing was too much trouble for them and extremely flexible with our schedule. Excellent day here. We really enjoyed Suzhou and our visit to the Lingering Garden. Thank you for a great day in Suzhou.

Booked this tour for my first day in Suzhou and really really enjoyed it! So much is covered during the day, but the whole thing is well paced and structured so that nothing feels rushed. My tour guide, Sara, was fabulous- very knowledgeable and experienced, she even took photos for me and gave advice throughout. I saw the Lingering Garden, which is fascinating, visited the Hanshan Temple, Silk Factory, and the knowlegeable of a guide really makes the difference, Sara enjoyed sharing her deep historical knowledge with me for every site. I also strolled along the Pingjiang Street and tried some local snack recommende by Sara, the food was very good. The lunch was delicious, travelling in China can be challenging as a foreigener because of the language barriers, Sara helped me to select some local famous dishes. It was one of the best meals I had in China. Thank you, Sara. Thank you, Suzhou Private Tour. If you tight for time this is hugely beneficial, as this tour includes the most popular attractions among the locals, less crowded and worth for visit. I would highly recommended.

I booked the tour very last time (less than 24 hours notice). I required one day Suzhou tour and get the reply very promptly. The tour went very well, my husband and I had a fantastic time on our tour to Lingering Garden, Hanshan Temple, Panmen Gate, Pingjiang Food Street and Silk Factory. Our tour guide Tina was amazing, extremely knowledgeable and spoke good English. She engaged us with the history of the places we visited and explainede what the various places meant to Chinese people, she went over & beyond to ensure we stay in Suzhou meets our expectations, giving us good recommendations around the city, which is really helpful as we will stay in Suzhou for one more day. By the way, bottle water was provided in the car as we traveled. Since it was private, we had the time to enjoy the Pingtan show on Pingjaing Street which I don't think would happen with a typical tour company.Overall, this tour was a complete SUCCESS, worth every & spent!

I should say it was well planned and organized..Very satisfied and was wonderful. Special thanks to the tour guide who made it an amazing tour. Many thanks and will definitely plan again :)

Its my second time back in Suzhou and I really enjoyed it than my first one. Our tour guide Bob speaks very good English and very passionate about explaining Suzhou’s history and culture. Out of the 5 places we’ve been that day the Panmen Gate and trip to silk museum were my favorites. It was also fun looking for our guiding Buddha on the Hanshan temple. I definitely recommend booking this trip. Its obviously cheaper when you make a DIY trip, but having a Suzhou local tour guide plus the comfortable trip is worth the price.

This tor was amazing. We went on this amazing cruise alone the cannel and had a great dumping lunch. Our tour guide was amazing

I was visiting Suzhou for work and had one day to fit some sightseeing in so decided to splash out and book myself a private tour which turned out to be a fantastic day. Susan was a great guide and see fit the day around what I liked, we saw a lot of the main sights and I felt like it was great value. Highly recommend it to anyone else!

I was on customized full day tour in Suzhou on 7th of March 2018, on top of the standard tour we visited Tiger Hill as well. My tour guide Ruby was excellent and very helpful, it was a pleasure to tour around attractions with such a professional guide :) Thank you Ruby & China Private Tours ! -Jori

I highly recommend the Suzhou garden tour. Everything was managed very smoothly, and began with or tour guide Ruby meeting us at the train station. She was very professional, courteous, and knowledgeable throughout the entire day. The gardens were beautiful, and Ruby provided a lot of context and insight into their design and composition. Overall a great experience!

The Suzhou Classic full-day tour is an excellent way to catch all the highlights of Suzhou and its history for any first time visitor. Our tour guide, Ruby, was very professional and accommodating. Her knowledge and experience of Suzhou made our tour very informative and enjoyable. Highly recommended.

Our Suzhou private tour was incredibly thorough and made super convenient by the fact that transportation was all inclusive. Our tour guide Ruby was very knowledgeable and patient when we wanted to spend extra time at tour sites. She also gave us good advice on where to eat and other activities outside of the tour!

Ruby our tour guide for the Suzhou day trip was exceptional! She was incredibly knowledgeable, sweet and enthusiastic. The way she spoke and described the gardens and surrounding history was nothing short of poetic. She went out of her way to ensure we had a fantastic day and also sourced a great local restaurant for us to have lunch. I would highly recommended this company, they were professional and diligent throughout the entire process and Ruby was the best guide we’ve had in China.