Any Yunnan tour usually starts and ends in Kunming, the capital city of the province. The city can be easily accessed by all means of transportation. For further transportation information check our transportation overview.

Day 1: Arrive at Kunming in the morning, visit Golden Palace Park. Stay in Kunming.

Day 2: Take the tourist train to the Stone Forest (90km), visit the Stone Forest and Dadieshui Waterfall, take the same train back in the afternoon. Stay overnight in Kunming.

Day 3: Visit Bamboo Temple in the morning, visit the Western Hills Park and the Nationality Park in the afternoon, and unwind in one of the western pubs & bars around Green Lake in the evening. Stay overnight in Kunming

(Optional Day: One day tour of Kunming city visiting the Expo Garden, Yuantong Temple, Taihua Temple and the Grandview Tower. Stay overnight in Kunming).

Day 4: Take bus to Xiaguan (New Dali) in the morning (5 hours), arrive at Dali ancient town by bus from Xiaguan (30 minutes), visit the ancient town, unwind in one of the bars on "Foreigner's Street". Stay overnight in Dali Ancient Town.

Day 5: Take local bus to visit Butterfly Spring, Xizhou Town, take the same bus back; visit the fishing villages by Erhai lake in the afternoon. Stay in Dali Ancient Town.

Day 6: Take cable car to visit the Cangshan Mountain and the Qingbi Brook and back. Take bus from the ancient town to Lijiang (3-4 hours). Stay in Lijiang Ancient Town.

(Optional Day: take bus to the local bazaar in Shaping or Wase. Stay in Dali ancient town.)

Day 7: Visit Yulong Snow Mountain, Baisha Fresco, Yunshanping and Baishui River. Stay overnight in Lijiang Ancient Town.

Day 8: Take local one day tour to visit the First Bend Of The Yangtze River and Tiger Leaping Gorge. Stay in Lijiang Ancient Town.

Day 9: Visit Lijiang Ancient Town (Dayan Town) and Mu Clan's Palace in the morning. Take bus to Zhongdian (Shangri-la) in the afternoon. Stay overnight in Zhongdian.

(Optional Tour:
  Day 1: Take bus to Lugu Lake, visit Lugu Lake and  Muosuo Village in the afternoon. Stay at Lugu Lake (Luoshui Village)
  Day 2: Boat tour on Lugu Lake, take bus back to Lijiang. Stay in Lijiang)

Day 10: Visit Songzanling Monastery, Napahai Nature Reserve and Yila Prairie. Stay overnight in Zhongdian.

Day 11: Hire a car and visit Bitahai Natural Reserve, Shuoduhai Lake and then back to Zhongdian. Stay in Zhongdian.

Day 12: Hire a car and drive to Diqing, visit Dongzhulin Monastery and Baimang Snow Mountain en route. Arrive at Mingyong Village. Stay overnight at the Glacier Villa.

Day 13: Visit the sacred Kagebo Peak in the morning, drive back to Zhongdian in the afternoon. Stay overnight in Zhongdian.

(Optional day: Take the local one day tour to Baishui Terraces or the Birong Valley. Stay in Zhongdian.)

Day 14: Take the morning flight back to Kunming (one hour), completing the tour.

Optional  Tour:
Day 1:Take morning flight from Kunming to Xishangbanna (one hour). Take local bus to visit Olive Plain and Tropical Plant Research Institute with the same bus back. Stay in Jinghong (capital of Xishangbanna).

Day 2: Take local bus to visit the Wild Elephant Valley, with the same bus back. Visit Chunhuan Park and Minority Park. Xishuangbannna is a great area to spend a few days trekking or cycling- either with a  guide or independently if you are feeling brave! There are evening flights every day from Jinhong back to Kunming.)

By plane:
Although generally speaking Yunnan Province is in a mountainous region, it still boasts modern air traffic facilities. Kunming, the provincial capital, is the transportation hub of the province, with direct flights to and from major cities, such as Shanghai (2 and a half hours), Beijing (3 hours), Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai (all around 1 and a half hours), Chengdu (1 hour), Haikou (2 hours) and Hong Kong (2 hours).

Dali, Xishuangbanna, and Lijiang  all have air connections with cities in other provinces. There are also flights available within the province.

For those traveling to or from southeast Asia, there are numerous flights from Bangkok, Rangoon, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to Yunnan.

By train:
Apart from by air, Yunnan is also easily accessible by train. The biggest train terminal here is Kunming. There are trains to and from Chengdu, Guiyang or Nanning and on to various cities throughout the country. There is also an international train for  Vietnam.

Within Yunnan, some of the tourist destinations are also linked by railway, for instance, Dali and the Stone forest are both reachable by train.

By road:
Within the province itself, the best way to travel  to all destinations is by bus. Yunnan has a  well established public transportation system. Some express buses are also available linking the major tourist destinations such as Dali, Lijiang, and Shangri-La. 

For detailed transportation situations and schedules, please refer to destination transportation overviews.