Yunnan Highlights Tour: Kunming to Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La

Are you looking forward to having a worry-free holiday with a reliable local guide/driver, whom you can trust and rely upon, with whom you can move around at your own pace, and pay a very reasonable cost for the trip?

We offer high-quality non-shopping tours in the beautiful and vibrant Yunnan. We can provide a bespoke itinerary based on your interests, conditions, requirements, or holiday duration.

The trip below is one of our trip samples, based on our experiences on the road, since 2007.

You will experience:

DAY 1

Fly to Kunming

Catch a flight to Kunming, get picked up and taken to the hotel in Kunming. Enjoy wandering around the old city centre of Kunming, visit the old stores and try local street food.

DAY 2

Stone Forest - Dali

Drive 1.5-2 hours to Stone Forest, about 2-3 hours . Have a tasty local tasty lunch, then drive back downtown to catch the fast train from Kunming to Dali (about 2 hours). Get picked up, and drive 40 minutes to the hotel. Overnight stay in Manxin Hotel, Dali, for 2 nights.

Visit Xizhou morning market, and the old residence of the Bai People. Then bike along the beautiful bank of Erhai Lake. Visit a family that makes tie-die and die your own piece.

DAY 3

Around Dali:

- Xizhou town

- Short Cruise on Erhai Lake

- Dali old town

Drive two hours to Shaxi, and stroll around Shaxi Old Town. We'll enjoy a relaxed and leisurely time in this charming little town today, savouring coffee or tea, and may visit a beautiful eco farm on the hillside at sunset. Overnight at Chongyu Boutique Hotel, Shaxi, for one night.

Shaxi Old Town

DAY 5

Shaxi - Tiger Leaping Gorge - Shangrila

Drive about 2 hours to Tiger Leaping Gorge. Then continue for another 2 hours up to Shangri-La, with stops for splendid mountain views and a Tibetan village along the way. You can stop to visit a local Tibetan family, try butter tea, and make your own Stampa (traditional Tibetan bread mixed with butter tea and barley wheat).

Tiger Leaping Gorge

DAY 6

Around Shangrila

- Pudacuo National Park

- Songzanlin Lamasery

DAY 7

Napa Lake - Lijiang

Visit Napa Lake in the morning, which is a paradise for animals. You can go horse riding around if interested (optional). Then drive for 2 hours to Lijiang. Visit Lijiang Old Town. Stay overnight at a local boutique hotel in Lijiang for 2 nights.

Napa Lake

DAY 8

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Lijiang

Visit Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and take the cable car to Glacier Park (at an altitude above 4500 meters). If the altitude is a concern, you can take the cable car to Spruce Meadow (about 3300 meters), which offers the best view of the main peaks of the snow mountain. Oxygen bottles and assistance are available if the altitude becomes too much..Then visit the Blue Moon Valley, where the glacier water is naturally blue and green. Enjoy the Impression Lijiang show.

Glacier Park

Spruce Medow

Contact us for further information and pricing

If time allows, the artistic Dynamic Yunnan show is highly recommended. The director of the show is Ms. Yangliping, who went to the fields and collects lyrics/art from ethnique people living in different parts of Yunnan, and made this beautiful piece of art on stage.

Sun dance, from ethnique Yi People, Central Yunnan

Moon Dance, from ethnique Dai, Southern Yunnan

Tibetan pilgrimage, from Shangrila

Ms. Yangliping, the director, from Dali, Yunnan

Xizhou old town

Morning Market, Xizhou