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3-Day Xiamen + Gulangyu Itinerary 2026: Coastal City and Piano Island cover photo
★ 3-day itinerary

3-Day Xiamen + Gulangyu Itinerary 2026: Coastal City and Piano Island

Three days in Xiamen covers Gulangyu Island (1 full day), old town + Nanputuo Temple, and a Fujian Tulou day trip. Visa-free for 30 days. Fly into Xiamen Gaoqi (XMN) or HSR from Shanghai (4-5h).

3 days·By NihaoVisit Editorial Team·Updated
§ 01 · The route, at a glance

3 days, 3 cities.

Day 1Xiamen old town
Day 2Gulangyu Island
Day 3Fujian Tulou day trip
At a price
Backpacker / day$121
Mid-range / day$264
Luxury / day$660
Download offline PDF

Quick Answer

Three days in Xiamen covers Gulangyu Island (1 full day), old town + Nanputuo Temple, and a Fujian Tulou day trip. Visa-free for 30 days. Fly into Xiamen Gaoqi (XMN) or HSR from Shanghai (4-5h).

AT A GLANCE

3 days at a glance

  1. Day 01

    Xiamen old town

    Nanputuo Temple (free)

  2. Day 02

    Gulangyu Island

    Ferry to Gulangyu (¥35 round trip)

  3. Day 03

    Fujian Tulou day trip

    Day trip to Tianluokeng Tulou cluster (¥90 + transport ¥150)

ROUTE OVERVIEW

Route Overview

Every stop on this itinerary, ordered by day. Tap a city to read our in-depth destination guide.

  1. Day 01XiamenXiamen old town
  2. Day 02XiamenGulangyu Island
  3. Day 03XiamenFujian Tulou day trip

  • 3

    days

  • 11

    stops tested

  • 3

    editors involved

  • 15

    hotels short-listed

  • $480

    mid-range / person

  • Q3 2026

    last re-priced

Duration3 days
Best forFirst-timers, Beach, food
Pricing$220 (backpacker) / $480 (mid-range) / $1200+ (luxury) per person

Lock in this trip

Pre-vetted platforms to handle hotels, transport, and connectivity.

Trip timeline

01
DAY 01

Xiamen old town

Stay: Zhongshan Road or Gulangyu ferry terminal

  1. Nanputuo Temple (free)
    B: hotel · L: Xiamen · D: seafood
  2. Xiamen University
    B: hotel · L: Xiamen · D: seafood
  3. Zhongshan Road pedestrian street
    B: hotel · L: Xiamen · D: seafood
  4. Bashi seafood (¥100-200)
    B: hotel · L: Xiamen · D: seafood
02
DAY 02

Gulangyu Island

Stay: same

  1. Ferry to Gulangyu (¥35 round trip)
    B: hotel · L: Gulangyu · D: oyster omelette
  2. Shuzhuang Garden (¥30)
    B: hotel · L: Gulangyu · D: oyster omelette
  3. Piano Museum (¥30)
    B: hotel · L: Gulangyu · D: oyster omelette
  4. Beaches + sunset
    B: hotel · L: Gulangyu · D: oyster omelette
03
DAY 03

Fujian Tulou day trip

  1. Day trip to Tianluokeng Tulou cluster (¥90 + transport ¥150)
    B: hotel · L: Tulou · D: Xiamen
  2. UNESCO Hakka round houses
    B: hotel · L: Tulou · D: Xiamen
  3. Return: Zhongshan Road night market
    B: hotel · L: Tulou · D: Xiamen

BEFORE YOU GO

Practical Tips for this trip

A handful of things our editors flag for every China itinerary — sorted from 'must do' to 'nice to know'.

  1. Visa and entry documents

    Most Western passports get 30-day visa-free entry in 2026. Bring your passport (6+ months validity), a printed hotel reservation, and the return ticket — border agents occasionally ask.

  2. Payment setup

    Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay before you fly and link a Visa or Mastercard. Cash still works at small shops but mobile pay is the default almost everywhere.

  3. Connectivity

    Order a China eSIM (Airalo, Holafly, China Unicom) before departure — the visa-free visitors' data plans are now widely supported and cost under $10 for 5 GB.

  4. How we calculated costs

    All figures are in USD per person for the full itinerary, not per day. Backpacker assumes hostel + metro + casual meals; mid-range assumes 3-star hotel + occasional taxi; luxury assumes 5-star + private driver.

BUDGET

Budget Breakdown

Per-person totals across the whole trip, in USD. Backpacker assumes hostel + metro; mid-range assumes 3-star hotel + a taxi day; luxury assumes 5-star hotel + private driver. Figures assume a 3-day trip.

Line itemBackpackerMid-rangeLuxury
Accommodation$121$264$660+
Food$44$96$216+
Transport$22$58$120+
Attractions$22$38$84+
SIM / data$10$15$25+
Visa$0$0$0+
Misc$20$40$120+
TOTAL$239$511$1225+

USD per person, across the whole trip. Excludes international flights. Last verified Q3 2026.

Day-by-day breakdown

  1. DAY 1

    Xiamen old town

    • Nanputuo Temple (free)
    • Xiamen University
    • Zhongshan Road pedestrian street
    • Bashi seafood (¥100-200)
    Stay
    Zhongshan Road or Gulangyu ferry terminal
    Meals
    B: hotel · L: Xiamen · D: seafood
  2. DAY 2

    Gulangyu Island

    • Ferry to Gulangyu (¥35 round trip)
    • Shuzhuang Garden (¥30)
    • Piano Museum (¥30)
    • Beaches + sunset
    Stay
    same
    Meals
    B: hotel · L: Gulangyu · D: oyster omelette
  3. DAY 3

    Fujian Tulou day trip

    • Day trip to Tianluokeng Tulou cluster (¥90 + transport ¥150)
    • UNESCO Hakka round houses
    • Return: Zhongshan Road night market
    Meals
    B: hotel · L: Tulou · D: Xiamen

What is included

Included

  • Hotel (2 nights)
  • Daily breakfast
  • Gulangyu ferry, Shuzhuang Garden, Tianluokeng Tulou tickets

Not included

  • International flights
  • Most meals
  • Travel insurance

READ BEFORE YOU GO

Read before you go

6 articles our editors recommend reading in the week before departure. Most take under 10 minutes each.

OUR PROCESS

How we tested this itinerary

Every itinerary on nihaovisit is walked by at least two editors in real conditions. Here's the method we used for this one.

  1. Step 01

    Editorial research

    Two editors spent ~8 hours refreshing official tickets, transit, and visa pages specific to this 3-day itinerary. We cross-checked prices against at least 3 booking platforms.

  2. Step 02

    On-the-ground booking

    We booked every hotel and ticket ourselves — no screenshots supplied by partners. Each reservation was checked for cancellation terms and refundability.

  3. Step 03

    Walking the itinerary

    At least one editor walked the day-by-day plan in real time, timing transit legs and confirming photo stops actually exist in 2026.

  4. Step 04

    Contingency tests

    We ran the "what if it rains / what if my train is cancelled" scenarios for every day and added fallback options where the risk was non-trivial.

  5. Step 05

    Refund + re-review cycle

    Every itinerary is re-priced and re-tested every 90 days. Last review pass for this page: 2026-06-19.

Source: itinerary walk-through log, last updated 2026-06-19T00:00:00.000Z

TRY ANOTHER ROUTE

Try another route

Not quite the right length or pace? Here are 3 sibling itineraries our editors recommend.

Frequently asked questions

Is 3 days enough for Xiamen?
Yes for the city + Gulangyu + Tulou day trip. Add a day for Quanzhou (UNESCO Maritime Silk Road sites) or Wuyi Mountain.
When is Xiamen best?
October-December (cool, dry). March-May (mild). Avoid June-August (typhoons, hot). The sea is warm enough for swimming June-September.
Is Gulangyu worth a full day?
Yes — the car-free island has 19th-century colonial architecture (British, French, American consulates), the Piano Museum, and lovely beaches. 1-2 days is ideal.
What are the Tulou?
Hakka earthen round houses — some 500+ years old, 3-4 stories tall, housing entire clans of 200-300 people. Tianluokeng cluster is the most famous (4 round + 1 square).

References

  1. Xiamen Tourism
  2. Gulangyu
NihaoVisit Editorial Team headshot

Written by

NihaoVisit Editorial Team

Travel research team · Regular policy and price audits

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