Hangzhou Tours & Travel — by the People Who Live Here

Brivience's small-group day tours cost CA$300–400 per person (about US$220–295): West Lake CA$360 (7 hours), the old-town history walk CA$360 (4 hours), the Grand Canal CA$300 (5.5 hours), and the Longjing tea tour CA$400 (6 hours). Large group bus tours in Hangzhou typically run around US$70–80 — ours cost more because every departure is capped at 6–7 guests with a fluent English-speaking local guide and no shopping stops.

Six guests maximum on most tours, seven on the old-town history walk. That cap is the product: small enough to linger at a teahouse, take the quieter path, and actually talk with your guide.

Most first-time visitors need 2–3 days: one full day for West Lake and its surrounding hills, one day for the Grand Canal and the old town around Hefang Street, and a half day in the Longjing tea villages, about 25 minutes from the lake.

Spring (March–May) is the headline season — it's when Longjing tea is picked and the lake is at its greenest. Autumn (late September–November) is the second-best window: clear skies and osmanthus in bloom. Summer is hot and busy but everything runs; winter is quiet, and a dusting of snow on West Lake is considered its most poetic face.

Everything in each tour's itinerary — the West Lake boat ride and tea ceremony, the canal cruise and museum, craft sessions, tea picking, frying and tasting — is included in the listed price. Personal purchases are not. Each tour page lists its full itinerary.

Directly on this website: pick a tour, choose your date, and pay by card at checkout — instant confirmation, no enquiry forms, no deposits, no back-and-forth. Detailed meeting instructions arrive by email once your booking is confirmed.

Yes — high-speed trains from Shanghai reach Hangzhou in about 45 minutes. Tickets are released 15 days before departure at around 14:00 Beijing time; same-day tickets are usually fine on weekdays, but book 2–3 days ahead for weekends and at presale opening for Chinese public holidays. Our 4-hour and 5.5-hour tours fit comfortably inside a day trip.

Yes. Any of our tours can run as a private departure, and we build custom itineraries around your interests, dates, and pace — including vehicle service and airport pickup if you want them. Use the Request a Quote form on this page and we'll reply within one business day with a proposed itinerary and price.

All tours are led by fluent English-speaking guides. Two — West Lake and the Grand Canal — are led by Vi, Brivience's co-founder: born and raised in Hangzhou, educated in the UK, and fluent in English. The other tours are led by carefully selected local English-speaking guides trained to Brivience's standard.