In January 2020, I spent an afternoon walking around the West Lake. It's a pleasant walk, albeit a long one at 15km. Surprisingly, I recall no extended stretch where I wanted to fast forward: The West Lake simply offers great views everywhere with gardens and pagodas dotted along its shoreline. What a massive feat of human landscape gardening.

From the lake you can regularly hike into one of the attached gardens of which there are plenty. Each garden has a distinctive feel, as the West Lake landscape grew over a millenia and new gardens were added or existing gardens remodeled regularly.

• Zhongshan Park is grouped around a rock and it quickly feels like you are no longer at the lake, but in the mountains.
• Huagang Park meanwhile takes you out of China towards Japan. I felt reminded of Hiraizumi.

There are many more of these gardens to explore. With more time I would have liked to explore the South West corner a bit more. The core zone extends here to cover a large area of parks (West Lake Scenic Spot) that are not directly tied to the lake.

The closest similar site to the West Lake I have seen so far in China is the Summer Palace in Beijing. The Summer Palace dating from the 18th century is clearly based on the landscape gardening developed in Hangzhou over a millenia with a lake forming the center of the site.

What also sets the West Lake apart from other Chinese gardens, e.g. from Suzhou, is who the garden was for: everyone. The lake was open for the masses and used as a recreational area by all for a millenia.

Getting There

I flew from Xian to Hangzhou. My comments re flying in China can be found in the forum (executive summary: it's discouraged). From the airport I jumped a bus to the city center where my hotel was located. It was in walking distance of the east shore of the lake (as most hotels seem to be).

The main railway station is Hangzhou East (Hangzhoudong) and it connects you to Shanghai, Suzhou and Huangshan. There is also an old railway station closer to the city center, but if you are travelling on a bullet train, it's not relevant to you. In town you can use the metro, but the network is fairly limited. E.g. only stations close to the lake are on the eastern shore (Longxiangqiao, Fengqi Road).

For travelling to other parts of the lake you can catch a bus. Or you can buy a hop on & off ticket for the shuttle train/bus (?). Be aware that the shuttle only travels in clockwise direction, so if you plan to walk parts, you need to follow the same direction. I also think you need to get your ticket on the eastern shore.

For those so inclined. there are different boat options. You can join a cruise. Or you can book a small boat to yourself. Prices are regulated by the authorities and well signposted. You need to catch a ferry to get to one of the islands.

While You Are There

A visit to the West Lake can be combined with Liangzhu. I went first to Liangzhu and then walked around the lake in the afternoon. You should plan at least 1h each way travel time. Generally speaking, there are plenty of sites in the Hangzhou hotspot that you can visit on a day trip.