3 Days 2 Nights in Hangzhou with Kids! Avoid These Pitfalls at All Costs

🚗 Transportation: Take my advice—don’t drive! The traffic around West Lake is so bad it’ll make you question life 🚦 The best choice for traveling with kids is subway + shared bikes 🚴‍♀️ Don’t try to march like a college special forces soldier! My kid cried three times walking along Su Causeway and ended up being carried to finish visiting Leifeng Pagoda 😵 🗺 Actual Itinerary: Day 1: Broken Bridge in Snow → Biking on Bai Causeway → Leifeng Pagoda → Hefang Street Day 2: Lingyin Temple → Longjing Village → Jiuxi Eighteen Streams → West Lake Sunset Day 3: Baoshi Mountain Sunrise → China Academy of Art → Xiaohe Straight Street → Music Fountain 👶 Kid-Tested Attractions: ✅ Leifeng Pagoda: Elevator lines start at 1 hour! My kid threw all the coins into the wishing pool at the top, saying he wanted to "buy the entire West Lake" 💸 ✅ Longjing Village: Tea picking experience is impossible to get! Ended up paying 50 yuan to pose at a tea farmer’s house, kid stuffed tea leaves in his mouth saying "tastes like grass" 🌿 ✅ Jiuxi Eighteen Streams: Kids had a blast playing in the water with rain boots 💦 but the moss on the stones almost made me fall and become a meme 🤸‍♀️ ⚠️ Death Warning: Don’t buy the scallion pancake at Hefang Street! My kid bit it once, spat it out on the ground, and got attacked by all the pigeons around West Lake 🕊️ 📸 Photo Tips: ✨ Let your kid stand in the bike basket on Bai Causeway for a Kenting-style shot 🚲 ✨ Shoot silhouettes through the window frames on the 4th floor of Leifeng Pagoda 🌅 ✨ Find a fallen old tree at Jiuxi for an adventure-style photo 🌳 ✨ Have your kid sit by the river eating Ding Sheng Cake on Xiaohe Straight Street 🍰 ✨ Capture the rainbow in the water curtain at the music fountain 🌈 💣 Hard Lessons Learned: 1️⃣ Faxisi Temple vegetarian meals start at 6:00 AM! Impossible to get kids up that early, ended up crying while nibbling cold steamed buns 😭 2️⃣ Baoshi Mountain sunrise requires waking at 4 AM! Kid kept eyes closed climbing, fell asleep like a sack right after sunrise 😴 3️⃣ China Academy of Art Xiangshan Campus needs advance booking! Scanning QR code on site is useless, kid was jealous watching others from behind the fence 😔 4️⃣ West Lake music fountain crowds are thicker than the water wall! Kid peed on someone’s head while riding on dad’s shoulders 💦 5️⃣ Aman Hotel is painfully expensive! One night could buy 10 Legos, but kid was busy playing with free mint candies in the lobby 🍬 🍼 Must-Have Gear: Folding stroller (must bring even if it gets banged up on stone paths) Mosquito repellent wristband (Jiuxi has more mosquitoes than tea farmers 🦟) Quick-dry towel (turns into a cape right after water play) Portable toilet (waiting in line for mountain toilets is despair) Snack seal bag (life saver during traffic jams) This trip cost over 1500 yuan per person 💰 Honestly, traveling in Hangzhou with kids is really expensive! But seeing my kid laugh like a goose while splashing in Jiuxi made this mom feel it was worth it 😭 Moms planning to go, remember— ‼️ Don’t step on any temple thresholds! (Don’t ask how I got schooled by monks 🙏) ‼️ Choose state-run boats for West Lake cruises! (Hand-rowed boats are a trap for families with kids) ‼️ Carry cash! (Signal on the mountain is so bad you lose connection 📵)