Pick the Shanghai airport that matches your next train, not your flight price

Hongqiao (SHA) shares a building complex with the high-speed rail hub, so an arrival there and a train to Suzhou, Hangzhou or Nanjing is a walk and an escalator. Pudong (PVG) takes most international flights and sits far out east; the Maglev covers eight minutes of it to Longyang Road and you still change to the metro.

If you land at Pudong late with luggage, a metered taxi to the Concession is the calmer choice. Ignore anyone offering you a ride in the arrivals hall.