Plan
Chongqing with Kids
What works, what does not, and why the terrain matters even more when you are travelling with children than when you are not.
Plan fewer stops, flatter areas and shorter days. The city is genuinely good for children if you stop trying to cover ground.
- The monorail through the building, the cable car, the boats and the escalators are the highlights for most children, not the viewpoints.
- Pushchairs are workable in the flat districts and impractical in the stair districts. Plan according to which you are visiting.
- Base yourself in Guanyinqiao or on the riverside rather than in the crowded, steep core.
- Two or three stops a day is the realistic maximum. Our relaxed pace setting reflects this.
Our planner has a family interest setting and a low-walking mobility setting, and the two together produce the most realistic plan for younger children.
What actually lands with children
The monorail at Liziba
A train going through a building. Short, free, and reliably the thing they remember.
The Yangtze cableway
A cable car over a major river. The queue is the only downside, so go early.
River boats
The evening cruises are the easiest way to see the skyline with children, because nobody has to walk to a viewpoint or stand in a crowd.
The Three Gorges Museum
Indoors, flat, with enough scale to hold attention for a couple of hours and a reliable rain option.
Escalators and stair streets treated as a game
The terrain is genuinely novel to children in a way it is not to adults. The stair districts that exhaust their parents are often the best part of the trip for them.
What to avoid or restructure
Food with children
Chongqing's food is spicy by default, but the city is not difficult for children. Noodle shops will make a plain bowl, dumplings and steamed items are everywhere, and any hotel restaurant will have mild options.
The useful habit is to establish the mild option before you sit down, rather than after the food arrives. A divided hotpot is also a good family meal: the children eat from the plain half and nobody compromises.
Where to base a family trip
Where to stay
Guanyinqiao
观音桥
The commercial centre of the north bank. Busier with residents than with visitors, and noticeably flatter than the south-bank core.
- Sights
- Limited(2/5)
- Food
- Strong(4/5)
- Metro
- Strong(4/5)
- Walking
- Strong(4/5)
Good for 2-3 nights
Where to stay
Nanbin Road
南滨路
The south-bank riverside promenade, looking straight back at the skyline. The obvious base if the photographs are the point of the trip.
- Sights
- Fair(3/5)
- Food
- Strong(4/5)
- Metro
- Fair(3/5)
- Walking
- Strong(4/5)
Good for 2-3 nights
Where to stay
Jiefangbei
解放碑
A practical base for a first two- or three-night visit: central sights and restaurants are in the same district. Choose the entrance as carefully as the map pin; the pedestrian core and the river are at different levels.
- Sights
- Excellent(5/5)
- Food
- Excellent(5/5)
- Metro
- Excellent(5/5)
- Walking
- Fair(3/5)
Good for 2-4 nights
Plan it with the right settings
Set the interests to family and the mobility to low walking, and the planner will build a shorter, flatter version of the trip.
Interactive tool
Itinerary Planner
Build a realistic day-by-day plan from your trip length, pace, interests and hotel area.
Related guides
Travel Essentials
Chongqing Terrain and Walking
Plan Chongqing by street level and hotel entrance. Use walking labels to compare effort, then confirm the complete route if stairs or lifts determine access.
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Chongqing in the Rain
It rains here, sometimes hard and often for a whole day. What to do instead, which outdoor plans survive, and why the wet version of this city is better than you would expect.
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Jiefangbei or Guanyinqiao?
The two areas most first-time visitors weigh up, compared on the things that actually decide the trip: walking, transfers, food, noise and price.
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Before you go
Check current opening, booking and access arrangements with the venue before your visit.