Bus to Yangshuo and Guilin

Take the bus to Yangshuo, from many destinations in south China you are able to reach Yangshuo by bus quite easy.

Yangshuo is easy to access. The bus to Yangshuo comes from all directions.

Trains and buses are popular to Travel to Yangshuo. And no wonder, as everywhere in China, there are plenty of buses available. For the short distance to and from Guilin, you will take the minibus or express bus. For long distances you will use the sleeper buses.

Due to construction work on the new express way from Guangzhou to Guilin, the roads between Guangzhou and Guilin are partly in bad state. If you want to travel to Hong Kong, Shenzhen or Guangzhou, I would recommend the train until the express way is finished. Large parts of the express way are already finished and the expectation is that by the end of 2008 the express way will be open to all traffic.

• Shenzhen

The night buses to Shenzhen leaves at 8pm 9pm and takes 10 hours though at the moment it may 1 to 2 hours more. From Shenzhen, (Lo Wu border crossing) there are buses at 7.30pm and 8.30pm.

Taking the bus from Shenzhen is tricky. There are several operators doing the journey from Shenzhen to Guilin. Make sure you have a bus leaving around 7.30 or 8.30pm. Buses earlier take longer to reach Guilin and will use partly the old road from Shenzhen to Guangzhou and will stop virtually everywhere until they reach Guangzhou.

There are day buses, leaving around 11am but those buses are bad and slow, up 15 to 17 hours as they stop everywhere and use the old road too. I made this mistake twice, once a morning bus and once a bus leaving at 6pm. Both took much longer (which in winter wasn't too bad as I arrived in Yangshuo at 7.30 am instead of 5 am.

Best advice? Go early to Shenzhen and shop around. A good alternative is to take a direct train to Guilin. See our train to Guilin page.

As there is no direct bus or train to Hong Kong (to/from Guilin/Yangshuo), you have to take a bus or train to Shenzhen, cross the border, get a train to Kowloon and change to the airport, train or bus.

• Guangzhou

There are two overnight buses to Guangzhou leaving 8 and 9pm. Buses from Guangzhou leave at 11am, 8.30pm and 10.30pm, price is Y150.

• Nanning

There are two good buses to Nanning at 8 and 9 am passing Yangshuo and Liuzhou. The journey would take 6 to 7 hours. Price Y120.

• Liuzhou

The easiest way to travel from Liuzhou to Yangshuo is to take the express bus to Guilin, 2 hours and change in Guilin to the local bus to Yangshuo. There is a direct service between Yangshuo and Liuzhou but it is much slower.

Other destinations from Yangshuo include Zuhai (12 hrs, Y170-250 depending on the bus), Dongguan (10 hrs), Xiamen (18 hrs), Fuzhou (20 hrs) and Macau.

If you don't want to fly to Chengdu, you have only one option, an overnight sleeper bus that leaves every other day. I did that bus a few times. The bus was usually quite empty so you have plenty of space but it takes forever (30 hrs. or so)

• Airport bus to Guilin city center

If you stay in Guilin, you may consider the shuttle bus to and from the Guilin international airport. The ride takes about 40 minutes and is free of charge. The bus picks up/drops off passengers from some of the major hotels in Guilin city.

There is no shuttle service to Yangshuo. Going to the airport from Yangshuo, we recommend taking the taxi, which takes one hour and 15 minutes and costs (normal taxi) Y280. You can ask Jessie to arrange a taxi for you.

• Other destinations

There many other destinations available from the main bus station in Guilin. Typical destinations include: Bei Hai, Hechi, Guiyang and even Chengdu (although a train is much more comfortable for some destinations).

Guilin to Yangshuo

In front of the railway station you can get a local bus for Y15. Beware of scams as some of the bus drivers try to drop you outside Yangshuo (for commissions of hotels) or want extra money for carrying your bags although if you carry a normal travel bags. There's no need to pay though the drivers can be very persisting.

If you travel to Yangshuo by these buses, you need to get off at the last stop of this journey, the bus station in the center of Yangshuo. The buses stop frequently to pick up passengers. Even if there are no smoking signs, you will most likely in buses were people do smoke.

You can take the express bus from the Guilin bus station for Y15

During peak seasons like the May week and Moon Festival prices can be doubled. This is not for foreigners only. All people have to pay double.

It may be a good idea to book your hotels, especially in those periods. Check our Hotel page for some good ideas to find a hotel in Yangshuo.

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