[Dali Free Travel] How to travel to Dali in 3 days and 2 nights, a comprehensive guide to itinerary planning!

# Dali

Travellers Magicians

Sep 17, 2025

Contents

Trip Planner
Overview of Dali City Itinerary Planning
Dali City Day 1
- Dali Ancient Town
- Chongsheng Temple Three Pagodas Cultural Tourism Area
- Three Pagodas Reflection Park
Dali City Day 2
- Cangshan
- Fengyang Tea Horse Ancient Road
Dali City Day 3
- Erhai Lake

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This guide carefully plans a perfect 3-day and 2-night trip to Dali City for you. Covering local attractions, authentic food and popular shopping areas, you can easily travel around Dali City and enjoy a worry-free holiday. Whether it is an in-depth exploration of history and culture or a fashionable check-in in a modern metropolis, this guide can meet your needs. Come and start your wonderful journey in Dali City!

Explore Dali Ancient Town's literary and artistic lanes, snap pictures of the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple's reflections, and ascend Cangshan Mountain for a broad perspective of Erhai Lake.

Take in the panorama of the lake and sea, pedal around Erhai Lake and check in with the wind, and explore the ancient stone pavement on the Ancient Tea-Horse Road.

date	journey
Day 1	Dali Ancient Town->Chongsheng Temple Three Pagodas Cultural Tourism Area->Three Pagodas Reflection Park
Day 2	Cangshan Mountain->Fengyang Tea Horse Ancient Road
Day 3	Erhai Lake

At the base of the picturesque Cangshan Mountain sits the old city of Dali. Both the Dali and the ancient Nanzhao kingdoms had their capitals there. Living here is a good idea. The sun is bright, the temperature is ideal, and life moves slowly in the area. Seeing old buildings and modest stores in the old city is a delightful experience. According to the lunar calendar, Dali celebrates a number of events between March and April. "March Street" is the most well-known and exciting event.

Address: No. 42, Yita Road, Dali City, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province

Opening hours: 24 hours a day, all year round

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Take the Waimao car at the Boai Gate, not the South Gate. The sightseeing bus will take half of the journey, with explanations, to Jiang Gong Temple. After listening to the explanation, you will not return to Boai Gate with the bus. The tie-dyeing experience was great. Although the Bai grandma didn’t speak Mandarin well, she was very patient and the products she made looked very nice.

During the Dali Kingdom era, Chongsheng Temple, which is 1.5 kilometers north of Dali Ancient City, was a royal temple. Its stunning landscape is bounded to the east by Erhai Lake and to the west by Cangshan Mountain's Yingle Peak. The Chongsheng Temple was the original location of the three pagodas. While the three pagodas are relics with a thousand-year history and are a key attraction when visiting this location, the temple that we see now has been reconstructed. The three towers on the steps along the beautiful area's center axis are visible as soon as you approach through the entrance gate. Qianxun Tower is the large tower in the center of the front. It is particularly majestic when combined with the two tiny towers in the north and south to form a tripod. The three towers resemble Xi'an's Small Wild Goose Pagoda in shape. The "Three Towers Reflection Pool" in the Three Towers Reflection Park, which sits diagonally behind the towers, is the ideal location for taking pictures of the three towers. Photographs of the three towers and their reflections in the pool are available here. Here, a lot of tourists take pictures. Walk along the central axis and around the three towers. Along the route, you can observe the enormous 16-ton Nanzhao Jianji bell in the bell tower, the Rain Bronze Guanyin in the Rain Bronze Guanyin Hall, and the Nanzhao and Dali Kingdom cultural relics discovered during the upkeep of the three towers in the Cultural Relics Exhibition Hall. You will eventually reach the Chongsheng Temple. Temple of Chongsheng In 2005, the present-day Chongsheng Temple underwent reconstruction. It is expansive, and the magnificence of the royal temples of the Nanzhao and Dali eras is palpable. The temple is home to over 10,000 different types of dragons, making it the most dragon-rich temple in the nation. Furthermore, the temple is home to the largest cowhide drum in the country, which is worth witnessing. It measures 3.1 meters in diameter and is constructed from a single piece of cowhide.

Address: Southwest corner of the intersection of Santa Road and Wenbi Road, Dali City, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province

Business hours: Open from 07:30 to 18:30 tomorrow (no admission at 17:30)

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It is very convenient to buy tickets online. It took us 2 hours to walk back and forth. The weather was good. The three pagodas were beautiful against the backdrop of blue sky and white clouds. The scenery of lakes and mountains was majestic and solemn. The environment was beautiful and the staff were enthusiastic.

On the south side of Chongsheng Temple's Three Pagodas Scenic Area sits the Three Pagodas Reflection Park. The park has a pond where you may capture lovely pictures of the three pagodas' reflections. The Three Pagodas Reflection Park attracts a lot of people who come to snap photos of the iconic reflections. Photographs of the Three Pagodas' reflections can be taken in two locations. The other is in the Reflection Pool within the Three Pagodas Scenic Area, however the perspectives are mediocre and there are frequently a lot of people there.The Three Pagodas Reflection Park is relatively spacious, with good composition angles, and the classic three-tower scenes are basically shot here.

Address: South side of Three Pagodas Park, Jinyuan Lane, Dali City, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province

Business hours: Open from 07:30-18:00 tomorrow

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On the way to the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple, there is a Three Pagodas Reflection Park. The reflections of the three pagodas taken there are really beautiful. Don’t forget this attraction. There is about a 1.5-kilometer walking distance between the Three Pagodas Reflection Park and the Chongsheng Temple Three Pagodas Park. The two parks are not connected. You have to exit the Reflection Park and walk to the Three Pagodas Park, but the tickets are together, so you only need to buy one ticket.

Cangshan Mountain, sometimes called Dian Cangshan Mountain, is a stunning mountain in Dali that is situated on the west side of Erhai Lake. All year long, snow covers the top of the main peak, and the breathtaking view is one of Dali's well-known "wind, flowers, snow, and moon" landscapes. Clouds and mist frequently envelop Cangshan Mountain. You have two options for climbing the mountain: walking or riding the cable car. You can see the stunning Erhai Lake and the landscape of Dali Ancient City from the summit of Cangshan Mountain.

Address: Xiyinxian Road, Dali Ancient Town, Dali City, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture

Business hours: Open from 08:30-15:00 tomorrow

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It's very good and convenient. You can place an order in advance and pick up the ticket online. You can visit Ximatan, which is 3900+ meters above sea level. The scenery on the top of the mountain is beautiful, which is in sharp contrast with the foot of the mountain. Please note that you may need to bring oxygen when climbing.

Halfway between Xiaguan and Dali on the Dafeng Road is the Fengyang Ancient Tea-Horse Road. The road's width is roughly 3 meters, its overall length is roughly 1,900 meters, and its original appearance has been retained. As is common with the Ancient Tea-Horse Road, there are paved platforms and stone benches by the roadside. The dwellings of the ancient Bai people, whose walls are constructed with unusual uneven stones, encircle the ancient route. The construction of this historic road began in the Han Dynasty and took shape during the time of the Nanzhao Dali Kingdom. The Dali Ancient Tea-Horse Road heads north into Fengyang Village after passing through the Taihe City Ruins. Many elderly individuals can be seen lounging around the Guanyin Well as you enter Fengyang Village. They told all the stories with pride in their eyes. "Brick Kiln" was the previous name of Fengyang Village. Historically, it was mostly used to fire ceramic jars, tiles, and bricks. The name was then changed to "Fengyang Village," which means "Phoenix Facing the Sun." Locals refer to this section of road as "Straw Hat Street" because to the historically thriving straw hat industry. South of the remains of Taihe City, the Nanzhao Kingdom's capital, lies Fengyang Village. Prior to the Yuan Dynasty, the village was established. The historic Dali Post Road and the Dali portion of the Yunnan-Tibet historic Tea-Horse Road are both connected by the Ancient Tea-Horse Road in Fengyang County. Taihe City and Yangzhumie City, two of Nanzhao's oldest cities, have it as one of their official roadways.

Address: Fengyangyi Village, Liuguanchang Administrative Village, Xiaguan Town, Dali City

Opening hours: 24 hours a day, all year round

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This is not a suitable place to come for fun, but it's okay to check in. Only a few spots are available for visiting Youfeng Courtyard every day. The door is usually locked. There is a village road in front of the gate that says "The Ancient Tea-Horse Road". At the end of the road is a horse farm for tourists to ride. The road is not far and it only takes 10 minutes to walk slowly from the beginning to the end.

At the base of the verdant Cangshan Mountain, on the eastern side of Dali Ancient City, sits Erhai Lake. It is a must-see location in Dali, and the water is blue. "Xiaguan Wind, Shangguan Flowers, Cangshan Snow, and Erhai Moon" are Dali's four most well-known scenic locations. Every town and village around Erhai Lake has its own distinct character, and the lake itself boasts stunning beauty. Great ways to enjoy the lake include cycling around it, going on a boat excursion, or staying at a seaside inn by Erhai Lake.

Address: No. 1, Erhe South Road, Xiaguan, Dali City

Opening hours: 24 hours a day, all year round

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Erhai Lake, located in Dali, Yunnan, is a picturesque plateau lake with clear and transparent water and a calm surface like a mirror, reflecting the blue sky, white clouds and the majestic Cangshan Mountain. The scenery of Erhai Lake varies in each season. In spring, flowers bloom by the lake, in summer, it is cool and pleasant, in autumn, the moonlight is charming, and in winter, the sun is warm. This is a paradise for photography enthusiasts and a great place to experience natural beauty and local culture. ‌‌