Your China & Yunnan Travel Experts
Ask a QuestionChaozhou, the cultural heart of the Chaoshan region and a core stop on all classic Guangdong cultural and gourmet tours, is celebrated as the hometown of Chaoshan culture, ancient porcelain art, and time-honored traditional craftsmanship. Most travelers arrange Chaozhou and Shantou as a combined two-city sightseeing route due to their short 40-minute driving distance, while many international tourists start their eastern Guangdong journey from Guangzhou and then take a high-speed train to Chaozhou for in-depth cultural exploration. If you are planning a 2026/2027 Chaoshan cultural and food tour and struggling to figure out where to stay in Chaozhou to match your sightseeing rhythm, night tour plans, food hunting needs and travel budget, this professional accommodation guide will break down the three most worthwhile staying areas for tourists, with detailed area introductions, hotel features, suitable crowds and matched official tour packages.
As a well-preserved ancient cultural city with a history of over a thousand years, Chaozhou features layered accommodation resources covering cost-effective boutique homestays, classic four-star city hotels, high-end design hotels and international five-star resorts. Different from modern coastal Shantou, Chaozhou’s tourism core focuses on ancient town heritage and slow cultural experience. For first-time visitors, culture lovers, food travelers and night view enthusiasts, three accommodation zones stand out perfectly catering to different travel demands: Chaozhou Ancient City & Paifang Street Area, Han River & Guangji Bridge Riverside Area, and City Center (People’s Square & West Lake) Surroundings.
Chaozhou Ancient City centered on Paifang Street is the absolute core of Chaozhou’s tourism resources and the most recommended accommodation area for over 80% of travelers. This concentrated historic zone gathers almost all of Chaozhou’s must-visit scenic spots, enabling pure walking sightseeing without frequent taxi rides or long transfers. Within a short walking distance, guests can reach iconic landmarks including the century-old Guangji Bridge, time-honored Kaiyuan Temple, elegant Jiadi Alley ancient residential complex, and various ancient archways that witness the thousand-year development of Chaoshan culture. Fully aligning with the itinerary arrangements of Day 3 of the 6 Days Guangzhou & Chaoshan Essence Tour and Day 1 of the 7 Days Chaoshan Authentic Food Tour, this area is the core zone for experiencing Chaozhou’s ancient town charm and local life.
Beyond abundant cultural attractions, this area boasts the most intensive food and commercial resources in Chaozhou. The surrounding streets are lined with time-honored Chaoshan snack shops, traditional cultural and creative stores, teahouses and local specialty stores. Travelers can easily taste classic delicacies such as Chaoshan beef hot pot, marinated goose, rice noodle rolls and sweet soup at the doorstep, making it a paradise for food lovers. Moreover, the ancient city’s night scenery is extremely charming, with neon-lit archways, antique street lamps and the bustling night market atmosphere, perfectly matching the official tour’s reserved night activity of enjoying Guangji Bridge’s light and shadow show and riverside night scenery.
The accommodation types here are diverse and cost-effective, covering multiple grades from affordable boutique homestays and comfortable chain hotels to high-end cultural design hotels. Most lodgings retain Lingnan ancient style design elements, integrating perfectly with the ancient city’s overall atmosphere, allowing tourists to immerse themselves in authentic Chaoshan folk customs throughout their stay.
Best For: First-time Chaozhou visitors, culture and history enthusiasts, food-centric travelers, night tour lovers, backpackers and leisure tourists pursuing convenient walking sightseeing.
Recommended Accommodations
- Chaozhou Hotel (4-Star Classic City Hotel)
Address: Chaofeng Road, Xiangqiao District (opposite Chaozhou Bus Station)
Features: A time-honored 4-star hotel in Chaozhou, enjoying a prime location in the ancient city core area. It offers complete supporting facilities, stable service quality and superior transportation accessibility. All core ancient city attractions are within walking distance, suitable for family travelers and groups pursuing cost performance and convenience.
Chaozhou Hotel
- Chaozhou Royal Hotel (High-End Design Boutique Hotel)
Address: Taiping Road, Xiangqiao District (the exact center of Paifang Street)
Features: Nestled in the heart of the ancient pedestrian street, this high-end design hotel boasts an unbeatable core location. It takes only a few minutes’ walk to reach Guangji Bridge and Kaiyuan Temple. With exquisite ancient-style interior design and quiet room environment, it is the top choice for tourists who pursue high-quality ancient city cultural experience and superior location.
Chaozhou Royal Hotel
Matching Recommended Tour Package
▶ 6 Days Guangzhou & Chaoshan Essence Private Tour
This classic itinerary arranges a full-day ancient city walking tour in Chaozhou on Day 3, covering Paifang Street, Guangji Bridge and Zaiyang Tea House for authentic Chaoshan tea tasting. Staying in the ancient city area allows you to extend your food hunting and night sightseeing time after the guided tour, maximizing your experience of Chaozhou’s local customs without redundant transit time.
The Han River and Guangji Bridge Riverside Area is Chaozhou’s premium riverside accommodation belt, specially designed for travelers who pursue superior landscape views and quiet accommodation environments. Closely adjacent to Guangji Bridge, the iconic landmark of Chaozhou, this area features the best viewing platforms for the famous Guangji Bridge light and shadow show. Every night, visitors can directly overlook the brilliant bridge light show and the shimmering Han River night scenery from hotel rooms or riverside corridors, enjoying a panoramic view of Chaozhou’s most stunning night landscape.
Compared with the bustling ancient city pedestrian street, the riverside area maintains a quieter and more comfortable living atmosphere, free from the noise of crowds and night markets. Meanwhile, it retains excellent accessibility to the ancient city core: Paifang Street and major scenic spots are reachable on foot or via a short 5-minute taxi ride, balancing landscape enjoyment and sightseeing convenience perfectly. This area is ideal for slowing down your travel pace after intensive ancient city exploration, matching the leisure experience settings of official Chaoshan tour itineraries.
Most accommodations here are high-star riverside hotels with professional service standards and superior room views. Many rooms are equipped with full-length bay windows or independent balconies, providing exclusive panoramic Han River and Guangji Bridge views. It is the best staying choice for couples, honeymoon travelers and tourists who love quiet environments and natural scenery.
Best For: Couples and honeymoon travelers, night view photography enthusiasts, tourists pursuing quiet accommodation environments and high-end landscape experience, leisure vacationers.
Recommended Accommodations
- Crowne Plaza Chaozhou Riverside by IHG (5-Star International Luxury Hotel)
Address: Hanjiang Riverside, Xiangqiao District (city core area near Guangji Bridge)
Features: One of Chaozhou’s few genuine international five-star hotels, located in Chaozhou’s tallest urban building. Multiple room types offer front-view Guangji Bridge and Han River panoramic views with ultra-wide vision. It provides standardized international high-end services, complete fitness and catering facilities, and is perfect for travelers with high requirements for accommodation grade, landscape and service quality.
Crowne Plaza
- Linjiang Hotel Chaozhou (4-Star Cost-Effective River View Hotel)
Address:East Side of Jinshan Bridge, Yidong Road, Xiangqiao District, Chaozhou
Features: A high-cost-performance 4-star riverside hotel with partial rooms offering beautiful Han River views. It is close to Hanjiang Pedestrian Street and Guangji Bridge scenic area, with only a 10-minute taxi ride to the ancient city core. The overall environment is quiet and comfortable, suitable for ordinary tourists and family groups who want to enjoy river views at a friendly price.
Matching Recommended Tour Package
▶ 7 Days Chaoshan Authentic Food Private Tour
This in-depth food and cultural tour reserve abundant leisure time for Chaozhou’s night scenery appreciation and local experience. Staying in the riverside area allows you to enjoy the exclusive Guangji Bridge light show quietly after tasting authentic Chaoshan beef hot pot dinner, greatly upgrading your overall travel experience.
Chaozhou’s city center area centered on People’s Square and Chaozhou West Lake is Chaozhou’s modern commercial and living core, featuring complete urban supporting facilities and superior traffic conditions. Located about 1–2 kilometers away from the ancient city core, this area avoids the overcrowded flow of tourists in the old town while maintaining extremely convenient travel accessibility. It takes only a few minutes by taxi to reach Paifang Street and Guangji Bridge, realizing efficient switching between modern urban life and ancient cultural sightseeing.
Chaozhou West Lake
Surrounded by West Lake Park, People’s Square and large commercial plazas, this area boasts mature living supporting systems including supermarkets, catering chains, shopping malls and leisure parks. The accommodation environment is quieter and more comfortable than the ancient city pedestrian area, with relatively more affordable room prices, providing higher cost performance for long-stay travelers. In addition, the urban road network here is smooth and spacious, with abundant parking spaces, making it the most suitable area for self-driving tourists.
Another core advantage of this area is its superior high-speed rail transportation accessibility. Multiple high-end chain hotels near the city center are only about 4 kilometers from Chaozhou Railway Station, enabling fast pick-up and drop-off for tourists arriving and departing by high-speed rail. It perfectly meets the travel needs of business travelers and tourists with tight schedules and frequent transfers.
Best For: Self-driving travelers, budget tourists, business visitors, groups pursuing quiet accommodation environments and complete urban supporting facilities, tourists arriving by high-speed rail.
Recommended Accommodations
- Chaozhou Baohua Hotel (4-Star Urban Central Hotel)
Address: Junction of Chaofeng Road and Xinyang Road, Xiangqiao District (near Chaozhou Municipal Government)
Features: Located in the absolute city center with prosperous surrounding business and convenient transportation. It is moderately distant from the ancient city core, effectively avoiding tourist crowds and noise. With stable four-star service and complete supporting facilities, it is suitable for family travel and business reception.
- Hampton by Hilton Chaozhou Fortune Center (High-End Chain Hotel)
Address: Zone A, Fortune Center, junction of Xinfeng Road and Chaoshan Road, Chao’an District
Features: A reliable high-end international chain hotel with standardized room facilities and service systems. It is only 4 kilometers from Chaozhou Railway Station, with large shopping malls downstairs integrating dining, shopping and leisure. It is the first choice for tourists who take high-speed trains and pursue urban convenience and hotel brand reliability.
Chaoshan region mainly covers three adjacent cities in eastern Guangdong: Chaozhou, Shantou and Jieyang, sharing unified Chaoshan culture, dietary customs and folk traditions, forming a highly integrated tourism circle with convenient intercity transportation. Most tourists choose to combine Chaozhou and Shantou for sightseeing due to their short 40-minute driving distance, while extending the trip to Meizhou for Hakka cultural experience if time permits. For international tourists flying from overseas, Guangzhou is the most preferred entry hub, with direct high-speed trains connecting Guangzhou and Chaozhou, forming a classic Guangzhou + Chaoshan combined tour route. Based on our official 6 Days Guangzhou & Chaoshan Essence Tour and 7 Days Chaoshan Authentic Food Tour, we sort out the most scientific Chaoshan tour planning logic and practical suggestions for you.
Qiaoxi Ancient Charm-Meizhou
For tourists with 5–6 days of vacation, the 6-day Guangzhou & Chaoshan essence route is the most balanced choice. You can start with modern urban sightseeing in Guangzhou, visiting Huacheng Square, Canton Tower and Chen Clan Academy, and experience the prosperity of South China’s core metropolis. Then take a high-speed train to Chaozhou to explore the origin of Chaoshan culture, wander through the thousand-year-old ancient city, taste authentic beef hot pot and watch the Guangji Bridge light show. After that, transfer to Shantou to experience port opening culture, bay scenery and rich Chaoshan snacks. This route perfectly combines modern metropolis style and ancient Lingdong cultural charm, suitable for first-time visitors to Chaoshan.
If you have 7 or more days and focus on in-depth food and cultural exploration, the 7-day Chaoshan authentic food tour is your best option. Start your trip directly from Chaozhou to fully explore the ancient city’s cultural heritage and gourmet resources, then move to Shantou for coastal scenery and overseas Chinese architecture sightseeing. On the basis of Chaozhou and Shantou’s maritime Chaoshan culture, extend your journey to Meizhou to experience the unique mountain Hakka culture, visiting century-old Hakka tulou buildings, China Hakka Museum and characteristic lantern cultural parks, realizing a dual experience of eastern Guangdong’s marine and mountain cultures.
Hua e lou building-Meizhou
In terms of accommodation matching and travel scheduling, tourists focusing on ancient city sightseeing and night food tours are strongly recommended to stay in Chaozhou Ancient City & Paifang Street Area for zero-distance access to core attractions and snack streets. Travelers who pursue quiet environments and high-quality night views can choose the Han River Riverside Area to enjoy exclusive river view landscapes. All accommodation choices can be flexibly matched with different itinerary durations and travel priorities to customize your exclusive Chaoshan travel experience.
English
