Where to Stay in Dali: Ancient Town, Erhai Shore or Xiaguan

Stay in Dali Ancient Town (Dali Gucheng). It is the only part of Dali where breakfast, dinner, a café and a taxi are all within walking distance, and Cangshan, the Three Pagodas and the lake villages are all short rides from it. Choose the lakeshore only if the lake view is the reason you are coming.

Area	Best for	Trade-off
Dali Ancient Town	First visits, walkable food and cafés	Cars cannot enter; you haul luggage in from a gate
Caicun / Longkan, west shore	Sunrises, cycling, quiet	Fewer restaurants; taxis take longer to reach you
Xizhou	A slower stay among working Bai villages	Little to eat or shop outside your door
Xiaguan	Early trains, late arrivals, lower prices	About 15 km from the old town, no old-town atmosphere
Shuanglang / east shore	Open lake views, resort-style stays	Roughly 50 km from the old town

Dali Ancient Town

The old town has four gates — south, north, west (Cangshan) and east (Erhai). Motor vehicles are not allowed inside, so you walk your bags from whichever gate is nearest your guesthouse, and it is worth checking that before you book. Travellers who stayed near the East Gate rate it the easiest to reach. The lanes off Renmin and Fuxing are calmer than the main drag and hold most of the courtyard guesthouses.

Caicun and Longkan

Caicun is the closest lakeside village to the old town, linked to it by bus C2. From there you step onto the Erhai Ecological Corridor, a 46-km greenway on the west bank. Private cars and e-bikes rented outside are banned inside it; you rent bikes and e-bikes at the entrances. The sightseeing shuttle costs CNY 10 per stop, CNY 40 for the full route.

Xiaguan

Xiaguan is modern Dali and where the railway station sits. Bus lines 4 and 8 connect the station with the old town. Book it for the night before an early train rather than for the whole stay; the 15 km to the old town is about 30 minutes by taxi.

Shuanglang

Shuanglang is on the east shore, roughly 50 km from the old town — about an hour by car before traffic and holiday road controls. Some lanes there are pedestrian-only, so ask whether anyone can carry bags from the nearest vehicle access point.

Before you book

Budget courtyards and guesthouses generally run about ¥250–600 a night, boutique lakeside rooms ¥700–1,200, and both climb hard around public holidays. Not every guesthouse in Dali can register foreign passport holders, so confirm it accepts your nationality before paying. Book by map pin, not by the word "Dali" in the listing title: properties described as "near Erhai" can sit on the far shore. Rates move a lot with season, so compare all the major booking sites for your exact dates.

Last checked: 2026-10-11