Spiacente, anch'io ero in gruppo. Però una cosa te la posso dire: taxi gialli si, taxi blu si, taxi rossi NO. Il costo dei taxi dei colori giusti è rigidamente controllato dal governo e in caso di sovrapprezzo puoi reclamare. I taxi rossi sono fuori controllo. Bon voyage.

The metro goes to Tongli . But the old town and gardens are 5km away. Get off at the last station in Tongli and then you can get a shuttle bus ( and entrance ticket) from the metro station. The last shuttle bus back to the metro station was at 5.30.

Hi Yohannes, I just saw your message and at first it seemed like you were asking me your question as I had posted a DIY tip but now I see that there are tons of other answers. The only interesting part of Tongli for a tourist is probably the old town. And yes, you can do it without a tour, private guide or taxi. You can't walk from the subway station to the old town. It's too far. Once in the old town, you can walk everywhere. It's small. I tried posting the link to my review here but TA won't let me put in a link. So here is the text: "At each attraction, there is an information board explaining the significance of the attraction. If you’re in Suzhou, getting there is easy with the metro. The entrance ticket, if bought at the tourist service costs 88 RMB instead of 100 RMB. This includes free shuttle to and fro. On arrival at Tongli metro, from platform look for exit 10. Once you exit the turnstiles, right in front of you is the Tongli Tourist Service (you’re still underground in the metro station). I bought my ticket there and they gave me a pamphlet in English. The lady didn’t speak English but I said “Tongli men piao” meaning entrance ticket. You will be told where to catch the bus but just in case they’re too busy and you don’t understand, walk to the opposite end of the subway hall to Exit 2 and take the escalator up to the road. There should be a coach there. They depart every half hour. It’s a direct service. The coach drops you off at the North Parking Lot entrance. To get back to the metro, go back to the parking lot and look for the bus with no. 4 (= Subway line 4) displayed on the window and ask. It’ll be parked with many other tourist buses. Departures are every 30 minutes on the hour and at half-past. As for the visit in Tongli, just follow the map. I didn’t have lunch there but there are several western coffee places and a western restaurant was indicated on the map. Otherwise join the locals."

Hola mig T! No, en absoluto, nosotros nos encontramos saliendo de un restaurán después de cenar un domingo a eso de las 11 de la noche (cuando las hordas de turistas son ya un recuerdo lejano) y pasaban varios taxis por una de las calles principales. El único problema es que el taxista no nos acompañó hasta la entrada del hotel y nos tocó correr bajo una lluvia incesante. Cabe destacar que Tongli es una meta muy turística y, como en todo el mundo, donde hay negocio, hay taxis. ¡Buena estancia!

Hi, it depends how much you want to see in Suzhou, that will decide how long you would stay. I would stay a night or 2 as visiting the water town would take up about 5-6 hours and some of the tourist places will close by evening. I would visit Hengshan, Tiger hill and ibrowse the night market around Pinjiang. Throw in a boat ride along the grand canal if you like to see the place from a different perspective. Just a note, the D and G trains are pretty similar with a difference of about 10mins in total traveling time from Shanghai to Suzhou and vice versa but the D trains cost half the price of G trains if you're riding in first class cabin. Timing wise, you have more options with G trains. I would recommend arriving at Suzhou station rather than Suzhou North station. Hope this helps. Cheers...

Take line 4 all the way to Tongli, exit 2, and you can pay to get a bus into the ancient town. The 90 RMB bus fare covers the town's entry fee (normally 100 RMB, I believe) and gets you into several of the museums in the town.

De Shangai a Sozhou son aproximadamente como 40 minutes en tren rápido. De ahí, un amigo nos llevó en su coche a Tongli, pero en la estación de tren de Sozhou hay personas que venden tours para diferentes partes de la ciudad. También puedes tomar un taxi o rentar un carro para que recorras la ciudad a tu gusto.

You could be there by metro now. I am a local citizen. The metro is took into use in 2 months.

I was able to tale the bus to Tongli (I stayed at the Crowne Plaza - taxi to north station). Once at station took a bus to Tongli. The only bad was returning bus left at 3 - at least then (last August). Still about 5 hrs at Tongli. Was the highlight of my trip last year.