Hospitable Shandong welcomes you! Beautiful Qingdao invites you to enjoy beer

🌊 Who says you have to go to Sanya to see the sea?
"Qingdao 3 Days 2 Nights Budget Travel Guide | Spend 1186 RMB per person to enjoy the seaside, beer, and the red-tiled old town! Perfect for students"
In Qingdao, you can drink draft beer for 5 RMB, buy freshly caught seafood for 10 RMB,
and with less than 1200 RMB, you can have a summer-exclusive experience of:
mountain and sea romance + German-style old town + seafood freedom + unlimited beer drinking!

Time: Leave after work on Friday → Return Sunday (3 days 2 nights, no leave needed)
💰 Total budget: 1186 RMB/person (including transportation + accommodation + food & drink + tickets)
Route: Zhanqiao Pier → Xiaoyushan Park → Badaguan Scenic Area → May Fourth Square → Qingdao Beer Museum → Shilaoren Beach
✅ Day 1: Stroll through the old town, a European dream among red tiles and green trees
Transportation:
- High-speed trains from Beijing/Shanghai/Jinan and other directions directly to Qingdao Station (prefer Qingdao Station, closer to attractions)
- Example: Beijing South → Qingdao Station, second class seat **386 RMB** (4.5 hours)
Accommodation:
- Stay at budget hotels near Zhanqiao Pier in Shinan District (such as Hanting, Home Inn)
- Price: 160 RMB/night × 2 nights = 320 RMB (walking distance to multiple attractions)
Activities:
- Get off and head straight to Zhanqiao Pier, watch seagulls circle, feed seagulls with a 10 RMB pack of small dried fish (super healing)
- Walk 10 minutes to Xiaoqingdao Park, ticket 15 RMB, take panoramic photos of the "Qinyu Floating Lantern" lighthouse
- Climb Xiaoyushan Park (ticket 5 RMB), 360° view of red tiles, green trees, blue sea and sky, postcard-level scenery for free!
Dinner:
- Must-visit: Yingkou Road Seafood Market: pick your own seafood, nearby small restaurants cook it for you (processing fee 10-15 RMB/dish)
- Recommended: Spicy stir-fried clams, steamed sea snails, oil-splashed squid, about 50 RMB per person to eat until you can barely walk

> ✅ Day 1 expenses: Transportation 386 + Accommodation 160 + Tickets 20 + Food 50 = 616 RMB

- ✅ Day 2: Artsy walk + beer freedom day
Morning:
- Stroll through Badaguan Scenic Area (free!), ten streets with ten styles of European architecture, under the plane trees feels like Paris
- Visit Huashilou (8 RMB), Princess Building (20 RMB, optional)
Lunch:
- Snack attack at Taidong Pedestrian Street:
Teppanyaki squid 15 RMB, Wang Sister’s BBQ (small skewers 0.5 RMB each!), bottled beer 2 RMB/500ml
About 40 RMB per person, very satisfying to eat while walking
Afternoon:
- Qingdao Beer Museum (Area A 50 RMB, includes 6 cups of draft beer + beer beans)
Key point: draft beer is freshly poured and drunk, sweet and slightly bitter, ten times better than the 30+ RMB a cup outside!
You can also get a beer bottle-shaped commemorative coin, post on social media and get flooded with questions about the address!
Evening:
- Taxi to Shilaoren Beach (about 25 RMB), (family and friends can look up the touching legend of Shilaoren), barefoot on the sand, watch the golden sunset
- Free! You can swim, take photos, daydream, maximum romance
Dinner:
- Have a meal at a seaside food stall:
Grilled mantis shrimp, steamed sea urchin egg, mackerel dumplings, about 60 RMB per person, the owner generously gives peanuts and edamame
✅ Day 2 expenses: Accommodation 160 + Tickets 70 + Transportation 25 + Food 100 = 355 RMB

✅ Day 3: Signal Hill + small happiness on the return trip
Morning:
- Climb Signal Hill Park (ticket 10 RMB), the rotating viewing platform overlooks the whole city of "red tiles and green trees,"
Take a god’s eye view photo of Qingdao, your social media will explode with likes!
- On the way, visit University Road’s popular photo walls, coffee shops for photos, a cup of coffee 25 RMB, atmosphere worth the price
Return trip:
- Buy bagged draft beer at Qingdao Station (10 RMB/bag, allowed on high-speed trains)
- Bring some dried seafood as souvenirs: dried shrimp, dried fish, 50 RMB total
✅ Day 3 expenses: Tickets 10 + Food 25 + Souvenirs 50 + Return transportation (already counted) = 85 RMB
✅ Total expense breakdown:
| Item | Cost |
|------|------|
| Round-trip high-speed train | 386×2 = 772 RMB (example from Beijing)
| 2 nights accommodation | 320 RMB
| Tickets | 50 RMB (can be saved more)
| Food & drink | 165 RMB
| Transportation + souvenirs | 75 RMB
| Total: 1186 RMB✅
Money-saving TIPS:
- Choose "Qingdao Station" on the high-speed train to avoid getting off at the wrong stop!
- Seafood markets are cheaper after 4 PM, fishermen sell off before closing
- The Beer Museum has a "last batch of draft beer" at 4 PM, don’t miss it!
- Student ID! Almost all attractions offer half price!
Qingdao’s beauty is not in expensive restaurants!
But in *the morning sea breeze, the evening beer foam, and the stranger who says "come try this." Spend less than 1200 RMB,
exchange for a dream of mountains and sea, a trip that heals both your stomach and soul.
Worth it? You’ll know when you go.