Give Hangzhou one or two days
Photo: Circa24 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0.
For a first visit, one or two days can give a strong first look at Hangzhou. One day works better when West Lake is the plan, not the container for ten smaller ones. Two days lets the lake move at a slower pace and still leave room for Lingyin Temple, or for one other deliberate choice. That is a useful first experience. It is not a tour of the whole city.
The famous names around the lake look small on a search page. They are not small in a day. Give the lake the main block of time, then add only what you have a reason for. If you leave Hangzhou having walked one stretch of water and hills properly, that is already a first visit that holds together.
Treat West Lake as one landscape
West Lake is not one viewpoint surrounded by unrelated attractions. The lake, causeways, islands, gardens, pagodas, temples and surrounding hills form a connected cultural landscape. UNESCO inscribed the West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou in 2011 with that relationship in mind: water and hills on three sides, with the city on the fourth.
Broken Bridge, Bai Causeway, Su Causeway, Leifeng Pagoda and the other famous names are useful orientation points inside that landscape. They do not all need to be visited on one first day. The lake is large enough that walking around it is not a short stroll and should not be the default. Choose a stretch of the landscape. Stay with it long enough to see how the water, path and hills work together.
Choose one part of the lake and stay with it
The practical decision is which part of the lake to give your hours. On the north and northeast, Broken Bridge and Bai Causeway sit on the city-facing shore, with Beishan Road nearby. On the west and southwest, Su Causeway runs along a wooded, hill-facing stretch toward Flower Harbor. On the south shore, Leifeng Pagoda marks a different view of the water.
Pick the stretch that matches what you want to experience, then stay with it. Crossing the lake for one famous name can cost more of the day than remaining with the landscape already in front of you. You do not need a north shore, a west causeway and a south pagoda on the same first day. A boat can change the shape of the day if you want time on the water, but treat that as an optional choice for that day, not as a required second circuit. Check whether boats are running when you go.
Give Lingyin its own block of time
Lingyin Temple sits west of the lake in the hills. It is not another lakeside stop. Going there changes the shape of the day, and West Lake and Lingyin fit the same trip without needing to share the same half-day.
Lingyin Temple is reached through the Lingyin–Feilai Peak scenic area, so check the current official entry arrangements before you go. If Lingyin is a reason you came, give it a substantial block of time. Do not attach it to a full circuit of named lake sights.
Do not add another Hangzhou just because you have time
Hefang Street, the tea hills around Longjing, museums, the Grand Canal and Xixi Wetland are all legitimate Hangzhou experiences. A first visit does not become better merely by stacking them after West Lake and Lingyin.
Hefang Street is a visitor-facing commercial historic street near the city side of the lake. It can fill an evening if you want that kind of street. It is not preserved untouched old Hangzhou, and it does not need to become a second main destination. Longjing, the Canal and Xixi each open another part of the city and deserve their own time. If one of these is a reason you came to Hangzhou, make room for it. Otherwise, leave the first visit centered on West Lake and the one additional experience you deliberately chose.