Getting from Nanjing Lukou International Airport to the city

The line, and the price

• Line S1 is Nanjing's airport line, and Lukou Airport has a station on it.
• The fare from the airport to Nanjing South Railway Station is 7 yuan, and to Xinjiekou, the central square, 8 yuan. Those are the operator's own published fares.
• Nanjing South is the hub. It is the high speed rail station for the whole region and the interchange onto the rest of the metro.

The stop order, and the catch

• The airport is not the end of the line. Line S1 runs one stop beyond it, to Konggang New City Jiangning.
• Going into the city, the order from the airport is Xiangyu Road South, Xiangyu Road North, Zhengfang Middle Road, Jiyin Avenue, Hohai University Focheng West Road, Cuipingshan, Nanjing South Railway Station.
• So check the direction on the platform, because a train arriving at the airport may be about to continue outward rather than turn back.

What that buys you

• From Nanjing South you can be in Shanghai in about an hour on a high speed train, which makes Lukou a real alternative to the Shanghai airports for anyone whose plans are flexible.
• Eight yuan to the centre puts this among the cheapest airport rail rides of any major airport anywhere.
• Buy at the machine or by QR code in the app. Cash is accepted at the ticket machines but the queues are for the machines, not the counters.

The city you have landed in

• Nanjing was the capital of China more than once, and the city wall, the Ming tomb and the Presidential Palace are all in the same compact centre near Xinjiekou.
• Lukou is well south of the city, which is why the airport line is long and why the fare is still only 8 yuan.
• Summers are among the hottest in China. Nanjing is one of the "furnace" cities and July arrivals should expect it.