This is an article about Getting From Kunming to Dali

kunming train station
Inside Kunming train station

There are several ways to get to Dali from Kunming, depending on your budget allocation:

By Train

Probably the most popular option, there are seven trains available to Dali daily. The fastest train takes only five hours and the longest one takes up to eight and a half hours. Total distance is 358km. The official train schedule from Kunming to Dali is as follow:


Train No.
Departs
Arrives
Duration
Seat
Hard Sleeper
Soft Sleeper
K9612/K9613
09:43
16:03
6h20m
64¥
97.5/102.5/106.5¥
147/155.5¥
K9682/K9683
12:10
17:16
5h6m
-
96.5/102.5/106.5¥
147/155.5¥
K9686/K9687
21:21
05:04
7h43m
-
96.5/102.5/106.5¥
147/155.5¥
K9617/K9616
21:48
05:47
7h59m
64¥
97.5/102.5/106.5¥
147/155.5¥
K9602/K9603
22:06
06:08
8h2m
64¥
97.5/102.5/106.5¥
147/155.5¥
K9632/K9633
22:29
07:02
8h33m
64¥
97.5/102.5/106.5¥
147/155.5¥
K9690/K9692/K9693
23:08
07:22
8h14m
33¥
67/70/72¥
102/106¥


By Air

The journey by air takes only 45 minutes and many airlines offer this route, including China Eastern, Lucky Air, and China Southern. Price ranges from 180 to 400 Yuan. Unfortunately, most of these websites are only in Mandarin (no option for other languages) and only accept China UnionPay cards. It's best to get someone from your hotel to buy it for you with their cards and you can conveniently pay them back in cash. Buying tickets through an agent may cost you an extra 10 to 50 Yuan service charge.


By Bus

Going by bus can sometimes the cheapest option. However, keep in mind that most stations in China (be it train or bus) are divided into North, South, East, and West. It could be frustrating at first, but you'll be an expert in identifying them in no time. In order to get to Dali, passengers need to get to the West Bus Station in Kunming (西部客运站). There are buses leaving every half an hour and ticket fares are at 111¥ to 138¥. Journey takes about 5 hours.

Happy traveling!