Though it's a massive place, the part of Tianjin of interest to visitors, the dense network of ex-concession streets south and west of the central train station, south of the Hai River, is fairly compact.

Tianjin's large international airport , 15km east of the city, is served by regular shuttle buses, terminating outside the CAAC office on Heping Lu. A taxi should cost around ¥30. If you arrive by ferry , you'll find yourself in the port of Tanggu, a dull and very expensive appendage of the city. Buses that take you the 50km into the city centre congregate around the passenger ferry terminal. The train is quicker, taking just under an hour, but Tanggu South station is inconveniently situated about 2km west of the ferry terminal.

The city's huge, new main train station is well run and well organized, and conveniently located just north of the Hai River; the town centre is a few kilometres south (take bus #24). There are two other stations in town, North, which you are likely to arrive at if you have come from northeast China, and West which is on the main line between Beijing and destinations farther south. Trains terminating in Tianjin may call at one of the other stations before reaching the main station. The most stylish way to arrive is on the orange double-decker express trains which leave Beijing every hour, starting at 7am, and take just seventy minutes (40min quicker than regular trains). Public buses from Beijing also arrive at the main train station, as do most of the private ones - though the bus trip is comparatively long at nearly three hours. Arriving from the port at Tanggu, you'll be dropped at the South bus station near Shuishang Park.

Getting around the central grid-patterned streets is made difficult by the absence of many signs in pinyin, but there are plenty of distinctive landmarks. Downtown and the old concession areas are just small enough to explore on foot, fortunately, as the bus network is both complicated and overcrowded. Bus maps are widely available around the train stations. Some useful routes are #24, which runs from the West station, into town, then doubles back on itself and terminates at the main station; #1, which runs from the North station into town, terminating at Zhongxin Park, the northern tip of the downtown area; and #50, which meanders into town from the main train station and takes you close to the Catholic Church. Bus fares around the centre are ¥0.5.

An alternative to the fiendish bus system is the L-shaped subway line (¥2 per journey), which runs from Nanjing Lu to the West train station, although it's a little far from the sights to be of much use. Yellow miandi taxis are plentiful (¥10 minimum, which will be sufficient for most journeys around town), and bicycles are readily available for rent.