All trains running between Shanghai and Nanjing stop at Wuxi train station , which is outside the canal ring to the northeast. Bus #11 goes right across town from here. When purchasing onward tickets from the station, foreigners should queue up at window no. 2, where service will be a little quicker. On the northwest side of the station square are a couple of useful facilities. Outside the station, a number of travel agencies including CITS and the Shenwutie Travel Service, in a kiosk, provide information in English and arrange all-day bus tours to Tai Hu (¥20) and Dafo (the Buddha; ¥22), as well as excellent-value tours of the caves in Yixing County for ¥30. Across the train station square and the canal, next to the Number Two Department Store (Dierbai Shangdian), sits a bike rental shop (daily 6.30am-6.45pm; bikes ¥10 per day).

The main long-distance bus station is a couple of minutes' walk to the west of the train station, and is served by buses from most nearby cities including Shanghai, Suzhou and Nanjing and a number of remoter destinations such as Yangzhou and Wenzhou. Diametrically on the other side of the city from here, across the Liangxi Bridge over the Grand Canal, is a smaller bus station from where there are frequent connections with Yixing. Bus #20 and frequent minibuses cross the city from here on their way to the train station.

You may even arrive by boat at the ferry dock on the Grand Canal, a few hundred metres south of the Liangxi Bridge (bus #1 goes through town from here to the train station, via Jiefang Xi Lu). There's a daily service to and from Hangzhou; boats take approximately thirteen hours, departing early evening and arriving early morning at both ends. For a bed in a four-bed berth, there is a special foreigners' rate of ¥280. Wuxi's new airport , to the northwest of town, as yet only has a twice-weekly service to Beijing, though in the future this is set to expand. For now, air travel out of Nanjing or Shanghai is far more convenient.

The city's most famous culinary contribution to Chinese cuisine is Wuxi spare ribs, cooked in a pungent soy sauce base, which you should be able to find at most restaurants . There are a few reasonable places on Zhongshan Lu, just south of Renmin Lu; among them, the Wuxi Roast Duck Restaurant has an English menu. For snacks, try the Wangxingji Wonton Restaurant, in the centre of town at the corner of Zhongshan Lu and Xueqian Jie, famous in these parts for its "three-fresh" wonton soup (made with pigs' legs, shrimps and eggs) as well as steamed buns stuffed with crab. Close to the train station - across the bridge and a couple of blocks south on the left - is the interesting Zhongguo Restaurant, which serves Jiangsu food, including a tasty cold dish of crispy eel and a turnip pancake. For dessert, try the Huang Ting Delicious Food City in Chongan Temple downtown, with more than 120 years of history, scrumptious plum cake and Yulan pastry.