Atlas of China
Kunming to Chongqing 昆明 – 重庆
Door to door, the high-speed train comes out ahead: about 5 hours against about 4 hours by flight, counting about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time for a flight. Fares run ¥394 against about ¥410. The stations are in or near the city centres, which is what tips it.
| Way | Time | Door to door | Fare | A day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High-speed trainKunming South 昆明南 → Chongqing West 重庆西 | 4 h 39 minG3472, fastest | 5 hours | ¥394standard class | 1707:34–20:06 |
| FlightKunming Changshui (KMG) → Chongqing Jiangbei (CKG) | 1 h 35 minin the air | 4 hours | about ¥410varies by day | 806:30–22:05 |
By train
17 direct high-speed trains a day run from Kunming South to Chongqing West, between 07:34 and 20:06. The fastest, G3472, takes 4 h 39 min, and a standard-class seat is ¥394. Coming back, 17 trains a day, the fastest 4 h 51 min (G2881, 06:41 to 18:13).
Chongqing: Chongqing North is the busiest station; many trains to Guizhou, Yunnan and Yibin use Chongqing West, and Chongqing East opened in 2025.
By air
8 nonstop flights a day from Kunming Changshui (KMG) to Chongqing Jiangbei (CKG), 1 h 35 min in the air, 06:30 to 22:05, with China Eastern Airlines, Lucky Air and Sichuan Airlines. 8 fly back. Door to door, with the airports at each end, count about 4 hours; fares vary by day and are typically about ¥410.
Stops on the way
Cities between the two with direct trains from Kunming and on to Chongqing, so the trip can be broken there.
- Luzhou 泸州 500 km from Kunming · 5 h 32 min there, 30 min on
At the other end
Featured places around Chongqing.
-
Hongyadong & Chongqing Night Views 洪崖洞
A cliffside stack of stilt houses glowing gold over the river every night
Around Kunming: Chengjiang Fossil Site & Fuxian Lake, Green Lake Park, Western Hills & Dragon Gate.
On the map
Open either city on the illustrated map, or put both in a trip and let the planner lay out the days and the legs between them, with the same tables these numbers come from.
Book
About Kunming · About Chongqing · Where Kunming reaches in a day · Where Chongqing reaches in a day · All routes
Trains are every direct train on 2026-10-28 or 2026-11-11 in the 12306 timetable, with standard-class fares; one weekday, so weekend and holiday services differ, and the fastest train may not run every day. Flights are the airlines' schedules for 2026-10-28, plus routes Wikipedia lists for small airports. Drives are routed on OpenStreetMap roads (extract of 2026-10-21) where the pair was routed, else estimated from the distance. Door-to-door times add about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time to a flight. How to book is in the guide to trains and 12306; the rail times are open data on the data page.