Bus stations
Chengdu’s coach stations are the jumping-off points for western Sichuan: the Giant Buddha in two hours, Jiuzhaigou in ten, Kangding in six — the mountains start where the metro ends.
Xinnanmen Bus Station (metro line 3, central Chengdu) doubles as the city’s Tourism Bus Center: Leshan every 20 minutes (¥45, 2 hours) with a direct service to the Giant Buddha itself, Mount Emei every 20 minutes (¥48), Sanxingdui twice daily (¥15), Huanglongxi old town for ¥8 — and the long mountain runs: Jiuzhaigou at dawn (¥220, 10 hours), Kangding (¥130, 6 hours), Daocheng Yading (¥280, 15 hours).
Chadianzi Bus Terminal (metro line 2, west third ring) is the plateau specialist: Songpan, Four Maidens Mountain, Xiling Snow Mountain and the Tibetan areas of west and north Sichuan. The East Railway Station coach bay, Shiyangchang for the south, and Tianfu Airport’s own 14-line coach station complete the ring.
Buy tickets at the window with your passport, or through Trip.com/12306-linked apps for the major lines; mountain routes sell out on summer weekends and Golden Week. Departures bunch at dawn — the Jiuzhaigou bus leaves between 7:00 and 8:40 and there is no afternoon option. For the short hops (Leshan, Emei, Dujiangyan) the intercity trains now compete, but for anything past Kangding the bus is the only road in.
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For Leshan and Emei, take the Xinnanmen bus and forget the train station transfers — the Buddha service drops you at the site, not in town. For Jiuzhaigou, fly if you can and bus if you must: ten hours is honest but long, and the dawn departure means a 5:30 hotel wake-up. Book mountain tickets a day ahead in summer, sit on the left for the Min River gorge, and keep motion-sickness pills for the switchbacks past Wenchuan.
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