One map of
the bits you use.

A transport map is only useful if it is the size of your actual problem. The full English network map covers all thirteen lines and belongs on a different page for a different question. This one answers a narrower one: where are the four ways into the city, where are the things I came to see, and which line joins them.

How to read it

• Numbered circles are the thirteen places worth navigating to. The key at the foot of the map repeats them, so a saved copy is self-explanatory.
• Small outlined dots are ordinary stations on the eight lines drawn here — useful for counting stops, not worth naming.
• Coloured pills (L2, L4 and so on) name the line. Chinese signage uses 2号线, 4号线 — the number is what matters, not the word after it.
• The blue bands are the Yangtze and the Han River, drawn decoratively. They are there to tell you which bank you are on, not to be measured.

The four ways in

Stop counts are counted off the operator's station sequence, not estimated. Wuchang and Wuhan stations each have several exit squares that count as one station for ticketing — see which station.

Paying, and the one ticket worth knowing

Fares are distance-based and start at $0.30¥2 — Official / verified figure.. If you are going to make more than about four rides in a day, the day pass is the simpler decision: $2.69¥18 — Official / verified figure. for one day, $6.73¥45 — Official / verified figure. for three, $13.46¥90 — Official / verified figure. for seven. All three are the operator's published prices and all three are sold at station machines. Full detail on cards, QR codes and foreign bank cards is on pay and connect.

What this map leaves out, and why

Five lines are not drawn: Line 1 (the elevated light rail through north Hankou), Line 3, Line 12 (the loop), Line 16 and the Yangluo line. None of them serves any of the thirteen places above, and drawing them would double the ink for no decision it helps you make. If you are staying somewhere unusual, or heading to a suburb, you need the full network map instead — and for anything time-critical, the operator's own map at wuhanrt.com, which is Chinese-only.

Honest catches

• Not to scale. The centre is stretched and the edges compressed, which is the point of a schematic — do not use it to estimate walking distances.
• The airport is genuinely far. Sixteen stops is not a rounding error; if you land late, check the last train before committing to the metro (alternatives).
• Two stations are not one place. Wuhan Station, Wuchang Station and Hankou Station all have multiple squares; the metro treats them as one station for fares but you can surface a ten-minute walk from your exit.
• Line 12 is a loop. It is not on this map, and if you end up on it you will be going around the outside of the city rather than across it.
• Signage is Chinese-first. Station names appear in pinyin, which helps; announcements and exit signs often do not. Have your destination written in characters (phrase cards).