Constructing one-dimensional (1D) hierarchical photocatalysts is deemed to be central to promoting photocatalytic capacity. In this paper, 1D hierarchical structures composed of CdS nanosheets/nanoparticles on Ag nanowires (denoted as 1D Ag@CdS core-shell hierarchical hetero-nanowires) have been fabricated via a wet-chemistry approach at low temperature. The optimization of the synthetic parameters indicates that the amounts of Cd(NO3)2·4H2O and thiourea play important roles in the construction of the 1D hierarchical structures. The as-prepared 1D hierarchical Ag@CdS core-shell hetero-nanowires exhibit efficient photocatalytic performance in both methyl orange (MO) degradation (degrade 96% of MO within 240 min) and hydrogen generation (73.5 μmol h-1) from water splitting due to the unique hybrid nano-architecture. It is expected that this Ag@CdS hierarchical nanostructure could have potential in solar energy conversion and this fabrication technique could be used as a reference to design other 1D metal@semiconductor core-shell heteronanowires.