Beijing Private 2-Day Custom Tour with Hotel Pickup and Lunches

Your experience

Spend 2 days seeing Beijing your way. You pick 1 Great Wall section for Day 1 and your Beijing attractions for Day 2. Your guide handles transport, entry and lunch.

Getting started

Your English-speaking guide and driver pick you up from your Beijing hotel in a private van or minibus. You travel between every stop together, and you return to your hotel at the end of each day.

Day 1: Great Wall of your choice

Choose 1 of 4 Great Wall sections. Your guide drives you there, and your entrance fees and cable car are covered. After your walk, you have a local lunch with drinks.

• Juyongguan (55km): Walk onto the Wall 2 minutes from the parking lot, in the 18km Guangou valley. It suits you if you want less climbing, and it's much quieter than Badaling and Mutianyu.

• Badaling (80km): Visit the first Wall section opened to the public (1957) and the most visited. It was built in the Ming Dynasty to protect Juyongguan, the Ming Tombs and Beijing. It gets very crowded on holidays and in summer.

• Mutianyu (85km): Explore a section in Huairou district, restored in the early Ming Dynasty. Expect queues for the chairlift, toboggan and shuttle bus. Avoid Mondays and holidays, or start early.

• Huanghuacheng (85km): See a section of Wall built through a lake, with parts submerged underwater. Boats run April to October, and you usually share the Wall with only a handful of visitors. Rain can close it, so check the forecast.

Day 2: Beijing city sights of your choice

You stay in Beijing and visit the attractions you chose. Your guide sets the route and uses local insight to keep waiting to a minimum. You have a second local lunch with drinks during sightseeing.

Choose from:

• Tian'anmen Square: Walk across one of the world's largest city-centre squares, past the Great Hall of the People and Chairman Mao's Mausoleum.

• Forbidden City: Explore the imperial palace where Ming and Qing emperors lived for over 500 years.

• Lama Temple: Visit Beijing's largest lamasery, linked to two famous Qing emperors.

• Houhai Lake: Stroll the lakeside in one of the few original old parts of Beijing. It was once home to high-ranking officials and princes.

• Drum and Bell Towers: Climb the Drum Tower for a panoramic view over the hutong neighborhood.

• Jingshan Park: Climb up for a view over the Forbidden City and central Beijing.

• Ming City Wall Ruins Park: See the last remaining section of the Ming city wall, first built in 1419 and once encircling Beijing.

• Nanluoguxiang: Walk one of Beijing's oldest hutongs (over 740 years of history), now lined with shops and snack stalls.

• Temple of Heaven: Visit the site where Ming and Qing emperors performed their ritual ceremonies.

• Summer Palace: Explore China's largest and best-preserved imperial garden.

• Olympic Park: Walk around for exterior views of the Bird's Nest and Water Cube. You don't go inside.

• Panda House, Beijing Zoo: See around 10 pandas at the zoo's Panda House.

• Panjiayuan Antique Market: Browse antiques and oddities, also known as the Ghost Market. Weekends are the best time to find low-priced souvenirs.

• Hongqiao Pearl Market: Browse a busy market known for pearls and imitation branded goods.

Wrapping up

Your guide drops you back at your hotel at the end of Day 2.