Beijing capital airport pick up or from a hotel in Beijing. Your guide will hold your name paper and pick you up from the selected time.
About 1 hour drive to the city center to visit Tiananmen Square which is the largest public square in the world. Standing in the middle of the square with taking a 360 panoramic photo to have all the major buildings into your great photo. This is the best certificate for this trip. You will walk around and visit the Tiananmen Square for 30-40 mins. Important: All visitors must pass through security screening before entering Tiananmen Square. Waiting times in queue are usually 30–40 minutes on regular days, but can exceed 1–2 hours during public holidays and peak seasons. Please allow extra time for your visit.
Followed by a visit at the Forbidden City, it used to be the residence for the Emperors (24 emperors in total) in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. It occupies 72 hectares (180 acres) and takes about 1.5 hours to see the major palaces. You will walk with your guide and visit all the must see places in the huge Forbidden City.
The Meridian Gate is the grand southern entrance to the Forbidden City. Built in 1420, it was once reserved for the emperor and served as the main ceremonial gateway to China's imperial palace.
The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the largest and most magnificent building in the Forbidden City. It was the venue for major imperial ceremonies, including coronations, weddings, and celebrations of the emperor's birthday.
The Hall of Central Harmony is a smaller hall where emperors rested and prepared before important ceremonies. It symbolizes balance, harmony, and thoughtful leadership.
The Hall of Preserving Harmony was used for imperial banquets and later became the venue for the highest-level imperial examinations, where scholars competed for top honors in ancient China.
The Palace of Heavenly Purity was the emperor's residence during the early Ming Dynasty and later became the place where emperors handled daily state affairs and received important officials.
The Hall of Union stands between the emperor's and empress's palaces, symbolizing harmony between heaven and earth, as well as the balance of imperial power. It also housed the imperial seals of the Qing Dynasty.
The Palace of Earthly Tranquility was originally the empress's residence. During the Qing Dynasty, it became a sacred place for imperial wedding ceremonies and important religious rituals.
The Imperial Garden is the peaceful retreat at the northern end of the Forbidden City. Filled with ancient cypress trees, elegant pavilions, rockeries, and colorful flowers, it provided a relaxing escape for the emperor and the imperial family after official duties.
After that, about 1.5 hours drive to Mutianyu Great Wall and you will visit the most popular & prettiest Great Wall section in Beijing. Your lovely tour guide will provide some history background of Beijing & Great Wall to make the ride to Great Wall not boring. Upon arrival, you only enjoy the time for visiting and taking photos as tour guide will manage time & sightseeing for you. You will visit Great Wall for 1.5-2 hours. Cable car & toboggan is an option (pay extra). Later on, you will be transferred back to your hotel/ PEK airport. Tips: We can stop at a good local Chinese restaurant on the way to the Great Wall for an authentic meal. (Optional if any need)
Jessica was amazing with everything during the day. We really got to see the most of everything we went to and had a great time. Would definitely recommend to anyone passing by Beijing!
Shane was an amazing tour guide and we had a great time visiting a the sites. Communication with the agency was also great. Would definitely recommend
Definitely was a great experience for a layover tour in Beijing. Tony was a great guide and photographer . I learned about Chinese history and culture. We went to the Great Wall and Summer Palace. 100% recommended.
The van was very comfortable and clean. Tony /tourguide was the best! Speaks English very well & told us alot of history.
Fantastic experience! I would recommend this trip to anyone who wants a tour of Beijing with a friendly and knowledgeable guide.
We had an absolutely amazing time during our layover tour in Beijing! Our guide Shane took us to the Great Wall, Jingshan Park and Tiananmen Square and provided us with lots of interesting information about everything‘s history, current situation etc. We had a really fun day and can highly recommend booking this tour!!
I am amazed! Shane was so friendly and supportive! Waited for me directly where I got out of customs and had everything already ready for both of our destinations. He was so informative and could answer all my questions. I highly recommend if you have enough time use it in Beijing with Shane!
This was an amazing tour !!! Sherry was our tour guide and she was very helpful and took all our pictures and provided us with very interesting information and history. We were picked up from the airport and taken to the Great Wall on a private van and then we headed to the forbidden city. Once we were done with our tour we were dropped off at the airport right on time for our flight. I definitely recommend this tour to anyone that is visiting for the first time.
We had an amazing time visiting Beijing with Sherry. She picked us up promptly at the airport, helped with our luggage into the private car and we began our journey. Everything went off perfectly, with a great visit to the wall, the square and the Forbidden City. She was a wealth of information, giving us a great history and culture lesson! We had 12 hours between flights. With 2 hours to wait in line for our visa and then bag collection, plus getting back to airport 3 hours early, this was plenty of time!!! Highly recommend this tour. Coats were provided (we had our own but the 32F weather was a shock to our skin after being in a warmer climate for 2 weeks) so we used those, too!
My bestie and I made a pit stop in Beijing while headed to Phuket, Thailand for my birthday celebration. We arranged the tour via email/text the night before. Everything was amazingly easy breezy...we received explicit directions on how to apply for the temporary visa and where to meet our tour guide. When we got out of the airport our tour guide Lily, spoke excellent English and met us at the agreed upon spot. Let the fun begin! On our way to The Great Wall of China, Lily gave us information about the area and a historical perspective of Beijing and the Great Wall. She knew her stuff! After experiencing the beauties of one of the 7 Wonders of the World we visited a Tea House where we tasted and learned about all of the benefits of various chinese teas. We then had an authentic Chinese lunch and headed to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, where Lily gave us the history of the imperial palace, the emperors and various dynasties! Wow! She was a wealth of information. We made it back to the airport in plenty of time for our next flight. What a world wind of a day! Two tips: if you’re traveling to Beijing in December, PLEASE DRESS WARM!!! It was pretty cold (24 degrees/ -4 Celsius). Tip 2: Take the cable car and toboggan at the Great Wall! It’s definitely an experience. Thank you Lily for making my birthday one for the record books!
I would highly recommend booking this trip, as a solo female traveller (age 40+) I was apprehensive of touring Beijing alone on my layover. So pleased I booked as was met at airport arrivals, whisked away in a car to The Wall, I determined how far I wanted to walk. My guide Jessica was very informative and would offer regular comfort breaks/water throughout the day. The Forbidden City was amazing too. I wanted to experience authentic Chinese food so was taken to a local eatery that had been making steamed buns for over 100 years! I was taken back to the airport in plenty of time for my onward flight. This trip was hassle free, safe, informative and I got some fantastic photos and memories- thanks again to Jessica
I had a fantastic day with my tour guide, Jessica. As a solo female, I couldn't have imagined a better companion for the day. She took great photos for me and was also flexible with what I was interested in seeing - including introducing me to some delicious food. Pick up at airport was easy, the car was nice, everything went smoothly. Having a tour guide with such deep knowledge was helpful as she was able to suggest things I wouldn't have done on my own. In fact, she suggested we do the steep/harder part of the Wall and I'm so glad we did! Worth every penny and would do the day again in a heartbeat. Thank you!! PS - I'm glad I dressed warmly for December!
Five star tour! Guide was perfect. Friendly, knowledgeable, and professional. Loved my day!! My guide made the trip worthwhile! Friends are jealous😁
Jessica was the best tour guide. We were given bad direction in the airport and ended up being over an hour late. She waited on us and gave us the best experience! She was so knowledgeable on everything and funny! Would recommend this to anyone with a short time in Beijing.
This was only my second layover tour anywhere in the world, and I was a little skeptical about the plan to get a short stay visa upon arrival, leave the airport, find a tour group, and then spend the day touring. But boy am I glad I did. It’s very easy to get the 24-144 hour visa. You just need a long layover and an onward journey confirmation. I think I read somewhere that the minimum number of hours is six, but you can also check the Chinese consulate website for full details. Upon exiting the baggage claim, I met my tour guide Robert, who speaks amazing English. We had a great conversation from the start; he also was understanding when jet lag took hold, and I stopped being so talkative. Since I had a total of 17 hours available, I was able to do both the Forbidden City / Tianenman Square and Great Wall tours. Robert drove us first to the Forbidden City, then spent the next several hours explaining in just enough detail the significance of what we were seeing. All I can say: wow. After that visit we went on to the Great Wall, where I had the chance to see one of the world’s most amazing engineering marvels in person. Just a tip: the walkways and stairs are steep! In total my Fitbit said I’d walked 72 floors by the time we finished everything. All in all, I can’t remember better money spent, and I definitely couldn’t recommend anyone other than Robert for the tour. He was simply great. Hope you get the chance to enjoy as well. You won’t regret it.
My well-traveled family of four (two daughters, ages 9 and 10) had a wonderful day with Jessica. She was extremely knowledgeable, had a great attitude, took great pictures of us (which we often forget to do), she knew when to guide us, she knew when to give us space to enjoy the sights as a family—it was truly a perfect way to spend a layover in Beijing. We especially liked that she ‘knew the drill’, and was able to get us past lines and through the crowds. The sights were obviously amazing, but I have to say that having a female guide was a bonus for us. Just a really great presence to have at our side in a new country-she was funny and nice and smart 😊. I hadn’t expected it, but for our day we had a driver and a guide, which meant that we had door-to-door service, and didn’t have to worry about parking or anything like that, we were simply dropped off and we were on our way, and the two of them coordinated pickup in the same way. We’re active, and so we also liked that she was a fast walker, and kept us moving! The whole point was to see and learn as much as we could, and I have been telling everyone that it was well worth our money to book this. It was easy to arrange the trip, we were given good directions on how and where we would meet up with our guide, and even when our flight was delayed by an hour we were able to land and quickly confirm that we were still ‘on’ for the day. I could go on and on. I don’t even remember how we found this company, but I can’t imagine a better way to have spent a day in Beijing.
On our way back from Thailand my girlfriend and I had a long layover in beijin so we booked this tour. I am so happy we did, the guide was excellent. The tour helped with the visa process, our tour guide spoke great english, and took many photos for us on the trip. I highly recommend this tour!!!
This tour took all the headache out of navigating our way to these two amazing places. We were picked up directly from our hotel by our driver Hang and taken directly to the wall with a history of the wall given by our awsome tour guide, Dana. We spent a couple of hours exploring the Great Wall, grabbed some lunch and then drove to the Forbidden City. If we had had more time I would have loved to see the museum associated with the forbidden city but time was too tight. Hang our driver and Dana our tour guide were great! Thank you for making our Layover such a great experience!!
I intentionally got a 12hr Beijing layover from California to Manila to do the tour with my kids ages 12,14&19. It’s our second time doing the tour with this company as we had awesome experiences with them. Tony arranges and sends directions for the tour and very responsive to every concern or questions I may have. We were late for our pick up due to the long and slow cue at the 24hr visa application line. Jessica, our tour guide, was waiting for us made sure we got everything we needed before leaving the airport for the tour. Since there was 4 of us, they got us a nice van, clean and even has water bottles for us. They even brought extra winter jackets for us to borrow just Incase we didn’t bring enough. We went to Great Wall first, we didn’t even have to get in line for the cable car tickets. Jessica took care of everything. The cable care ride was exciting. Jessica was very knowledgeable of China’s history so my kids were nonstop asking questions. Kids got their Instagram pictures and we then head back Down to the car. Mind you, it was 16F🥶. We got some sandwiches from subway first before heading to our car. So thankful that we were able to get food as there are no nearby restaurants or fast food at forbidden city. It was almost a 90min drive from the Great Wall we ate our sandwiches in the car. At the forbidden city there was a long cue to get in but Jessica just whisked us away and into the entrance like VIP 😂. Now that’s worth my $$. It would’ve cost us an hour just to go through those lines. For the forbidden city, make sure you have great walking shoes...I forgot how big it is but easy 4-5miles walk. That place was amazing! All the history! Kids had a blast and appreciate that opportunity to visit such awesome culture. Our van was waiting for us after the tour and took us back to the airport. So if you’re planning to do a layover tour, do it with this company. I guarantee, it’s the best and safest way to spend the most of your layover. (Also, check the weather first. I made sure kids have their hand warmers, thermals, winter jackets for the 16F/0C weather).
I highly recommend this tour. I was hesitant at the beginning cause you have to pay with PayPal in advance half of the tour. It all worked smoothly. I travel very often all over the world but the airport of Beijing is quite tricky. The information provided helped greatly for the one day visa. If you have a limited time it is good to have the tour cause you skip the lines (they have a special pass). I also had a problem with my credit card the ATM retained it just on my arrival. Alice my guide contacted the bank and arrange everything to get it back. Alice was great, her English was perfect and she is overall an excellent guide. Ask for her when you go! She is great in taking pictures too.
The communication with Tony about planning the tour was spot on. Moreover, he provided me with a detailed description of how to get the 24-hour visa, where to find the driver, etc. My guide was Sherry a Chinese mother, who is fluent in English and knows a lot about the Forbidden City and the Great Wall.The driver drove carefully, but swiftly. As a solo backpacker, the tour turned out to be a little bit expensive in my opinion. Nevertheless, the experience is definitely worth every single dollar. Highly recommend booking this tour when you have a transfer in Beijing.
We had a 17 hour layover in Beijing on our way home, so we were hoping get out of the airport and do some exploring. That's when I came across this tour, and contacted Tony through Whatsapp. Tony was very responsive, and once I paid the deposit I got a very well detailed email explaining exactly how to get the Visa, steps to follow, and even pictures of the Visa booth, and also scans of the documents I'd need to fill out. This made our experience so much easier when we got out of the plane (disoriented after an overnight flight). We were picked up by Lily, our tour guide, right after baggage claim, and we soon left on our tour. Lily was amazing, spoke very good english, and was a great communicator. We were on a strict schedule, and were able to see everything we wanted to. Having a good tour guide makes you appreciate the attractions so much more, and Lily definitely made us understand the history, and was able to answer all our questions. We loved the whole tour, so kudos to Lily and Tony on putting together a great tour!
Completely met my expectations. The tour guide was very friendly, helpful and told us a lot about the history of the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. We were brought back to the airport on time.
What I was looking for with a 12 hour stopover in Beijing. I contacted Tony from Italy and we arranged for him to pick us up with the van at the airport to take us to the wall (about 1h30 away). Tony went up with us and explained some things about the history of the wall and gave us some free moments to take some great photos. After the wall he took us on a quick tour of central Beijing, stopping first at the Olympic stadium and then at Tiananmen Square. The van was comfortable and spacious, he gave us free water and on the way he told us something about Beijing and taught us some Chinese terms. At the end of the tour he took us to the airport on time. Experience recommended for a "short" stopover of 10/15 hours.
Great tour. Friendly and helpful guide. The great wall with snow is an absolute must-visit.
Beautiful hike and unforgettable day... How to make the most of a Linda stopover in Beijing. Princess Jessica, our guide, excellent ;)))
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