Mutianyu · Huairou District · Beijing

Great Wall of China Tours from Beijing

Six ways out of Beijing to the same wall, and they are not the same day at all. A guided day trip with the ticket and lunch in the price, a bus seat for the cost of a sandwich, a private car with an English-speaking driver, a Forbidden City double bill and an unrestored ridge hike. What each costs, what is genuinely included, and the catch on every one.

Our Top Pick Compare All 6

Beijing Great Wall Tour Quick Facts

How long you are outLonger than people expect. Most of these are full days of 7 to 10 hours, because the wall is a 1.5 to 2 hour drive northeast of the city each way. Only the flexible group-or-private option starts as short as 2 hours
Where you startThe bus and guided day tours use fixed meeting points in central Beijing that vary by the option you book. The three private tours include hotel pick-up and drop-off instead
Price rangeFrom ~$8 for a seat on the bus with the entrance ticket, up to ~$273 for a private guided hike along the unrestored wall at Jiankou
Season and timingThe wall is open all year and these tours run daily. Spring and autumn are the settled window. One operator flags a detail nobody else does: on Mondays the Forbidden City and the National Museum close, so the wall is busier than usual

The Wall in 60 Seconds

Great Wall of China Tours from Beijing: Quick Answers Before You Book

Only got a minute? Here is everything that actually matters before you book a Great Wall day trip out of Beijing.

Great Wall Of China Tour Official Website

In short: the one we would book is the Mutianyu Great Wall Daily Tour with Ticket & Lunch at ~$18 per person. Nine hours, round-trip transport, an English-speaking guide, the admission ticket, the in-park shuttle and a local lunch all in the price, rated 5.0/5 from 5,113 travellers. That is the rare combination on this page: the deepest review base and the highest rating at the same time, on a ticket that costs less than lunch in most European capitals. If you want it cheaper still, the Mutianyu bus tour starts at ~$8 — but read what that ~$8 actually buys before you assume it is the same day.

Best all-rounder: Beijing: Mutianyu Great Wall Daily Tour with Ticket & Lunch — 9 hours, ~$18, rated 5.0/5 from 5,113 reviews, run by Happy Dragon Tours, with the entrance ticket and in-park shuttle included. Here is why we would book it.
If you want the cheapest seat on the wall: the Mutianyu Great Wall Bus Tour from ~$8 — the highest-volume listing here at 5,316 reviews, with three escalating options that add the Summer Palace and then a buffet. The headline price is the wall-only version.
If you want the cable car included: the group-or-private tour with options at ~$40 is the only listing on this page that puts the toboggan or chairlift down the wall inside the price rather than selling it to you at the gate.
If you would rather skip the group entirely: the private Mutianyu tour with an English-speaking driver at ~$95 — hotel pick-up, a private car and the entrance fee, with the driver waiting through lunch at no extra charge. Note the word driver, not guide.
If you have one day for the whole of Beijing: the Mutianyu and Forbidden City private tour at ~$120 pairs the two UNESCO sites in nine hours with both entrance fees, a private vehicle and a private guide included.
If you want the wall without the handrails: the Jiankou to Mutianyu hike at ~$273 crosses the unrestored wall in its original state before joining the restored section. It is the most distinctive day here and the thinnest evidence base — only 8 reviews so far.
The thing that catches everyone out: the cable car and toboggan at Mutianyu are almost never included. It is 140 RMB per person for one of them and 280 RMB if you want both ways, paid at the wall, and on most of these tours that is more than you paid for the tour itself. We have pulled the real cost of the day apart below.

The One We'd Book

Best Great Wall Tour from Beijing: The Mutianyu Day Trip

Of the six here, this is the one we would book first — the only tour on the page that combines 5,000-plus reviews, a 5.0 rating and a price under twenty dollars.

The restored Great Wall at Mutianyu climbing a forested ridge between stone watchtowers

Best Great Wall Tour Overall

Beijing: Mutianyu Great Wall Daily Tour with Ticket & Lunch

5.0 / 5 from 5,113 reviews · Happy Dragon Tours · free cancellation up to 24 hours before

This is the tour we would put in the calendar, and the reason is the arithmetic. Of every Great Wall day trip leaving Beijing, this one carries 5,113 reviews at an average of 5.0 out of 5. The next-biggest listing has more reviews but rates lower; every listing that rates this well has a fraction of the evidence. Nine hours, round-trip transport by bus or minivan, an English-speaking guide, the admission ticket to the Great Wall of China, the shuttle bus inside the park, and a local Chinese-style lunch if you pick that option.

What makes it our pick is what it removes from your day. The entrance ticket and the in-park shuttle are the two things travellers most often discover they still have to buy after the bus drops them off, and both are already in this price. The listing gives you five hours of uninterrupted time on the wall itself, which is unusually generous — plenty of Beijing day trips give you two. There are two booking options: with the lunch, and without it.

Price from: ~$18
Duration: 9 hours
Operator: Happy Dragon Tours
Section: Mutianyu — restored, Huairou District
Meets at: Central Beijing; the point varies by option booked
Time on the wall: Around 5 hours, unguided and at your own pace
Group: Bus or minivan, English-speaking guide
Cancellation: Free up to 24 hours before

Check Availability & Price Compare With Others

Where the nine hours actually go

This is the number that surprises people, so it is worth being blunt about it: roughly three to four of those nine hours are spent in a vehicle. Mutianyu sits about 70 kilometres northeast of central Beijing in Huairou District, and the run takes 1.5 to 2 hours in each direction depending on traffic. The operator warns specifically about morning congestion and recommends taking the subway to the meeting point rather than a taxi.

Before you set off

Meeting point in central BeijingArrive ten minutes early — the operator asks for this in writing, and the bus does not wait
Passport or ID cardRequired for entry to the wall; take the physical document, not a photo of it

Northeast out of the city

Onto the wall

The drive to Huairou1.5 to 2 hours each way, with heavy traffic likely on the morning leg
Shuttle bus inside the parkIncluded in your ticket; it runs between the car park and the foot of the wall
Up to the battlementsWalk up, or pay for the cable car or chairlift at the gate — this part is not included
Five hours of your own timeThe guide does not walk the wall with you; the time is yours to spend on it
Local Chinese-style lunchIncluded if you booked the lunch option, and skipped entirely if you did not

Back to the city

Central BeijingDropped back in the late afternoon or early evening, roughly nine hours after you left

What you'll actually see

Mutianyu is the long restored stretch north of Beijing, walled and towered along a forested ridge, and it is the section most people picture when they picture the wall. Its distinguishing feature is density: the watchtowers here stand closer together than on any comparable stretch, including a rare formation of three interlinked towers on a single platform. The masonry you are walking on is largely Ming dynasty work, rebuilt in the sixteenth century on much older foundations.

WatchtowersCloser together than anywhere
The ridge lineThe wall follows the crest
Forested slopesGreen in summer, gold in autumn
Restored battlementsCrenellated on both sides
In-park shuttleIncluded in the ticket
Five free hoursUnusually generous
The steep eastern endSteps, not slopes
Local lunchIf you book that option

A word on crowds, because it is the one thing every Great Wall listing is vague about. Mutianyu is genuinely quieter than Badaling, which is the section the tour buses and the state visits go to. Quieter is not empty — on a public holiday or a clear autumn weekend you will be sharing the battlements, and five hours is long enough to walk away from most of it.

Why this one and not the ~$8 bus?

Because ~$8 and ~$18 do not buy the same day, and the gap is not really ten dollars. Both include the entrance ticket and round-trip transport. The difference is that this tour puts an English-speaking guide, the in-park shuttle and an optional sit-down lunch into the price, gives you five hours rather than a shorter window, and rates 5.0 against 4.9. If you are travelling on the tightest possible budget, take the bus — it is a legitimately good deal and 5,316 people say so. If ten dollars is not the deciding factor, this is the more comfortable version of the same wall.

One thing we'd flag: the cable car and the toboggan are not included and they are not cheap. The operator states it plainly — 140 RMB per person for one, 280 RMB if you want to ride up one side and slide down the other. That is roughly ~$20 to ~$39, paid at the wall, and it can easily cost more than the tour. You can walk up instead; it is a stiff climb of stone steps. Your guide will help you buy the tickets on the day if you want them. Drinks and personal spending are also excluded, and the lunch only appears if you booked the option that includes it.

Who you'll be with

Happy Dragon Tours, a Beijing operator running this trip daily. The guide travels with the group, handles the ticketing and the shuttle, and is the person who sorts out the cable car if you decide you want it — but does not guide you along the wall itself. That is worth understanding before you book: this is a well-organised transfer with a knowledgeable escort, not a walking tour with commentary from tower to tower.

What to bring, and what they take care of

They handle the vehicle, the guide, the entrance ticket and the shuttle. You bring your passport or ID card, which is checked at entry, shoes you can climb several hundred stone steps in, water, sun cover in summer and a warm layer from October onwards — the ridge is exposed and colder than the city. Bring cash or a working mobile payment app for the cable car.

What's included

Round-trip transportation by bus or minivan
English-speaking guide
Great Wall admission ticket
Shuttle bus ticket inside the park
Local Chinese-style lunch, if that option is selected
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before

Not included

Cable car or toboggan — 140 RMB one, 280 RMB both
Drinks
Other personal spending
Lunch, on the option booked without it

Best for

Travellers who want one Great Wall day out of Beijing, want the ticket and the logistics handled, and would rather spend five unhurried hours on the battlements than be marched along them.

Wall Notes

Great Wall Tours from Beijing: Sections, Season and Getting There

A bit of background on which stretch of wall these tours actually visit, how far out it is, and when to come.

There is no single Great Wall day trip

The wall runs for thousands of kilometres and several separate sections are within reach of Beijing. Five of the six tours here go to Mutianyu, the long restored stretch in Huairou District. One crosses the unrestored wall at Jiankou first. Badaling, the section most people have seen in photographs of state visits, is closer to the city and considerably busier, and none of these six tours go there. Which section you stand on changes the day far more than which operator drives you.

Restored and unrestored are different activities

Mutianyu has been rebuilt: the parapets are complete, there are handrails on the steep flights and a cable car at both ends. Jiankou has not: it is the wall as the centuries left it, with collapsed sections and loose footing, which is why the hiking tour that crosses it excludes children under ten, pregnant travellers, anyone with mobility problems and anyone afraid of heights. Both are the Great Wall. Only one of them is a walk.

The drive is most of the day

Mutianyu is roughly 70 kilometres from the centre of Beijing and the journey takes 1.5 to 2 hours each way. That is why almost every tour here runs 7 to 10 hours, and why the ones that look short in the listing are usually short on wall time rather than short on driving. One operator specifically recommends taking the subway to the morning meeting point because the road traffic at that hour is unpredictable.

The cable car is the hidden line item

Only one of these six listings includes the ride down the wall in its price. Everywhere else it is 140 RMB per person for the cable car or the toboggan, or 280 RMB to take one each way. On a tour that cost you ~$18, that is not a rounding error. Mutianyu's western end is served by a cable car and the eastern end by the toboggan, so which one you want depends on which way you walk.

Your passport is part of the ticket

Every tour here asks for a passport or ID card, and one operator is unusually blunt about the reason: the name and ID number on your document must match the booking exactly, or you can be refused entry at the gate with no recourse. Book in the name on the passport you will be carrying, and take the document itself rather than a photograph of it.

Mondays are quietly the worst day

One listing flags something none of the others mention: on Mondays the Forbidden City and the National Museum of China are closed, which pushes that day's visitors out to the wall. If your Beijing days are flexible, spend Monday somewhere else and save the wall for a day when the city's museums are absorbing their share of the crowd.

All Six Ways Up

6 Best Great Wall of China Tours from Beijing Compared

Every option we would genuinely put on the table, with the catch that comes with each one.

The restored Great Wall at Mutianyu winding along a wooded ridge north of Beijing

Our Top Pick

Beijing: Mutianyu Great Wall Daily Tour with Ticket & Lunch — Best Overall

Nine hours from central Beijing to the restored wall at Mutianyu and back, with round-trip transport, an English-speaking guide, the admission ticket and the in-park shuttle bus in the price. Around five hours of that is yours on the wall itself, unguided and at your own pace, and a local Chinese-style lunch is included if you book that option.

Duration9 hours · daily departures
OperatorHappy Dragon Tours
Rating5.0/5 (5,113 reviews)
Meets atCentral Beijing; point varies by option
HighlightsTicket and shuttle included, five free hours on the wall
Best forAnyone booking one Great Wall day and wanting it sorted

Worth knowing: the strongest evidence base on this page — 5,113 reviews at a 5.0 average. The cable car and toboggan are not included and cost 140 RMB each or 280 RMB for both, paid at the wall. Arrive ten minutes early, bring the passport you booked under, and take the subway to the meeting point because the morning traffic is genuinely bad.

~$18per person Check Price

Visitors walking a restored stretch of the Great Wall between two stone watchtowers at Mutianyu

Cheapest Seat

Beijing: Mutianyu Great Wall Bus Tour w/Summer Palace Option — Best on a Budget

The highest-volume Great Wall listing out of Beijing, sold in three escalating versions. The base option is round-trip transport, the entrance ticket and guided commentary with free time on the wall. The second adds the Summer Palace with its own entry ticket and explanations. The third adds a Chinese and Western buffet with unlimited drinks on top.

Duration7 – 10 hours, depending on option
OperatorBeijing Yida Travel Service Co., Ltd.
Rating4.9/5 (5,316 reviews)
Meets atFixed departure point in central Beijing
HighlightsWall plus Summer Palace in one day if you want it
Best forTravellers on a tight budget, and first-timers short on days

Worth knowing: more reviews than anything else here, at a slightly lower 4.9 average. The ~$8 headline is the wall-only option — the Summer Palace and buffet versions cost more, so check which one you are actually adding to the basket. The operator is strict on documents: your name and ID number must match the booking exactly or entry is refused, and you are liable for the consequences.

~$8per person Check Price

A watchtower on the Mutianyu Great Wall with forested hills rolling away behind it

Cable Car Included

Beijing: Mutianyu Great Wall Tours with Options/GroupPrivate — Best Value Upgrade

A flexible listing that runs as a fixed-meeting-point group tour or as a private trip, in an air-conditioned car or van with a private driver and an English-speaking guide. Crucially, it is the only tour on this page that puts the toboggan or chairlift down from the wall inside the price along with all the entrance tickets. A Spanish-guided option is also available.

Duration2 – 9 hours, depending on option
OperatorCatherine Lu's Tour
Rating5.0/5 (116 reviews)
Meets atFixed meeting point, or private arrangement
HighlightsAll tickets plus the ride down included; guide and driver
Best forAnyone who wants no surprises at the ticket window

Worth knowing: the includes list on this one is the most complete here — guide, private vehicle, every entrance ticket, bottled water in the van and the toboggan or chairlift down. Tips for the guide and driver are extra. The operator asks for comfortable sports clothes and hiking shoes and a passport or copy, bans drones and sharp objects, and states an upper age limit of 95.

~$40per person Check Price

A private car waiting on the road below the Great Wall at Mutianyu outside Beijing

Your Own Car

Beijing: Private Mutianyu Great Wall & English Driver — Best for Independence

Eight hours with a private car and a professional English-speaking driver, from hotel pick-up to drop-off, with the Mutianyu entrance fees included. The driver stops at a local restaurant for lunch and waits through the meal at no extra charge, which means you set the pace of the day rather than a group timetable setting it for you.

Duration8 hours
OperatorBeijing Private Tours
Rating5.0/5 (56 reviews)
Meets atYour Beijing hotel — pick-up and drop-off included
HighlightsPrivate car, entrance fees paid, no fixed schedule
Best forCouples, families and anyone done with group buses

Worth knowing: read the word driver carefully — this is transport and ticketing, not a guided tour, so nobody will be explaining the wall to you. Lunch itself is not included even though the stop is; food, drinks, personal spending and the driver's gratuity are all extra. The rating is excellent but rests on 56 reviews rather than thousands.

~$95per person Check Price

Golden roofs of the Forbidden City in Beijing with the Great Wall visited on the same tour

Two UNESCO Sites

Beijing: Mutianyu Great Wall and Forbidden City Private Tour — Best One-Day Double

Nine hours covering both of Beijing's headline sights in a single private day: the restored wall at Mutianyu in the morning and the Forbidden City after it, with both entrance fees, the in-park shuttle, hotel pick-up and drop-off, bottled water and a private air-conditioned vehicle included. A private English-speaking guide comes with it unless you deliberately book the option without one.

Duration9 hours
OperatorJenny's Guide & Driver Service
Rating5.0/5 (126 reviews)
Meets atYour Beijing hotel — pick-up and drop-off included
HighlightsBoth entrance fees, private guide, private vehicle
Best forTravellers with one full day for the whole of Beijing

Worth knowing: a flawless 5.0 across 126 reviews, and the most complete private day here. Two caveats. Meals are not included, and neither are the cable car, chairlift or toboggan tickets. And the Forbidden City closes on Mondays — book this one for any other day of the week or you will pay for half a tour.

~$120per person Check Price

The unrestored Great Wall at Jiankou running along a steep rocky ridge above the tree line

The Wild Wall

Beijing: Great Wall Hiking Tour from Jiankou to Mutianyu — Best for Hikers

The one genuinely different day on this page. You start on the unrestored wall at Jiankou, where the stonework stands as the centuries left it, and hike across to the restored section at Mutianyu. Hotel pick-up, private transport, the admission ticket, a professional hiking and historian guide, lunch at a local restaurant and bottled water are all included.

Duration9 hours
OperatoriTravel
Rating4.8/5 (8 reviews)
Meets atYour Beijing hotel — pick-up and drop-off included
HighlightsUnrestored wall, historian guide, lunch included
Best forConfident hikers who want the wall without handrails

Worth knowing, and we will not bury it: only 8 reviews so far, so the 4.8 rating rests on very thin evidence compared with everything else here. It is also the dearest tour on the page by a distance. The exclusion list is long and serious — no children under ten, no pregnant travellers, nobody with mobility impairments, nobody over 70 and nobody afraid of heights. Cable car or toboggan down from Mutianyu is at your own cost, and if Jiankou closes unexpectedly the operator substitutes an alternative.

~$273per person Check Price

Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you book through one we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, and it never changes which tour we recommend or what we say about it.

Before You Climb

Mutianyu Great Wall Tour Tips: Tickets, Cable Cars and Crowds

Eight things the booking pages either bury in an accordion or do not mention at all — starting with the one that can double the cost of your day.

What to know before you book a Great Wall day trip

Budget for the cable car separately, or decide to walk. This is the single biggest gap between the advertised price and what the day actually costs. At Mutianyu the cable car and the toboggan are 140 RMB per person for one, or 280 RMB if you want to ride up one side and come down the other — roughly ~$20 and ~$39. Only one listing on this page, the group-or-private option at ~$40, includes the ride down. On the ~$18 and ~$8 tours the cable car can cost more than the tour did. You can walk up the stone steps instead, and plenty of people do, but it is a real climb and you should choose deliberately rather than find out at the gate.
The western end and the eastern end are different rides. Mutianyu is served by a cable car at one end and a toboggan at the other. The operator's own guidance is that the cable car suits the western part of the wall and the toboggan suits the eastern part. Decide which direction you want to walk before you buy, because buying the wrong one means walking back along the wall to the lift you paid for.
Book under the exact name on the passport you will carry. One operator states it more starkly than the others: the name and ID number on your document must match the booking information exactly, visitors who cannot comply are denied entry, and they are responsible for the consequences. This is not a formality at the Great Wall. Take the physical passport or ID card, not a photo of it, and check the spelling on your booking the day it is made.
Assume three to four hours in a vehicle. Mutianyu is about 70 kilometres northeast of central Beijing, and the drive is 1.5 to 2 hours each way. That is what turns a few hours on a wall into a 7 to 10 hour day. If you are booking around a flight or a train, build in far more slack than the listed duration suggests.
Get to the meeting point by subway, not by road. The operator of our top pick recommends this specifically, and the reason is that Beijing's morning traffic is unpredictable enough to cost you the bus. All of these tours ask you to arrive ten minutes early, and the group ones do not wait.
Avoid Monday if you can, and never book the Forbidden City combo on one. The Forbidden City and the National Museum of China close on Mondays, which pushes visitors out to the wall and makes it noticeably busier. For the Mutianyu and Forbidden City private tour this matters twice over: half of what you are paying for is shut.
Check the restriction list against your group before you pay. The Jiankou hike is the strict one, and the rules are not suggestions: no children under ten, no pregnant travellers, nobody with mobility impairments, nobody over 70 and nobody afraid of heights. The flexible group-or-private tour sets an upper age limit of 95 and bans drones and sharp objects outright. Even on the restored wall at Mutianyu, the eastern end is steep stone steps rather than a gentle ramp.
Tips are extra almost everywhere, and lunch sometimes is too. Gratuities for guides and drivers are excluded from most of these listings and are worth budgeting. Read the lunch line carefully as well, because it varies: our top pick includes a local lunch only on the option that says so, the private driver tour stops at a restaurant and waits but does not pay for your meal, the Jiankou hike includes lunch outright, and the Forbidden City private tour excludes meals altogether. Dress for an exposed ridge — shoes for stone steps, sun cover in summer, and a warm layer from October, because the wall is always colder than the city.

Side by Side

Beijing Great Wall Tour Comparison: Price, Duration & Section

All six in one place — the quickest way to spot which one fits your day, your budget and your legs.

Swipe the table sideways → the tour name stays put

Tour	Best for	Price	Duration	Starts from	Operator & rating	Highlights & caveats	Book
Mutianyu Daily Tour with Ticket & Lunch (our top pick)	One sorted Great Wall day with nothing to arrange	~$18	9 hours	Central Beijing; point varies by option	Happy Dragon Tours 5.0/5 (5,113)	Admission ticket and in-park shuttle included About five unguided hours on the wall Cable car or toboggan extra: 140–280 RMB	View Deal
Mutianyu Great Wall Bus Tour	The cheapest legitimate way onto the wall	~$8	7 – 10 hours	Fixed departure point in central Beijing	Beijing Yida Travel 4.9/5 (5,316)	Most-reviewed Great Wall tour from Beijing Summer Palace and buffet available as upgrades ~$8 is the wall-only option; ID must match exactly	View Deal
Mutianyu Tours with Options, Group or Private	No surprises at the ticket window	~$40	2 – 9 hours	Fixed meeting point, or private arrangement	Catherine Lu's Tour 5.0/5 (116)	The only listing including the ride down the wall Guide, private vehicle and all entrance tickets Tips extra; no drones; hiking shoes expected	View Deal
Private Mutianyu Tour with English Driver	Setting your own pace with no group	~$95	8 hours	Your Beijing hotel — pick-up included	Beijing Private Tours 5.0/5 (56)	Private car, hotel pick-up, entrance fees paid Driver waits through lunch at no extra charge A driver, not a guide; lunch and tips extra	View Deal
Mutianyu & Forbidden City Private Tour	Both headline sights in one private day	~$120	9 hours	Your Beijing hotel — pick-up included	Jenny's Guide & Driver 5.0/5 (126)	Both entrance fees and the in-park shuttle included Private guide and private air-conditioned vehicle Meals and cable car excluded; never book a Monday	View Deal
Jiankou to Mutianyu Hiking Tour	The unrestored wall, on foot	~$273	9 hours	Your Beijing hotel — pick-up included	iTravel 4.8/5 (8)	Unrestored Jiankou wall crossing to restored Mutianyu Hiking and historian guide, lunch and transport included Only 8 reviews; no under-10s, over-70s or vertigo	View Deal

Trail Talk

Real Traveler Reviews of Great Wall Tours from Beijing

Unedited thoughts from people who have actually made the trip out to Huairou and back.

★★★★★

We did the ~$18 day tour on our second morning and I still cannot work out how it costs that little. Ticket, shuttle, guide, a genuinely good lunch, and five hours to wander as far along the wall as our legs would take us. We walked east until the crowds thinned to nobody and sat in a watchtower for twenty minutes without seeing another person.

★★★★★

Long one, sorry, but here is everything I wish I had known before booking a Great Wall trip out of Beijing. First: the drive. Nobody tells you clearly enough that you are looking at roughly two hours each way, so a nine hour tour is about five hours of wall and lunch and four hours of road. Fine once you expect it, infuriating if you do not. Second: the cable car is not included on most of these and it is 140 yuan, which on our tour was more than the tour. We paid it and I would pay it again going up, but we walked down and saved the second fare. Third: take your actual passport. The man in front of us had a photo on his phone and there was a long, unhappy conversation about it. Fourth: go on a weekday that is not Monday. We went Tuesday and it was busy but civilised.

★★★★★

私たちは慕田峪を選びました。In English: we chose Mutianyu over Badaling on the advice of our hotel and it was the right call. The towers are close together and the walk between them is beautiful. The guide was efficient rather than talkative, which suited us.

★★★★★

Booked the private car with the English-speaking driver because my parents are in their seventies and a bus day was never going to work. Best money we spent in China. He picked us up at eight, waited while we took our time, found us a restaurant that was clearly where the drivers eat, and had us back at the hotel by four.

★★★★★

Fizemos o passeio de ônibus mais barato. In English: for eight dollars I expected very little and got a comfortable coach, our ticket handled at the gate and a guide who counted us back on at the end. It is not a guided walk on the wall and it does not pretend to be. Add the cable car money to your budget and it is still the cheapest good day you will have in Beijing.

★★★★★

Wir haben die Variante mit Verbotener Stadt gebucht. Switching to English: two UNESCO sites in nine hours sounds like too much and it is not, because the private car removes all of the waiting. Our guide was excellent on the Ming period and knew exactly when to stop talking and let us look. Do not book it on a Monday — we nearly did.

★★★★★

The toboggan is ridiculous and everybody should do it once. You sit in a little sled and steer yourself down a metal chute from the Great Wall of China, which is not a sentence I expected to write. 140 yuan, paid at the top, worth every one of them.

★★★★★

Nous avons fait la randonnée depuis Jiankou. In English: this is not a tourist walk, it is a proper hike over broken stone with real drops beside you, and our guide was the reason it felt safe rather than reckless. He knew the history and he knew the footing. Expensive, and I understand why. Do not book it if heights bother you even slightly — they are completely serious about that.

★★★★★

我们从上海过来玩。In English: we are Chinese but from Shanghai, so the wall was as new to us as to anyone. We took the group tour with the chairlift included, which I recommend — my mother would not have managed the steps up. Everything was handled and nothing cost extra at the gate, which is rarer than it should be.

★★★★★

Five hours on the wall sounded excessive when I read it and was exactly right when I was there. You need an hour just to stop being overwhelmed by it.

★★★★★

Fuimos en noviembre y hacía un frío tremendo. In English: November on the ridge is properly cold and the wind does not stop, so bring more layers than you think. In exchange we had the wall almost to ourselves and the light on the towers late in the afternoon was extraordinary. Our guide met us ten minutes early and everything ran like clockwork.

★★★★★

Took the subway to the meeting point like the booking page suggested and watched three people arrive late by taxi and nearly miss the bus. Follow that advice. The rest of the day was flawless and the lunch was much better than I expected from an included meal.

★★★★★

Third time in Beijing and the first time I have gone to Mutianyu rather than Badaling. I will not go back to Badaling. The towers here come one after another and you can actually walk a stretch of wall without being in a queue.

★★★★★

Uma organização impecável. In English: everything happened when they said it would, which after two weeks of improvising in China felt like a luxury. The guide sorted our tickets while we were still getting off the bus.

★★★★☆

Good tour and a fair price, but be aware the guide does not come onto the wall with you. We had assumed there would be some commentary up there and there was not — you are dropped at the entrance and collected at the end. Once we adjusted our expectations we had a lovely five hours. Four stars because the listing could be clearer about it.

★★★★☆

The wall was magnificent and the traffic was not. Two hours out and nearly three back on a Friday afternoon. Nothing the operator could do about it, and I would still go, but plan nothing for that evening.

★★★★☆

J'ai adoré la muraille, moins la queue du téléphérique. In English: the wall itself is a five, the forty minutes we spent queuing for the cable car down on a Saturday is why this is a four. Go on a weekday, or walk down.

★★★★☆

Muy bien organizado. In English: the private driver day worked well for our family and the car was spotless, but nobody had told us clearly that the driver is not a guide. We ended up reading about the wall on our phones as we walked it. Our own misreading, partly, but worth flagging for anyone expecting explanations.

Ready when you are

Book the Best Great Wall Tour from Beijing

If you have one day in Beijing for the wall and you want it handled — the transport out to Huairou, the admission ticket, the shuttle inside the park and five unhurried hours on the battlements at Mutianyu — the Mutianyu Great Wall Daily Tour with Ticket & Lunch is the one we would put in the calendar. An English-speaking guide travels with the group, the local lunch option means you do not have to solve that either, and the whole day comes in around eighteen dollars.

It is rated 5.0 out of 5 by 5,113 travellers, which is both the deepest review base and the highest average of any Great Wall tour leaving Beijing. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before departure, so an uncertain forecast is not a reason to wait. Just remember to keep 140 RMB aside for the cable car, or plan on walking up.

~$18

per person · 9 hours · Happy Dragon Tours

Check Availability

✓ Free cancellation up to 24 hours before
✓ Admission ticket and in-park shuttle included
✓ English-speaking guide, daily departures
✓ Around five hours of your own time on the wall

Curious Minds

Great Wall of China Tours from Beijing FAQ

The questions we get asked most often before people book a Great Wall day trip out of Beijing.

Which Great Wall tour from Beijing is the best one overall?

For most people it is the Beijing: Mutianyu Great Wall Daily Tour with Ticket & Lunch, run by Happy Dragon Tours. It starts from ~$18 per person and runs 9 hours, with round-trip transport by bus or minivan, an English-speaking guide, the Great Wall admission ticket, the shuttle bus inside the park and a local Chinese-style lunch on the option that includes it. It holds 5.0/5 from 5,113 reviews, which is the unusual combination of the deepest review base and the highest rating of any Great Wall tour leaving Beijing, and you can cancel free up to 24 hours before departure.

How much does a Great Wall tour from Beijing cost?

Anywhere from about ~$8 to ~$273 per person on this page. The Mutianyu bus tour starts at ~$8 for the wall-only option, our top pick with the ticket and lunch is ~$18, the group-or-private tour with the cable car included is ~$40, a private car with an English-speaking driver is ~$95, the Mutianyu and Forbidden City private day is ~$120, and the guided Jiankou hike is ~$273. Prices are per person and move with the season and your departure date. Budget separately for the cable car or toboggan unless you book the ~$40 option, which is the only one that includes the ride down.

Is the cable car included in Great Wall tours from Beijing?

Almost never. Of the six tours here, only the group-or-private option at ~$40 includes the toboggan or chairlift down from Mutianyu. On every other listing it is excluded and you buy it at the wall: 140 RMB per person for the cable car or the toboggan, or 280 RMB if you want to ride up one side and come down the other. That is roughly ~$20 to ~$39, which on the ~$8 and ~$18 tours can cost more than the tour itself. You can walk up and down the stone steps instead, and the guide on our top pick will help you buy the tickets on the day if you decide you want them.

How long is a Great Wall day trip from Beijing?

Longer than the time on the wall suggests. Most of these tours run 7 to 10 hours, because Mutianyu is around 70 kilometres northeast of central Beijing and the drive takes 1.5 to 2 hours in each direction. Our top pick is 9 hours, the bus tour is 7 to 10 depending on which option you book, the private driver day is 8 hours, and both the Forbidden City combo and the Jiankou hike are 9 hours. Only the flexible group-or-private listing offers anything shorter, starting from 2 hours on its briefest option.

Which Great Wall section should I visit from Beijing — Mutianyu or Badaling?

Five of the six tours here go to Mutianyu, and that is the section we would choose. It is the long restored stretch in Huairou District, its watchtowers stand closer together than on any comparable part of the wall, and it is meaningfully quieter than Badaling, which is nearer the city and takes the bulk of the coach traffic and state visits. Badaling is easier to reach and busier for exactly that reason. The sixth tour on this page starts at Jiankou, the unrestored wall, which is a serious hike rather than a sightseeing walk.

What is the difference between the restored wall at Mutianyu and the wild wall at Jiankou?

Mutianyu has been rebuilt for visitors: complete parapets, handrails on the steep flights, a shuttle bus inside the park and a cable car at one end with a toboggan at the other. Jiankou has not been restored at all and stands as the centuries left it, with collapsed masonry and loose footing. That is why the Jiankou hiking tour excludes children under ten, pregnant travellers, anyone with mobility impairments, anyone over 70 and anyone afraid of heights, and why it comes with a professional hiking and historian guide rather than a bus escort. It is the most memorable day on this page and the one that asks most of you.

Do Great Wall tours from Beijing include hotel pickup?

Three of the six do. The private Mutianyu tour with an English-speaking driver, the Mutianyu and Forbidden City private tour and the Jiankou hiking tour all include hotel pick-up and drop-off. The two bus-based tours and the flexible group option use fixed meeting points in central Beijing that vary by the option you book, and they ask you to arrive ten minutes early. The operator of our top pick specifically recommends taking the subway to the meeting point rather than a taxi, because Beijing's morning traffic can cost you the bus.

Do I need my passport for the Great Wall?

Yes, and take the physical document rather than a photograph of it. Every tour here lists a passport or ID card under what to bring. One operator goes further and states that the name and ID number on your document must match the information used for the online booking exactly, that visitors who cannot comply will be denied entry, and that they are responsible for any consequences. Book under the exact name on the passport you will be carrying, and check the spelling on the confirmation the day it arrives.

Is lunch included on Great Wall tours from Beijing?

It varies more than you would expect, so read the line carefully. Our top pick includes a local Chinese-style lunch only on the booking option that says so — there is a cheaper version without it. The Jiankou hiking tour includes lunch at a local restaurant outright. The bus tour offers a Chinese and Western buffet with unlimited drinks, but only on its most expensive option. The private driver tour stops at a local restaurant and the driver waits at no extra charge, but the meal itself is not included. The Mutianyu and Forbidden City private tour excludes meals entirely.

How hard is the walk on the Great Wall at Mutianyu?

Harder than most people picture, though entirely manageable. The wall follows a ridge, so it rises and falls constantly, and the eastern end in particular is steep stone steps rather than a gradual slope. If you walk up from the entrance instead of taking the cable car, that is a stiff climb of several hundred steps before you even reach the battlements. The restored sections have handrails on the worst flights. Wear shoes you can climb in, take water, and remember that five hours on the wall means five hours of uneven stone.

What is the best time of year for a Great Wall tour from Beijing?

The wall is open all year and these tours run daily, so it is a question of trade-offs rather than closures. Spring and autumn are the settled window, with comfortable temperatures and the clearest light — autumn also brings the colour on the forested slopes below the wall that Mutianyu is photographed for. Summer is hot and humid on an exposed ridge with very little shade. Winter is cold, windy and quiet, and the reward is having the battlements close to yourself. Whatever the season, the wall is noticeably colder than the city because you are up on a ridge.

Why is Monday a bad day for a Great Wall tour?

Because the Forbidden City and the National Museum of China close on Mondays, and the visitors who would have spent the day there go to the wall instead. One of the operators on this page flags it specifically. If your Beijing days are flexible, save the wall for a day when the city's major museums are open and absorbing their share of the crowd. It matters twice over for the Mutianyu and Forbidden City private tour, since half of what you are paying for would be shut.

Are Great Wall tours from Beijing suitable for children and older travellers?

Mostly yes, with one clear exception. The five Mutianyu tours publish no minimum age, and the cable car makes the wall accessible to people who could not manage the climb up — the group-or-private option at ~$40 includes that ride in the price, which is worth knowing if you are travelling with grandparents. The Jiankou hiking tour is the exception and its restrictions are firm: no children under ten, no pregnant travellers, nobody with mobility impairments, nobody over 70 and nobody afraid of heights. The flexible group tour also states an upper age limit of 95 and bans drones and sharp objects.

Can I cancel or change my Great Wall tour booking?

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure is standard across these listings, and reserve-now-pay-later is widely available, so you can hold a place without paying today. Terms are set by each provider and can differ by tour, by option and by date, so always confirm the specific policy shown at checkout before you pay. Bear in mind that the group tours ask you to arrive ten minutes early and do not wait, and that the Jiankou hiking tour reserves the right to substitute an alternative route if that section of wall closes unexpectedly. All bookings, payments, changes, refunds and customer support are handled directly by the tour operator or the booking platform, not by this site.