Mutianyu Great Wall, Tiananmen Square & Forbidden City Day Tour
Description
Make the most of your Beijing layover and visa-free entry with this 8-hour private tour of the city's essential sights. Three UNESCO sites in one day layover tour. Walk on the Great Wall at Mutianyu, visit Tiananmen Square, and explore the Forbidden City. Tour includes entrance fees, personal guide, lunch, and climate-controlled vehicle.
Tour Options
Itinerary
On arrival at Beijing Capital International Airport or hotel, you'll see your driver and tour guide holding a card with your name: they'll help you with your bags as you hop into the climate-controlled vehicle. It takes about an hour to drive to one of the most famous landmarks in the world, the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Great Wall. Less crowded than the Great Wall at Badaling, the Great Wall at Mutianyu is famous for its beautiful surroundings, with forest-clad hills and fresh mountain air. Enjoy a couple of hours hiking along the fully restored wall with your guide. Cable car up and toboggan to slide down would bring be more interesting for your trip.
Enjoy an authentic Chinese lunch at a nearby restaurant before driving into the city. The journey takes around an hour and 40 minutes, traffic depending. Your first stop will be the world's largest city square: Tiananmen Square. Your guide will show you the Great Hall of the People, China's answer to the Capitol, the gigantic National Museum of China, and the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, where the revolutionary leader's remains are preserved for posterity.
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From here, it's about a 15-minute walk to the UNESCO-listed Forbidden City, Beijing's imperial palace and home to almost 600 years of history. Between 1420 and 1912 no fewer than 24 emperors, both Ming and Qing, ruled from here. You'll spend a couple of hours here with your guide, discovering highlights from entrance halls to private quarters, gardens, and museums. At the end of your tour, your driver and guide will drop you back at the airport in good time for your onward flight. Please note: the Forbidden City is closed on Monday. On this day, you'll visit the UNESCO-listed Summer Palace and Great Wall day tour instead. The Summer Palace was emperors' lakeside summer retreat.
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Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
If you choose layover option, please provide your arrival and departure flight information.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- Chinese tourists( including Taiwan and Hongkong ) must book over 8 days in advance.
- Passport name and number is required at time of booking for all participants (for getting your Forbidden City entrance ticket in advance)
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
- A current valid passport is required on the day of travel
- Toboggan unavailable for guests over 60, pregnant women and children under 3, as well as in bad weather or long queues. Round-trip chairlift/cable car available instead.
- Please wear comfortable shoes
- Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required
- Passport is required for all travelers on the day of travel for direct entry. (not for Chinese tourist)
Reviews(70)
Very good tour, Lucy was extremely knowledgeable and helpful throughout. Covers a huge amount of Beijing and Great Wall in a single day and strongly recommend. One slight bit of advice. Viator support informed me that it was possible to do pick up and drop off at the airport (as I was on a layover) which is not the case. Pick up is in Central Beijing and they can drop you off 20-25 min from Airport and requires Taxi or Didi. Suggest updating the messaging on the Viator listing.
Dear Guest, Thank you so much for your wonderful recommendation and detailed honest feedback about your tour with Lucy! We’re delighted to hear Lucy delivered thoughtful, comprehensive explanations throughout your full-day tour covering downtown Beijing and the Great Wall, and that you had a fantastic overall experience. We sincerely appreciate you pointing out the confusion regarding airport pickup and drop-off advised by Viator support during your layover. We fully understand the inconvenience this brought you, as our standard service only offers pick-up locations in central Beijing, with drop-off roughly 20–25 minutes away from the airport, requiring a separate taxi or Didi ride onward. We will immediately forward your valuable suggestion to the Viator platform team to revise and clarify the listing description clearly for future travellers, so no other layover guests will encounter the same misunderstanding. We will pass your high praise on to Lucy right away. Hope the rest of your journey goes smoothly, and you are welcome to travel with us again anytime! Best regards, Lily's Beijing Tours Team
I had an excellent experience on this tour and would absolutely recommend it. We visited Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall, and the entire day was very well organized from start to finish. Our guide was perfectly on time and immediately created a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. He was friendly, approachable, and very attentive throughout the whole experience. What I especially appreciated was how many explanations and interesting details he shared along the way. He gave historical background, answered questions openly, and made every place feel much more meaningful than simply walking through it on our own. His open and engaging personality made the tour enjoyable and easy to follow. Another big advantage was the small group size. It never felt crowded or rushed, and everything ran smoothly and efficiently. We had enough time to enjoy each location without feeling stressed. Overall, this was a fantastic experience and a great way to discover these iconic places. I would definitely recommend this tour to anyone visiting Beijing.
Dear Guest Thank you for your wonderful review! We're thrilled you loved the well-organized small-group tour. Our guide is happy his stories and attentive service made your visit meaningful and relaxing. Wish you a great rest of your trip! Best regards, Lily's Beijing Tours Team
From the very beginning of booking this tour it has been a 5 star experience. Nancy our tour guide and host was exceptional. Nancy was really a extended member of our family for the day and ensured my two daughters were absolutely included and we were all amazed by her knowledge and experience in all 3 landmarks of the tour. If you’re looking for a private tour this is the one for you! Thanks from the Smiths of Australia
Dear Guest Thank you so much for your wonderful 5-star review and kind words from the Smith family of Australia! We are absolutely delighted to know you enjoyed a perfect experience from booking all the way through the tour. It warms our hearts to hear Nancy made you feel like family and took great care of your two daughters throughout the day. We truly appreciate your praise for her outstanding knowledge and professional guidance at all three landmarks. Thank you for your strong recommendation of our private tour. We will pass your lovely compliments to Nancy. Wish you and your family all the best, and we hope to welcome you back to Beijing again someday! Best regards, Lily's Beijing Tours Team
I had a great tour with Bruce, who was incredibly friendly and provided clear, engaging explanations about the history of Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall. I truly enjoyed every moment of this experience!
Dear Guest Thank you so much for your lovely feedback! We’re thrilled you had an amazing tour with Bruce. His friendly manner and vivid historical explanations truly make each visit special. It’s wonderful to hear you enjoyed exploring Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall with him. We hope to welcome you back again soon for another wonderful trip! Best regards, Lily's Beijing Tours Team
We had a wonderful experience with our Viator tour, all thanks to our guide Lucy. She spoke excellent English, which made it very easy for us to understand everything and ask questions along the way. What really stood out was her patience—she took the time to answer all our questions without ever rushing us. Lucy is incredibly knowledgeable about both her job and the history and culture of China. She shared so many interesting insights that made each place we visited even more meaningful. She also ensured we visited all the attractions included in our ticket without any hassle, and everything was well-organized from start to finish. We truly enjoyed the entire experience and would highly recommend Lucy and the Lily Tour Company to anyone planning a tour.
Dear Guest Thank you so much for your lovely review! We’re thrilled to hear you had such a wonderful time with Lucy on your tour.She’ll be so happy to know her patience, knowledge and careful arrangement made your trip special.We really appreciate your recommendation and hope to welcome you back again soon! Best regards, Lily's Beijing Tours Team
The tour guide -Wendy picked us up at hotel in comfortable car with friendly driver. Our tour guide Wendy was absolutely fantastic ,warm and incredibly knowledgeable with English speaking. The tour was well organized and can smoothly. We feel incredibly fortunate to have Wendy as our guide.😍
Dear Guest Thank you so much for your lovely review!We’re so happy you had a wonderful tour with Wendy and our friendly driver. She’s such a warm, fantastic, and knowledgeable guide, and we’re really proud she took such great care of you. We’re glad everything was well‑organized and smooth, and we truly appreciate your kind words.Hope to welcome you back to Beijing again soon! Best regards, Lily's Beijing Tours Team
I had such a great time ! I had a 13h stop in Pekin so I wanted to see the most famous monuments of the city and I choose this tour. I do not regret it ! My driver was on time to pick me up at the airport and bring me to my guide Maggie. She was such a wonderful guide and I learnt many things. Also it was snowing all day so we were almost alone on the great wall, so special! I highly recommend this tour and Maggie as a guide.
Perfect ! I had a 13h wait in Pekin so I wanted to see most of the city in this time. My driver was waiting for me on time as the airport and we went to meet my guide Maggie. I had such a wonderful time with Maggie who is a great guide. It was also snowing for the day so we were almost alone on the great wall ! Such a wonderful experience. I highly recommend it and Maggie as a guide.
I got picked up by my driver Garry at the airport and Maggie, my tour guide joined right after. Garry was a great driver driving through heavy traffic of Beijing. Very safe and comfortable car. Super clean. Maggie was full of information, both very friendly and welcoming willing to help and provide the best service possible. Maggie and Garry you are rock stars. Strongly recommended.
We had a one-day stopover in Beijing. We took the opportunity to go on a tour with Lily's Beijing Tour . We visited Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. It was a great day with our guide Jeffrey, who gave us lots of information. We also had the opportunity to eat typical Chinese food and have a tea tasting. We'd recommend it 100%.
