Beijing in 3 days: the Wall, the Forbidden City and the hutongs without a bus tour

Beijing rewards three days far more than two. Two days means choosing between the Great Wall and the Forbidden City in good light; three means you see both properly, sleep in a hutong, and still have an evening for roast duck. This is the plan we run as the back half of our Shanghai to Beijing tour, and it works just as well on its own if you fly in. It assumes you arrive the evening before day one.

First, the bookings: Beijing runs on your passport

This is the single thing first-time visitors get wrong, so it comes before the itinerary. Beijing’s major sights are ticketed to a named passport, capped in daily numbers, and the popular ones sell out:

• The Forbidden City (Palace Museum) releases tickets seven days ahead at 8 pm Beijing time, limits daily entries, and is closed on Mondays except public holidays. Booking is through the Palace Museum’s official WeChat mini program, which wants a Chinese phone number and a lot of patience from foreigners; some third-party agents will book it for a fee. Carry the passport you booked with; it is scanned at the gate.
• Tiananmen Square itself requires a separate advance reservation at the time of writing, made through a government WeChat account. The Forbidden City ticket does not include the square. Many visitors view the square from the Tiananmen gate side and skip the reservation.
• The Great Wall at Mutianyu, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace are easier (same-day tickets are usually available) but still passport-linked, so keep it with you every day.

If you book with us, all of this is done before you land. If you are booking yourself, start exactly a week before your Forbidden City day, and have a plan B (Jingshan Park and the Summer Palace) ready in case it is full.

Day 1: the imperial axis and the hutongs

8.30 am, Forbidden City. Be at the Meridian Gate when it opens. Walk the central axis north through the three great halls, then step into the eastern courtyards (the Treasure Gallery and the Clock Gallery need a small extra ticket and are worth it) where the crowds thin out. Two and a half to three hours is right for most people; four if you love it. Exit through the north gate.

11.30 am, Jingshan Park. Directly across the road from the north gate. Climb the hill in the middle (ten minutes) for the view back over the golden roofs of the palace. This is the photograph everyone wants and almost nobody plans for.

1 pm, lunch in the lanes. Walk east into the hutongs around Nanluoguxiang. Skip the main pedestrian street, which is a snack-stall corridor, and eat in the side lanes: Beijing-style dumplings, zhajiangmian (noodles with fermented bean paste), or a courtyard restaurant.

Afternoon, the hutongs and the lakes. Wander north-west to Houhai and Qianhai lakes, loop the water, and look through the courtyard doors a guide knows are open. The Drum and Bell Towers at the north end can be climbed. If you have the energy, a rickshaw ride through the lanes is a tourist thing that is also genuinely pleasant.

Evening, Peking duck. Every guide has a favourite. The famous names (Quanjude, Da Dong, Siji Minfu) are fine and busy; the neighbourhood duck houses are better value and quieter. Book a table on a weekend.

Day 2: the Great Wall

Choose your section before you choose anything else:

• Mutianyu, about 90 minutes by private car north-east of the city, is the one we recommend for almost everyone. It is restored, steep enough to feel like the real thing, has a cable car and a chairlift up, a toboggan run down that children remember for life, and a fraction of the coaches that go to Badaling. Walk east from the cable car station along the wall toward the higher towers (20 to 23); the crowd thins after the first two.
• Badaling is the closest and the most famous, which is why it is the most crowded. It is where the group tours and the day-trip trains go. Fine if it is your only option; otherwise avoid it.
• Jinshanling, two and a half hours away, is for walkers: partly unrestored, long sightlines, a real half-day hike. Not for small children or anyone unsteady on steep steps.
• Jiankou and the other “wild wall” sections are unrestored, unmaintained and occasionally dangerous. Go with a specialist guide or not at all.

The plan. Leave the hotel by 7.30 am to be on the wall before the coaches at 10. Three hours on the wall is plenty. Lunch in the village at the foot of Mutianyu (the restaurants by the car park are better than they look), and be back in the city by 3 pm. If energy remains, the Temple of Heaven in the late afternoon is quiet and golden; otherwise save it for the morning of day three.

What to wear. Proper walking shoes; the steps between towers are uneven and steep. A hat and water in summer, every layer you own in winter, when the wind on the ridge is brutal and the views are the clearest of the year.

Day 3: the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace

8 am, Temple of Heaven. Go early for the park rather than the temple. Beijing retirees fill it at this hour with tai chi, ribbon dancing, opera practice, card games and hacky sack. Then walk the axis to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the round blue-roofed building that is Beijing’s other great photograph. Ninety minutes.

10.30 am, Summer Palace. Half an hour north-west by car. Walk the Long Corridor along the lake, climb Longevity Hill for the view, and take the boat across Kunming Lake to the Seventeen-Arch Bridge, which saves walking and is the best angle on the whole site. Leave by early afternoon before the crowds peak.

Alternative for museum people. Swap the Summer Palace for the National Museum of China on Tiananmen Square (free, passport booking required, closed Mondays). The ancient China galleries are extraordinary and quiet.

Last evening. A walk through the lanes around the Drum Tower when the lanterns come on, or, with children, a dumpling-making class at a courtyard kitchen, which guides can arrange.

Where to stay

A courtyard hotel in the hutongs near Houhai, Dongsi or the Drum Tower puts you ten minutes from the Forbidden City, in walking distance of good food, and inside the Beijing that the itinerary is about. Rooms are smaller than international hotels and some have steps; ask if mobility matters.

The big international hotels in Wangfujing, the Financial Street and the CBD are comfortable and predictable, with pools and club lounges, and you will spend more time in traffic. For families who want a pool after the Wall, they are the right call.

Beijing is enormous and the ring roads jam from 7 to 10 am and 4 to 8 pm. Use the metro for cross-town trips (clean, cheap, English signage, security screening at every entrance) and a car with a driver for the Wall and the Summer Palace.

Getting there from Shanghai

The high-speed train from Shanghai Hongqiao to Beijing South takes about four and a half hours in first class, city centre to city centre, with no airport time either end. We book it under your passports as part of the tour; our high-speed train guide explains the booking, the stations and the seat classes if you are doing it yourself. Flying saves nothing once you count the airports.

Beijing by season

• April to May and September to October are the months to aim for: clear skies, mild days, the Wall in blossom or autumn colour. The first week of October is a national holiday; avoid it.
• June to August is hot (35°C), humid and thundery. Go to the Wall by 8 am and spend afternoons in museums or the hotel pool.
• November to February is cold and dry, the Wall is empty, and the Forbidden City under snow is one of the great sights of China. Bring a proper coat and check the air quality index each morning.

Our best time to visit guide has the full calendar including Chinese holidays.

How we run it

On the Shanghai to Beijing tour these three days come with a guide, a car and driver, every ticket booked under your passports before you fly, and a hutong courtyard hotel unless you ask for something else. The itinerary above is the default; families with young children usually drop the Summer Palace for a second morning in the hutongs, and walkers swap Mutianyu for Jinshanling.