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Beijing Tour: Tiananmen & Forbidden City Highlights
4.9
278 Ratings
Beijing
Join our mini group tour of Beijing and explore the Forbidden City and Badaling Great Wall in one day. No shopping stops, just pure sightseeing. Book now!
Join our mini group tour of Beijing and explore the Forbidden City and Badaling Great Wall in one day. No shopping stops, just pure sightseeing. Book now!
Duration:
4 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Beijing - At approximately 08:30 in the morning, your personal guide will meet you in your hotel lobby and accompany you via taxi or subway to Tiananmen Square.
- Tiananmen Square (Tiananmen Guangchang) - Enjoy a leisurely walk around Tiananmen Square, taking in the stunning landmark buildings. Note: To expedite the security check, especially…
- Beijing - At approximately 08:30 in the morning, your personal guide will meet you in your hotel lobby and accompany you via taxi or subway to Tiananmen Square.
- Tiananmen Square (Tiananmen Guangchang) - Enjoy a leisurely walk around Tiananmen Square, taking in the stunning landmark buildings. Note: To expedite the security check, especially during holidays, it is recommended to leave your bag in the car and carry only your passport and bottled water to use the no-bag passage.
- Chairman Mao Memorial Hall (Maozhuxi Jiniantang) - Exterior view
- Monument of the People’s Heroes - Exterior view
- Great Hall of the People (Renmin Dahuitang) - Exterior view
- National Museum Of China - Exterior view
- Forbidden City-The Palace Museum - Enter through the Gate of Heavenly Peace to explore the 600-year-old Forbidden City/Palace Museum, the largest and most well-preserved imperial palace complex, home to 24 emperors from 1368 to 1911 AD. With your guide, visit the key palaces on the central axis and chambers on the two wings among its 9,999 rooms, with detailed explanations and expert photography tips. Note: 1) The Treasure Gallery, the Gallery of Timepieces, and temporary exhibitions are not included. 2) The visits to the attractions listed below are included in the total time of the Palace Museum.
- Meridian Gate (Wu Men) - Visit
- Hall of Great Harmony (Taihe Dian) - Visit the three main halls of the Outer Court where ancient emperors conducted state ceremonies.
- Palace of Heavenly Purity - Visit the three main palaces of the Inner Court, the emperor’s sleeping quarters, and the place where he managed daily affairs.
- The Imperial Garden of The Palace Museum - Visit the entertainment area for the emperor and the imperial harem.
- Gate of Divine Prowess - After completing the tour, your guide will accompany you back to your hotel by taxi or subway.
What's Included
- Private English speaking tour guide
- Entrance fee to the Forbidden City
- Public transport fee
- Private English speaking tour guide
- Entrance fee to the Forbidden City
- Public transport fee
What's Not Included
- Private driver
- Gratuities to the guide
- Meals
- Private driver
- Gratuities to the guide
- Meals
Additional Information
Join this half-day tour of Beijing, exploring Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. A knowledgeable tour guide will offer insightful commentary and guide you to the best photo opportunities, ensuring you gain the most from your visit. Enjoy a pure sightseeing experience with no shopping stops. Take advantage of our hassle-free ticket booking and…
Join this half-day tour of Beijing, exploring Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. A knowledgeable tour guide will offer insightful commentary and guide you to the best photo opportunities, ensuring you gain the most from your visit. Enjoy a pure sightseeing experience with no shopping stops. Take advantage of our hassle-free ticket booking and priority fast entry.
- Stroll through Tiananmen Square and see iconic monumental structures
- Marvel at the magnificent palaces from the dynastic era in the UNESCO-listed Forbidden City
- Tickets to the Forbidden City require a real-name reservation 7 days in advance and are easily sold out, so you are advised to book the tour as early as possible. Otherwise, international travelers will need to line up at the entrance to buy tickets.
- Please provide the correct passport information for booking the real-name tickets. Make sure to carry the same identification when travelling; otherwise, you’ll be refused entry by the scenic areas.
- Visitors from China Mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan must book at least 7 days in advance, and the name to reserve their tickets online should be in Chinese characters.
- Note: For bookings made before May 14, this is a join-in group tour.
Location
Beijing
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.9
(278 Ratings)
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Tina_q
May 4, 2026
Great half day tour - We really enjoyed the tour with our guide Helen. Tiananamen Square and the Forbidden Coty were incredible and we learned loads from Helen who was great :)
Review provided by Viator
Caroline_d
Apr 28, 2026
Michael was an excellent... - Michael was an excellent tour guide. He provided so much information about the historic context and cultural significance of the buildings and features around Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. He also gave us a recommendation for dinner that was delicious. We would highly recommend this tour.
Review provided by Viator
Luciem486
Apr 24, 2026
PERFECT!! - The experience was perfect and Helen is really available and nice
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jack_d
Apr 23, 2026
Excellent tour from Rocky - Enjoyable and informative tour by our terrific guide Rocky.
He was even kind enough to take some excellent photos.
Review provided by Viator
Ali_m
Apr 14, 2026
Excellent tour of Forbidden City - Jessica was an excellent guide. She took us to many interesting sites and explained the facts in an engaging fashion
Review provided by Viator
Sarah_f
Apr 1, 2026
Great Tour - Michael Ren was an awesome tour guide who was both enthusiastic and kind. He provided us with lots of historical knowledge and made the tour very enjoyable.
Review provided by Viator
Mark
Apr 1, 2026
Easy and fun day - Having a guide made the whole day easy. From pick up, tickets, entry, tour, lunch,+++, all day. We spent just enough time at each location that I felt good about the visit. I now understand the layout of the areas and can do longer visits next time I am in Beijing.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Priyanwadag2023
Mar 31, 2026
The easiest way to do the Forbidden City - We had a wonderful experience visiting the Forbidden City in Beijing. We didn’t want to wander aimlessly and with the language barrier, it can be difficult to fully understand what you’re seeing, so we decided to go with a tour. It was absolutely worth it.
From the very beginning our guide Helen stood out. She went out of her way to find us at the meeting point and gave clear practical instructions on what to carry so we could move through security smoothly. Somehow, she got us through incredibly fast while we saw many other groups stuck in long queues.
During the tour, she brought the Forbidden City to life by blending history with modern context in a way that felt natural and engaging. It never felt like a memorised script, which made the experience much more enjoyable.
She also made sure we had time to take photos along the way. I would have personally loved a bit more time, but given that it’s a group tour and we covered a lot of ground the pacing made sense.
What stood out the most was how she handled a small mishap on our end. I accidentally left my phone charger on the bus and Helen went completely out of her way to send it to the Great Wall (our next day stop) and leave it at a restaurant for us to collect. She was incredibly kind about it and didn’t make us feel like it was an inconvenience at all.
Overall, it was a very knowledge filled, thoughtful and enjoyable experience. I would definitely recommend this tour, and if you can, ask specifically for Helen.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Junya
May 14, 2026
Trip.com and contract tour guides suck. - I didn't need a guide, but I had no choice but to pay a high price to sign up for a guided tour in English, because it was very difficult to get into the free Tiananmen Square and book the National Palace Museum on my own. The guide didn't show up at the meeting place at all, but showed up about 20 minutes late for the meeting time. On the way, he called me once, but of course he couldn't speak the language and the call was cut off. I didn't know what to do, so I thought about it, because the meeting place was the hotel, so I asked the front desk staff at the hotel to call me at the phone number they called, and I had them talk to the guide, who assured me that they would come to the meeting place. What does it mean to have a non-speaking guide arrive late to the meeting place in a non-speaking country? It's unthinkable in Japan, and if you do this, you'll be in trouble. They were also not released near the exit of the National Palace Museum, and were directed to tip what they were doing.
Also, I was unable to go because my reservation at another facility that I had booked for no reason was cancelled the day before. If you had told me sooner, I would have gone the day before. Even if I'm only refunded the money, I might never get a chance to go again. Trip.com and the guides suck.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Shannon_a
Apr 2, 2026
Rushed, waste of money - Very rushed. Our tour guide Michael kept running off had to race to keep up. We had limited opportunities to look around. Tiananmen square he gave us an overview of why communism is great and so is Stalin's year plan. Then we had 20 miinutes to run around the square on our own while he waited for us to come back. In the Forbidden city, he kept running off and then getting annoyed that we couldn't keep up because we were trying to look around. Thankfully, we didn't include the great wall part of the tour so we left the group and had the opportunity to explore the Forbidden city on our own and redo all the areas Michael made us rush through. This tour was a waste of money. Very little was said about the places we visited.
Review provided by Viator
