Half-Day Beijing Walking Tour of the Forbidden City Heritage Discovery | 4 hours

15 Reviews | Beijing
Likely To Sell Out
Select Date and Travelers
You can select up to 15 travelers in total.
Adult (12-100) Minimum: 1, Maximum: 15
2
Child (2-11) Minimum: 0, Maximum: 15
0
Infant (0-1) Minimum: 0, Maximum: 15
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Free Cancellation For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Forbidden City Walking Tour
2 Adults x $166.00
$332.00
Approx Total
$332.00
No hotel pickup: Visit Tian'anmen Square, Forbidden City, and Jingshan Park, have a panoramic view of entire imperial palaces.

Inclusions / Exclusions

  • Mobile ticket
  • Offered in: English
  • Bottled water
  • Entrance fees to the Forbidden City and Jingshan Park.
  • Friendly and enthusiastic English-speaking tour guide service.
  • Gratuities (recommended).
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off service.
  • Personal expenses.

Overview

This is the exclusive Forbidden City tour where you can go deeply into the Chinese History with Expert “Professor” Guide. You won’t miss any area that a common 2 hours tour does. You'll see mythical historic places with no rush at all, and getting the full picture with comprehensive explanations. Skip the lines at the Forbidden City as VIP guests. In this 600-year-old building complex with 9,999½ forbidden imperial chambers, today NOWHERE is closed and NO secret is kept from you.

Meeting points

Take a taxi or metro, get off at Qianmen Subway Station and walk out from Exit A. The tour guide will await you there with holding the sign of Trippest.

End point

Open in Google Maps

East gate of Jingshan Park.

Itinerary

  • Tiananmen Square (Tiananmen Guangchang)

    Time: 8:30-9:15 You will visit the Tian'anmen Square - the largest urban square in the world where you can see the famous portrait of Chairman Mao hanging on the red wall. You can take pictures and walk around at the square. You guide will give you a background information of this famous square.

    45 minutes

  • Forbidden City-The Palace Museum

    Time: 9:15-11:45 The Forbidden City is the largest imperial palace in the world, home to 24 emperors in the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) Dynasties. It was built in 1420, about 70 years before Columbus discovered America and 144 years before the birth of William Shakespeare.You'll meet your Forbidden City presenter at the East Flower Gate for a brief introduction and your presenter will show you about 19 spots in the Forbidden City to deeply discover the secrets of the Forbidden City. Instead of seeing duplicated palaces, listening to textbook recitals, and routine guide presentations, we attempt to bring the emperors’ lives to life for you through fascinating stories with original iPad pictures and videos. We will take you to see places that you would never find by yourself. In this 600-year-old building complex with 9,999½ forbidden imperial chambers, today NOWHERE is closed and NO secret is kept from you. This is more like time travel, not just a tour.

    2 hours 30 minutes

  • Jingshan Park

    Time: 11:45-12:30 Jingshan Park is in front of the Forbidden City. It is said to be the best position to get a panoramic view of the Forbidden City. Definitely not to be missed, Jingshan Park is located on the central axis of Beijing and has many historic buildings symmetrically located on both sides. You will see the Drum and Bell Tower to the north while the Forbidden City and Tian'anmen Square can be seen to the south.

    40 minutes

Sample Menu

Additional Info

  • Wheelchair accessible
  • Public transportation options are available nearby
  • Suitable for all physical fitness levels
  • You need to arrange the transportation to meeting place on your own.
  • You will receive details about tour guide information, meeting time and place in your voucher the day before. And the tour guide will also call you through hotel or leave a message for you the night before tour.
  • Tian'anmen Square could be enforced martial law due to government activities temporarily, which we can NOT be informed in advance. The tour guide may adjust the itinerary according to the situation.
  • A moderate amount of walking is involved. Comfortable walking shoes are recommended.
  • If your booking has more than 8 people, all of you will be upgraded to a private VIP group without other participants.
  • The Forbidden City opens for booking 7 days in advance, and could be sold out very soon during peak season. For the last-minute booking, we will contact you for a backup plan if ticket is sold out.

Free Cancellation

June 19100% refund
June 20No refund

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

  • For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
  • If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
  • Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
  • Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
  • This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews

4.9

15 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews
  • 5 stars
    14
  • 4 stars
    0
  • 3 stars
    1
  • 2 stars
    0
  • 1 star
    0

Reviews by TravelOne travelers

Showing 1-5 of 14 reviews with 5 stars

Walking tour of Forbidden City

Published on Jan, 2020

We did a 4 hour tour with Cactus, who was a great tour guide, with loads of information while also keeping our two children engaged and interested. Nothing was too much, and she helped us with restaurant recommendations for the evening. A big thanks to Cactus for making our first day in China a big success!

Wonderful experience

Published on Dec, 2019

It was a very cold Beijing winter but our tour guide, Cactus made it a very memorable experience. She was very insightful and knowledgeable in regard to the complicated Chinese Dynasties. Cactus was very helpful and empathetic to our needs. She was fluent and articulated. Getting to the meeting point was a breeze via the well organised Beijing Metro without the traffic jam. We would recommend the tour as a highlight to the city of Beijing.

Don’t go to the Forbidden City without a guide!

Published on Dec, 2019

I had no idea how vast the Forbidden City is! Wow. It’s overwhelming in its size. Without our guide, William, we would have been wandering around. He knew exactly where to go. And shared amazing historical insight. It helped my children (11,12) really embrace it! This is not just “one more temple or pagoda” as your kids might say. This was just incredible. Thanks, William! We will definitely be recommending you and this tour to our friends.

Excellent tour for first-timers

Published on Nov, 2019

A great way to discover the highlights of the Forbidden City and immediate vicinity. Visiting in a small group is really enjoyable (so many big crowds around). Our tour guide was super knowledgeable, well prepared and able to also answer the more unconventional questions in very good English. He also directed us to a nearby Hutong to have lunch after the tour. Strongly recommended! Thank you for an amazing visit.

Great Tour with Susie

Published on Oct, 2019

We truly enjoyed the time with our guide Susie. She was very knowledgeable, but did not overwhelm us with details - it was just the right amount of information. Susie's command of English was very good, something I'm afraid to say still isn't too common throughout China. After the tour, Susie was kind enough to share some tips on where to go for lunch, where to buy tea and what to do on our own in the afternoon. I personally don't like "one day - visit as many things as possible" tours, so this half-day tour was great as it left us the opportunity to stroll around Beihai park in the afternoon. I would definitely recommend this tour!

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