The Great Wall and the Forbidden City both in one day?

[b0swell]

Hi,

Unfortunately I'm only going to have one full day in Beijing (arriving at Beijing airport at 3pm Saturday and leaving first thing Monday morning). Ideally we would like to see both the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, but the Great Wall is more important to us. Is there anyway to see both in the time we have, without going to a very touristy part like Badaling. Would it be possible to go to the Forbidden City first thing in the morning and still visit somewhere like Jin Shan Ling in the afternoon?

Thanks for any advice.

[chinoook]

Should be possible. If I were you I would go in the very early morning to the forbidden city (less crowded), stay there for about three hours (not much, but you will see about everthing). I would arrange a tour to the GW in advance (there are some offers here in the forum) to minimize transportation time. I probably would go to Mutianyu Great Wall since you will not have the time for a longer hike. The place is beautiful, not as crowded as Badaling.

This is not perfect but could grant you in the limited time to see both.
Your driver/guide will give you some insight and he probably will be able to find a good restaurtant for the evening (Beijing duck? Hotpot?).

-chinoook

[gaochan]

Originally Posted by chinoook

Should be possible. If I were you I would go in the very early morning to the forbidden city (less crowded), stay there for about three hours (not much, but you will see about everthing). I would arrange a tour to the GW in advance (there are some offers here in the forum) to minimize transportation time. I probably would go to Mutianyu Great Wall since you will not have the time for a longer hike. The place is beautiful, not as crowded as Badaling.

This is not perfect but could grant you in the limited time to see both.
Your driver/guide will give you some insight and he probably will be able to find a good restaurtant for the evening (Beijing duck? Hotpot?).

-chinoook

chinoook's advice was very good. Go to forbidden city in morning and start on way to Mutianyu GW at noon,enjoy food in the evening. Have a nice trip!

[PWCCA]

Originally Posted by b0swell

Hi,

Unfortunately I'm only going to have one full day in Beijing (arriving at Beijing airport at 3pm Saturday and leaving first thing Monday morning). Ideally we would like to see both the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, but the Great Wall is more important to us. Is there anyway to see both in the time we have, without going to a very touristy part like Badaling. Would it be possible to go to the Forbidden City first thing in the morning and still visit somewhere like Jin Shan Ling in the afternoon?

Thanks for any advice.

Its possible but you would be very rushed. Forbidden City itself is incredibly big and even using a full day its difficult to see it all and get the full experience. Jinshanling is quite far out of the city so most of your time would be spent travelling. I would recommend a wall section that is a bit closer if you are pushed for time... but doing both in one day would be very tiring indeed

[Kim]

It should be no problem. Arrive early at the Forbidden City to get a head start before all the tourists groups begin to invade the palace.

To see everything inside the Forbidden City you would need several days, but half a day is more than enough the get an idea of the place and see the most famous locations.

Have a car waiting for you and eat lunch in the car on the way to Mutianyu.

[Kim]

The official Forbidden City website has been updated and have some suggestion to the route trough the palace depending on how much time you have:

http://www.dpm.org.cn/English/C/C1/c3a.html

[PWCCA]

Originally Posted by Topcruise

I will come to China for Goangzho exhibition but after third period and before coming back I would like to visit some Beijing attraction specially the Forbidden City and Great wall. Could you guide me how many hours I need to be in Beijing? Can I see both of them in 1 day before my flight?

Regards,

How long will you be in the city? It is of course possible to do them both in a day but its not something that I would recommend... checking out the Forbidden city alone could take pretty much a full day if you dont skim all the good bits like most tourists do... and if you did that and did the wall too then I think the only option allowing for time would be to visit Badaling... and thats a horrible wall (IMO, lol)