Beijing with Gracie
Plan Beijing

Build your first Beijing plan.

Answer four questions and get a day-by-day starting plan, put together from the advice on this site. Save the link, print it, then bend it to your own taste.

Pink evening sky over the Beijing CBD skyline, seen from a rooftop terrace

Four questions

How many days in Beijing?
What matters most? Pick any.
Your pace
Travelling with children or older family members?

How I'd think about it

  1. One anchor sight per day. Distances are big and each sight takes longer than you expect. The Forbidden City fills three or four hours, and Badaling by train is most of a day once you count getting there and back. Put lighter stops around the anchor. You'll see more this way, not less.
  2. Book the Tiananmen cluster first, then build the days around it. The Square, the Gate Tower, the Forbidden City and the National Museum all need online reservations, mostly released seven days ahead. Release times.
  3. Stay near a transfer station. If you can't decide, Chongwenmen. If you want a courtyard night, Ping'anli. If the Great Wall matters most, Xizhimen, with the train to Badaling downstairs. The six areas.
  4. Avoid the national holidays, and if you're coming in July or August, expect crowds and heat and start your days early.
  5. With four days or more, leave one loose. Hutongs, Shichahai, the Drum Tower area, a market, a long lunch. It's usually the day people remember.