Beijing: Mutianyu Great Wall & Summer Palace Small Group

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/10

Duration9h

GroupUp to 9

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Two of Beijing's biggest draws in one day, without the crowds at Mutianyu

You're picked up from your Beijing hotel, driven to Mutianyu Great Wall before the crowds arrive, given two hours to walk and optional cable car or toboggan access, fed lunch at a local restaurant, then taken to Summer Palace for the palace tour and optional imperial ferry boat ride on Kunming Lake. The whole day is guided in English, transport and entry are handled, and you're back by evening.

Step-by-step itinerary

Mutianyu Great Wall and Summer Palace Tour

Drive early to Mutianyu Great Wall
Take ski-lift up the Wall
Hike on the Great Wall for 2 hours
Take toboggan slide down the hill
Have lunch before or after Wall visit
Drive past Olympic Stadium - Bird Nest
Visit Summer Palace Palace Area
Walk through longest Corridor with paintings
Take Imperial Ferry Boat on Kunming Lake

The Experience

What if you could skip the queues at the Great Wall and still have time to float across an imperial lake the same afternoon? That's the shape of this day. You start early at Mutianyu, the section most visitors miss because it's further out — which is exactly why it stays quieter. The VIP pass lets you drive straight to the wall instead of waiting for a shuttle bus, then you've got two hours to walk the restored sections. If the cable car and toboggan appeal to you, they're there; if you'd rather climb, that works too. Lunch happens whenever fits your pace — before or after the wall — at a family-style local restaurant with real Beijing cooking, not tourist versions.

After Mutianyu, you pass the Bird Nest stadium (the Olympic one from 2008) on the drive south. The stadium's closed to visitors, so you photograph it from the car and keep moving. Then comes the Summer Palace, which is where the imperial family actually spent their summers to escape the heat. You walk through the Palace Area first to see how they lived, then take the longest painted corridor in the world — it's a real thing, not marketing — and if the weather allows, you board an imperial ferry boat on Kunming Lake. That boat ride is the part people remember. The lake's massive, the palace sits above it, and you get the whole thing from the water instead of from the paths everyone else uses. The whole tour runs about nine hours with the drive time built in.

Groups stay under nine people, which changes how the day feels. Your guide speaks English and is a licensed Beijing guide, not a translator. Hotel pickup happens from anywhere inside the 2nd ring road, so if you're staying central, they come to you. Bottled water's included, the van's air-conditioned, and you don't arrange tickets or transport yourself — that's the point. The cable car up Mutianyu is optional; if you want the gondola instead, you can swap it in advance with your passport number. The toboggan slide down is free if you take the cable car up, though it sometimes closes if the line gets too long or the weather turns.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel pickup and drop-off from anywhere in Beijing's 2nd ring road, an English-speaking licensed guide, entry to Mutianyu Great Wall and Summer Palace, lunch at a family-style local restaurant, bottled water throughout the day, and air-conditioned transport.
Cable car access up the Great Wall is optional; the toboggan slide down is free if you take the cable car.
The imperial ferry boat on Kunming Lake is included if weather permits.

Good to know

Moderate physical levelStroller friendlyPublic transport nearbyNot for heart conditionsNot for back problemsInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Addiction Travel

Is this one for you?Book this if you want the two most visited Beijing attractions in a single day without arranging tickets, transport, or timing yourself — the small group size and early start at Mutianyu are what keep the crowds manageable and fit both sites into one afternoon.