Beijing 6 Day Itinerary (No Tourist Traps)
Six days means you can go back to the Great Wall a second time, on a section that isn’t full of other people’s tour groups. Everything from the five-day version stays; this just adds the repeat-visitor day most trips never get to.
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 | Forbidden City, Jingshan Park, Tiananmen Square |
| 2 | Great Wall at Mutianyu |
| 3 | Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace |
| 4 | Lama Temple, real hutongs, 798 Art District |
| 5 | Ming Tombs, Houhai |
| 6 | Great Wall at Jinshanling |
Book these before you go:
- A Mutianyu Great Wall tour with cable car on GetYourGuide for day 2.
- A Jinshanling Great Wall tour on Viator for day 6, since public transport doesn’t reach it directly.
- A hotel near Dongcheng on Agoda .
Day 1: The Imperial Core
Book Forbidden City tickets the moment your dates are locked, they release at 8pm Beijing time exactly seven days ahead through the official site or WeChat. ¥60 peak, ¥40 low season, actual passport required at the Meridian Gate, closed Mondays except holiday Mondays. Jingshan Park (¥2) directly after for the rooftop view. Tiananmen Square runs on its own separate reservation and its own security line. Dinner at Siji Minfu for duck done properly.
Day 2: The Great Wall
Badaling is the closest section and the busiest by a wide margin, every tour bus in the city ends up there. Mutianyu (¥45 entrance), about 90 minutes out, is well-restored with noticeably lighter crowds, cable car up (¥100 one-way, ¥140 return), toboggan down. Arrive at opening. This is the whole day once transport is counted.
Day 3: Temple of Heaven and the Real Hutongs
Temple of Heaven in the morning (¥15 park-only, ¥34 combined peak), calmer than anything from Day 1. Skip Nanluoguxiang, it’s souvenir stalls wearing a historic hutong as a costume. Wudaoying, Fangjia, or the backstreets around Houhai show you the version that still looks lived-in.
Day 4: Summer Palace and Lama Temple
Summer Palace (¥30 peak, ¥20 low) in the morning, big enough to eat a half-day easily. Lama Temple (¥25 flat) in the afternoon now requires timed-entry booking online for every visitor, reserve it a day ahead.
Day 5: Ming Tombs and Houhai
Morning: Ming Tombs (¥60 peak general admission, ¥20 low; individual tombs extra, combined roughly ¥95), no reservation needed, buy on-site. Skip the rushed combo tour that bundles it with Badaling in one exhausting day. Afternoon and evening: Houhai lakeside, paddleboats, then a walk through Wangfujing, skipping the scorpion-and-starfish skewer stalls.
Day 6: A Second Wall, Done Differently
Jinshanling, roughly two to two and a half hours out, rugged and far less rebuilt than Mutianyu, entrance ¥65 peak/¥55 low, cable car ¥60 return, with a three-to-four-hour hike and a fraction of the crowds. This is the version worth the longer drive if day 2 left you wanting more wall without more people. It doesn’t run on public transport the way Badaling does, so book a car or tour rather than trying to arrange it yourself.
Practical notes. Everything runs on the yuan, and Alipay or WeChat Pay linked to a foreign card covers nearly everything. The Beijing subway reaches every in-city stop on this itinerary. Set up and test a VPN before you fly. Watch for the tea-house invitation near Tiananmen, Wangfujing, and the Forbidden City exits. If six days still isn’t enough, our 7-day itinerary adds Qianmen, Dashilan, and the Silk Market for a slower final day.