Three to four days is the right length for a first trip to Beijing. Three full days covers the Forbidden City, the hutongs, the Temple of Heaven and a day on the Great Wall; a fourth day adds the Summer Palace and gives you slack for jet lag, weather and the Monday closures.
Two days is possible if you only want the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. Five days or more lets you walk a wilder stretch of wall or take a day trip, and suits travelers who like a slower pace.
Is 3 days enough for Beijing?
For the classic sights, yes. Most of what first-time visitors come for lies inside the second ring road, a short subway or taxi ride apart, and the one big trip out of town, the Great Wall, fits in a single day.
What makes three days tight is not distance but booking. The Forbidden City sells tickets only online, a week ahead, and closes on Mondays. If your three days include a Monday, or the date you want sells out, you need to reshuffle. That is the main argument for four days, especially on a first trip, when jet lag can take the edge off the first morning.
What fits in 2, 3, 4 or 5 days?
Each column is a complete plan. Start each city day early: the Forbidden City opens at 8:30, and the Temple of Heaven park at 6:00 (6:30 in winter), when local people come to exercise.
| 2 days | 3 days | 4 days | 5 days | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Forbidden City, Jingshan hill, hutongs | Forbidden City, Jingshan hill, hutongs and Drum Tower | Forbidden City, Jingshan hill, hutongs and Drum Tower | Forbidden City, Jingshan hill, hutongs and Drum Tower |
| Day 2 | Great Wall at Mutianyu; Peking duck in the evening | Great Wall at Mutianyu | Great Wall at Mutianyu | Great Wall at Mutianyu |
| Day 3 | Temple of Heaven, Qianmen, Tiananmen Square | Temple of Heaven, Qianmen, Tiananmen Square | Temple of Heaven, Qianmen, Tiananmen Square | |
| Day 4 | Summer Palace; Shichahai lakes at dusk | Summer Palace; Shichahai lakes at dusk | ||
| Day 5 | Lama Temple and National Museum, or a day trip to Tianjin or Jinshanling |
Swap the days around to suit the calendar. The order that matters is to keep the Forbidden City off Mondays and to save the Great Wall for a clear day. Our Beijing city guide describes each day in more detail and suggests where to stay.
How many days in Beijing including the Great Wall?
Count the Great Wall as a full day of its own. Mutianyu, the restored section that suits most first visits, is about 70 km from the center, 1.5 to 2 hours each way by car, and you need 3 to 4 hours there. Leave by 7:30 and you are back by late afternoon. Our Mutianyu guide covers tickets, the cable car and the toboggan.
Two ways to make the wall day easier on the rest of the plan:
- Put it on a Monday. Mutianyu opens every day, so it fills the day when the Forbidden City and the National Museum are shut.
- Go by train if you are short of time. High-speed trains from Qinghe and Beijing North reach Badaling in about 20 minutes, and the station is about 800 m from the entrance. Badaling is busier and more built-up than Mutianyu, but it can fit into half a day.
With five days or more, add a second, wilder section. Jinshanling, 2 to 3 hours’ drive northeast, has the best long walk on an open section of wall; see can you walk the Great Wall for the routes and the rules.
Do you need to book the Forbidden City in advance?
Yes, and it is the one booking that shapes the rest of the plan.
The Forbidden City. Tickets are real-name and sold online only, through the Palace Museum’s English website or its WeChat mini program. They go on sale at 20:00 Beijing time, seven days before the visit date, and there are no same-day sales at the gate. Enter your passport number exactly, and bring the same passport on the day. Summer weekends and Chinese holidays sell out fast, so book the moment your date opens. Admission is ¥60 from April to October and ¥40 from November to March. Our Forbidden City guide covers the route through the palace.
The Temple of Heaven. The park opens every day from early morning until 22:00, but the ticketed halls, including the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, are closed on Mondays except public holidays. Real-name tickets can be booked one to seven days ahead.
The Summer Palace. Open every day. Tickets cost ¥30 from April to October and ¥20 from November to March, and can be booked one to seven days ahead or bought at the gate. From November to March, the separately ticketed sights inside close on Mondays.
The National Museum of China. Free, with your passport, and closed on Mondays except on national holidays.
The pattern is simple: the big museums and the Temple of Heaven halls close on Mondays, while parks and the Great Wall stay open. Carry your passport every day, since most tickets are tied to it.
How many days in Beijing with kids?
Four days, so that no day runs too long. The Forbidden City is a long walk on hard stone with little shade, and the Summer Palace covers a large park; plan a break in the middle of each. Mutianyu is usually the day children remember, because you can ride up on the cable car and come down on the toboggan. Spread the big sights out and leave an afternoon free for a park or the lakes at Shichahai.
How many days for Beijing with Shanghai or Xi’an?
Beijing pairs naturally with Shanghai or Xi’an, both reached by fast trains of about four hours.
- Beijing and Shanghai, 7 days. Spend 3 or 4 nights in Beijing and 3 in Shanghai. The fastest trains from Beijing South to Shanghai Hongqiao take about 4 hours 18 minutes, and there are about 50 a day; see Beijing to Shanghai.
- Beijing and Xi’an, 5 or 6 days. Spend 3 or 4 nights in Beijing and 2 in Xi’an, one day for the Terracotta Army and one for the city wall and the Muslim Quarter. The fastest trains from Beijing West to Xi’an North take about 4 hours 10 minutes, with about 32 a day.
- All three, 7 to 10 days. Beijing 3 nights, Xi’an 2 and Shanghai 2 or 3, flying home from Shanghai. Our China itinerary guide lays out 7-, 10- and 14-day routes.
Book a multi-city flight into Beijing and out of Shanghai, or the reverse, so you never travel back to your starting point.
Is a 7-day Beijing itinerary too long?
Not if you like a slower pace, but most visitors get more from five days in Beijing and two somewhere else. If you do stay a week, use the extra days for the Lama Temple and the museums, a long walk at Jinshanling, and a day in Tianjin, about 35 minutes away on the fastest intercity trains from Beijing South.
If you would like the bookings, drivers and timings handled for you, a Hosted China host can plan the trip around your dates.
