/
China
/
Beijing
/
Tours & Activities
/
Beijing by Bus: Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace
1 day
Instant confirmation
About this activity
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Pass By: Tiananmen Square (Tiananmen Guangchang), West Changan Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100006 China
Our English-speaking guide will pick you up at your hotel lobby between 6:30 am and 7:30 am depending on on the location of your hotel. The exact time will be informed by your guide a day before the tour starts, normally after 6:00 pm, by a phone call to your hotel.
The tour starts at the northern side of Tiananmen Square, one of the symbols of Beijing. Here you can see two pairs of 600 years old stone lions, the characteristic ornamental columns, an outer golden water bridge and several other decorations that the guide will explain. The square is one of the biggest on the world, so from the distance, you will be able to see the National Flag Pole, the Monument to the People's Hero, the Chairman Mao Zedong Memorial Hall, the Great Hall of People, and the National Museum.
Stop At: Forbidden City-The Palace Museum, No.4 Jingshanqian Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100009 China
Then you will proceed to visit the Forbidden City, the largest and best-preserved ancient imperial palaces group in China, with 500 years of history. Here you will learn about the history of this sprawling World Heritage–listed complex, where Ming and Qing emperors once lived and ruled in opulence. Take in some of the 1,000 rooms and 800 buildings, and marvel at the exquisite luxury of imperial life.
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
Stop At: Temple of Heaven, Tiantan Road, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100050 China
On the way to Temple of Heaven, you will have a chance to visit the Chinese traditional medicine culture at a specialized hospital. The Temple of Heaven was a sacrificial complex for annual harvesting ceremonies during both the Ming and the Qing Dynasties. Its surrounding park is vast and also offers the opportunity to join in or watch locals doing their exercises, dancing or to just go for a pleasant stroll.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Summer Palace (Yiheyuan), No.19 Xinjian Gongmen Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100080 China
After a traditional Chinese cuisine lunch in local restaurant, you will enjoy a short visit to a Pearl Market where you can buy souvenirs for your love ones. Then, you will visit the Summer Palace, one of Beijing’s most popular landmarks and one of the best examples of an imperial gardens in China. The site, which covers a total of 1.8 miles and incorporates a large lake within it's boundaries, has long been a royal garden and was considerably enlarged during the reign of Empress Dowager Cixi. The Empress effectively controlled China for 47 years between 1861 and 1908.
Once this last visit is finished, we will go back to your hotels.
Duration: 1 hour
Read more
Show less
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Pass By: Tiananmen Square (Tiananmen Guangchang), West Changan Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100006 China
Our English-speaking guide will pick you up at your hotel lobby between 6:30 am and 7:30 am depending on on the location of your hotel. The exact time will be informed by your guide a day before the tour starts, normally after 6:00 pm, by a phone call to your hotel.
The tour starts at the northern side of Tiananmen Square, one of the symbols of Beijing. Here you can see two pairs of 600 years old stone lions, the characteristic ornamental columns, an outer golden water bridge and several other decorations that the guide will explain. The square is one of the biggest on the world, so from the distance, you will be able to see the National Flag Pole, the Monument to the People's Hero, the Chairman Mao Zedong Memorial Hall, the Great Hall of People, and the National Museum.
Stop At: Forbidden City-The Palace Museum, No.4 Jingshanqian Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100009 China
Then you will proceed to visit the Forbidden City, the largest and best-preserved ancient imperial palaces group in China, with 500 years of history. Here you will learn about the history of this sprawling World Heritage–listed complex, where Ming and Qing emperors once lived and ruled in opulence. Take in some of the 1,000 rooms and 800 buildings, and marvel at the exquisite luxury of imperial life.
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
Stop At: Temple of Heaven, Tiantan Road, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100050 China
On the way to Temple of Heaven, you will have a chance to visit the Chinese traditional medicine culture at a specialized hospital. The Temple of Heaven was a sacrificial complex for annual harvesting ceremonies during both the Ming and the Qing Dynasties. Its surrounding park is vast and also offers the opportunity to join in or watch locals doing their exercises, dancing or to just go for a pleasant stroll.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Summer Palace (Yiheyuan), No.19 Xinjian Gongmen Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100080 China
After a traditional Chinese cuisine lunch in local restaurant, you will enjoy a short visit to a Pearl Market where you can buy souvenirs for your love ones. Then, you will visit the Summer Palace, one of Beijing’s most popular landmarks and one of the best examples of an imperial gardens in China. The site, which covers a total of 1.8 miles and incorporates a large lake within it's boundaries, has long been a royal garden and was considerably enlarged during the reign of Empress Dowager Cixi. The Empress effectively controlled China for 47 years between 1861 and 1908.
Once this last visit is finished, we will go back to your hotels.
Duration: 1 hour
Included
- Hotel Pick-up and drop-off
- Air-conditioned tour coach
- Professional and friendly guide
- Traditional Chinese cuisine lunch
- Entry/Admission - Forbidden City-The Palace Museum
- Entry/Admission - Temple of Heaven
- Entry/Admission - Summer Palace (Yiheyuan)
Not included
- Tips to the guide and driver (Optional)
- Own expenses
- Drinks
Additional
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- This is a bus tour. The hotel pick-up time will be informed by your guide a day before the tour starts (normally after 6:00 pm) by a phone call. If you didn't get any information about the hotel pick-up time after 10:00 pm the day before the tour, please call the emergency number and they will inform you
- Hotel must be in Beijing city centre (within the third ring road). If you stay in an apartment block, we will find a nearest hotel as your pickup point. If you stay in a hutong hotel in a narrow lane, please walk a few steps and wait for our bus on a main street.
- Please note that depending on traffic conditions, the return time may be later than stated
- All passports names and numbers are required when booking to book the Forbidden City tickets in advance
- Minimum age is 2 years
- Dress in comfortable shoes
Features
Tourism
95%
Cultural
85%
Reviews
Collections
This experience is part of these collections
You may also like
See all 39 Collections
Click to discover other experiences
See all
Collections
Mutianyu Great Wall
435 Activities
Collections
Huanghuacheng Great Wall
34 Activities
Collections
JuYongGuan Great Wall
17 Activities
Collections
Simatai Great Wall
33 Activities
Collections
Tombs
94 Activities
Collections
Beijing Classic
22 Activities
Collections
Historic Beijing
6 Activities
Collections
Family & Kids
65 Activities
Collections
By Night
101 Activities
Collections
Acrobatic Show
46 Activities
Tour guide reached out to me day before and prompltly showed up at 7 AM. There is lot of walking involved in this tour. However, we covered all the landmarks listed (except Tiananmen Square which we saw from forbidden city entrance) Guide explained the stuff well, Foot massage stop after long walk was worth(20 RMB) Lunch was in a good restaurant with lot of vegetarian choices. Overall a pleasant experiance.
Our tour guide had good knowledge of the general concepts of what the attractions were about, but was not too specific. When we went to the foot massage / medicine gallery, the employees tried to scam my tour group by refusing to let us know what the names of medicines were that they were offering, there were no pictures of the medicine they were offering, and they wanted to charge 4 times the actual price of equivalent Chinese medicines. Also, my tour group was rushed through the Forbidden City because the tour guide didn't want to pay to park the bus although she could have parked it in the parking lot, which would have prevented my group from having to dodge a lot of traffic. In addition, our tour guide said if you don't like her, then find another tour guide, which was very rude. Our tour guide made excuses for her poor insight, had a horrible attitude, and even forgot about people to the point of telling the bus driver to pull away and leave people behind. Not all tickets were included, although the tour was specified on Viator as having everything included except for tips. The nickeling and diming was so bad that even soft drinks that were supposed to be included for lunch in the original fee was not included. All in all, we had to spend around 50 dollars per person on tickets and other things that should have been included in the original tour fee. Finally, at the Summer Palace, the tour guide pushed us to go to the island but discouraged us from going up the steps to the temple itself because she claimed we didn't have time to and there was nothing interesting there, although we had plenty of time to and a great view since we actually went up to the temple despite her discouraging it. Right before we left the Summer Palace, everyone in the group was highly irritated. Linda is not a good tour guide - hopefully you do not have her as your guide if you take this tour in the future! Nevertheless, the attractions themselves were great!