Xi'an in One Day: Day Trip from Beijing by Air with Private Terracotta Warriors

It was a long day hotel pickup at 5am--return around 10:30pm but WELL worth it. I would probably recommend 2 days in Xi'an if your itinerary allows, but if not, this is a great alternative. Our tour guide, Ivy, was exceptional. She met us at the airport in Xi'an you are accompanied to the airport in Beijing and through security by another guide, in our case, Mr. Cheong, also very good, and then picked up by them after your evening flight lands in Beijing, Ivy explained the itinerary to us, first, the city wall of Xi'an, then the Muslim Quarter, then lunch delicious dumplings, The Goose Pagoda and finally the Terracotta soldiers. The city of Xi'an, particularly the Muslim Quarter was very interesting and there seemed to be a lot of other things to see there, so if your travel allows, spend more time. Ivy was incredibly knowledgable and allowed us time to browse in the shops. She gave excellent advice for avoiding aggressive vendors. I was actually surprised that this is a private tour, which is great and allows additional flexibility. Highly recommended!

Awesome Experience!!! Terracotta warriors spectacular! Must see!!!Tour guide Eric exceptional!!! Also included was a tour of Xi'an. Lunch at dumpling place was delicious. Totally recommend.

Let me begin by saying that my tour guide, Lily, was absolutely wonderful and I was so pleased with the sites we visited. Lily had a broad depth of experience in leading this tour and answered every question competently and with wonderful command of the English language. First the positive things. We began the tour with a visit to the Xi'an city wall and walked some distance on it. That was a delightful experience. This was followed by a visit to the Muslim quarter and a sampling of the sites and smells of this unique shopping and dining area. The lunch as a special and renowned dumpling restaurant was amazing. My only regret was having to eat alone rather that with the tour guide, Lily and the driver. I felt uncomfortable in the restaurant sitting at a table by myself while the guide sat with the driver at another table. But by far the most amazing experience were the Terra Cotta Warriors. This ranks among the top ten sites I have visited around the world and the reason I visited Xi'an. But now for my regrets and reason for only giving this tour a three star. When I booked this tour it was quite expensive--about 800. It was confirmed and the arrangements were made. But then I was notified by the Company that if I wanted to take the tour I had to come up with an additional 200 in cash and pay the Beijing guide who basically met me at the hotel and took me to the airport. I believe that if a tour is booked and confirmed at a certain price, companies should not be allowed to charge an additional fee and want if paid in cash. There seems to be something strange about this practice. I kept the e-mail from the company telling me to bring the 200 and give it to the Beijing guide at pick-up time. Viator needs to look into this practice. I paid the money because visiting the Terra Cotta Warriors was at the top of my list of things to visit in China. The second thing that was disturbing was that the tour requires that flying from Beijing to Xi'an and back. The return flight was at 8:30 p.m. but the tour ended about 5 p.m. with a drop off at the airport. Since there was no luggage and a person could basically walk on the plane, arrival at the airport at 6:30 or 7 would have been plenty of time instead of sitting for more than 3 hours in the airport with nothing to do. That additional hour or hour and a half could have been spent visiting the excellent museum and displays at the Terra Cotta Warriors site but instead I was rushed right past the museum. So I thought there were at least a couple of wasted hours on this tour siting in waiting rooms. As I said the tour is costly--with the 200 it was 1000 for the day trip. And the trip was worth it and Lily was a great guide! But if a person is paying that much money, he or she would like to feel like they are getting the most out of the experience and not just sitting and waiting for hours.

We had a great one day tour hitting the highlights of Xi'an and the Terracotta Warriors! Our guide Sally was wonderful! Terrific English, extremely knowledgeable,and a delight to spend the day with. The logistics were easy with an early pick up at the hotel with a guide who helped acquire boarding passes in the airport and directed us to security, Sally met us at the airport in Xi'an and at the end of the day similarly navigated the airport to get boarding passes back to Beijing and directed us to security. It was a very long day but totally worth it to see Xi'an. One of my favorite days in an overall amazing week in China!

Great tour. It did exactly what I needed it to -- brought me from Beijing to the Terracotta Warriors and back in one day. The Warriors are awe-inspiring and worth the visit. It is a very very long day pick up at 5am and back to my hotel at 2:30am but that was due to a delayed return flight -- I was due back at midnight. The tour includes the Warriors, a visit to the Palace of Thanksgiving, a trip to the City Walls and a museum stop. I wouldn't have minded cutting off the city wall and the museum at the end to catch an earlier flight home as I was primarily interested in the Terracotta Warriors. Still, great day with an interesting guide.

It was worth every penny. To actually see the Terracotta Warriors and so the beauty of them was great. The flights and pickup were easy. They contacted us about a week before our trip to China to see if we needed anything or had any requests.