Five Days in Beijing: A Deep Itinerary With Routes and Costs

What Five Days Can and Cannot Cover

Five days in Beijing is a comfortable amount of time. It covers the Palace Museum and Tiananmen, one Great Wall section with the Ming Tombs, the Summer Palace and Yuanmingyuan, the Temple of Heaven, a hutong neighbourhood, the 798 art district and the Olympic Park, plus two or three meals worth remembering. What it does not cover is everything, and pretending otherwise is how people end up exhausted in a taxi at nine at night.

The city works in layers. The historic core around the central axis holds the palaces, squares and temples. The northwest holds the imperial gardens and the university district. The northeast holds the art district and the embassies. The Great Wall sits beyond the mountains to the north. Grouping each day by geography saves hours of travel and turns a list of sights into a route.

This plan assumes decent weather and average energy. It builds in early starts on the two days that need them and slower afternoons elsewhere. Treat the timings as a frame rather than a timetable; if a courtyard holds your attention for an extra hour, that is the trip working as intended.

Before You Arrive: Bookings, Cards and Practicalities

The Palace Museum, the National Museum, the Temple of Heaven halls and the Great Wall all use real-name reservation. Tickets release days or weeks in advance and morning slots go first, so book the moment your dates are fixed. You will need your passport number, and you will need the passport itself at the gate.

• Palace Museum: book online, closed on Mondays, passport required
• Great Wall: choose Badaling or Mutianyu, book the timed slot early
• National Museum: free but reservation only, queues at security
• Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven: book the combined ticket for halls
• Universities: separate reservation required for campus entry

Get a transport card or set up mobile payment before you land, since both the subway and most buses accept them and cash is increasingly awkward. Download a map app that works offline and a ride-hailing app with an English interface. Buy a local data plan at the airport, because almost everything, from museum tickets to restaurant queues, runs through a phone.

Day One: Tiananmen Square and the Palace Museum

Start at 8:30 on the square, which is at its calmest before the tour groups arrive. Security screening takes fifteen minutes, so carry your passport and keep bags light. The square itself is vast and slightly overwhelming; the Monument to the People's Heroes and the Great Hall give it scale, and the view north towards the Meridian Gate sets up the day.

Enter the Palace Museum at 9:00 through the Meridian Gate and walk the central axis: the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Preserving Harmony, the inner courts and the imperial garden. The side halls are quieter and often more interesting, with ceramics, clocks and painting collections that reward a slower pace. Allow four hours, including a break.

Two practical notes. Exit is through the Gate of Divine Prowess at the north, so do not plan to return south. And rent the audio guide or join a small guided group for the first hour, because the architecture makes far more sense once someone explains the sequence of gates and courtyards.

Day One Afternoon: Jingshan, Beihai and Qianmen

Cross the road to Jingshan Park and climb the short path to the Wanchun Pavilion, where the whole golden roofscape of the palace spreads out below. It takes twenty minutes and gives you the photograph that no interior courtyard can. From there, walk west to Beihai Park for the White Dagoba, the Nine Dragon Screen and a boat on the lake if the season allows.

By late afternoon, head south by taxi to Qianmen and Dashilan, the old commercial quarter. The street is restored and busy, but the side alleys still hold shophouses, tea shops and the smell of roasting duck. Eat dinner here: roast duck at one of the established houses, or shaomai and noodles at an old shop on the main street.

Finish with a slow walk along the restored Qianmen street and an early night. Day two starts before dawn, and the difference between leaving at six thirty and eight is the difference between a quiet wall and a crowded one.

Day Two: Badaling and the Ming Tombs

Leave at 7:00 by S2 train, by bus 877 from Deshengmen or by the high-speed line from Beijing North, all of which reach the wall in twenty to ninety minutes depending on the option. Arrive at Badaling by 9:00, take the cable car up if you want to save your legs, and walk the north line towards North Tower Eight, the stretch known as Hero Slope.

Two and a half hours on the wall is enough for most people, including photographs and a rest at a tower. Come down by toboggan if the queue is short, which turns the descent into part of the day rather than a chore. Eat a quick lunch at the base area and be back in the car by 13:30.

The Ming Tombs are thirty minutes away by road. Dingling, the underground palace of the Wanli Emperor, is the one most visitors see, and an hour there explains the burial system better than any display board. Return to the city by 17:30, and eat near your hotel rather than planning a long evening.

Day Three: Summer Palace, Yuanmingyuan and the Campus District

Enter the Summer Palace at the north gate at 8:30 and walk down through Suzhou Street, then climb Longevity Hill to the Tower of Buddhist Incense. The long corridor along the lake is the set piece, and a boat across Kunming Lake saves a long walk while giving you the pavilions from the water. Allow three and a half hours.

After lunch, Yuanmingyuan is a short taxi ride away. The ruins of the European palaces are the emotional centre of the site, and the lakes and islands to the north are peaceful after the crowds. An hour and a half is enough for the main ruins, two hours if you walk the full circuit.

Late afternoon suits a campus walk at Peking or Tsinghua University, both of which need advance booking and a passport. If neither is available, the Zhongguancun area nearby offers bookshops, coffee and an easy dinner, and the subway back to the centre is direct.

Day Four: Temple of Heaven, 798 and Sanlitun

Arrive at the Temple of Heaven at 8:30, when the park is full of residents dancing, doing taichi and playing cards, which is half the reason to come. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the Echo Wall and the Circular Mound Altar make up the ritual route, and the surrounding cypress grove is the quietest place in central Beijing.

After lunch, take a taxi east to the 798 Art District for the afternoon. The former electronics factories now hold galleries, design shops and large-scale sculpture, and the industrial bones of the buildings are as interesting as the art. Two hours is enough unless a specific exhibition holds you.

Evenings in Sanlitun are lively without being demanding: Taikoo Li for shopping, the bar street for a drink, and a wide choice of Sichuan, Japanese, Italian and Yunnan restaurants. Book ahead on weekends, and take a taxi home rather than wrestling with the subway at closing time.

Day Five: Hutongs, a Museum and the Olympic Park

Spend the morning around Nanluoguxiang and Shichahai. Arrive by 9:00, before the snack stalls open in force, and walk the side lanes rather than the main street: Mao'er Hutong, Ju'er Hutong and the quieter courtyards behind the Drum Tower. A pedicab tour is touristy but genuinely useful for covering ground and hearing a local explanation of courtyard life.

After lunch, choose one museum. The National Museum carries the ancient China galleries and needs a reservation but no ticket; the Capital Museum covers Beijing's own history in a calmer setting. Two hours is realistic for either, and both are air-conditioned, which matters in July and August.

Finish at the Olympic Park at dusk, when the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube light up and the plaza fills with families. It is a relaxed way to close the trip, and the subway back to the centre runs late. Pack before bed rather than in the morning.

Where to Eat Across the Five Days

Beijing rewards eating by district. Near Qianmen, roast duck and old-style noodles; around Shichahai, courtyard restaurants and sweet rice cakes; in Sanlitun, everything; near the Summer Palace, simple farmhouse cooking. Book the famous duck houses a day ahead, and expect to queue at the popular noodle shops at lunch.

• Roast duck: reserve a table, order half a bird for two people
• Zhajiangmian, noodles with soybean paste: cheap, filling, everywhere
• Hotpot: mutton in copper pots, ideal in cold weather
• Jianbing and baozi: breakfast from a street stall, a few yuan
• Douzhi and jiaoquan: an acquired taste, worth trying once
• Gui Street, Dongzhimen: crayfish and grilled fish until late

Vegetarians will find Buddhist restaurants near the temples and plenty of tofu dishes, though the concept is less established than in some cities. Carry snacks for long sightseeing days, since museum cafes close early and the walk between the palace and Jingshan has few options.

Pacing, Transport and the Daily Rhythm

Two long days, two medium days and one gentle day is the rhythm that works. Day two, the wall, is the hardest; day one is long but flat. Days three and four can start later, and day five should end early enough that packing is not a midnight job.

The subway is the quickest way across the city and costs a few yuan per ride. Lines 1, 2, 4, 6 and 10 cover most of this itinerary, and stations have English signage. Taxis are cheap for short hops and after dark, but traffic between five and seven can double a journey, so use the metro for anything over three stops at that hour.

Walking distances are the hidden cost. The Palace Museum alone is three to four kilometres, the Summer Palace more, and the wall is all steps. Comfortable shoes are non-negotiable, and a midday rest at the hotel from one to three is the single most effective way to keep energy up across five days.

Budget for Five Days

Excluding flights, a mid-range independent trip runs about 2,000 to 3,800 yuan per person. Accommodation is the variable that moves most, from hostel beds to courtyard hotels, and the wall day adds transport and lift costs.

• Attraction tickets: around 300 yuan
• Local transport for five days: around 150 yuan
• Food: 500 to 800 yuan
• Four nights accommodation: 800 to 2,000 yuan
• Shopping and extras: 200 to 500 yuan
• Typical total: 2,000 to 3,800 yuan per person

Museum entry is often free with booking, which offsets the paid halls. Keep a small cash reserve for markets and old shops, confirm current ticket prices on official channels, and remember that holiday weeks raise hotel rates well above these ranges.

Adjusting the Plan for Different Travellers

Families should swap one museum for the zoo and add a rest afternoon, replacing the Great Wall climb with the Mutianyu cable car and toboggan. Culture-focused visitors can drop 798 and add the Lama Temple and Prince Gong's Mansion, plus an evening of Peking opera or a teahouse performance.

Photographers should reverse the light: Jingshan at sunrise, the wall in late afternoon, the hutongs in early morning when the lanes are empty and the light rakes across the grey bricks. Anyone travelling in July or August should move the outdoor hours to the morning and keep the afternoons indoors.

If the group includes people with limited mobility, the flat routes around the Temple of Heaven and Beihai work well, and the wall can be seen from the lower plaza without climbing. Adjusting one element usually fixes the whole day.

Booking a Guided Version

This itinerary works independently, with a metro card, a phone and a little patience. Some travellers prefer a guided version with a vehicle, timed tickets and an English-speaking guide who can rearrange the day when it rains. Beijing Youtianxia International Travel Service runs five-day programmes built on this structure and can shift the wall day to catch better weather.

Ask what is included, whether lunches are set menus, how large the group is, and whether the guide accompanies you inside the sites or only drops you at the gate. Those answers tell you more about the value than the headline price.

Reservation Windows and Daily Ticket Releases

Five days only works if the bookings are locked before you land. The Palace Museum releases timed slots about a week ahead and shuts on Mondays, so a Tuesday start keeps every day available. The National Museum is free but demands a separate reservation, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace sell a basic and a combined hall ticket, and the Great Wall section you choose issues its own timed entry. Each site asks for a passport number, and passport checks at the gate are strict. Set a reminder for the release hour, because morning slots for the palace vanish quickest and the afternoon window leaves you walking the halls in harsh light, and the freshest crowds will already have moved on.

Treat the reservations as a chain rather than separate errands. Book the Great Wall for the day the weather looks steadiest, keep the palace morning clear of any other fixed booking, and leave one afternoon deliberately empty as a buffer for a delayed train or a slow museum. Refund rules differ: most sites allow cancellation up to a day before, but the palace refunds only within a set window, so read the notice before you confirm. University campuses need their own visitor pass and close to tourists on some weekdays. Save every confirmation as a screenshot and keep the passport numbers in one note, since rebooking on the spot is rarely possible during holidays, so keep one flexible afternoon spare for a slip.

Metro Hops, Exits and the Transfer Rhythm

The metro is the spine of the plan. Line 1 links Tiananmen East and West to the central axis, Line 2 loops the old city and reaches Qianmen and Jishuitan, and Line 4 runs north to the Summer Palace and Yuanmingyuan, where the station sits a short walk from the east gate. For the Olympic Park use Line 8, and for the 798 art district take Line 14 to Jiangtai then a short taxi. Allow fifteen minutes for a same-station transfer on the older lines, because some interchanges involve long corridors and stairs. Buy a stored-value card or load a mobile transit code on day one and top it up as you go, and check the balance before a long cross-city ride.

The exit you pick decides how much you walk. At Tiananmen East head for the exit facing the square rather than the one beside the shopping street. At the Summer Palace the Line 4 exit nearest the north gate suits the hill and the long corridor, while the west gate exit serves the lake approach. Qianmen station puts you a few steps from the pedestrian street and the hutong lanes behind it. For the Temple of Heaven, the Line 5 exit opens closest to the east gate and the raised walkway. Check the exit letter on the platform map before climbing the stairs, because surfacing on the wrong side of a ring road can add ten minutes to every transfer, especially at ring-road interchanges.

Pacing, Gear and Swap Options When Plans Slip

Queues build in waves tied to opening hours. Palace security peaks in the first hour after the gates open, so arrive fifteen minutes early and clear the bag check before the coaches unload. The National Museum line for free tickets moves slowly at mid-morning, and the Great Wall cable car queue lengthens after ten. Build the day around one early start and one relaxed afternoon rather than two tight reservations. Weekday mornings beat weekends everywhere, and the first week of October is ideal avoided entirely unless the trip is fixed. If a queue looks hopeless, walk to a secondary gate or return after lunch, when the same hall is often nearly empty, and staff rarely object to a slow re-entry.

Pack for distance, not for fashion. Comfortable broken-in shoes, a refillable bottle, a power bank and a light rain shell cover most days, and a folded tote helps when a market stop turns into shopping. Keep a paper map or an offline copy, since signal drops inside thick palace walls. When plans slip, swap rather than squeeze: replace a crowded palace afternoon with the quieter eastern galleries, trade a wet Great Wall day for the indoor Capital Museum, or push the hutong walk to evening when lanterns make the lanes worth the detour. Older travellers and families can shorten each stop, while photographers may trade a museum for the corner tower at dusk, and families may prefer the zoo at opening.