Beijing-6-day-itinerary
Before you board your flight to Beijing, install a VPN on every device you plan to use. This is genuinely the single most practical thing you can do in preparation: Google, WhatsApp, Instagram, and most Western mapping apps are blocked in China, and you cannot download or set up a VPN once you are inside the country because VPN provider websites are themselves blocked. NordVPN and ExpressVPN both have China-compatible modes; set them up and test them before departure. With a working VPN, your trip runs smoothly. Without one, navigating a city of 22 million people using only Baidu becomes a significant daily friction.
Getting from the Airport to the City
Beijing is served by two international airports. Beijing Capital International (PEK), 28 km northeast of the city centre, is the older and more commonly used. Beijing Daxing International (PKX), 46 km south, opened in 2019 and primarily serves domestic routes and some international carriers.
From PEK, the Airport Express train costs CNY 25, departs every 10 minutes, and reaches Dongzhimen station downtown in 20 to 30 minutes. A taxi to the city centre costs CNY 110 to 180 depending on traffic and typically takes 40 to 70 minutes. From PKX, the Daxing Airport Express subway line runs to Caoqiao in 19 minutes for CNY 35. The Beijing subway now accepts contactless payments with Visa, Mastercard, Amex, JCB, and UnionPay cards directly at the turnstile, which means foreign visitors no longer need to queue for a card or have exact RMB change.
Where to Stay
For access to the main historical sights, the Dongcheng District near Wangfujing or Tiananmen is the most central. The Waldorf Astoria Beijing (Dongcheng, from CNY 1,800 per night) and The Peninsula Beijing (from CNY 2,000) represent the luxury end. Mid-range travellers are well served by the Courtyard by Marriott Beijing Downtown (from CNY 600) or the boutique guesthouses around Nanluoguxiang, where a few hutong courtyard hotels have been tastefully converted from traditional siheyuan courtyard houses.
Day 1: Arrival and the Forbidden City
Arrive, check in, and orient yourself with a walk through Wangfujing, the central shopping boulevard. In the evening it functions more as a local gathering place than a tourist strip: street food stalls, juice bars, and a small night market run along the pedestrian section.
The Forbidden City (Palace Museum) is the logical first major sight, but a practical warning: tickets are capped at 40,000 visitors per day and released seven days in advance at 8 pm Beijing time on the official Palace Museum booking site. They sell out for weekends and public holidays within minutes. If you are reading this before your trip, book your ticket the moment the seven-day window opens for the date you want to visit. Foreigners can book directly on the Palace Museum official website with a passport number. Adult entry costs CNY 60 in peak season (April to October) and CNY 40 in the off-season.
Save the Forbidden City itself for Day 2 (morning entry at 8:30 am), and spend the first afternoon on Tiananmen Square, which is free to enter and a useful orientation point for the scale of the city.
Dinner
Siji Minfu, with multiple branches across Beijing, is the most consistently praised Peking duck restaurant that is not a heritage tourist institution. It is extremely popular with local families and office groups, which means you may queue. Duck prices run CNY 200 to 300 for a full bird serving two to three people, plus sides.
Day 2: Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven
Morning at the Forbidden City. The complex covers 72 hectares and contains 980 buildings. You can walk the central axis south to north in two hours, but a thorough visit to the side halls takes four to five hours. The Treasure Gallery and Clock Collection require separate tickets (CNY 10 each) and are worth the premium.
Afternoon: Temple of Heaven
Take the subway (Line 5 to Tiantan Dongmen) to the Temple of Heaven. Entry is CNY 34 for a through ticket in peak season. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, built in 1420 and rebuilt after a lightning strike in 1889, remains structurally extraordinary: the 38-metre circular hall is held together without a single nail. Arrive by 3 pm to catch the extraordinary sight of retired Beijingers in the surrounding park playing Chinese chess, practising tai chi, singing Peking opera, and performing group calligraphy with water brushes on the stone paving. This is not a performance for tourists; it is a Tuesday afternoon.
Dinner
Donglaishun in the Wangfujing area is a century-old Beijing institution specialising in instant-boiled mutton (shuan yangrou), the northern hot-pot style where thin-sliced lamb is cooked in a clear broth at the table. Expect CNY 80 to 150 per person.
Day 3: Great Wall at Mutianyu
Mutianyu is 73 km north of Beijing, roughly 90 minutes by organised transport or taxi. Most visitors book a minibus transfer from central Beijing (around CNY 150 to 200 return including transfer) or take bus 916 from Dongzhimen bus station to Huairou town and connect by local minivan.
Mutianyu entrance fee is CNY 45. A cable car to the wall costs CNY 120 return; the toboggan slide down is CNY 55 separately and is one of the more unexpected pleasures of visiting a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The restored section at Mutianyu runs about 5.4 km with 26 watchtowers. Go as early as possible: the wall at 9 am before tour groups arrive is a completely different experience to noon when it fills with people.
Badaling is the more famous section and closer to Beijing, but it receives ten times the visitor numbers of Mutianyu and the difference in atmosphere is significant. For most independent travellers, Mutianyu is the better choice.
Day 4: Summer Palace and Olympic Park
The Summer Palace (Yiheyuan), 12 km northwest of the city centre, is a 2.9 sq km imperial garden complex built around Kunming Lake. Combined entry costs CNY 60 in peak season (April through October). Boat hire on the lake is available from the eastern boat dock for CNY 40 to 80 per hour. The Long Corridor, an 728-metre covered walkway painted with over 14,000 scenes, runs along the northern shore of the lake and is a genuinely absorbing 30-minute walk.
The easiest way to reach the Summer Palace from the city centre is Metro Line 4 to Beigong Men station, a 10-minute walk to the north gate.
Afternoon: Olympic Stadium
The Bird’s Nest (National Stadium) is 10 km east of the Summer Palace. Entry costs CNY 50 and covers access to the interior where Beijing hosted the 2008 and 2022 Olympic ceremonies. The Water Cube (National Aquatics Centre) next door, now converted to a curling venue for the 2022 Winter Games, charges a separate CNY 30 admission. Neither is a must-see unless you have a particular interest in sports architecture; they work better as a combined half-afternoon than a full day.
Day 5: Hutongs, Lama Temple, and Local Beijing
Beijing’s hutongs are the narrow lane networks of the old city, most concentrated in the Dongcheng and Xicheng districts. Nanluoguxiang (Drum Tower area) is the most accessible entry point: a 787-metre pedestrian lane with cafes, vintage shops, and small art spaces, flanked by eight residential side alleys. The side alleys, particularly Mao’er Hutong and Juer Hutong, have a quiet, genuinely inhabited character. Most shops open after 11 am; plan for late morning.
Lama Temple (Yonghe Temple)
Metro Line 2 or 5 to Yonghegong. Entry is CNY 25, which includes a set of incense sticks. The temple complex is active Tibetan Buddhist, so monks conduct daily rituals in the main halls. The giant sandalwood Maitreya Buddha in the Wanfu Pavilion, carved from a single tree, stands 18 metres high and is one of the more arresting interior spaces in Beijing.
Dinner
Beixinqiao area, just south of the Lama Temple, has a dense cluster of local restaurants on Guijie (Ghost Street), a block-long stretch known for late-night eating. Malatang (customisable spicy broth) and crayfish restaurants here run until 2 or 3 am and serve as the Beijing equivalent of a late-night supper street.
Day 6: Markets, Qianmen, and Departure
Spend the morning at Panjiayuan Antiques Market (Dabeiyao, open Saturdays and Sundays from 4:30 am, weekdays from 8:30 am). Even if you are not buying, it is one of the best people-watching markets in Asia: antique furniture, Cultural Revolution memorabilia, jade, folk art, and counterfeit ceramics are all laid out across two hectares of stalls. The serious dealers arrive at dawn. By mid-morning, the market is in full swing.
Qianmen pedestrian street, immediately south of Tiananmen Square, runs through the old commercial quarter and has a mix of restored 1920s shopfronts and recognisable retail chains. The Dashilar alleyway just west of Qianmen is more authentic and has several century-old specialist shops: Neiliansheng (shoes since 1853), Zhang Yiyuan (tea), and Tongrentang (traditional Chinese pharmacy, established 1669).
Practical Notes for the Whole Trip
Cash is less relevant in Beijing than in almost any other major city in the world. WeChat Pay and Alipay handle the overwhelming majority of transactions. Foreigners can now link international cards to WeChat Pay for small payments, which simplified daily spending significantly as of 2024. For places that require cash, Bank of China and ICBC ATMs are the most reliable for foreign cards.
The Beijing subway covers all major tourist areas and costs CNY 3 to 10 per journey depending on distance. Line 2 forms a loop around the old city and is the most useful line for hutong exploration. Peak hours (7:30 to 9:30 am and 5 to 8 pm) are genuinely crowded; any sight that opens at 8 am is better visited at opening than after 9.
Air quality in Beijing fluctuates seasonally and daily. October and November typically offer the clearest skies. June can have good days but the heat is significant. January and February are cold and often have better visibility than summer. Apps like AQI China give real-time pollution readings; on heavy smog days (AQI above 150), outdoor activities at major exposed sites like the Great Wall become genuinely unpleasant.