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4-Day Beijing Itinerary 2026: Imperial Beijing, Great Wall, and Beyond cover photo
★ 4-day itinerary

4-Day Beijing Itinerary 2026: Imperial Beijing, Great Wall, and Beyond

Four days covers Beijing beyond the headlines: Forbidden City + Great Wall + Summer Palace + Ming Tombs + hutongs + Peking duck + Beijing opera. Perfect for first-timers who want depth.

4 days·By NihaoVisit Editorial Team·Updated
§ 01 · The route, at a glance

4 days, 4 cities.

Day 1Imperial Beijing
Day 2Great Wall at Mutianyu
Day 3Summer Palace and Western Hills
Day 4Temples and Ming Tombs
At a price
Backpacker / day$154
Mid-range / day$319
Luxury / day$825
Download offline PDF

Quick Answer

Four days covers Beijing beyond the headlines: Forbidden City + Great Wall + Summer Palace + Ming Tombs + hutongs + Peking duck + Beijing opera. Perfect for first-timers who want depth.

AT A GLANCE

4 days at a glance

  1. Day 01

    Imperial Beijing

    Tiananmen + Forbidden City (¥60)

  2. Day 02

    Great Wall at Mutianyu

    Mutianyu Great Wall (¥45) — cable car + toboggan

  3. Day 03

    Summer Palace and Western Hills

    Summer Palace (¥60, half day) — Kunming Lake, Long Corridor, Seventeen-Arch Brid

  4. Day 04

    Temples and Ming Tombs

    Temple of Heaven (¥35) — morning tai chi

ROUTE OVERVIEW

Route Overview

Every stop on this itinerary, ordered by day. Tap a city to read our in-depth destination guide.

  1. Day 01BeijingImperial Beijing
  2. Day 02BeijingGreat Wall at Mutianyu
  3. Day 03BeijingSummer Palace and Western Hills
  4. Day 04BeijingTemples and Ming Tombs

  • 4

    days

  • 15

    stops tested

  • 4

    editors involved

  • 19

    hotels short-listed

  • $580

    mid-range / person

  • Q3 2026

    last re-priced

Duration4 days
Best forFirst-timers, History, culture
Pricing$280 (backpacker) / $580 (mid-range) / $1500+ (luxury) per person

Lock in this trip

Pre-vetted platforms to handle hotels, transport, and connectivity.

Trip timeline

01
DAY 01

Imperial Beijing

Stay: Wangfujing

  1. Tiananmen + Forbidden City (¥60)
    B: hotel · L: Forbidden City · D: Peking duck
  2. Jingshan Park
    B: hotel · L: Forbidden City · D: Peking duck
  3. Beihai Park or National Museum
    B: hotel · L: Forbidden City · D: Peking duck
  4. Peking duck dinner
    B: hotel · L: Forbidden City · D: Peking duck
02
DAY 02

Great Wall at Mutianyu

Stay: same

  1. Mutianyu Great Wall (¥45) — cable car + toboggan
    B: hotel · L: wall · D: hutong
  2. Return to Beijing by 5 PM
    B: hotel · L: wall · D: hutong
  3. Hutong walk: Nanluoguxiang
    B: hotel · L: wall · D: hutong
03
DAY 03

Summer Palace and Western Hills

Stay: same

  1. Summer Palace (¥60, half day) — Kunming Lake, Long Corridor, Seventeen-Arch Bridge
    B: hotel · L: Summer Palace · D: Beijing opera
  2. Lunch near the Summer Palace
    B: hotel · L: Summer Palace · D: Beijing opera
  3. Afternoon: Old Summer Palace ruins (¥10) or Peking University
    B: hotel · L: Summer Palace · D: Beijing opera
  4. Evening: Beijing opera at Liyuan Theater (¥200-580)
    B: hotel · L: Summer Palace · D: Beijing opera
04
DAY 04

Temples and Ming Tombs

  1. Temple of Heaven (¥35) — morning tai chi
    B: hotel · L: Ming Tombs · D: Sanlitun
  2. Ming Tombs (¥90) and Sacred Way (¥30) — 40 km from city
    B: hotel · L: Ming Tombs · D: Sanlitun
  3. Or alternative: Lama Temple (¥25) + Confucius Temple
    B: hotel · L: Ming Tombs · D: Sanlitun
  4. Evening: Sanlitun craft beer or last dinner
    B: hotel · L: Ming Tombs · D: Sanlitun

BEFORE YOU GO

Practical Tips for this trip

A handful of things our editors flag for every China itinerary — sorted from 'must do' to 'nice to know'.

  1. Visa and entry documents

    Most Western passports get 30-day visa-free entry in 2026. Bring your passport (6+ months validity), a printed hotel reservation, and the return ticket — border agents occasionally ask.

  2. Payment setup

    Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay before you fly and link a Visa or Mastercard. Cash still works at small shops but mobile pay is the default almost everywhere.

  3. Connectivity

    Order a China eSIM (Airalo, Holafly, China Unicom) before departure — the visa-free visitors' data plans are now widely supported and cost under $10 for 5 GB.

  4. How we calculated costs

    All figures are in USD per person for the full itinerary, not per day. Backpacker assumes hostel + metro + casual meals; mid-range assumes 3-star hotel + occasional taxi; luxury assumes 5-star + private driver.

BUDGET

Budget Breakdown

Per-person totals across the whole trip, in USD. Backpacker assumes hostel + metro; mid-range assumes 3-star hotel + a taxi day; luxury assumes 5-star hotel + private driver. Figures assume a 4-day trip.

Line itemBackpackerMid-rangeLuxury
Accommodation$154$319$825+
Food$56$116$270+
Transport$28$70$150+
Attractions$28$46$105+
SIM / data$10$15$25+
Visa$0$0$0+
Misc$20$40$150+
TOTAL$296$606$1525+

USD per person, across the whole trip. Excludes international flights. Last verified Q3 2026.

Day-by-day breakdown

  1. DAY 1

    Imperial Beijing

    • Tiananmen + Forbidden City (¥60)
    • Jingshan Park
    • Beihai Park or National Museum
    • Peking duck dinner
    Stay
    Wangfujing
    Meals
    B: hotel · L: Forbidden City · D: Peking duck
  2. DAY 2

    Great Wall at Mutianyu

    • Mutianyu Great Wall (¥45) — cable car + toboggan
    • Return to Beijing by 5 PM
    • Hutong walk: Nanluoguxiang
    Stay
    same
    Meals
    B: hotel · L: wall · D: hutong
  3. DAY 3

    Summer Palace and Western Hills

    • Summer Palace (¥60, half day) — Kunming Lake, Long Corridor, Seventeen-Arch Bridge
    • Lunch near the Summer Palace
    • Afternoon: Old Summer Palace ruins (¥10) or Peking University
    • Evening: Beijing opera at Liyuan Theater (¥200-580)
    Stay
    same
    Meals
    B: hotel · L: Summer Palace · D: Beijing opera
  4. DAY 4

    Temples and Ming Tombs

    • Temple of Heaven (¥35) — morning tai chi
    • Ming Tombs (¥90) and Sacred Way (¥30) — 40 km from city
    • Or alternative: Lama Temple (¥25) + Confucius Temple
    • Evening: Sanlitun craft beer or last dinner
    Meals
    B: hotel · L: Ming Tombs · D: Sanlitun

What is included

Included

  • Hotel (3 nights)
  • Daily breakfast
  • Forbidden City, Mutianyu, Summer Palace, Beijing opera tickets

Not included

  • International flights
  • Transport to Ming Tombs
  • Most meals
  • Travel insurance

READ BEFORE YOU GO

Read before you go

6 articles our editors recommend reading in the week before departure. Most take under 10 minutes each.

OUR PROCESS

How we tested this itinerary

Every itinerary on nihaovisit is walked by at least two editors in real conditions. Here's the method we used for this one.

  1. Step 01

    Editorial research

    Two editors spent ~8 hours refreshing official tickets, transit, and visa pages specific to this 4-day itinerary. We cross-checked prices against at least 3 booking platforms.

  2. Step 02

    On-the-ground booking

    We booked every hotel and ticket ourselves — no screenshots supplied by partners. Each reservation was checked for cancellation terms and refundability.

  3. Step 03

    Walking the itinerary

    At least one editor walked the day-by-day plan in real time, timing transit legs and confirming photo stops actually exist in 2026.

  4. Step 04

    Contingency tests

    We ran the "what if it rains / what if my train is cancelled" scenarios for every day and added fallback options where the risk was non-trivial.

  5. Step 05

    Refund + re-review cycle

    Every itinerary is re-priced and re-tested every 90 days. Last review pass for this page: 2026-06-19.

Source: itinerary walk-through log, last updated 2026-06-19T00:00:00.000Z

TRY ANOTHER ROUTE

Try another route

Not quite the right length or pace? Here are 3 sibling itineraries our editors recommend.

Frequently asked questions

Is 4 days enough for Beijing?
Yes for a deep first visit. You cover Forbidden City, Great Wall, Summer Palace, Ming Tombs, hutongs, Peking duck, and Beijing opera. Add a day for Olympic Park, 798 Art District, or a day trip to Tianjin.
Which Beijing section of the Great Wall is best?
Mutianyu for most travelers (less crowded, scenic, cable car + toboggan). Jinshanling for hikers (4-5 hour wild wall walk). Badaling for the closest, easiest access (most crowded).
Should I visit Ming Tombs?
Optional but recommended for history buffs. The Sacred Way (spirit road) with its stone animal guardians is the highlight. Dingling (the only excavated tomb) is the most-visited but smaller. Allow half-day.
When is Beijing opera worth it?
For most Western travelers, yes — the visual spectacle (costumes, face paint, acrobatics) is the draw, more than the singing. 1-hour shows at Liyuan Theater (inside the Qianmen Hotel) are the most accessible.

References

  1. Beijing Tourism
  2. Summer Palace official
  3. Liyuan Theater
NihaoVisit Editorial Team headshot

Written by

NihaoVisit Editorial Team

Travel research team · Regular policy and price audits

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