When to go to Beijing?
→ The detailed month-by-month page, with real weather records
Best time: April to May and September to October
At a glance
Why go to Beijing?
Beijing reads first of all as a line. The imperial axis runs 7.8 km from south to north, from Yongdingmen Gate to the Drum and Bell Towers, crossing Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and Jingshan Hill. This alignment, made a World Heritage Site in 2024, organised the entire city according to Chinese cosmology. Walking the axis from end to end takes a day and gives the visit more coherence than any bus tour.
The city holds seven World Heritage Sites, among them the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, the Ming Tombs and the Great Wall. Few capitals reach that density, and it comes from Beijing having been the capital since 1272, under the Yuan, with a single break at the start of the Ming. The layers pile up: a Mongol street plan, Ming palaces, Qing gardens, Soviet-style ministries from the 1950s, the glass towers of the CBD.
Everyday life, meanwhile, plays out in the hutongs and on the metro. Around a thousand old alleys remain, against more than three thousand in the 1950s, with their shared courtyards, public toilets and dumpling sellers. Alongside them, 27 metro lines and over 800 km of track carry ten million people a day for 3 to 9 yuan a journey. That gulf between grey brick and concrete is what makes a stay here so rewarding.
Map of Beijing: what is where?
The map shows the 6 places covered in this guide, to picture the distances and plan your route.
- Forbidden City
- Great Wall at Mutianyu
- Temple of Heaven
- Summer Palace
- Nanluoguxiang Hutongs
- 798 Art District
How much does a trip to Beijing cost?
Beijing remains affordable for a capital: site entry fees rarely exceed €8, the metro costs less than a euro and a canteen meal comes to around €5. It is well-located accommodation and the Great Wall excursion that make the difference between two budgets.
| Style | Per day | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Backpacker | €40-65/day | Hutong hostel, metro and shared bikes, neighbourhood canteens, sites at standard prices |
| Comfort | €100-160/day | Chain hotel or courtyard house, taxis in the evening, Peking duck, Great Wall trip by shared car |
| Premium | €350+/day | Grand hotel in the centre, private driver, private guide, fine dining and a day at Jinshanling |
Cash has become marginal: WeChat Pay and Alipay now accept foreign Visa and Mastercard cards, and you need to set the app up before you arrive. Still, keep 500 yuan in notes for reluctant taxi drivers and small markets. Bank of China ATMs dispense cash without any trouble on a foreign card.
Is Beijing safe?
Beijing is a very safe city for travellers: street crime is rare and you can get around alone at any hour, including on the metro late at night. The real things to watch lie elsewhere. First, air pollution, especially from November to March, with peaks that justify an FFP2 mask and a day indoors; local monitoring apps give the index in real time. Then scams, particularly around Wangfujing and Tiananmen Square, where strangers approach you in English to suggest a tea ceremony or an art exhibition that ends with a three-figure bill. Finally, payment: almost everything goes through WeChat Pay or Alipay, even at small shops, and you need to link a foreign card to the app before you leave. Several sites also require a booking in your name with a passport number, without which you will be turned away at the gate.
What to see and do in Beijing
- Forbidden City
- The Great Wall at Mutianyu
- Temple of Heaven
- Summer Palace
- Lama Temple
- Nanluoguxiang Hutongs
- Jingshan Park
- 798 Art District
Forbidden City
The largest surviving complex of wooden buildings in the world: 72 hectares, around 980 buildings and 8,700 rooms, ringed by a moat 52 metres wide. Built from 1406 to 1420, it housed twenty-four emperors until 1912. The visit follows a 960-metre south-north axis, but the real treasures lie in the quieter side courtyards, which display ceramics, bronzes and European clocks presented to the emperors. Booking in your own name with a passport number is compulsory.
The Great Wall at Mutianyu
Five and a half kilometres of restored rampart and twenty-two watchtowers, 70 km north-east of Beijing. The section was rebuilt under the Ming from 1368 on far older foundations, and it climbs a wooded ridge that turns red in October. The chairlift and the toboggan run spare you the climb on foot. Those who push on towards towers 20 to 23 often find themselves alone on steep, uneven steps. Jinshanling, further out, offers a less restored version for a full day out.
Temple of Heaven
A 273-hectare park, almost four times the size of the Forbidden City, arranged around three buildings on the north-south axis. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, 38 metres high under three blue roofs, stands without a single nail and rests on 28 pillars representing the seasons and the months. The Echo Wall carries a voice for 65 metres. At dawn the park belongs to the locals: tai chi, choirs, card games and ballroom dancing beneath centuries-old cypresses.
Summer Palace
The summer residence of the Qing emperors, 290 hectares of which three quarters lie under Kunming Lake, dug entirely by hand. The excavated earth formed Longevity Hill, crowned by the Tower of Buddhist Incense. The Long Corridor runs for 728 metres and carries more than 14,000 painted scenes. Burned by Anglo-French troops in 1860, the complex was rebuilt in 1886 by Empress Dowager Cixi. The lake freezes in January and can be crossed on foot in cold winters.
The central hutongs
The traditional alleys cluster around the Shichahai and Houhai lakes, between the Drum Tower and Nanluoguxiang. Each one leads to siheyuan, square courtyard houses where several families have often lived side by side since the 1950s. Around a thousand remain, against more than three thousand before the demolitions. The best way to explore them is still by shared bike, for a few cents an hour. Some courtyards have become cafés or hotels, but most are still lived in and noisy from 6am.
798 Art District
A former electronics factory built in the 1950s to East German plans, with sawtooth roofs designed to catch the northern light. Artists moved in from 2002, and the site now brings together around a hundred galleries, studios, bookshops and cafés across some sixty hectares. The political slogans originally painted on the beams have been kept. It is the best place in the city to see what the contemporary Chinese art scene is producing, and entry to the site is free.
How many days, and which itinerary?
Four full days cover the imperial axis, a day on the Great Wall and an afternoon in the hutongs without rushing. A week lets you add the Summer Palace, the Ming Tombs, the 798 district and a trip to the wilder Jinshanling, while leaving some slack for heavy pollution days.
🗺️ Day-by-day itinerary · 📓 Free printable Beijing guide (PDF) · 🌍 All of China
The essentials (3 days)
Day 1: Tiananmen Square early in the morning, the Forbidden City through the morning with a booking made seven days ahead, then Jingshan Hill late in the day for the view over the rooftops. Day 2: the Great Wall at Mutianyu on the first bus, back around 4pm, Peking duck for dinner. Day 3: the Temple of Heaven at dawn, then the Shichahai hutongs by bike and the Drum Tower at sunset. Metro for everything, taxis only in the evening.
Beijing in depth (1 week)
The same core at a gentler pace, plus a full half-day at the Summer Palace, the Lama Temple and the neighbouring Temple of Confucius, the 798 Art District on a weekday afternoon, the Ming Tombs with the Sacred Way, and a day on the Jinshanling section, less restored and almost empty on weekdays. Keep a morning for the Capital Museum, which puts five centuries of urban planning in order.
Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai (12 days)
The classic first trip to China, entirely doable by high-speed train. Four days in Beijing, then 4 hours 30 by train to Xi'an and the Terracotta Army, two days there, then 6 hours by train to Shanghai for three days between the Bund and the gardens of Suzhou. Tickets are bought on the Railway 12306 app with your passport number, one to two weeks ahead, which makes domestic flights unnecessary.
Getting there and getting around
The metro has 27 lines and over 800 km of track, for 3 to 9 yuan depending on distance. Announcements and signs are bilingual, and bags go through an X-ray scanner at every entrance. It is the fastest way to get around at rush hour, when the roads are gridlocked.
Taxis start at 13 yuan and stay cheap, but few drivers read the Latin alphabet: have your addresses written out in characters. The Didi app works with a foreign card and avoids any haggling.
Shared bikes unlock by QR code for a few cents an hour. Beijing is flat and lined with wide, segregated cycle lanes, which makes cycling the best way to get around the hutongs and the lakes.
Both airports are linked to the centre by rail: the Airport Express from Capital in 25 minutes, and a high-speed line from Daxing in 20 minutes. Check which one is on your ticket, as they are 70 km apart.
Where to stay in Beijing?
Hostels and small hotels in the hutongs of Beixinqiao and Qianmen: €20-45 a night, often in renovated courtyard houses. Rooms are small and walls thin, but the location puts the Forbidden City twenty minutes' walk away.
Courtyard houses turned boutique hotels around Nanluoguxiang and the Drum Tower: €90-160, with a planted courtyard and around ten rooms. Many sit at the end of alleys taxis can't get down, so plan on walking the last hundred metres.
International chains in Wangfujing and the Guomao business district: €70-130, reliable standards, generous breakfasts and direct metro access. The easy choice for a first visit or a family trip.
Grand hotels in the centre, around Wangfujing and Jinbao Street: €300-450, with spa, pool and valet parking. Rates drop sharply in January and February, when the city empties and temperatures fall below zero.
Our places to stay, stop by stop, at three budgets →
What to eat in Beijing?
Peking duck is ordered in specialist restaurants, where it is carved in front of you into around a hundred slices and served with thin pancakes, spring onion and sweet bean sauce. Allow 200 to 400 yuan for a whole duck, or €26-52, for two to three people.
Jianbing, wheat-flour crêpes filled with egg, coriander and a crispy cracker, sell for 8 to 12 yuan from the morning carts. This is the Beijing breakfast, served from 6am to 10am and rarely later.
Mongolian hotpot, or huoguo, is eaten around a pot split into two broths, one clear, the other fiery with Sichuan pepper. In go thinly sliced mutton, mushrooms and noodles, for 80 to 150 yuan per person depending on the place.
The alleys of Baochao and Fangjia are lined with canteens serving zhajiangmian noodles, jiaozi dumplings and cumin-grilled lamb skewers. A full meal comes to around 30 to 60 yuan, or €4-8, often without an English menu.
Entry requirements
Until 31 December 2026, UK, Canadian, Australian and most EU passports (not Czech or Lithuanian) enter visa-free for up to 30 days. US citizens need a visa, unless they qualify for the 240-hour visa-free transit with a confirmed onward ticket to a third country.
Rules change: check your own government's travel advice before you go.
Frequently asked questions about Beijing
How do you get to the Great Wall from Beijing?
Mutianyu, 70 km away, is reached by the 916 express bus from Dongzhimen and then a local shuttle; allow two hours and around ten euros. A car with driver booked the day before costs €60-90 a day for four people and saves two hours. Badaling is closer but far busier, Jinshanling further and wilder.
Do you need to book sites in advance?
Yes for the Forbidden City, whose daily quota fills up in minutes at weekends, and for Tiananmen Square, which requires registration with a passport number. The Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace and the Lama Temple can be bought on the day. Bookings go through the sites' WeChat mini-programs.
How do you pay once you're there?
By phone, in almost every case. WeChat Pay and Alipay have accepted foreign bank cards since 2023, but setup is easier before you leave, with a stable connection. Visa and Mastercard are accepted in international hotels, rarely elsewhere. Carry a few hundred yuan in cash as back-up.
When is the best time to visit?
September and October above all: dry air, clear skies and temperatures around 22 to 26°C. April and May work too, with a risk of sandstorms blowing in from the north. Avoid July and August, hot and stormy, as well as the first week of October, when the national holidays swamp every site.
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