Great Wall of China at Badaling and Ming Tombs Day Tour from Beijing

Beijing, China

See two of China's most popular destinations, the Great Wall of China and the Ming Tombs on one unforgettable guided day trip from Beijing. You'll visit the Badaling section of the Great Wall, one of the best preserved sections of this colossal structure, and explore the Chang Ling Tomb, the largest of the excavated Ming emperor burial sites.

First stop on your full-day tour north of Beijing is the Great Wall of China, the greatest symbol of ancient Chinese engineering and one of the world's most famous structures. Here at the Badaling section of the Great Wall you will have the opportunity to climb either the north or south face of the wall.

From Badaling it's on to the sacred Ming Tombs, burial grounds to 13 of the 16 Ming emperors. You'll explore the largest of the excavated burial sites, the Chang Ling Tomb, which is divided into three separate, impressive courtyards.

Lunch is included in your day tour to the Great Wall of China and the Ming Tombs, along with a shopping opportunity at the renowned Longdi Jade Factory.

USD $67.99

Review by: Amr S	April 2012
Good tour. Guide spoke descent English and was informative. Professional and entertaining.

Review by: DONALD C	March 2012
Excellent tour. With foreign tourists down over 80% since 2008, this tour through Viator was like a private tour for 6 + driver + English speaking guide. Guide was very informative and knowledgeable. With just 6 of us in the tour, we could ask a lot of questions to learn more of the city and culture. Lunch was excellent with lots to eat.

Review by: modym02	March 2012
Great personalized service by Jackie Lee. Wonderful side trips.

Review by: Prasad J	January 2012
Good experience very friendly guide

Review by: L M Y	January 2012
The tour guide was knowledgable, passionate and responsive to the needs of our small group. He gave us a choice of wall section to walk with recommendations which worked well. Excellent day trip despite the cold.

Review by: retobibi	December 2011
The best tour I did during my stay. Very informative tour guide (Lee). 1 1/2 hours to go up and down the Great Wall is a bit short and you have to rush to make it to the top. My tour partner only made it half way. Very early return to the hotel, so 2 to 2 1/2 hours would be possible.

Review by: Aleksandra L	November 2011
I had booked a group tour, but as it turned out I was the only tour customer of the day so got a privately guided session, with one tour guide and a driver getting me around the different tour stops. I am sure others would appreciate a private tour more than I did, but I missed the opportunity to interact with other tourists and it was awkward to go around on my own at the different sites (I could have done that on my own without booking a tour) - hence I was disappointing that the group tour was not a group tour in the end. The tour guide was however very nice and offered some valuable insights into the different stops before we arrived at them.

Review by: DEBORAH A T	November 2011
Climbing the Great Wall, an experience I will never forget. A must do in Beijing. Our guide and driver were fantastic. We love Viator, use them on every trip we take.

Review by: Katja H	November 2011
Both monuments are worth a visit!_br/_ The tour guide was very friendly and well educated. Reliable pick-up service._br/_ Only minus point for horrible restaurant at lunch time.

Review by: Tobias B	October 2011
We had a great tour visiting several of the hot tourist spots. Our Guide and driver were very good and patient with us. sometimes we took a little longer than expected. We liked our tour so much we booked one more event this trip. _br/_ What we did not like was we felt like our Guide is that we felt he was a pimp for these stores we went to. we would have liked to shop at our leisure rather than feel like we need to buy something. _br/_ We used viator in past vacations in Italy and had a great experience there too._br/_ We will use this tour site again.

Review by: Christine M	October 2011
Wonderful

Review by: james kirk s	October 2011
Well worth the time and money. Jackie (Li Gin Ger) did an excellent job and his English was amazing. Even though it got a little commercial, I would still recommend this day trip.

Review by: Merran K	October 2011
Jackie was a terrific guide and i enjoyed the day enormously

Review by: Jennifer Kate	September 2011
I did not get the iconic view of standing on the Wall with the Wall rolling off into the distance. The guide was great but I think there was a miscommunication. He gave us the choice of the steep area with less people and the good view (which we took) or the busier section with not as good a view. I think that his idea view of the view was the view overlooking the valley. This was not what we were expecting.

Review by: George T	September 2011
We didn't visit Badaling, but went to another section that was a stopping point for the emperor when visiting Mongolia. Our tour guide was very informative and helpful.

Review by: Luiz D de C	July 2011
Fantastic. The guide gave us a show of China History and tradition.

Review by: Debra L	July 2011
This tour was incredible. Our tour guide, Jacky, was very informative and we learned so much. The stop at the tea house was not worth it, but everything else was great.

Review by: Elmer C	June 2011
Everything went well. Our guide is very knowledgeable and very nice. Except that some of the tour, we have to visit a Jade factory and Ceramic Jars that take 3 hours. That we have no interest.

Review by: JUDITH S	May 2011
Great value for money; well informed and knowledgeable guide.

Review by: Gerald L	April 2011
As usual, Viator provided a very interesting tour with a very knowledgeable and personable guide, As luck would have it, we were the only two people on the tour that particular day, so we had what turned out to be a "private" tour. Both the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs are, without a doubt, two of the world's most impressive sites and should not be missed when one visits the Beijing area. One word of caution, however: The word "antique" appears to be used a bit liberally in the gift shops near the Great Wall.

Review by: Kelly V	April 2011
Tour guide is very knowledgeable of the Badaling part of the Great Wall of China. She told us to go the less crowded side of the wall so we could get a better view of the wall and take better pictures. This way we could also have an easier time hiking all the way to the top if we want to, which we did.

Review by: Stephen V	March 2011
Wow! The Great Wall was quite the experience. Difficult climbing at times. Too many stops at "shops". Maybe there should be a tour just for shoppers. The lunch was very good. Cherry was excellent guide and answered our many questions. She gave commentary most of the time we were travelling between sites.

Review by: Bernard P	February 2011
Great trip. Excellent tour guide, lots of information, but also knew when to shut up and not be annoying with irrelevant chatter, with a need to fill those pauses, like so many others. No negative points, all brill... or maybe that was more to do with the wonderful company with me.. !!!

Review by: Erkki L	November 2010
Very nice experience. Heavy climbing though. Shops were ok and tea house was great :).

Review by: flummi	November 2010
We had an awesome time at the great wall. Would have loved to have a little bit more time there and rather skip the tea tasting at dr. tea. Otherwise a great trip and a great service with the pick up and drop off

Review by: Annet C	November 2010
The tour was okay but the visits to the "tourist" stores was a waste of time and the lunch was terrible. The food was cold, not very tasty and the service down right bad.

Review by: Jean F	October 2010
i loved the Great Wall part of the trip. We actually went to a part of the wall just before Badalong so that we missed the crowds. The wall was very steep here, which was okay for me but the lady i was with struggled on the lower parts. Great views, well maintained section and nice to arrive before the crowds. After that we went to a Jade Factory, we weren't bothered re purchasing but you saw how they worked with the stone which was quite interesting. The Ming Tombs was disappointing as we only went to one area and so we missed the actual tomb that you could walk down too and the main drive way.

Review by: Raja M	October 2010
Our tour guide was excellent. There were no other clients so the trip ended up being a private tour for both of us in a nice car with a drivre and the guide. The guide spoke excellent english, was very informative and very helpful.

Review by: Diane L J	October 2010
This was so amazing! It was all really awesome. The only thing we were disappointed about is that we didnt see the line up of the huge animal statues., Really would have liked that.No picture can compare to the real thing as far as the Great Wall is concerned!!

Review by: Deborah L	September 2010
An early start meant we reached the Great Wall before the tourist rush and walking up the right hand steps we saw both the reconstructed and some of the original wall. Visit to the MIng Tomb was also fascinating. The trip to the Jade factory was really a waste of time. Lunch was in a government department store and was plentiful but not enjoyable. Again time in the store was not necessary. Overall though we enjoyed it and our guide was very knowledgeable.

Review by: Anonymous	August 2010
A fantastic trip - well organised, a very informative guide, and a highlight of our visit to China.

Review by: Christopher M	August 2010
Could have 2 hours at the wall instead of 1 and half. Food at Jade factory ok but not as good as had in Xian.

Review by: ZVONKO A, New Zealand	July 2010
Conntacted by guide night before tour as promised. It happened to be a private tour. Guide was speaking perfect English and with great knowlege of history and cultur of China. Great experience.

Review by: DEAN F, United Kingdom	June 2010
superb day, fantastic guide an extremely personalised tour.

Review by: Christopher B	June 2010
Guide was knowledgable and friendly, lunch was huge

Review by: Anonymous	June 2010
Started the day at the Ming Tombs. It was a quick visit, but enough time to see the one tomb. Next we made an unannounced stop at a Jade Factory which was an absolute waste of time and another attempt to make us buy things from our tour guide. We never made it to Badaling due to "overcrowding." We went to another part of the wall which was an extremely difficult ascent and was very trying for us. The guide was not with us the 1.5 hours we climbed up and down the wall. Lunch was at the Friendship Store which was okay but we were once again taken through a Cloissone factory inside of the Friendship Store and hassled to buy overpriced knick knacks. I was quite disappointed with Viator and the local tour service. They focused more on these shops than the actual excursion itself.

Review by: Peter D	June 2010
The tour was hijacked by the tour guide who insisted on taking me shopping. He cleverly disguised it as an education on a particular craft. This turned out, however, to be a fairly useless experience which ended with me being led into the commercial operation of the establishment where I was pressured into making a purchase. This happened on three occasions on this tour - none of which were scheduled and all of which took away from the time I could spend on the main attractions. There was also a lunch which was part of the tour but this was also disappointing. The food was as appealing as hospital food and the 'restaurant' was the back room in one of the unscheduled factory stores that was introduced into the scheduled by the tour operator. I assume that the reason why there is such a strong push to have me shop was that the tour operators get a kick back. It is too bad that the industry doesn't police itself and clean up what I believe is a fairly widespread procedure by dishonest operators.

Review by: Tarkan B, United States of America	May 2010
The tour guide did a great job and I recommend this tour to anyone interested in visiting sites in and around Beijing.

Review by: Bethany D, United States of America	May 2010
The guide Thomas was fantastic! Provided great info while not being overbearing as some guides can be. I would do it again in a heartbeat! BEST GREAT WALL TOUR! I had been to the other sections but Badaling was by far the most scenic. Try to go to the great wall first thing in the morning to avoid the corwds.

Review by: Jason T	May 2010
I had an excellent time. It felt like a private tour because, as with other reviews I read, we were the only 2 people on a 28 seat bus. Our tour guide Thomas was phenomenal. He was knowledgeable and kind. He opted to pick us up early bc he anticipated the May Day rush at the Great wall. Turns out he was right, we missed the huge traffic jam, line ups and just the major congestion on the wall itself.

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	April 2010
Great tour! Tour guide was very knowledgeable. Many other stops along the way give you a good view of the city, and see things you may not have gone to see.

Review by: Mr N, United Kingdom	April 2010
Excellent trip, with a lovely and knowledgable guide, Thomas. He really madde the trip for us, and we saw the best bits of the wall, the ming tombs, and the sacred path. Thomas' knowledge and language skills were excellent and i'd recommend this trip as a good all rounder from Beijing. Only down side was the compulsory shopping trips to the Jade market and Tea shops. We were the only ones on the tour, so when we said we didn't actually drink tea and didn't need to buy any, we weren't treated very nicely by the shop staff. Nothing to do with the guide though.

Review by: Michael G, Australia	March 2010
I booked a 'group tour' expecting a bus; however, it ended up being me, the driver and the tour guide all day. I thought the Ming Tombs were a waste of time. You see one temple, and then a mound of dirt where the tombs are said to be, and that's it. Then you go onto the Great Wall which was one of the best experiences of my life. Everyone who visits China has got to go to the wall. I was grinning ear to ear the whole time even though it was -2 degrees and there was snow everywhere. The only issue I had was that I was back at my hotel by 2pm and it was meant to be a full day tour.

Review by: Linda S, Netherlands	January 2010
Our tour guide deserves 5 stars, his knowledge and professionalism were 100 percent. The fact that the tour was carried out with two guests only was another big plus.

Review by: Susan K, United States of America	November 2009
Perfect day in the Beijing area. The guides knowledge and history of Ming Tombs was amazing. Lunch was family style, fun! And the Great Wall was more impressive than I could have imagined. Great Tour!

Review by: Barbara G, United Kingdom	November 2009
This was part of a day trip we booked. We would highly recommend anyone to take a trip to the Great Wall of China. Be prepared for a steep climb, but well worth the effort as there are amazing views.

Review by: Solange M, United States of America	September 2009
Our guide was great! His English was great, and he was very friendly. I ended up having a private tour since no one had booked the trip around my area, so it ended up being on my schedule because of that. This is my second tour and it worked out great!

Review by: Anonymous, Canada	November 2008
Fantastic view. The guide was flexible with his time, he took us also to the Olympics installation. The Wall is a dream.

Review by: Gaynor M, Malaysia	September 2008
Such a fabulous day! I had a private tour as the others booked for the day couldn't get visas to enter China as a group. It was wonderful! My guide spoke fluent English, and we talked a lot about culture, festivals and life in China as well as about the history of the areas I visited. He also gave me a detour on the way home to see the Bird's Nest stadium and to attend a tea ceremony. It was wonderful. A fab day out!

Review by: Robin M, Australia	August 2008
Excellent, knowledgeable English-speaking guide. Humbling experience when you become aware of its history and the time and labour involved to construct.