Private Custom Tour: Beijing in One Day

Beijing, China

A privately guided tour, customized to your needs for a full day touring in Beijing. Some highlights include the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, visiting the Hutongs by pedicab, seeing the exquisite Lama Temple. But there's more, shopping in Beijing with your own personal guide for the best bargains in town, what could be better.

In Beijing, there are must-see destinations, cultural and historical landmarks. Then there are those special activities and local attractions that you've read about and put on your list to do. No tour itinerary can cover exactly what you want to see in Beijing, until now.

Let us help you create your own personalized day in Beijing using public transport with a professional guide and interpreter. If you want to visit the Forbidden City and take in a show with world famous Chinese acrobats, we can arrange it. Care to climb the steps of the Great Wall by day and have an authentic Peking Duck dinner in the evening? Well make it happen. Always wanted to tour the Hutongs by pedicab then visit the exquisite Lama Temple? Well put them both on your itinerary.

And you know about the unbelievable shopping in Beijing. Imagine having a personal guide take you where the locals shop, helping you bargain for the best prices on jewelry, handcrafts, antiques, art, fabrics or clothing. And whether you're shopping or sightseeing, well suggest the best places to eat in town. There's a world of cuisine in Beijing, plus all the traditional Chinese styles: Sichuan, Southern, Beijing style, Dim Sum and more.

Please note:This tour provides you with an English-speaking professional guide. You will be responsible for additional charges during the day such as taxis, bus fares, subway tickets, admission fees and food.

USD $14.15

Review by: Marybec G	January 2012
Cherry (our guide) was amazing! So friendly and we got to see everything we wanted to in our limited time in Beijing. When I go back to China I will definitely use this service again- the language barrier was more difficult than I anticipated. Cherry even helped us order our lunch!

Review by: Christopher B	December 2011
This excursion will only be as good as you make it. I found working with the travel agency in advance to be problematic. I wanted to solicit a suggested itinerary in advance and work out the details before we left for China. The agency was unresponsive (4 attempts made) and ultimately I ended up relying on our tour guide from the previous day to help piece together a plan.

Review by: Bridget H	November 2011
Had a great day with Ming. Knowledgeable and pleasant, easy company.

Review by: Valerie P	October 2011
This custom tour was good as the guide took us around various points of interest in Beijing, such as the Summer Palace, Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City as well as to a market and teahouse. I felt we managed to pack a lot into our day. We wemt everywhere by taxi which was the most convenient way of getting about if you wanted to see anything, otherwise the subway is an exscellent mode of travel. We started out at 9.00am and finished around 5.30pm so we had a full day.

Review by: Sam	September 2011
I had a great day with Jennifer. She spoke good english and fun to be around. She took me to all the places I wanted to visit. Thank you.

Review by: George T	September 2011
Please keep in mind that transportation is not included. The guide gives information about the various locations, helps with speaking to locals, and assists with arranging taxis and meals.

Review by: Avtar P	September 2011
Tour guide did make this tour much easier and quicker. I only had one day for touring, so tried to cram in as much as possible, which the guide obliged to but I got the impression she was not too happy about this. I would have liked the guide to tell me more about the history of the places we visited. Overall good tour, but more knowledgeable guide would have made it perfect.

Review by: Sonia E	September 2011
MY TOUR WAS CHANGED TO SUIT ME FOR GROUP AND I HAD A GREAT DAY! THANKYOU!

Review by: Raja A	August 2011
Perfect if you want a customized itinerary. Michael our tour guide was really friendly, incredibly helpful and loaded with information. We took him to the Jiayuguan section of the great wall, a Jade factory and Dr.Tea, a fantastic tea house. The only disadvantage is that its a bit expensive if your group is smaller than 4. Otherwise, great experience,

Review by: STEPHEN S	February 2011
Worth every penny having a personal guide in Beijing. Ming our guide was very informative met us at our hotel then we went in taxi's around the city centre stopping off at the major attractions.

Review by: Thomas D	October 2010
This was a great way to see as many of the sights of Beijing as possible without having to figure out how to get there and what to do when you get there. We didn't have to wait in any lines at ticket booths and we able to accomplish a lot in a short time. Well worth the money. If we return, we will use this service again.

Review by: Maulana Ahmad Firdaus D	October 2010
The guide, Li, called me the night before my tour. He tried very hard to make me use a private car from his company fat additional cost for the whole day, even though I wanted to use taxi's and local transport instead. He convinced me that it will be much easier than using local transport in Beijing. I finally agreed. meet guide the next day in Hotel lobby and talked about itinerary. Decided on 3 places: Ming tombs, lama temple and panda zoo. He raised the car rental price up because the ming tombs is 1.5 hours from Beijing. The actual tour is great, Li is a good tour guide and he didn't pressure us to go to 'government shops' although he did brought to a jade factory. English was good, personality was good, very energetic guy. Takes great pictures of us too. Only regret was not being able to talk things through before going in tour, our itinerary for the day seems 'rushed'.

Review by: Jean F	October 2010
Amazing. Lei my guide was great. I met with him in the morning and went through the places i wanted to visit. The night before he recommended getting a car/driver for the day to cover as much ground as possible and i laughed when he showed up the next day with my own mini bus and driver. But what a great idea...it meant i actually managed to cover 2 other main sites i wouldn't have had change to get too otherwise. Lei was a very patient guide, great command of english and answered every questions i had with enthusiasm (and i'm sure he must have been asked the same things time and time again). Lei had studied history so it was great to have someone with such extensive knowledge.

Review by: Christopher L	October 2010
The name of the guide assigned to us through Viator was Better Ren (English name). He was great! For an extra fee he was our driver too and used a comfortable buick mini-van. We visited the Great Wall and the Summer Palace. He was quite knowledgeable and passionate about Chinese history and culture. He was a great conversationalist and spoke with us on a broad range of topics beyond the history and significance of the sites we visited. I highly recommend using his services, if you are planning a trip to Beijing and want to see a variety of sites.

Review by: Diane L J	October 2010
The best idea ever!! Would consider doing this everyday of our vacation if we return to China

Review by: Diane L J	October 2010
We would recomend this to anyone going to China. You decide where you want to go and how long you want to stay. The only thing is ... be prepared to pay for taxi (inexpensive) and entrance fees. So nice to be able to absorb the culture without being rushed. Loved our guide and this tour!

Review by: Deborah L	September 2010
The tour guide did not turn up on the appointed morning but a call to the company resulted in a replacement appearing an hour later. I never found out what happened to the first guide. The replacement tour guide was very knowledgeable and friendly and we went to the locations I requested. However on this tour you have to pay your own taxi fares and entrance fees so it works out a lot more expensive than taking the group tours. For lunch I chose to go to a noodle restaurant which was cheap and filling. Beware suggestions of visiting 'government' tea houses and so on! The souvenirs on sale are much more expensive than available elsewhere although the tea tasting itself was ok!

Review by: Molly L	August 2010
Perfect way to see Beijing and a great value for the money. We loved it so much we ended up booking again for a 2nd day to see everything we didn't have time for on the first. Wonderful and knowledgeable guides...just a pleasurable experience all around!

Review by: Anonymous	August 2010
A very good day with an experienced guide who liaised carefully with us, and who was helpful and informative throughout the day.

Review by: Anonymous	August 2010
This is a great option for your first day in Beijing to help you get settled and find your way around town. Buy a guide book in advance and select a few landmarks to visit, but don't be surprised if the landmarks you choose are so big you can't see them all in one day. You pay a premium to book through Viator in USD as opposed to finding your own local guide, but the convenience and ability to use a credit card is well worth it!

Review by: Darryl A	July 2010
Our guide was very friendly and informative. We had an exceptionally pleasant trip to Beijing with this tour guide service. The only problem was that the air conditioning in the bus was not working.. felt like we were in a sweat lodge! I'm sure this detail has been addressed for the comfort of future tourists.

Review by: Hillel M, Israel	May 2010
See above

Review by: Hillel M, Israel	May 2010
Guide was highly articulate, spoke good English, was knowledgeable and helpful. We were very pleased with the day and used his services for a second day.

Review by: Anonymous	May 2010
See above

Review by: Anonymous	May 2010
Guide was highly articulate, spoke good English, was knowledgeable and helpful. We were very pleased with the day and used his services for a second day.

Review by: N A, Japan	January 2010
My boyfriend and I had done a private tour the day before and we liked our tour guide so much that we used him again! We payed him 200 yuan, 30 US dollars, to use his personal vehicle for the day. We went to the Drum Tower and were there for one of the performances, which was cool to see! He then drove us to the Summer Palace where we spent about 2 hours walking around and ate at a buffet restaurant near by. I had wanted to check out Prince Gong's mansion, which had sounded interesting in the travel book, but after seeing the Summer Palace, it's really not much. The private tours are good because you can go off the beaten path a little. My boyfriend collects Starbucks mugs from different cities and he wanted to get a guitar pin from the Hard Rock Cafe. Our tour guide took us to the Hard Rock Cafe and then found us a Starbucks near by so he could get his mug. It impressed me a lot that he would do that for us!

Review by: N A, Japan	January 2010
In booking the tour we felt that this would be the best way to see the city without all the extra factories and shops thrown in, which we didn't care much about! The night before our guide called to set up a time to meet and get an idea of an itinerary. All the places were in the city so we decided to just use taxis and the subway instead of a personal vehicle. The day of the tour our guide met us in the lobby and we went over some of the things we wanted to see. Our guide was so good we used him on our private tour the next day! He had been a tour guide for 20 years and lived in Beijing his whole life so he was very knowledgeable! The nice thing about the private tour is that you can take as much time as you want, which benefited my boyfriend and I since he likes to take a lot of pictures. You still have to pay entrance fees and the transport, but I think the most expensive place was 40 yuan. Our tour guide could get in most places for free. For lunch he suggested trying one of the famous Beijing Peking duck restaurants, which was amazing! We saw the Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, the Temple of Heaven and Lama Temple, which was a full day!

Review by: M W, United States of America	January 2010
My colleagues and I were on a short business trip and had limited time to see the sights. This private custom tour was perfect for the four of us. Our tour guide, Ming, was friendly and knowledgeable. In a day we were able to visit the Temple of Heaven,Great Wall at Badaling and the Summer Palace. In between the sites, we went to a jade factory,ate lunch and visited a pearl factory. At the end of the day, we felt like we were able to get a great look at some of Beijing's sites.

Review by: Sjla	January 2010
My colleagues and I were on a short business trip and had limited time to see the sights. This private custom tour was perfect for the four of us. Our tour guide, Ming, was friendly and knowledgeable. In a day we were able to visit the Temple of Heaven,Great Wall at Badaling and the Summer Palace. In between the sites, we went to a jade factory,ate lunch and visited a pearl factory. At the end of the day, we felt like we were able to get a great look at some of Beijing's sites.

Review by: Anonymous	January 2010
My boyfriend and I had done a private tour the day before and we liked our tour guide so much that we used him again! We payed him 200 yuan, 30 US dollars, to use his personal vehicle for the day. We went to the Drum Tower and were there for one of the performances, which was cool to see! He then drove us to the Summer Palace where we spent about 2 hours walking around and ate at a buffet restaurant near by. I had wanted to check out Prince Gong's mansion, which had sounded interesting in the travel book, but after seeing the Summer Palace, it's really not much. The private tours are good because you can go off the beaten path a little. My boyfriend collects Starbucks mugs from different cities and he wanted to get a guitar pin from the Hard Rock Cafe. Our tour guide took us to the Hard Rock Cafe and then found us a Starbucks near by so he could get his mug. It impressed me a lot that he would do that for us!

Review by: Anonymous	January 2010
In booking the tour we felt that this would be the best way to see the city without all the extra factories and shops thrown in, which we didn't care much about! The night before our guide called to set up a time to meet and get an idea of an itinerary. All the places were in the city so we decided to just use taxis and the subway instead of a personal vehicle. The day of the tour our guide met us in the lobby and we went over some of the things we wanted to see. Our guide was so good we used him on our private tour the next day! He had been a tour guide for 20 years and lived in Beijing his whole life so he was very knowledgeable! The nice thing about the private tour is that you can take as much time as you want, which benefited my boyfriend and I since he likes to take a lot of pictures. You still have to pay entrance fees and the transport, but I think the most expensive place was 40 yuan. Our tour guide could get in most places for free. For lunch he suggested trying one of the famous Beijing Peking duck restaurants, which was amazing! We saw the Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, the Temple of Heaven and Lama Temple, which was a full day!

Review by: Anonymous, Australia	December 2009
The tour guide knew his stuff even though he had no idea where I wanted to go before we met. It was definitely worthwhile in terms of learning more about Chinese culture. The reason, however, for the low rating is that since I was a single traveler we finished everything rather quickly - quicker than if there were multiple people that he would have had to wait for. This meant he planned the day so that he still managed to take me to a pearl factory, teahouse and silk factory (all places he or the tour company would have got a commission for had I purchased anything). He also planned things so that lunch would have to be at a ‘tourist-trap’ restaurant out near the Summer Palace, where nothing else was available. This was an exorbitant cost for what it was and given it was not my choice. These events left an incredibly sour taste after the tour.

Review by: Barry W, United States of America	November 2009
My wife and I had a wonderful custom made trips for us in Beijing. Our guide was very nice, her English was great and her knowledge of the area was fabulous. When she arrived to pick us up at our hotel she did not know what we had planned. I gave her the places we wanted to see and quickly she devised a plan on how we would fit everything in. She was very empathic to our travel needs. It was the end of a 10 day trip for us and our energy level was not as good as at the beginning. She recognized that and made sure we stayed and did as much as we had energy to do. I loved that about the tour. She took us to lunch in a fantastic restaurant she knew and we really really enjoyed it. I would highly recommend this way to see the city. It was the first time we had a private guide and I would definitely do it again. Thanks for providing us with such and excellent day!

Review by: A Y, United States of America	September 2009
Guide showed up on time at 8:30 am. We told him that we wanted to visit the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall and Forbidden City. He talked to a cab driver and arranged for the taxi to be with us for the entire day for a fixed price. The guide suggested lunch beside a Cloissone factory so he got to somehow squeeze this into the itinerary. The Cloissone place was a pleasant surprise. Guide spoke ok English but could have been better and more in depth regarding the history of China.

Review by: AILEEN MARIE Y	September 2009
Guide showed up on time at 8:30 am. We told him that we wanted to visit the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall and Forbidden City. He talked to a cab driver and arranged for the taxi to be with us for the entire day for a fixed price. The guide suggested lunch beside a Cloissone factory so he got to somehow squeeze this into the itinerary. The Cloissone place was a pleasant surprise. Guide spoke ok English but could have been better and more in depth regarding the history of China.

Review by: Randall H, United States of America	July 2009
On this second day in Beijing, I again used another private tour guide different one form that used on day one in order to visit Tianamen Square, the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Bell Tower, the Hutongs and several other sites. Being just the two of us, we were able to cover a lot of ground in one day and my guide to be especially knowledgeable and congenial. Since we were essentially in the center part of the city the whole time, we relied on taxis rather than a dedicated drive for transportation. Another benefit with using a private tour guide is that you get to practice your Chinese language skills with them and also have interesting discussions about their culture and current events.

Review by: Susan S, United States of America	July 2009
Our guide was knowledgeable & charming. Our only unhappiness was with the Viator 800 operator, who told us we could see the Great Wall, Hutong and Forbidden City in one day, which was impossible. So we missed the Great Wall!

Review by: Randall H, United States of America	July 2009
For a more tailored and immersive experience, I would highly recommend doing a custom private tour. You essentially have a tour guide all to yourself for about 8 hours and maybe also a driver as well. I was able to select what I wanted to see and the time frame allotted to different activities. I chose which important sites I wanted to see as I'm really into photographing scenes and people. It's also really somewhat reasonable in price although you do need to factor in an amount for a tip 10 to 20 depending on quality of service since the guide and maybe a driver essentially spent a full day with you. On this first day tour we went to the Mutainyu section of the Great Wall to avoid all the tourists usually at the closer Badaling section as well as the Summer Palace.

Review by: Maria L, United States of America	May 2009
Our tour guide took excellent care of us. He made sure each member of our group had seen something they were particularly interested in, so it was a customized tour just for us. He was also extremely helpful, translating for us when we were shopping and ordering food in restaurants. I would book this tour again on a return visit.

Review by: Ching-Hwa Y, United States of America	March 2009
This is absolutely the best choice for sightseeing around the central parts of the city - Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Lama Temple, Confucius Temple, Imperial College, etc. Taxi rides are cheap or you can take the subway for 2RMB. The guide I had spoke pretty good English. You can also ask the guide to recommend restaurants that are more local and authentic than the ones you would normally get when part of a larger tour group.

Review by: Robin M, Australia	August 2008
Nothing planned specifically. Outstanding, knowledgeable, English-speaking guide suggested traditional teahouse ceremony, silk factory visit and market shopping. Happy with very laid-back experience. No rush, no fuss.

Review by: Linda M	August 2008
Nothing planned specifically. Outstanding, knowledgeable, English-speaking guide suggested traditional teahouse ceremony, silk factory visit and market shopping. Happy with very laid-back experience. No rush, no fuss.

Review by: Jeremy H, United States of America	July 2008
The tour guide was friendly, knowledgeable and with good language skill. We loved the flexibility of the private tour. The cost does not include transportation admission fees etc.