Home > Beijing > Great Wall of China at Badaling and Ming Tombs Day Tour from Beijing
USD $73.00
Great Wall of China at Badaling and Ming Tombs Day Tour from Beijing
Beijing, China
See two of China's most popular destinations, the World Heritage-listed 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 parts of this colossal structure, and explore the Chang Ling Tomb, the largest of the excavated Ming emperor burial sites. Lunch and round-trip hotel transport are included, with expert commentary from a knowledgeable guide throughout your full-day tour.
After pickup in the morning from your hotel, hop aboard a comfortable coach and head north out of bustling Beijing to two popular area attractions. The first stop on your full-day sightseeing tour is the Great Wall of China, the greatest symbol of ancient Chinese engineering and one of the world's most famous structures. The Badaling section is a prime, preserved example of this colossal monument, which became a strategic military location during the Warring States period (476-221 BC), when many incomplete parts of the wall were built. Here at the Badaling section, you have the opportunity to climb either the north or south face of the Great Wall, enjoying sweeping views of the surrounding landscape. As you stroll with your guide past watchtowers along the ancient fortification, learn why it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site and see why it lives up to its reputation as one of the Eight Wonders of the World. From Badaling it's on to the sacred Ming Tombs, burial grounds to 13 of the 16 Ming emperors. Situated just outside the city, only three of the tombs are actually open for viewing. Discover the earliest and largest of the excavated burial sites, the Chang Ling Tomb, which dates back to 1413 and is divided into three separate, impressive courtyards. During your day trip, a Chinese-style lunch is included, along with a shopping opportunity at the renowned Longdi jade factory. Learn how this beautiful stone is carved and enjoy browsing for goods before returning to your hotel in Beijing city aboard the coach.
Even it was very hot when we visited, it was a great experience. Our tour guide Jackie is very knowledgeable and experience. He is funny and patient
Review by: vanderlooe, June 2018
The tour itself was amazing. The Great Wall and Ming Tombs did not disappoint. We found 2 hours to be plenty long enough for the Great Wall. It was very hot and I felt a bit sick climbing. Some of the stairs are very small and others are big and the railing is quite low. However, I was able to sit down and drink water in the shade of the watch towers before continuing my climb there is even a bar if you get far enough on the climb!. We even had extra time to buy a drink when we got back down and a couple souvenirs we did not get bothered by anyone. The bus ride was short from Beijing on an air-conditioned bus, and our tour guide Cathy was very friendly and she pumped us full of interesting history about the ancient Dynasties. It was so neat to walk in the same footsteps as people from the years BC._br/_ The only thing we were not huge fans of were the tea house and jade factory. While the demonstrations were interesting, you finish the tours by exiting into gift shops where employees follow you around persistently and use high-pressure sales tactics. However, I think we got a fair deal at the Jade factory as my sister and I both bought beautiful Jade necklaces for only 100. There was also a delicious free lunch provided at the Jade factory. As for the tea house, we love tea, don't get us wrong! But initially we did not even want to buy any tea, and finally agreed to buy one flavour, but were told you have to combine it with another flavour to get a certain taste, and then when you buy 3, you get 1 free or something like that. So in the end, we ended up with every flavour of tea they offered. Once we left and did the math conversion, we had spent over 150 Canadian on tea which we would never do at home. We should have just said no and walked away because you cannot even freely look around without being hounded by staff. No one likes to be bothered when looking around a shop - if we have questions, we will ask. I assume the tour guides get some kind of kick-back for taking tour groups to these places, as I saw several people from different tour groups that I recognized from the Great Wall at the jade factory. That was disappointing to us as the tour was already paid for but then somehow we ended up spending another 300 that we didn't even plan on spending. I know in the end it was our choice and we should have been more firm but we also didn't appreciate being taken to these places. I was also cornered leaving the Ming Tombs and everyone left me and boarded the bus and I could not get this lady to leave me alone. I finally bought a magnet off her._br/_ It is a bit of a mixed review, but all in all, I do recommend this tour. You will thoroughly enjoy the Great Wall and Ming Tombs! My word of advice - if you do not want to buy anything, just say NO and walk away. Don't engage!!! I read these reviews before I went but somehow I still got swindled.
Review by: Sunil D, May 2018
Beautiful views, only thing missing was the part of the wall where you can walk straight for some time, as you see in many pictures. I guess that's on another entrance of the wall.
Review by: John J, May 2018
Great guide. Picked us up on time and dropped us off at our hotel. Lunch was great and we had a super time. I highly recommend this trip and tour.
Review by: Michael M, May 2018
Perfect
Review by: John, April 2018
Amazing tour! We would definitely recommend.
Review by: Crystal B, April 2018
Things I liked:_br/_ It was a little cold but it was amazing. The tour company had a message waiting for me at my hotel to call them for details on pick up the next morning which was very nice. My guide for the day was Alice and she was well spoken and really knowledgeable about the history. It was a nice small group of 9 people so we were not always standing around waiting for others. _br/_ Things I didn't like:_br/_ We stopped twice at different little places. One was the Jade factory and the other was a Tea tasting. It was fun to see these things but I felt obligated to buy something and hounded by the sales associates. That was a turnoff for me. The other was the food. We stopped at a restaurant and were served a pre planned menu. All the tour companies must go to these same locations. It was bland, westernized and over cooked. You could tell that the must make massive amounts of the same 6 dishes. It would have been nice to try some local Beijing specialty dishes.
Review by: Elissa T, April 2018
There truly are no words to describe the excitement I felt walking The Great Wall of China. Even though it was a foggy day, the experience was beyond words. I highly recommend it!!!
Review by: James S, April 2018
Great tour guide with good English language skills. Cherry our guide was very well informed and we really appreciated the information learned about the great wall and the emperor tombs. Without a guide like this, you are missing out on just how big a feat it was to build all this.
Review by: ROTEM S, March 2018
Beautiful day, beautiful attractions, great guide.
Review by: Jeffery K, March 2018
This was a great day trip to the Great Wall. The Ming Tombs are OK, but the Great Wall was a phenomenal trip. There were two side trips to a Jade factory and a Chinese Tea store. The tour guide did a great job on the tour.
Review by: William B, March 2018
Awesome tour. Friendly guide. Perfect clear views of the great wall. only thing I didn't like was I felt rushed. other than that everything was perfect.
Review by: Leifinge, March 2018
Nice guide
Review by: Shannon J. H, March 2018
Worst place to visit the wall .about 2 miles down better view less people.bad guide was only interested in selling his stuff no knowledge of the wall.
Review by: Helen S, March 2018
Great Wall of China and Ming Tombs were great - both of the things I had signed up for! I would have liked longer at both, rather than being forced to go to Jade factory and Tea House, which no one in the tour group had signed up for or wanted to go. The food was awful, so bring a packed lunch!
Review by: Kari Merete K, March 2018
I have been there before, so knew what to expect. For my colleague it was a first time experience.Thanks to tour guide William, who was so fun to spend the day with, we had a great trip His English was very good, and he was well informed about history and culture..
Review by: tcrain, February 2018
Carly was an excellent guide, very knowledgeable and professional. Be sure to take the cable car ride up the Great Wall. It costs 140 yuan per person so have cash available. Also we had a good lunch at the jade factory.
Review by: Lili, February 2018
Climb the left side of the wall, path less traveled. Well worth extra steepness! Truly impressive Wonder of the World! I gave this tour 4 stars because the guide was not very engaging. Seemed bored
Review by: crazylabs2, February 2018
We were picked up on time. The car van was clean and newer. Our tour guides English wasn't great and he was hard to understand. That being said, he went out of his way to ensure we saw and did everything we were promised._br/_ If our tour guide spoke better English we would rate this tour 5 stars.
Review by: Luke R, January 2018
Efficient. Nice guide.
Review by: Kevin D, January 2018
Amazing tour and our guide, Jackie, was fantastic. Highly recommended!
Review by: Karla G, January 2018
Skip the Ming Tombs do a half day to the Great Wall. The Great Wall was superb but Ming Tombs very disappoimting. Didn't enjoy the Jade Factory tour before lunch. The salespeople and guide very pressuring. I enjoyed the Tearoom stop.
Review by: DIANA JEAN M, January 2018
Not satisfied with the tour. We didn’t go to ming’s tomb. Enjoyed great wall though. Lots of factory promotions.
Review by: Daniela I, January 2018
Not very happy with this tour. The Ming Tombs I could have done without....not a lot to see there if you have already seen the Forbidden City. The Great Wall was remarkable but wish we had more time and were taken to a flatter section of the wall. we did not go to Badaling. The rest of the tour was very unpleasant. They came to pick up with an old van which smelled of cigarette smoke. The guide was somewhat knowledgable but not terribly flexible. She took us to the jade factory which was a total snooze and also to a tea house which was mildly more interesting. Both the jade factory and the tea house were obviously stops geared toward purchasing something and both were ridiculously overpriced. We ended up buying some tea after lengthy negotiation only to find out that the tea was lower quality than the one we tasted. So basically wasted our time with everything but the Great Wall...I would not recommend this tour to anyone. Better off to get a driver to take you to the great wall....
Review by: Clive D, December 2017
Amazing day great to see so much
Review by: Sen W, November 2017
Good experience, enjoyed the wall but it's very steep at certain spots. Tour guide a local and explained sights well. Usual stops at souvenir places and western style Chinese food.
Review by: Lauritz Clement L, November 2017
Very nice tour although the guide provided us with little detail of its history and construction. The Ming Tombs were nice but not that interesting, maybe because the guide did not give us much information about it. The guide Annie was very friendly and her English was sufficient but she did not understand all my questions. Overall I would recommend this tour as it was very nice, and included a tour to a Tea factory/shop where very friendly people welcomed us and showed us the tea traditions. The shop was nice as well with a lot of choice although slightly over priced but that is to be expected in tourist shops.
Review by: David Elias H, November 2017
Very nice experience! Alice was a great and super friendly tour guid with lots of knowledge! I recommend doing this trip during low-season as the Badaling part of the wall is very popular and might be overcrowded during tourism seasons. I especially liked the tea ceremony at the end. But be prepared that you will be led through shopping occasions at the jade factory and the teahouse.
Review by: kyleessman1, November 2017
The visit to the Great Wall was great. The Badaling section was beautiful and was not very crowded at all this was in November -- so not peak season. The visit to the Ming Tombs was nice but we were rushed through very quickly. The visits to the jade factory and the tea room weren't bad but they felt very sales-y and just a way to get us to spend money._br/_ The tour listing should also be updated to reflect the correct length. It shows 8 hours -- but it was more like 11 hours 7am pick-up / 6pm drop-off. _br/_ Jackie's English was not great and most of the group couldn't understand anything he said on the bus. He didn't give a lot of basic information that should've been discussed about the Great Wall. He also openly asked for tips, which came across as rude. And finally, Jackie had the bus stop once we got back to Beijing and he got off and left the entire group on the bus without any way to communicate with the driver, who did not speak English. The guide should always stay with the group until everyone is dropped off at their hotels._br/_ Overall, the tour itself was very good but the guide was not.
Review by: Jamie C, November 2017
Great tour. I wish for more time at the wall and less stops for them to try to sell you things Jade stop, tea stop. Our tour guy was really pushy and rushed a lot of the Ming Tombs.
Review by: Michael L, November 2017
We were really disappointed with our guide Jackie from Han Tang tours. He was hard to understand, and not interested in listening to the customers. He was in a rush when we were at the Great Wall and at the Ming Tombs, so that we would have more time at the jade and tea shops, where it seems he could get a commission from any sales.
Review by: Lady in Pink, November 2017
The overall tour of the Great Wall was simply amazing and a memorable experience. The Ming Tombs have a lot of history, but unfortunately our guide, Jackie Li, rushed us thru so fast that we did not get the opportunity to take in what it represented. With that said our guide, Jackie who stated he had over 20 years of experience was one of the worst guides we have ever encountered in our worldly travels. Of the 7 tourists in the minivan no one could understand his English. He spoke so fast and if anyone asked a question, he never acknowledged the question unless the person asking persisted. It seemed that Jackie had all the time in the world for our stops to the Jade factory and tea shop where we assume he gets a commission. He came across arrogant and condescending. At one point one couple elected to take the cable car and rest decided to hike to the Great Wall. The couple who took the cable car stood in line for over an hour to get back down the mountain which was overwhelmed by other visitors that it caused them to be late in returning to the van which the other 5 travelers completely understood, but Jackie expressed his frustration more than once, stated he only like personal tours and then slammed the van door. Upon the rest of the trip the couple iterated that Jackie wouldn't even speak to them upon their return. Such petulance in a guide is unacceptable. Viator needs to have a long conversation with the tour company that employs him and insist that improve his language skills and attitude toward tourists, or ensure he is not used as a guide in the future. We were spoiled by William on the first tour and very disappointed with Jackie on the second tour.
Review by: hjohnst1, November 2017
This was an amazing tour! Our tour guide Alice was extremely knowledgeable, approachable and friendly. The Ming tombs was an interesting first stop before our visit to a jade factory where was also had lunch. The Great Wall was the highlight of the tour. Thanks Alice!!!
Review by: Kealoha, November 2017
I wish I went on another tour. These are the reasons_br/_ 1. Too much time was spent at the jade factory. Overall I think we spent around 1.5 hours at the jade factory, I believe the time we spent could be cut in half. _br/_ 2. Kathy the tour guide did not tell us that we would have to BUY tickets for the cable car lift onto the Great Wall. That was a total rip off. _br/_ 3. The tea house visit was not necessary.
Review by: wherdy, October 2017
I have climbed the Great Wall 5 times now - this would have to be the worst. Badaling was crowded with a capital C - took half an hour to get on the cable car and half an hour to get back on. Had I known, I would have walked up and down. Barely half an hour on the Wall which I would not rate as the best part of the Wall and jostling every inch of the way. Other sections of the Wall are more authentic. How bad must it be on weekends and public holidays. This experience was made even worse by having the worst tour guide that I have ever experienced in my half-dozen or so Viator tours. His English could have been better, but the content of his talk could have been a lot more useful than it was. One of our couples got lost and he treated them so badly that it was embarrassing. To top it off, we got caught in traffic not his fault, although we did get the side trip to the tea ceremony at the obligatory tourist trap and we returned to the hotel hours late. The tour guide did suggest we take the subway, which would have got us home at least an hour earlier, so his suggestion was reasonable, but it was not a good look that he appeared to be trying to dump us because he had a big day next day his problem, not mine, and he did not have to share it with us, repeatedly.
Review by: Kenneth M, October 2017
This was a good trip that that actually lasted about 10 hours including transport to get to The Badaling Great Wall and Ming Tombs. The guide chose to visit when these places were not crowded, and a nice lunch was included. Also included was shopping at a jade factory and a place that sold different types of tea. Overall a good experience, however, after the tour was over I was thinking I could have used an extra half hour at each attraction the wall and the tombs and an hours less time at the shopping places. We didn't quite have enough time to see the museum at the Ming tombs, and could have used extra time climbing the wall.
Review by: Richard C, October 2017
I wouldn't really recommend this. The Wall at Badaling is one of the more crowded sections so really you will be jostled the whole time you are there. Not a great place to appreciate the wall which has much better parts not that far away. While we had a guide to just three people she generally left us to it most of the time and did not seem really knowledgeable about the exhibits. Some of the things she said about the wall were simply incorrect. We were taken to a Jade factory which was clearly just an attempt to sell us something we didn't want lots of bored looking tourists being shown through and lectured about the cheapness and benefit of buying Jade. Even simply getting a coffee it was obvious that the guide was intent on pointing us to the coffee seller that would give her something for taking tourists there rather than the closest one. I know this sort of thing is very common in China but it did get annoying. The Ming Tomb complex had lots of parts to it that might have been interesting but we were only shown a very small part of it.
Review by: Lia S, October 2017
Amazing.
Review by: Ihab N, September 2017
This tour was amazing!
Review by: Justin M, September 2017
Jackie was the best tour guide ever. The Great Wall was absolutely beautiful.
Review by: Dave D, September 2017
Excellent tour. Ming Tombs was extremely informative. The Great Wall at Badaling was busy but appreciated the opportunity to have idepndent time on the wall.
Review by: Lucio G, September 2017
This tour was amazing!
Review by: Don J, September 2017
It was a dream come true to walk on the Great Wall of China. Alice was our guide and made the trip an even more memorable experience because of her knowledge and her willingness to share it. Her experience enabled us to miss huge crowds and enable us to get the most of our trip. They were a few minutes late picking me up because of two rude guests who had no consideration for the guide and driver or the other guests. This of course happens with rude people, but Alice did keep me informed. During the tour the same two continued their rudeness holding up the tour by wondering off on their own little expeditions._br/_ I would still highly recommend this tour. Not only was the Great Wall everything I had imagined but the Ming tomb was far more interesting than I had thought. Alice had given us a history lesson on the different dynasties of China and that made the experience even more meaningful._br/_ Even though I was not interested in the Jade exhibition, others seemed to be, and the lunch was outstanding._br/_ The day was a great experience. I learned so much and saw so much. Again, Alice was great and the driver was also very good. It is easy to overlook self-absorbed people who have no concern for others when the overall experience was so wonderful.
Review by: Flynn R, August 2017
I really don't recommend this trip.
Review by: Mikhail M, August 2017
I should have read the reviews more carefully as the tour was not up to the actual description and was quite poor value for money. The description said that the tour includes a visit to the Ming Tombs, lunch, and the Great Wall. However, we were also dropped to a jade factory which was in fact just a jade souvenir shop. There we had the worst lunch I have had in China. On the way back to Beijing we were also brought to a tea ceremony which was not in the tour description at all and was another souvenir shop! At these two stops combined, we spent more than two hours! _br/_ The entire tour took us 12 hours but we spent only two hours at the Great Wall. The rest of our time we spent either queuing to the Great Wall or sitting in our bus. Our guide, Alice, was quite nice but her briefings to the Chinese history were so basic that it was quite boring to listen to her.
Review by: Irina K, August 2017
Excellent tour with knowledgeable guide and a great section of wall to visit. We came there early so there were not too many people._br/_ The jade factory is a total waste of time, though._br/_ Tombs - interesting, but you do not get to the most interesting part of the open tomb which is what I was expecting._br/_ Tea ceremony - very nice.
Review by: S J, August 2017
Amazing! Can get crowded on weekends but still a very good tour.
Review by: Rita J, July 2017
This tour is definitely worthwhile. We did the Ming Tombs first and the Wall second. Perhaps doing the Wall first may have thinned the crowds out a little. There were so many people at the Wall, but that didn't really deter from seeing the amazing spectacle. Also the lunch included in this tour was magnificent. Our guide Cynthia was very, very knowledgeable and pleasant. She was also photo happy, which was great. We would recommend her and this tour in a heartbeat.
Review by: AndreBoniatti, July 2017
Great day!
Review by: David H, July 2017
Sadly this tour which I booked because my Daughter was anxious to see the Great Wall and Ming Tombs turned out to be anything but enjoyable._br/_ We were promised an 8-hour day with an experienced guide visiting the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs with the inevitable shopping stops included and although we were advised local hotel pick-up might be prior to the 7:30 am start time for the tour we were less than impressed when we discovered this meant 6:40 am for us and had we not called time on the tour and insisted on a Taxi back to our hotel at 4:00 pm when the guide expected us to endure a visit to a Tea House then we would not have been back until after 6:00 pm making the whole day nearer 12 hours than the advertised 8 hours. _br/_ I appreciate you can pay more for tours without shopping trips but when the time allocated to these is longer than the time we eventually had at the Great Wall that is plain wrong._br/_ The day started with a visit to a Jade 'factory' which is really a large shop then on to the Ming Tombs which in fairness proved relatively interesting. Unfortunately we were then hauled off at a rather early hour to a restaurant for a Chinese style meal of consisting of rather bland food including a large plate of French Fries! Not a common dish in other places I have visited on numerous trips to this wonderful country. The complimentary drink offered was 1 small glass of Coke or similar or an equivalent amount of local beer poured from a large bottle. When I asked for more I was told that I would have to pay. I well know the price of this in China so that was just mean in the extreme._br/_ Going on to the Great Wall our guide strongly sold the idea of the Cable Car to get up to the start point and asked for my Passport and the Student Card of another traveller I am also aware Senior and Student discounts are available but he collected from us the same amount of cash as from the others. I decided at that point he already had his 'tip' and would get no more._br/_ When we eventually arrived at the Great Wall we realised we had what amounted to 45 minutes there before we had been told to be back at the bus so allowing 15 minutes to get back down on the Cable Car as there was a long queue this resulted in my Daughter and I 'enjoying' the whole of 30 minutes there. Needless to say we were less than impressed by this as it was supposed to be the highlight of the day and indeed her first visit to China._br/_ As I said earlier when after 4:00 pm the tour bus stopped at a Tea House and we enquired how long before we could expect to be back at our hotel only to be told this would take at least another 2 hours all patience was lost and we left the tour at that point and paid for our own Taxi back to the hotel._br/_ This complete shambles of what ought to have been an exciting and enjoyable day means my first ever Viator booking shall certainly be my last!
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