Home > Beijing > Private Custom Tour: Beijing in One Day
USD $16.00
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.
Absolutely unacceptable. From the moment Gale contacted me, she was trying to rip me off. Rude, had a bad tone with me the entire conversation. She tried to sell me a private car via “a friend” for $1k USD. The hotel was offering for 800yen ($125usd). She has snide remarks when I asked anything.
Review by: David L, November 2017
I would not recommend this tour to others frankly._br/_ First, Unlike other tours.. you have to contact your guide first.. however.. our operator Hangtantour could not recieve my emails, calls.._br/_ and even Viator's customers service team couldn't reach them._br/_ We wanted to cancel the tour.. but Viator said that there was nothing that they could do._br/_ It was when we arrived at the hotel at beijing when we got the call. Very dissapointing and unconvinient.
Review by: abuangulo, November 2017
great guide. very professional and knowledgeable. we enjoyed every minute of this tour.
Review by: erikacoppola, November 2017
Fantastic deal overall. We were able to see and do everything on our list. We definitely would not have been able to do everything with a traditional tour. Would highly recommend!
Review by: Lady in Pink, November 2017
We again arranged this individual tour thru Viator and fortunately we got William from our first tour of Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, etc. They way it works for individual tour, William met us at the hotel and we told him what we had already seen and what did he recommend. You pay his way as well as yours to the attractions or restaurants. We told him what we had already seen and said we wanted to see the Pandas. He took us to the zoo by subway. Again William was informative, was patient with us with our questions and an overall joy to be with. He was a wealth of information and proud to explain about his country's history and accomplishments. After the zoo we went to the old Beijing where he booked us a rickshaw ride while he narrated on a rental bike from the street. We entered a house of one of the inhabitants who was so proud to show how he lived. He obtained tickets for us for the Circus which was colorful and amazing. He stayed with us the whole time and ensured we enjoyed ourselves and returned us to our hotel. It was a wonderful experience traveling through the different modes of transport with no worries. We met many folks who just wanted to take their photo with Americans. I would highly recommend Viator's individual tour if you can get William.
Review by: Faye B, October 2017
Excellent tour guide.
Review by: Felipe C, October 2017
The tour was supposed to be customized but despite the fact I sent several emails to the email register during our booking, I received response the night before the tour. So for that reason we did not have time to plan the activities we wanted to enjoy. The guide was very good but since we failed to plan the entire tour she could not give us the best services she wanted for the lack of planning. I think wendy has answer more prompt the messages so clients can plan much better the activities they want to do. I think the more critical factor here was the delay when we contacted the tour company and from there everything was destined to not comply with our expectations. I wont recommend this tour unless the company answers the messages with promptness before the tour starts, not a night before, as it was advertised 48 hours before, but this condition was not met for the tour operator.
Review by: Jim S, October 2017
gail was wonderful, customized everything to our needs...
Review by: Emma P, August 2017
We packed a lot into the day and our guide Gale was lovely. Her English was good and being able to customise the trip so we saw exactly what we wanted was perfect
Review by: Dmitri K, August 2017
It was the worth experience ever. When we payed for tour we got an email address of the tour operator. We payed 3 days in advance It was a fake. The email didn't exist. It was bouncing back!!!. Unfortunately we didn't have time to investigate as we were in Moscow and our time was limited. We hopped to contact our guide from airport by phone. In airport we got SMS from Michele What you want to do? We replay that we want him to meet us at 10am in our hotel. He replay that he want to book a car for 2000rnb to drive us around. We wanted to have a walk as our hotel was just 10 min walk from Forbidden City. At 11 am he still was at home telling us that to get to our hotel for him is 2 hours. He didn't want to do the job. He just wanted us to pay for car what we didn't want. So after 1 our of unpleasant communication we told him that we are not required his service. We have a day on our own. The Beijing is not a city that you can see on your own. We have just 3 days and 1 was destroyed by Michele. Very very unpleasant experience. I would not recommended it to anyone.
Review by: Dmitri K, August 2017
It was the worth experience ever. When we payed for tour we got an email address of the tour operator. We payed 3 days in advance It was a fake. The email didn't exist. It was bouncing back!!!. Unfortunately we didn't have time to investigate as we were in Moscow and our time was limited. We hopped to contact our guide from airport by phone. In airport we got SMS from Michele What you want to do? We replay that we want him to meet us at 10am in our hotel. He replay that he want to book a car for 2000rnb to drive us around. We wanted to have a walk as our hotel was just 10 min walk from Forbidden City. At 11 am he still was at home telling us that to get to our hotel for him is 2 hours. He didn't want to do the job. He just wanted us to pay for car what we didn't want. So after 1 our of unpleasant communication we told him that we are not required his service. We have a day on our own. The Beijing is not a city that you can see on your own. We have just 3 days and 1 was destroyed by Michele. Very very unpleasant experience. I would not recommended it to anyone.
Review by: lcleve, August 2017
Our tour guide was great. Started out seeing the pandas at the zoo than traveled to summer Palace._br/_ Her English was easy to understand.and gave us history on the Summer palace. Unfortunately my husband _br/_ became ill and we had to go back early to the hotel. She was very kind to my husband and very caring. would highly recommend, Linda
Review by: John M, August 2017
Our guide, William, met us at the agreed upon time and was our buddy for the day. No other way to describe it. He's there for whatever you need and has a ton of knowledge to share on both the history and current state of China. Great day of sightseeing and conversation!
Review by: Gina S, July 2017
Tour guide was very respectful, knowledgeable, flexible, and patient. He did take me to the places I wanted to visit and recommended additional places for shopping and gifts. Some of the shops were pushed a little but I only did what I really wanted to do and spent time where I wanted to go. I always knew were my guide was and felt safe traveling alone as a female. I highly recommend the to add the car ad driver to have more time or more places to visit. The price for it was very reasonable. I highly recommend this over the rigid tour because it gives so much more to your interests with the time you have in the location.
Review by: Lynn S, July 2017
We planned this private tour to complement missing components of our group China tour. John contacted us the evening before at our hotel. We visited the beautiful Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace at our request. Glad we did not miss them. John was knowledgeable and pleasant although sometimes difficult to understand. John also shared something of his life so we could better understand life in China. We used taxi cabs for transportation so have cash for these. Also admission is not included so be prepared with cash as well for admissions. John also took us to the silk museum. After a short presentation we were pressured in the pleasant Chinese way to buy something. It's very difficult to refuse. Would prefer not to be subjected to these tactics as a way to generate more revenue. We enjoyed our day overall except for this.
Review by: Curtis J, June 2017
I highly recommend using this tour because its not rushed like more organized tours. Your able to pick and choose where you want to go and see in a more relaxed setting. I highly recommend our tour guide coralin Li. She was was excellent!!!! We told her what we wanted to see and go and she planned it out and offer suggestions to places that not even offered in the excursion section. However you'll have to pay for a driver and fees to get into the tours. But its worth it!! Your not sitting on a bus with 40 other people. Try this! I don't think you'll be disappointed. Remember should you booked this tour asked for coralin LI.
Review by: Nirvana S, May 2017
Great choice! Just be aware that you will be responsible for transportation for both you and your guide. However, Beijing has a fantastic subway system. Also, our guide was able to call cabs through the Chinese Uber-type system, in which we just paid her back._br/_ With this tour we were able to see all of the things we wanted to see, and avoid the sites that didn't interest us. Also, we were able to move at our own pace and choose our own foods to eat. Having a guide in China is a must since many people do not speak English. Our guides were super helpful!
Review by: Shimaali G, May 2017
This was the BEST thing I did! I had actually booked a tour through another company that was a disaster. I booked this tour less than 24 hours before it began and Cora Lin delivered beyond my wildest expectations. When booking I mentioned what we had not seen so Cora Lin tailored the day for us. We visited the Hutongs, Temple of Heaven and Bahi Park. The rickshaw ride at the Hutongs combined with a visit to a local family and seeing the unique glass bottle paintings were fun but then we also visited the Bell and Drum Tower. While at the drum tower we had the added bonus of watching a drum performance. Cora also took us to a local restaurant for a Hot Pot lunch of lamb stew that was delicious. She was informative, her English was fluent and we could totally understand her and she filled us in on Chinese history and really connected the places of interest with her culture and heritage. Thank you Viator!
Review by: new, April 2017
Our guide Jackie Lee was helpful, knowl dgable and incredibly knowledgable. We attend d all th main tourist attractions but Jackie knew how to avoid the crowded enterences and back ways. Lunch with our group was fun as was the entire day touring in Beijing.
Review by: ggonzalez, April 2017
It was a packed day. Gale was very knowledgable, understood we had a short time to see many things and powerwalked us around Beijing. Definetly worth it, if you have time I suggest splitting Beijing into two full days and The Wall and Summer Palace into a third.
Review by: Judith S, January 2017
I found this tour worked very well for our family group of 4. We wanted flexibility as we didn't know what we might feel like doing when I booked ahead. I liked the sound of paying as you go for costs, and many reviewers mentioned they thought they saved money that way. I would agree having seen the cost of lots of day tours. So, how did it work? Having booked on Viator, I actually did phone through to China to make sure I had reached a 'real person. I had. That person was Wendy Z. of Han Tang Tours. She was also easily reachable via email._br/_ I requested the guide William because he had such favourable mentions on Trip Advisor and Viator Reviews! They were surprised I requested a particularly guide, but I'm glad I did. 24 hours ahead I called the above phone number and in a few moments William's called me to discuss the next day arrangements. William turned up at our downtown hotel and with William we worked out that we were comfortable catching public transport. So we caught a combination of City Metro very easy and I do recommend! The touch screen for tickets has an English option and it's a great metro network, and a taxi when needed 20 Yuan a ride. We paid for Williams fares along with ours - not a problem. William knew exactly where to take us to avoid queue issues, and handled the entry ticket purchases at Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven as an official guide he did not need to pay for entry I don't think. Make sure you take your PASSPORT as that is needed for ID. William was a fount of information. Being minus zero temperatures we probably kept moving and did not want to go too slowly. Between the two sites, William knew where to take us for lunch which we really enjoyed - a novel food court where you purchase 100 or whatever you need Yuan on a ticket then your dishes get debited off this, and you receive a refund immediately if any left. Typical Chinese inventiveness! After the Temple of Heaven we were pretty tired and cold and William suggested a warm-up tea -ceremony at a place he knew. We loved that. No charge for the ceremony and the guide told us all about teas etc. Of course we wanted to buy some teas, but there was no pressure. William recommended some other things we could do, that he could arrange, but our group was happy with the day to finish a bit early and we came back to the hotel at 4:00pm And William is a very nice guy - totally recommend him to you all!
Review by: Richard E, November 2016
William was great. I am confident that he saved us more money than he cost. He negotiated deals for us on whatever we wanted to do and steered us clear of any problems. He was knowledgeable and easy going. His English was excellent and he got us off the beaten path. Highly recommend it.
Review by: Gavin D, November 2016
Tour guide was very knowledgeable and even added extra things to my custom tour itinerary that I hadn and #39;t originally asked for.
Review by: Jatu A, November 2016
Best option when you want cheaper price, but dot want a big tour with strangers. The tour guide was helpful
Review by: Richard W, September 2016
I had a great time on this private tour. It was really nice being able to customize my itinerary and see 3 of Beijing's great attractions without feeling rushed. My tour guide was fantastic and knowledgeable.
Review by: gasandgyn, July 2016
We were in Beijing for less than 48 hours. We did this tour to get in all the main points before we left. I was really fun, but we ended up going to 2 other places we didn't know about prior. These places were the jade factory and a tea house where we did a tea ceremony. Both places were interesting and worth it, but I think that they put in these places to make money off tourists. _br/_ The tour itself was very inexpensive to book, but the fine print didn't tell us that we pay for admission for the guide too. I knew we would pay for our entrance fees based on what we wanted, but wasn't aware that we paid for the guide as well. And in some places , the guides got in for free.
Review by: Lisag88, July 2016
Excellent. I couldn't have been happier with Cherry. She was our private guide for two days - she showed us all over Beijing, educated us on Chinese culture, helped us choose the right restaurants, convert our money and bargain for souvenirs. What I loved the most is she took a lot of our photos so I was actually in them too! We saw the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Temple of Heaven, Hutongs...we didn't miss a thing! I highly recommend a private guide and driver especially if you have a limited amount of time!
Review by: paul, July 2016
Terrible from start to finish. Viator sub contract these tours to a local agent. I was surprised to discover that we could not discuss my plans with the tour company until the night before tour, I tried to make some arrangements prior to my arrival but was told that the tour guide would call the hotel before 9pm the night before the tour. We called the tour company around 8pm as we were concerned we had not heard, we were told to wait until 9pm and then call back. The tour guide called us 15 minutes later and said he had left a message at the hotel for us maybe he had, but it was not passed on. We discussed the itinerary and I said I wanted to travel via the metro to get an idea of the city...he was not keen. He kept suggesting we get a private driver, but this was going to add a lot more to the trip so I refused, he suggested that taxi's for the day would be expensive too. I stuck to my plans and insisted on taking the metro. We agreed a time to meet in the hotel lobby. A few minutes later we had a call back from the tour guide's manager, who was asking after the call. I said I was surprised at the cost of the private driver and also how much a taxi would cost, he really went off on a rant about the fact that we should not take the tour as we obviously did not trust the guide! This was certainly not true and I was really taken aback, he suggested that they cancel the tour and give us a refund. I obviously stated that I had no issue with the tour guide and I was sure it was a miscommunication, he was insisting on cancelling the tour. In a surreal 20 minute phone call, we ended up pleading to keep the tour on as agreed whilst he brought my wife to tears! All this before the tour commenced. The guide was hap hazard, taking us the wrong way on the metro until we pointed it out to him. He told us interesting facts in the forbidden city, but read the plaques and realised he got it wrong. Terrible experience. Could not submit complaint - Viator web problem :-
Review by: Victor Q, July 2016
This tour was amazing!
Review by: Alexander L, June 2016
Our guide was so knowledgeable and she took us to see people singing_br/_ in the park and doing acrobatics and she took great photos of us!!
Review by: Martin B, June 2016
The trip was nice. The Guide pick me up at 10 'clock. But we need everytime a taxi, he don't have a car. Also I must pay for for my and his entrance !
Review by: Bradford B, June 2016
This was a classic get to see the main sights of Beijing tour. Michael did a fine job and was pleasant to be with. Informative, he spoke English well and was easy to understand. He could have helped us interact with the locals some as they were very interested in my family and tried to communicate with us. But he wasn't too interested in translating or at least just letting us know what they wanted or why they were so interested in us until we asked him. At the Forbidden City we didn't go with the main crowds walking down the middle, instead we were off to the right and had a touristy photo at a stand. It was a lot of fun. At the Summer Palace I thought we were to take a ride on the dragon boat again touristy but looked like fun and a chance to rest but we didn't. This would have completed a great day for the family.
Review by: Carlos V, May 2016
William was an awesome Tour Guide! Loved the personalized attention. Would recommend this tour to anyone who has limited time in Beijing and wants a personal tour of the city.
Review by: Jamie K, April 2016
Goo did a great job of getting my family of four around Beijing by metro. He was informative, easy to understand and flexible with where we wanted to go. I really like the private tours for my family and we could eat where we wanted. We had fantastic Peking duck at the end of our day. Not sure we would have found the restaurant on our own.
Review by: Melissa A, January 2016
Great way to spend the day in Beijing! my tour guide Coraline was fantastic and very flexible in accommodating my requests for the sights we visited, as well as very knowledgable about the history of Beijing and details on every place we visited. Highly recommend!
Review by: Susan L, November 2015
Our guide Cynthia was absolutely amazing, and she made sure we saw a lot of things in one day! We were taken to see Tiananmen square, the Forbidden City, the Drum and Bell Towers, took a rickshaw around the Hutongs, and the Temple of Heaven. We were also taken to a silk factory, where we were shown how silk is harvested and used to make materials. Although we did a lot in one day, we weren't rushed at all and we were able to take our time looking around each place. Cynthia was very good at speaking English, and she was able to tell us a lot of history and information about each of the attractions. We walked or used public transport to get to each place - even the taxis in Beijing are very cheap, so this wasn't an issue!
Review by: nadia_28syc, November 2015
Cherry was awesome and very knowledgeable, patient and understanding. Her English is great.Also she is a lot of fun to be around.
Review by: Lori T, November 2015
William is the best guide ever. We walked 12.5 miles in 1 day. We saw everything and he was so knowledgeable and a lot of fun. I wish they would have given me him the next day too. Thank you William.
Review by: Tania T, October 2015
Excellent. My guide cindy did a wonderfull job. She is a very experienced tour guide. She arranged the tour exactly to our requirements and was proud and happy to show us Beijing - which is an amazing city.
Review by: Timothy B, September 2015
Carlin did a great job of managing the tour and explaining the most interesting aspects of the sites we visited. She also was very flexible in revising the agenda to meet our needs. We really enjoyed our time with her and would highly recommend having her as a guide!
Review by: Gershwyn, September 2015
Our tour guide, Michael, was very friendly and informative. The tour was very pleasant despite major road closures that inhibited our ability to visit some of the other sites.
Review by: Daniel P, July 2015
Our tour guide did not accompany us up the wall despite us having to pay for his entrance ticket so we spent almost 3 hours of our guided tour by ourselves. We specifically stated we wanted to go to the Great Wall and Summer Palace on our tour, but our tour guide took us an hour out of the way to a tourist trap for lunch. We arrived at Summer Palace and our tour guide started to give a good tour. After 20 minutes he said it was time to go. Overall, we got about 20 minutes of time with a tour guide at one of the two attractions we wanted to visit even though we paid for an 8 hour tour.
Review by: martine_gmajdalani, July 2015
the tour guide was helpful, he assisted us in so many things, non touristy things ! he also was very informative when it came to the site seeings ... a must have when in beijing
Review by: Abhijat S, July 2015
Highly recommend this tour especially with Mr. Gru / Gyu not sure of the spelling.
Review by: Joan E, May 2015
Good way to do the things you want to do.
Review by: Ling N, May 2015
This was great. We had a tour guide who knew how to get around the city making our tour very easy and convenient. We picked where we wanted to go the night before and then they planned it. Wonderful. Good English speaking guide.
Review by: Zsolt J, April 2015
Very nice and friendly guide, I had to pay all her cost, the time was exactly 8 hrs, not more or less, but Victoria was very friendly and helpful, it was a GREAT EXPERIENCE with her. We enjoyed it so much!
Review by: lauren s h, March 2015
Our guide Cynthia spoke english very well but she talked way too fast so after a while trying to listen became tiring. She was very nice, chipper and full of energy for our action packed day. Having the guide for the day was very worthwhile especially on the 72 hour visa stopover in Beijing. The city itself exceeded our expectations. It was unfortunate that the main square was closed down for government meetings during our tour. _br/_
My major issues with this tour were more administrative and thus the lower rating_br/_
1. You have to email the local tour company and confirm hotel and pick up time. This is redundant information they can easily get from viator. Once you submit your itinerary, they will try and tell you which of the sites you will have time for and pare it down as much as possible so their commitment is less. We eventually said this was our list and we were ok if we didnt get thru it but we were going to try. In the end, we finished off supposedly 3 days of sightseeing in 1 with time left to spare. _br/_
2. On viator it asked how you would like to be contacted and we said via phone to Canada. Our guide instead caled the hotel and left a message for us to confirm our tour time. This was totally unnecessary and also created tons of confusion amonst the staff because of a minor english barrier. Turned out the guide wanted to upsell the guide only tour and pay for their tour vehicle instead of the hotel driver. This was exhausting after a long haul flight and was totally unnecessary.
Review by: Cornelis S, December 2014
We really enjoyed our private tour of Beijing, visiting the Lama Temple, The Temple of Heaven and a tea ceremony. Our guide, Wendy, was very knowledgeable and pleasant. It was very useful to have a local to steer us through areas where our lack of Chinese was a hindrance, especially on our first day.
Review by: kathryn w, November 2014
This trip leaves it up to the customer to decide where to go in Beijing so we relied on our guide--who gave us good information. For someone of my "older " years 8 hours was too long--we gave up at 5 hours.._br/_
The guide was helpful and her knowledge was great but a little difficult to understand.
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