NatureGreat Wall Hiking: Jinshanling to Simatai
Two days on the wildest restored stretch of the Wall, with a night in a village at its foot.
North China
Beijing & the Great Wall
Walk the Great Wall at dawn, stand in the Forbidden City and eat breakfast in a hutong that has not changed its rhythm in centuries.
The feeling
Imperial scale, neighbourhood warmth.
Beijing is where China's imperial story is easiest to feel. The Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace are not isolated monuments — they are part of a city that still organises itself around ceremony, gardens and long north–south axes.
We balance the icons with the everyday: a morning on a quiet stretch of the Great Wall, a dumpling lunch in a family home, a bicycle ride through the hutongs. Our guides know how to read the crowds, which gate to use and when to leave the headline sights behind.
- Region
- North China
- Best time
- March–May · September–November
- Ideal length
- 4–10 days
- Access
- Flight or high-speed rail
- Style
- Private, tailor-made
All journeys here are private and can be combined with other regions.
Don't missThe essentials,
The essentials,
and the quieter corners.
These are the experiences we build into most journeys here — but the best days are often the ones we leave open.
Mutianyu or Jinshanling Great Wall
The signature experience — worth planning your route around.
Forbidden City and Tian'anmen Square
Best with a specialist guide and time to slow down.
Temple of Heaven at morning exercise hour
We weave this in where it fits your interests and the season.
Hutong breakfast and dumpling workshop
We weave this in where it fits your interests and the season.
Journeys hereWays to travel
Ways to travel
Beijing.
Start with one of these, or use them as a starting point for something entirely your own.
All journeysNature
IconsBeijing to Xi'an by Bullet Train
Six days linking the Great Wall and the Forbidden City with the Terracotta Army — the classic pair, by high-speed rail.
SignatureSave 8%China Classic: Beijing, Xi'an, Yunnan & Shanghai
The essential first China journey: imperial palaces, the Terracotta Army, Yunnan's old towns and Shanghai's skyline in fifteen unhurried days.
