Published on Sep, 2023

The tour to Badaling started at a meeting point right by a subway exit. It was really easy to find the tour guide. Then, we hopped on the bus and travelled to Badaling. While we were on our way, the tour guide was explaining to us what the plan was and she was giving us suggestions for things to do there. My tour guide for this tour was Samantha. She’s very friendly and knowledgeable. At The Great Wall, the views were astonishing. I highly recommend everyone that comes to Beijing to take this tour to The Great Wall.

Published on Aug, 2018

Beautiful, stunning, how did they build all these back in ht e14th - 15th century? Amazing. I just loved it and if you can, slide down on tobogan on the way back. Great fun!!! :)

Published on Jan, 2018

First of all I was nicely surprised that a day before I was contacted by the organizers and advised the precise time of pick-up from my hotel. Our guide Aaron arrived just in time.We picked 3 more people and started our trip. I suppose that a lot depends exactly on the guide and traffic situation. In our case the guide was speaking very good English, so no communication problems appeared. First we went to the Ming Tomb, then to Jade factory, where we had lunch. The factory is by the way an interesting place. Visiting some such shopping stops is always an integral part of each tour, so take it or leave it. After the lunch we moved to the Wall. Also just to avoid any misunderstanding: you HAVE TO PAY for the cable car. It is optional in the sense that you can spend 40min by climbing and see nothing or just to pay 140 ¥ and enjoy the wall for 1.5h. As it was deadly cold and windy at the wall this time was more than enough. Otherwise we would fall totally frozen. After visiting the wall we were brought to the tea ceremony and were given 6 different teas to taste. Again, yes, it is marketing but the teas nevertheless are amazingly tasty. Nobody will pressure you to buy anything so just relax and enjoy some hot tea after a walk. May be the only drawback I personally see in my tour (again I mean just my experience and not the overall feature) is that due to traffic we were asked whether it is ok if we were dropped off at the center and taken to the hotel by taxi. And yehhh..we had to pay additional 30¥ for the taxi. So, always be prepared for some extra charges. But the excursion was very good!!

Published on Dec, 2017

Full day tour at that price is amazing. Tour guide Linda is knowledgable. Overall trip is very good.

Published on Aug, 2017

I am finally able to sit down a write a review. Tour date 12th July 17. We were contacted by Linda who was to be our tour guide the day before with pick up time of 0750. Linda arrived exactly on time as informed. There were only a total of four people for the trip so had plenty of room in the mini bus. Took a bit of time to get out of Beijing but this was expected at this time of day. When we arrived at the great wall at Badaling Linda gave us the choice of using the cable car or walking. Linda recommended walking. This would give us more time than wasting time queuing for the cable car. What wonderful views and and amazing sights. We spent about two hours at the wall. You were left to go at your own pace and climb as high to your own ability. After the wall we drove to the Ming Tombs. Linda was the perfect host explaining everything and passing on her knowledge which made the visit more interesting. After the tombs we went to a jade factory and shown the craftsman at work then into the shop. We were not followed around or pressured into buying anything. Lunch was included and served in the restaurant above the jade factory. A lovely lunch and there was ample food. After lunch on the return trip back to Beijing we stopped at a tea shop and sampled the different teas with an explanation of the benefits of the different types. Again we were not pressurised to buy. We did indulge and brought the fruit tea. On the way back into Beijing Linda asked us all if we wanted to go back to our hotels or be dropped off at different location. We passed the Olympic park on the way back in. Linda was very good and kept us informed all the time. Arriving back into Beijing at rush hour can be a bit nervous weaving in and out of the traffic. Dont think there are any rules of the road! A great tour and well worth the money along with great memories.