* Personal transfers from and to Beijing International Airport (or train station)
* Entry fees to the Great Wall
* Quality vehicle with A/C, professional driver and English-speaking tour guide
* Water - your guide will buy for you
* Gourmet lunch (time-permitting) in a local restaurant at the foot of the Wall
* Free membership card
* RMB50 credit for any of your Beijing city sightseeing bus tour

There are no unscheduled or mandatory shopping stops at all.

Please send the below form to request you tour

Guaranteed no detours to shops, markets or factory outlets, etc.

Request Your Dream Tour

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please answer accurately and tell us more.

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Questions (such as dietary preference, info about kids, whether you prefer a private tour or a group tour, or add a Beijing city tour with your hike at a discount price, etc.):

For assistance, you can also send email to Great Wall@Great Walladventure.com

TRAVEL INSURANCE
If you currently don’t have travel insurance then you will be required to purchase our PICC (People's Insurance Company of China) travel and accidental insurance.
The fee will be $9.99 per person, and will cover the duration of your hiking/camping/trekking in order to ensure that you are comprehensively protected if injured.

For more information about our travel insurance policy please see our insurance page.

YOUR SAFETY IS OUR
TOP PRIORITY!

At the Great Wall Adventure Club, we only use quality vehicles such as VW Passat and Buick Minivan for your safety and comfortable trip!

Great Wall Layover Day Hike

TOUR 1AIR: Great Wall travel that fits in perfectly with the hours you will need to fill between flights at Beijing Airport.

Popularity Ranking:

*Ranked by the quantity of signups of all 1-day hiking routes.

A person can succeed at almost anything for which they have unlimited enthusiasm. - Charles M. Schwab

Great Wall Layover Hiking Tour Options

Layover of 8 hours or less - Suggest Great Wall Sections to Visit

If you stop over for only 8 hours or less, the closest Great Wall section you can visit is Mutianyu. You will have more than enough time to cach your next flight.

Cable car/chair lift to go up and down to save you significant time.

Layover of 10-14 hours - - Suggest Great Wall Sections to Visit

Jinshanling Great Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, while partially restored, is not nearly as crowded as Badaling or Mutianyu, allowing you to have a more intimate experience with the wall. Jinshanling is known for it many beautiful watchtowers, as well as the way it winds and snakes its way along the mountains. When you first get up on Jinshanling you will be stunned.

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Testimonials:

Katherine Belarmino is an experienced travel writer, planner, and blogger who has traveled extensively throughout North America, Central America, Europe and Asia. Ms. Belarmino has a wide presence on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and her blog, "Travel the World", has gained an increasingly large following. This past December, Ms. Belamino went on our popular Gubeikou-Jinshanling Great Wall hike, and here are her recollections of her experience on the Great Wall with Great Wall Adventure Club.
For more testimonials, please click here.

Sample Hiking Itinerary

Our car or minivan will pick you up anywhere within the 3rd ring road, probably between the times 7:30 - 8:30 am. and from your pick up we will drive directly to the Gubeikou (left photo) great wall. The drive should take a little over 2.5 hours.

Gubeikou Great Wall occupies a strategically important location, which is difficult to access. Situated between Shanhaiguan Pass and Juyongguan Pass, and about 62 miles to Beijing, it is the bastion protecting the northern gateway to the capital. There are 14 beacon towers, 143 watchtowers, 16 strategic pass, three citadels and many other military constructions. Many of them are famous cultural relics, such as the Big Flower Beacon Tower of the Northern Qi Dynasty, Fairy Tower, General Tower, and the dominant Wangjing Tower.

Today we will hike for around 10 km/6 miles. Gubeikou is completely unrestored, covered with over 140 watchtowers, all differing in size and design. From the wall here you will be able to witness how the wall twists and winds along the steep mountain ranges. This is as dramatic a view on the Great Wall as you’ll find. If the weather is clear, you will be able to see the shimmering blue lake of the Miyun Reservoir.

Much of the hiking that we will do on Jinshanling (right photo) today is relatively easier than Gubeikou, as the wall here is partially restored and the surface is smoother. Jinshanling has five main passes and 67 watchtowers. Every 100 meters (328 feet), there is an enemy tower each of which is about ten meters (33 feet) high. Featuring various structures and having various functions, those watchtowers are either one tiered or two-tiered. Among them, the most celebrated are the Big and Small Jinshan Watchtowers. The Wangjinglou Tower, the General Tower, the Black Tower and the Taochun Tower are also must-sees on the Jinshanling Great Wall. Each tower has its legend. Legend has it that the stone bars used to build the Wangjinglou Tower were carried to the mountaintop by Er Lang Shen, the nephew of the Jade Emperor. The general tower was named to commemorate Wu Guihua, a heroine who sacrificed herself to resist northern invader's invasion in the Ming Dynasty. The Black Tower and the Taochun Tower were christened to commemorate two girls, Heigu and Taochun, who made great contributions to the construction of the Great Wall.

At the end, we will l stop by a local farmer's restaurant nearby with a late lunch before we return to Beijing.

You will be dropped off back at your hotel in the early evening. It can take another 2.5 hours due to the unpredictable traffic situation in Beijing.

Stuff you should bring with you:

* Tough hiking boots, sunscreen and sunglasses
* Backpack, and snacks or energy/protein supplements you want to have before lunch*
* Extra cash for driver/guide tips
* Don’t forget your camera!

Check testimonials from former hikers and view their photos.

More 1-day Great Wall Hiking Tours:

Read complete itinerary of Route 1A: Gubeikou-Jinshanling hike
Read complete itinerary of Route 1B: Jiankou-Mutianyu hike
Read complete itinerary of Route 1C: East Qing Tomb-Huangyaguan hike
Read complete itinerary of Route 1D: Huanghuacheng-Xishuiyu hike
Read complete itinerary of Route 1X: Lianhuachi-Mutianyu hike and Olympic Green (special promo price)