Which Great Wall section near Beijing should I visit?
Pick by what you want from the day, not by a ranking. There is no official "best" section, and the suggestions below are ours. We based them only on what the official pages state: ticket booking, night tours, cable cars and how far public transport runs.
- First visit, simple logistics: Badaling (ε «θΎΎε²). The city listing shows adult CNY 40 in peak season. Bus 877 runs one stop from Beitucheng subway station, and the ticket office has bilingual counters.
- You want a cable car or a slide: Mutianyu (ζ η°ε³ͺ). Its notice lists the cable car, ropeway and slide, each sold separately. Badaling's official pages mention the cable car only in the 2026 reopening notice and say nothing about a slide.
- You want a night view: Simatai (εΈι©¬ε°). It publishes night hours for the whole year, and its night combo includes the round-trip cable car.
- You want the Wall plus a night in the area: Simatai with Gubei Water Town (ε€εζ°΄ι). The listed Wangjing West return bus and shuttle to Gubeikou station leave before the May-October night tour starts (details below).
Our single-section pages go deeper: Badaling, Mutianyu and Gubei Water Town and Simatai. If you want help planning the day and learning how to book on the official channel, we can do that. Sight tickets and cable cars are booked by you, not by us.
Great Wall near Beijing compared: price, booking, hours
| Section | Adult ticket | Booking | Day hours | Night tour | Cable car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Badaling | CNY 40 peak (April 1-October 31), CNY 35 off season (November 1-March 31); discounted CNY 20 / CNY 17.5; free for under-18s with valid ID and seniors 60+ with a valid certificate or proof of age | City listing: no reservation, buy on site. Scenic area, August 13, 2026: reserve real-name tickets in advance | Peak 06:30-16:30, off season 07:30-16:00 | Resumed August 13, 2026; no 2026 hours in the notice | Resumed August 13, 2026; price not stated |
| Mutianyu | CNY 45 (discounted CNY 25) | City listing: no reservation. Scenic area notice: real-name reservation required, booking up to 15 days ahead | See below | Towers 10-15; hours and price not given in the notice | Separate ticket |
| Simatai | See our Simatai page | Sold on the Gubei Water Town ticket pages | 9:00-17:00 | Yes, all year | Included in the night combo |
| Juyongguan (2024 page) | CNY 40 peak, CNY 35 off season | No reservation, buy on site | Peak 08:30-17:30, off season 08:30-16:30 | A 2025 city guide listed Fridays, Saturdays and statutory holidays, May 1-October 7, 18:00-21:30, closed on the last day of each holiday (2025 dates) | Not stated |
Juyongguan (ε± εΊΈε ³) comes from a city listing dated July 17, 2024, which is older than the other rows. That page doesn't give the dates of its peak and off seasons, or any transport.
Mutianyu hours. The city listing says peak (March 16-November 15) is 07:30-18:00 and off season (November 16-March 15) is 08:00-17:30. The scenic area's notice gives the same times, adds 07:30-18:30 on Saturday and Sunday in peak season, and says ticket sales stop 1 hour before closing and ticket checks half an hour before. In the notice, these times sit under a "Cable Car Operating Hours" heading.
Great Wall tickets with a foreign passport: do I have to book?
Badaling. The city listing says no reservation is required and tickets are sold on site. The scenic area's notice of August 13, 2026 asks you to follow the WeChat accounts ε «θΎΎε²ιΏε or ιΏεε ε€ζ ζΈΈ and reserve real-name tickets in advance. So buying on site is listed, and the scenic area itself recommends reserving. A 2024 story from the Beijing Foreign Affairs Office says foreign visitors can buy with a passport or permanent resident ID card on the "Throughout the Great Wall" WeChat platform (ID: changchengnw). At the gate you show the passport, permanent resident ID card, paper ticket or QR code. It also says the ticket office takes cash, mobile payment and foreign cards at POS terminals. That story is two years old.
Mutianyu. The city listing (July 2024) says no reservation is required. The scenic area's English Notice to Visitors (July 2023) says real-name reservation is required and tickets open 15 days ahead. Each passport, ID card or permanent residence ID card is limited to one ticket per day. Passport bookings need no ticket exchange: you show the original reservation document at the gate. Where the two pages disagree, we'd follow the scenic area's own notice and book ahead.
Simatai. The ticket pages give hours and what is included, but no ID rule. Our Simatai page points to the official ticket page for the price.
How to get to the Great Wall from Beijing by public transport
Badaling
- Bus 877: a July 2025 city transport article says it runs one stop direct from Beitucheng subway station.
- Tourist direct buses: two lines, from Dongzhimen hub and from Lianhuachi bus station, booked on the Beijing Tourism Distribution Center website or mini-program (same article).
- S2 suburban line: since October 25, 2025 it runs Nankou to Yanqing (Shacheng) with 5 stops including Badaling. The Beijing transport commission page lists 2 round trips Tuesday to Thursday and 3 round trips Friday to Monday and short holidays. It gives no departure times.
Mutianyu
The scenic area lists bus 916 from Dongzhimen to Huairou Beidajie, then bus H7, H23, H24, H35 or H36 to the scenic area. It also lists tourist lines from Qianmen, Dongzhimen (Exit H) and Shaoyaoju (Exit E). The scenic area's page quotes CNY 80 round trip and the hotline 86-10-83531111, and names other operators too. Details are on our Mutianyu page.
Simatai and Gubei Water Town
The Water Town's traffic guide lists these routes. It says routes can change with weather or conditions, and to follow the notices from the relevant authorities.
- Direct bus from Wangjing West: 09:00 and 13:00, 134 km, 120 minutes, CNY 48. Return from the town at 12:00 and 17:00. You pay with a Beijing bus card, phone NFC, cash with no change given, or one of three downloaded apps (εδΊ¬ε ¬δΊ€δΈε‘ι, δΊΏιθ‘ or εδΊ¬ε ¬δΊ€). The page says mini-programs, Alipay and WeChat can't be used.
- China Youth Travel Service bus: from the China Youth Travel Service building, southwest exit of Dongzhimen subway station. 135 km, 120 minutes, CNY 48.
- Subway and buses: subway line 2 to Dongzhimen, express bus 980 to Miyun Xi Daqiao, then bus Mi 51 toward Simatai.
- Train: from Beijing North or Qinghe on the Huai-Mi line to Gubeikou, then the shuttle to the town. The shuttle leaves the station at 9:40 and 17:10, and leaves the town at 8:40 and 15:50. Fares follow the bus company's rates.
For riding the subway to these hubs, see Beijing subway payment with foreign bank cards. For Beijing North and other stations, see Beijing railway stations.
Great Wall night tours: which section has one?
Simatai has the clearest published hours. For the night combo, May to October is 18:00-21:40 with clearance at 22:40. November to April is 17:30-20:10 (clearance 20:40) Sunday to Thursday, and 17:30-20:40 (clearance 21:10) Friday and Saturday. The combo includes the Water Town ticket, the night Wall ticket and the round-trip cable car, and the page says to enter through the Water Town first. It also says the Water Town part of the ticket stops working at 20:30 from May to October and at 19:30 from November to April. A September 2025 city guide says night tours run all year and the open part lies between East Watchtower 5 and 6.
Mutianyu opens towers 10-15 at night, according to the scenic area's notice. The notice gives no night hours or price.
Badaling's notice says the night Great Wall resumed normal opening on August 13, 2026. It gives no hours. A 2025 city guide listed April 30-October 7 and lights from 17:00 to 22:00, but those are last year's dates, not a 2026 schedule.
Staying overnight at Simatai. The listed Wangjing West return bus and shuttle to Gubeikou station leave before the May-October night tour begins at 18:00: the Wangjing West direct bus leaves the town at 17:00, and the last shuttle from the town to Gubeikou station leaves at 15:50. One Saturday-only line, June to October, leaves Beitucheng subway station at 9:30 and returns from the Water Town hotel at 20:30, CNY 48. The night combo page also says guests staying in the Water Town should not buy it, so check what your booking already includes.
Great Wall cable car, slide and toboggan: is it an extra ticket?
- Mutianyu: the notice says the Great Wall ticket does not cover the shuttle bus, cable car, ropeway or slide. The cable car is run by a different company from the ropeway and slide, and their tickets are not interchangeable. The notice gives no prices.
- Simatai: the night combo includes the round-trip cable car. The day ticket page lists only the Simatai Wall ticket.
- Badaling: the city listing and the 2026 reopening notice don't say whether the cable car is a separate ticket, and don't mention a slide or toboggan.
Can I walk the unrestored "wild" Great Wall, such as Jiankou?
Only sections opened as visiting areas are meant for visitors. Beijing's Great Wall Protection Regulation was passed on November 28, 2025 and took effect on March 1, 2026. It says the district cultural relics department must put up clear warning signs on roads around sections that are not visiting areas, and may use electronic fences to warn of climbing risk and dissuade climbing (Article 31). A scenic area that contains such a section must take measures to stop visitors climbing it. Article 22 also bans organized activities on sections not opened as visiting areas.
The regulation text doesn't name Jiankou; it says the Beijing cultural relics department keeps a catalogue of the visiting areas (Article 29). We don't describe or route walks on unopened sections.
Is Jinshanling worth the trip?
Jinshanling is in Hebei, not Beijing, and this site has not checked an official page for it, so we give no price, booking route or hours here. If you want a section with a published ticket page and a night tour, Simatai is the one covered above. For the wider trip, see our Beijing travel guide.
