2022 Summer 5-Day 4-Night Beijing Family Self-Guided Travel Guide and Itinerary

I still remember my first trip to Beijing when I was in fifth grade, going with my mother to visit relatives. The most vivid memory was visiting Zhongshan Park; the rest of the time we mostly stayed with relatives in the old hutong alleys and didn't see any other sights. Twenty years have now passed, and I've always wanted to truly travel to Beijing as a tourist. Finally this summer, my sixth-grade son and I boarded a bullet train to Beijing and turned that wish into a 5-day, 4-night self-guided trip.

Zhongcheng Tiantan Holiday Inn (near a Beijing subway station, very convenient for getting around)

We stayed at this hotel between the Second and Third Ring Roads, right by Jingtai Station on Line 14, just two stops from Beijing South Station—super handy.

Day 1: Nanjing South (depart 9:00 AM) – Beijing South (arrive 12:20 PM); afternoon stroll along Qianmen Dashilan.

Day 2: Morning at the Temple of Heaven; afternoon at the Forbidden City.

Day 3: Morning at the Badaling Great Wall; afternoon at the Old Summer Palace, a quick look outside Tsinghua and Peking University gates; evening at Wangfujing.

Day 4: Morning at the Summer Palace; afternoon at Nanluoguxiang; evening around Shichahai.

Day 5: Morning at the Guozijian Museum and Prince Gong’s Mansion; afternoon back to the hotel to check out, pack up, and head home.

Transportation: Subway, shared bikes (Beijing's subway is really convenient—basically all the main sights are reachable by metro).

I've attached a subway map for reference. Our hotel was between the Second and Third Ring Roads, near Jingtai Station on Line 14.

Beijing's key attractions are all on Line 1, and you can get to almost everything by subway. So when picking a hotel I focused on two things: being close to a subway station, and having a COVID testing site nearby (during the pandemic, wherever you went you had to scan the Beijing health code, and it seemed like the test result was valid only for 24 hours; to be safe, we got tested every day). Our hotel fit both requirements and was also pretty good value.

On the first day, after getting off the high-speed train at noon, we took Line 14 just two stops to Jingtai Station, then walked about 8 minutes to the hotel. Overall the service was decent, though the facilities were a bit dated and the air conditioner was quite loud. The breakfast spread was generous, and the price was reasonable. After checking in, my son wanted hotpot. There's a Ya'er Li Ji Shuanrou near the hotel, and our first meal in Beijing there was delicious.

After lunch, we took the subway to Qianmen Dashilan (Line 14 to Yongdingmenwai, then transfer to Line 8 to Qianmen). Because of the pandemic, the crowds were thinner. There were loads of snacks—zhajiangmian and such—but after the mutton hotpot we had no room, so we just looked.

Right out of the subway you see Zhengyangmen.

Walking around Jianlou, about five minutes later we reached Zhengyang Bridge. Inside the gate is the pedestrian street, and Dashilan is right nearby.

After strolling around Dashilan, the heat got to us, so we looked for a cool spot to rest. There was a COVID test site close by, so we took a test while we were at it. In the evening, we took the subway back to the hotel and grabbed Qingfeng Baozi nearby; the zhajiangmian, to be honest, was just okay.

We slept in naturally, got up after 7:00, washed up, and had the hotel breakfast—plenty of variety.

Just ignore a certain kid's burnt toast, haha, so dark.

After breakfast we headed to the Temple of Heaven. A glance at the map showed it was very close to the hotel, so my son and I each scanned a shared bike and rode there in under 10 minutes, arriving at the South Gate. We rented an audio guide at the entrance (you can return it at any of the other gates, pretty convenient).

You can easily cover the Temple of Heaven in a morning. When we left, we went back out through the South Gate (since we were more familiar with it, and it was so hot—we didn't want to take a wrong turn). We grabbed shared bikes and headed to the subway. The afternoon plan was the Forbidden City (I'd booked tickets online in advance), and a certain kid was craving roast duck, so we took the subway back to Qianmen and ate at the hutong roast duck place we'd spotted the day before. The taste was fine; we ordered a two-person set meal online, which was plenty.

After eating, we remembered there was a COVID test site nearby, but it didn't open until 2:00 PM, so we killed time reading in a bookstore until then. Taking the test ate up some time, plus we walked right across Tiananmen Square, snapping photos along the way, and then made our way to the Forbidden City. A certain kid also needed a bathroom break... All of this meant we didn't get to the Forbidden City until 3:00 PM, so our visit ended up a bit rushed (a tip: if you want to explore every corner properly, you need a full day. Even half a day works best if you go in before 2:00 PM, because the Forbidden City starts shooing people out at 5:30 PM).

Passing through Tiananmen Square, we had our tickets checked and entered. There are audio guide rental places right at the entrance.

We exited via Donghua Gate and kept walking east for about ten minutes or so, reaching Wangfujing. Hot and tired, we grabbed a meal at a nearby restaurant—we found a Xiao Diao Li Tang. After dinner, the Jinyu Hutong subway station was right underneath the shopping mall, so we hopped on the metro and headed back to the hotel.

Finally, the Great Wall day! From earlier research, I knew there were a few ways to get to the wall.

The first option was the advantage of not having to worry about anything: just go to a designated subway station, get on a coach, and take the expressway straight to the foot of the wall. The downside? Not sure. It was about 80 yuan per person, with different packages. But when I tried to book the day before, they said they couldn't take tourists from outside the province due to the pandemic.

The second option was cheaper, but took longer—and if you hit traffic jams, who knows how long.

The third option was faster, just a 30-minute high-speed train ride. The downside was that the station was a bit far from our hotel, about 40-plus minutes by metro.

The trains to Badaling Great Wall depart from Beijing North Station and Qinghe Station (if your hotel is close to Qinghe subway station, you can leave from there). We booked the 8:15 AM train from Beijing North Station, arriving at 8:52 AM. Leaving the hotel at 7:00 AM gave us plenty of time.

At Badaling, after getting off the train, it's just a few minutes' walk to the hiking entrance. Once inside, the path splits into the South Slope and the North Slope. What's the difference? The South Slope is steeper and more rugged, but it's shorter and takes less time. It also has fewer people—good if you want to take photos. The North Slope is gentler and a bit longer. Most people choose the North Slope, since many famous spots like the Hero Slope are there. If you have good stamina, you can do the South Slope, come back down, and then tackle the North Slope. We were overconfident and planned to do exactly that, so we booked our return train for around 5:00 PM.

With the forecast at 37°C, we were absolute troopers climbing the wall. But after finishing the South Slope around 12:30 PM, we really didn't feel like tackling the North Slope in that heat. So after lunch, we decisively changed our tickets and switched to a 2:00 PM train back to Beijing. Since we planned to visit the Old Summer Palace in the afternoon, we bought tickets to Qinghe Station, which is closer to the Old Summer Palace.

After eating, we still had some time, so we watched the dome-screen movie. It was quite special—20 minutes long, 110 yuan per person. After the show, we walked to the high-speed train station in just a few minutes.

We rested on the train. Recharged a bit, we arrived at Qinghe Station, went straight to the subway, took Line 13 to transfer to Line 8, and headed to the Old Summer Palace. The palace grounds are huge; if you want to see everything, allow at least half a day. (If your schedule is flexible, I'd suggest doing the Old Summer Palace and the Summer Palace on the same day, since they're close.) Hot and tired, we only covered half before hopping on a sightseeing cart straight to the Dashuifa ruins. After seeing that, we took a small boat back to the South Gate. Tsinghua and Peking University are right by the Old Summer Palace, but because of the pandemic we couldn't enter; we just biked past for a glimpse.

In the evening, a certain kid was craving hotpot again, so we took the subway to Jinyu Hutong and ate at Donglaishun. Afterward, we strolled around Wangfujing to walk it off and bought the Bing Dwen Dwen he'd been wanting.

After three days of heavy walking, we decided to sleep in today, then just explore the Summer Palace and see where the rest of the day took us. The Summer Palace really is huge. We took the subway to Xiyuan, walked five minutes to Beigongmen (the back entrance of the Summer Palace), and went in. I've attached a Summer Palace sightseeing map for reference.

Our route: Entered from Beigongmen, toured Suzhou Street, then took a boat across Kunming Lake straight to the Seventeen-Arch Bridge. We disembarked, visited Nanhu Island, then doubled back and walked north along the lake—Bronze Ox, Zhichun Pavilion, East Palace Gate, Garden of Virtue and Harmony, Hall of Benevolence and Longevity, Jade Ripple Hall, Hall of Joyful Longevity, halfway along the Long Corridor to Cloud Dispelling Hall, Tower of Buddhist Incense, then back down the hill along the Long Corridor to the Marble Boat. Then we went back up Longevity Hill (next to Cloud Dispelling Hall) to the Wisdom Sea and the Four Great Regions, and finally returned to Suzhou Street and exited through Beigongmen to the subway. Even with plenty of rest stops, this route took us from around 10:00 AM to past 3:00 PM, and we didn't make it to the Xidi causeway area at all. So if you really want to see everything, I'd still set aside a full day.

After coming out, we took the subway directly to Nanluoguxiang, ready to eat (we'd only had ice cream and fries at a snack shop inside the Summer Palace). At Duyichu on Nanluoguxiang, we had luzhu and baodu, but a certain kid won't eat those—he was already hoping for hotpot again that night. After a quick wander, we set the navigation for Nanmen Shuanrou, cut through one of the alleys, walked seven or eight minutes to the Drum Tower, and got our COVID test. Another ten minutes on foot and we reached the Houhai branch of Nanmen Shuanrou. It was just past 5:00 PM, so we didn't have to queue—only one table was left, perfect timing.

Well-fed and content, we took a walk along Houhai and around the Lotus Market. To our surprise, Prince Gong's Mansion was right there, so on the spot we planned the next day's schedule. Then we walked to Beihai North subway station and headed back to the hotel to rest.

Checkout was at 2:00 PM, so we aimed to be back before then. A certain kid wanted to see the Guozijian, so after breakfast we took the subway to Yonghe Temple, walked about ten minutes, and arrived. Once we'd finished, around 10:30 AM, we scanned a bike and rode to Prince Gong's Mansion to soak up someone else's luxury estate. After touring the mansion, we took the subway back near the hotel, had a casual meal, packed up, and checked out. Right next to the hotel is a Daoxiangcun bakery, so I bought some of my mom's favorite pastries to bring home.

Final thoughts: I finally fulfilled my long-held wish to explore Beijing. Even though the weather was sweltering, my enthusiasm never waned. And I'm so grateful to that kid of mine—whether it was simply hauling luggage, planning subway routes, or being a ticket-booking whiz, he was absolutely brilliant. My only regret is not having a deeper visit to the Forbidden City; I can only hope for another chance someday.