Updated 9 October 2026 · LocalKey consultant team
For most first visits from Beijing we suggest Mutianyu: it has real-name booking, a cable car, and daytime visits covering watchtowers 1 to 20; choose Jinshanling for a longer walk, Huanghuacheng for wall that meets water, Simatai for a night visit, and Badaling or Juyongguan if you want a pass visit with on-site tickets and no reservation, but never climb Jiankou, which is unrestored wall closed to the public outside any route the authorities open.
Which Great Wall section should you visit from Beijing?
We suggest Mutianyu for most first visits, Jinshanling for a longer walk, Huanghuacheng for wall beside water, Simatai for a night visit, and Badaling or Juyongguan for restored passes with on-site tickets. Jiankou is the one name to avoid: it is unrestored wall.
The Great Wall was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987, and it extends more than 20,000 km from Shanhaiguan in the east to Jiayuguan in the west. The table compares six visitable sections near Beijing and Jiankou; the third column draws on the official sources listed at the end, and the fourth column is our advice.
Great Wall sections near Beijing compared
| Section | Where it is | What the official source says | Who we suggest it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Badaling | Yanqing District, 60 km northwest of Beijing | 5A scenic area; listed with the Great Wall as UNESCO World Heritage in 1987; peak hours 06:30–16:30; no reservation, tickets on site | First-timers who want a simple visit with on-site tickets |
| Juyongguan | Juyongguan Town, Changping District | 4A scenic area; fortified pass 4,142 m long; comprehensively restored from 1992 and opened in March 1998; no reservation, tickets on site | Visitors who like military architecture and gate towers |
| Mutianyu | Mutianyu Village, Huairou District | Real-name ticketing; daytime visits cover watchtowers 1 to 20; night visits cover 10 to 15; cable car, chairlift and toboggan | Most first-time visitors; our default choice |
| Huanghuacheng | Jiuduhe Town, Huairou District, 70 km from downtown Beijing | 4A scenic area; three sections of wall submerged in water; summer weekday hours 08:30–17:00 | Visitors who want wall beside water; the area is known as the "Great Wall for boat tours" |
| Jinshanling | Yanshan Mountains, at the junction of Luanping County (Hebei) and Miyun District (Beijing) | 4A scenic area; 10.5 km from Gubeikou pass to Wangjinglou; five major passes, 67 watchtowers; listed hours 06:00–17:00 | Visitors who want a longer walk on Ming-dynasty wall |
| Simatai | Gubeikou Town, Miyun District; part of Beijing Wtown | Daytime ticket checking 09:00–15:00; night Great Wall ticket checking 18:00–21:40 (May–October) | Visitors who want a night visit; reached through the Water Town resort |
| Jiankou | Between Mutianyu (east) and Huanghuacheng (west) | Unrestored and closed to the public since 2016; in January 2025 Huairou announced a first route between towers 141 and 145. Do not climb the rest. | Not for any visit we plan; LocalKey does not plan Jiankou hikes |
Badaling and Juyongguan are the two passes in this list where the official portals say no reservation is required and tickets are bought on site. Badaling is 60 km northwest of Beijing and was historically a strategic military barrier protecting the Ming capital. Beijing says Yanqing plans a 16.5 km touring route linking the Water Pass, Badaling, Ancient Great Wall and Huajiayao sections, and plans to open the stretch between Badaling and Huajiayao this year. Juyongguan's fortified pass is 4,142 m long, with gate towers, enemy terraces and a water gate, and it was comprehensively restored from 1992.
If you want a longer walk, we suggest Jinshanling. The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism describes 10.5 km of Ming wall with five major passes and 67 watchtowers, and gives a suggested visit of 3 to 4 hours. We suggest treating each section as a separate day trip. Mutianyu is our default because it offers a cable car, a chairlift and a toboggan, along with daytime watchtowers and night visits.
For wall that meets water, Huanghuacheng is the option. The Beijing Municipal Government describes it as the only scenic area in Beijing where the Great Wall meets water. Simatai suits a night visit, but it is reached through the Beijing Wtown resort, so plan it as its own visit.
For shooting advice, see Mutianyu Great Wall Photography 2026 and Jinshanling Great Wall Photography 2026. This page covers logistics and choice only.
How do you book tickets and check opening hours in 2026?
Mutianyu uses real-name ticketing: the person named on the ticket must present the original ID used for the booking, and foreign visitors use their passport. Badaling and Juyongguan do not require a reservation, and their tickets can be bought on site.
The official Mutianyu site sets out these rules:
- Book with your name, phone number and ID (passport for foreign visitors). Tickets can be reserved 15 days ahead, and each ID can hold one ticket per day.
- Enter by showing the original passport used for the booking at the designated gate: the North Ticket Gate for cable-car ticket holders, or the Slide Ticket Gate for ropeway and slide ticket holders.
- Peak season (16 March to 15 November): Monday to Friday 07:30–18:00, Saturday and Sunday 07:30–18:30. Off season (16 November to 15 March): 08:00–17:30.
- Ticket sales stop 1 hour before closing, and ticket inspection stops 30 minutes before.
- A holiday exception of 07:30–20:00 applied from 25 September to 6 October 2026. That period has ended, so check the current schedule for later dates.
At Badaling, the Beijing Municipal Government lists peak-season hours of 06:30–16:30 (1 April to 31 October) and off-season hours of 07:30–16:00 (1 November to 31 March). At Juyongguan, listed hours are 08:30–16:30 in the off season and 08:30–17:30 in peak season.
Huanghuacheng lists summer weekdays at 08:30–17:00, Saturdays and Golden Week at 08:00–18:00, Sundays and the last day of holidays at 08:00–17:00, and winter hours at 08:30–16:30. Jinshanling lists 06:00–17:00.
Simatai has separate tickets for the water town, for Simatai by day and for the Great Wall at night. Daytime ticket checking runs 09:00–15:00. Night Great Wall ticket checking runs 18:00–21:40 from May to October, and night visitors must leave the wall by 22:40.
Hours change by season and holiday, so we suggest checking the official channel the day before your visit.
How do you get to the Great Wall from Beijing without a group tour?
For Mutianyu, the official site lists a public bus route: Bus 916 from Dongzhimen to Huairou Beidajie, then Bus H7, H23, H24, H35 or H36 to the scenic area. Tourist bus lines also leave from Qianmen, Dongzhimen and Shaoyaoju.
The official inquiry hotline is 86-10-83531111. We suggest confirming routes on it before you travel.
For the farther sections, we suggest a private car and driver, because it protects walking time on a long day. We do not recommend driving yourself or renting a car for these trips.
Can you hike Jiankou or other wild sections of the Great Wall?
No: apart from any route the authorities open, Jiankou is unrestored wall that is closed to the public, and LocalKey does not plan Jiankou hikes. Treat any other unrestored or non-open section the same way.
China Daily describes Jiankou as one of the most dangerous sections of the Great Wall and notes that hiker casualties have been reported there over the years. Since 2016 it has been under protective restoration and has not been open to the public. In January 2025, Huairou District authorities announced a first tourist route between defence towers 141 and 145; the rest of Jiankou is unrestored and closed, and we do not suggest climbing it.
Beijing's Regulations on the Conservation of the Great Wall took effect on 1 March 2026. They target illegal climbing of unrestored or non-open sections, which the regulations call the wild Great Wall, and allow electronic fences and other technology to warn and deter unauthorised climbing.
The Mutianyu visitor notice also asks visitors not to climb the battlements, and says elderly visitors and those with health conditions should choose suitable routes.
For walking trips in China, see our hiking experiences.
What does a well-paced Great Wall day look like?
Listed opening times start at 06:00 at Jinshanling and 06:30 at Badaling in peak season, and Mutianyu stops selling tickets one hour before closing. Those limits are why we suggest an early start.
We suggest arriving early and leaving a buffer before the Mutianyu ticket inspection cut-off, so that a slow stretch of walking does not put you under time pressure. The visitbeijing listing suggests 3 to 4 hours at Jinshanling; we usually add time on top of that for rest stops and photographs.
For families and older travellers, we suggest a shorter route, more breaks, and a fixed turnaround time. If you add the city sights, we suggest keeping the Forbidden City for a separate half day; see our Forbidden City guide.
Plan your trip with LocalKey
LocalKey can arrange this trip as Independent or Private Guided. Either way, it is your own China trip — planned, booked and backed — not a group tour.
Independent means you travel on your own with the LocalKey app and 24/7 backup. There is no full-time guide on any day; a local guide, airport pickup, or a private car and driver are optional add-ons, arranged on demand.
Private Guided means an English-speaking private guide and a private car throughout the trip.
For the wider Beijing leg, see How to Spend 5 Days in Beijing, our Beijing destination page, or our private China tours.
Talk to a 1:1 specialist any time via 7×24 WeChat or WhatsApp.
Sources
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre — The Great Wall — verified_on 2026-10-09
- Beijing Municipal Government — Badaling Great Wall — verified_on 2026-10-09
- Beijing Municipal Government — Juyongguan Great Wall — verified_on 2026-10-09
- Mutianyu Great Wall — official site — verified_on 2026-10-09
- Mutianyu Great Wall — opening hours — verified_on 2026-10-09
- Mutianyu Great Wall — visitor notice — verified_on 2026-10-09
- Mutianyu Great Wall — transport — verified_on 2026-10-09
- Beijing Municipal Government — Huanghuacheng Lakeside Great Wall — verified_on 2026-10-09
- Beijing Municipal Government — Beijing Wtown (Gubei Water Town and Simatai) — verified_on 2026-10-09
- Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism — Jinshanling Great Wall — verified_on 2026-10-09
- China Daily — Jiankou first tourist route, 9 January 2025 — verified_on 2026-10-09
- Beijing Municipal Government — Great Wall protection regulations, 4 March 2026 — verified_on 2026-10-09
