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4-Hour Small Group Tour to Forbidden City with Entry Tickets

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Overview

Available languages

English

Mobile ticket

This tour is perfect for people who love history, culture,architecture and museums. People always say:when visit Forbidden city, 70% is to learn the stories and 30% is to see the palace. During this 4 hours walking tour, you will stop at different locations to have the "Story time" and gain the insight view to the fascinating culture. You will visit major buildings and courtyards. Group size is limited to 20 people to ensure more personalized attention from your guide. Entrance fees is included. Meeting point is in front of Beijing Urban Planning Exhibition Center.

Additional Info

Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller

Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap

Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health

Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately

Your passport name and number are required at time of booking (for all participants)

Please don't forget to bring your passport, you may be refused entry without it.

0-3 Years old infant is free, children have to purchase tickets as well

Tian'anmen Square might close without advance notice due to government activity, if this happens you will skip the Square

Tour departs punctually. Please arrive 10 minutes early. Once the tour left, you are unable to join the tour, and this tour is not refundable.

Chinese citizens, including customers from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, need to reserve the tickets for the Palace Museum 7 days in advance. Once the tickets for the Palace Museum are sold out, it will be impossible to participate in this itinerary. In addition, according to the regulations of the Palace Museum, Chinese citizens can only choose to reserve tickets with their ID cards. Therefore, when making a reservation, it is necessary to submit the Chinese name and ID card number, and on the day of the tour, the submitted ID document must be presented to join the tour group.

In case of peak travel seasons and when all the tickets reserved online for the scenic area are sold out, tourists are required to go to the ticket office of the scenic area by themselves under the guidance of the tour guide to handle the purchase of paper tickets on-site. Please be informed.

Since this is a small - group itinerary, your punctual arrival at the meeting point is essential for a seamless travel experience. Tiananmen Square and the Palace Museum have strict regulations and procedures. If you are late, it may unfortunately prevent you from joining the tour and entering the Palace Museum. Due to the unique nature of the itinerary arrangements, in the event that lateness causes you to miss the tour, we regret that we will not be able to process a refund. We highly recommend that you communicate with your hotel in advance to accurately confirm the travel time from the hotel to the meeting point and make sufficient preparations. This way, you can embark on your journey with ease and enjoy every moment of it.

In Peak season, the security checks at Tiananmen Square are particularly stringent. If the waiting time exceeds one hour, we recommend considering a bus ride that passes by the square. Given the sweltering heat, waiting in line for an extended period increases the risk of heat - related illnesses. Additionally, spending too much time at the square could detract from your experience at the iconic Forbidden City, which is a highlight of our tour. We will only proceed with this alternative if the majority of the group is in agreement. Please keep this in mind as we plan our visit.

This tour is not recommended for travelers with physical/visual impairments or mobility restrictions due to varied terrain (underground passages, stairs) and the length of the tour. Please note that this tour covers 4 hours of walking.

This tour is not recommended for travelers with physical/visual impairments or mobility restrictions due to varied terrain (underground passages, stairs) and the length of the tour. Please note that this tour covers 4 hours of walking.

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

What‘s Included

If you choose the Coal Hill Park option then entry ticket is included

Professional guide

Fobiddden city entrance fee

If you choose the Tian'anmen Square option entry ticket is included

Hotel pick up and drop-off

Gratuites

If you choose option: Tian'anmen Square and Forbidden City, you will not visit Coal Hill Park

If you choose Forbidden City and Coal Hill Park option, you will not visit Tian'anmen Square

What To Expect

1

Beijing Urban Planning Exhibition Hall

Please note: You must bring actual passport for this tour. This tour have two options Option 1: Tian'anmen Square and Forbidden City Group Tour Start time: 10:00am Meeting point: In front of Beijing Urban Planning Exhibition Hall Option 2: Forbidden City and Coal Hill Park Group Tour (Tour without Tian'anmen Square) Start time: 8:00am and 13:00 Meeting point: In front of Donghuamen (East gat of the Forbidden City) Itinerary: Option 1: Forbidden Cit Tour with Tian'anmen Square Meet your group in front of Beijing Urban Planning Exhibition Hall, then follow your tour guide to go through travel agency passage to enter Tian'anmen Square (Tiananmen Square may be closed by the government at any time, so entry isn't guaranteed, since Tian'anmen Square is free so there is no refund ).

10 minutes • Admission Not Applicable
2

Tiananmen Square (Tiananmen Guangchang)

Tiananmen Square is the geographical center of Beijing City. It is the largest city square in the world, occupying an area of 440,000 square meters (about 109 acres).Followed by your expert and professional guide, a very informative introduction of the Tian'anmen square and surrounding buildings will be given to your group, as everyone moves along towards to the Forbidden City. (Please note: In peak season security checks at Tiananmen Square are particularly stringent. If the waiting time exceeds one hour, we recommend considering a bus ride that passes by the square. Given the sweltering heat, waiting in line for an extended period increases the risk of heat - related illnesses. Additionally, spending too much time at the square could detract from your experience at the iconic Forbidden City, which is a highlight of our tour. We will only proceed with this alternative if the majority of the group is in agreement. Please keep this in mind as we plan our visit.)

1 hour • Admission Not Applicable

Options

Afternoon Forbidden City Only

This option including entry ticket to Forbidden City and Coal Hill park, tour without Tian'anmen Square, tour start at 13:00
Meeting Point: Donghuamen : You can reach here by taxi 请带我去故宫东华门. You also can reach here by subway line 8 at Jingyu Hutong Station, exit C, walking 700m
Starting point:
Donghuamen, China, Bei Jing Shi, Dong Cheng Qu, 景山前街4号 邮政编码: 100006

Morning Forbidden City Only

This option including entry ticket to the Forbidden city & Coal Hill park. Tour start at 8:00am without Tian'anmen square
Meeting point: Donghuamen: You can reach here by taxi 请带我去故宫东华门, by subway line 8 at Jingyu Hutong Station, exit C, then walking 700 meters
Starting point:
Donghuamen, China, Bei Jing Shi, Dong Cheng Qu, 景山前街4号 邮政编码: 100006

Tiananmen Square+Forbiddencity

This option including Entry Tickets to Tian'anmen Square and Forbidden City. Please arrive before 9:50am
Beijing Planning Exhibition: You can reach here by taxi: 请带我去北京城市规划馆前门东大街20号, subway line 2 at Qianmen Station, exit E2, then walking 400 meters.
Starting point:
Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall, 20 Qian Men Dong Da Jie, Dong Cheng Qu, Bei Jing Shi, China, 100051

Reviews

4.89

1,491 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

1403
53
11
4
20
  • (Heads-up: until 3rd of...

    Jose C,

    Aug 15, 2025

    - Viator

    5.00

    (Heads-up: until 3rd of September the access to Tiananmen Square is restricted) I believe a visit to the Forbidden City would be incomplete without a guide to provide explanation on the complexity of the place you’re visiting. Our guide Mina was incredibly professional and knowledgeable, giving a lot of interesting information. Furthermore, she displayed a high fluency in English, which is quite rare in Beijing. We were very lucky to have her!

  • Good tour but sadly not completely satisfied

    Chris M,

    Aug 15, 2025

    - Viator

    3.00

    I am rating this as 3 stars because Kevin the tour guide was very lovely, funny and full of knowledge and because Forbidden City was a very interesting experience. However, my husband and I felt it was too long and was being dragged out, this could possibly be because we didn’t go to Tiananmen Square at all. While all the information says the tour may not go due to lines or tickets I was disappointed that no attempt was even made to go, instead Kevin showed us something in Chinese and said there were no tickets. Again, I understand they due to the time of year they were limiting tickets however I feel we should have been told that we were definitely NOT able to get tickets so we could have arranged something else to go. We were leaving to go back home the next day and completely missed Tiananmen Square when we thought it was arranged or at least a chance of it being arranged. If Tiananmen Square is on your bucket list like it was ours I highly recommend checking they can get tickets before the day if not arrange tickets and not rely on this company to get them for you. Fancy coming from Australia to Beijing and not going to Tiananmen Square (very sad). I have definitely learned my lesson. As I said though if you are interested in a good guide and a long tour at the Forbidden City alone then you will be very satisfied.

  • Vote zero

    Noemi M,

    Aug 13, 2025

    - Viator

    1.00

    We couldn't get in because we were late. We had to buy the ticket at the entrance. Although we tried to contact the guide in order to reach her and at least listen to the explanation (since the cost of the tour is very high!), we could not find her. Bad.

  • Lily is a great tour guide

    Laura C,

    Aug 13, 2025

    - Viator

    5.00

    Lily is a great tour guide, she knows all the history and other interesting informations, I would recommend Lily 100%.

  • We almost ran out of ciaita

    Maria G,

    Aug 12, 2025

    - Viator

    3.00

    They changed the time from 10:00 to 8:00 because of problems in the forbidden city but our guide did not show up, two of the guides who had helped us and we were able to enter with them. But from my guide we heard nothing. At first it was chaos, but then the visit was great

From $37.80

4.89
1,491 reviews
Check availability

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