Private Tour
In-depth Forbidden City tour with Royal Icehouse Lunch
Overview
Available languages
6 hours
Mobile ticket
The Forbidden City is listed as the number one must-see in Beijing, which served as the residence of Chinese Ming and Qing emperors for almost 500 years. Go beyond the typical attractions within the City on this comprehensive 6-hour guided tour, which includes access to the Clock Room,Treasure House, living and working places of emperors. In this tour, you will actually get inside some of the buildings in the Forbidden City. Lunch will served in the former Imperial Icehouse inside Forbidden City.
Additional Info
Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
Passport name, number, is required at time of booking for all participants
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
What‘s Included
All tickets of the Forbidden City
Hotel pickup and drop-off
Mineral water
Lunch with soft drinks/beer
Experienced English-speaking guide
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
What To Expect
Forbidden City-The Palace Museum
Meet your guide at selected time and start to explore the largest Imperial Palace in the world thoroughly. During this tour, you will also have a very unique lunch experience at one of the Imperial Ice Houses of the Emperor. Those are some of the important places you will see:
Turret of The Palace Museum
Part of the defensive construction of the Forbidden city at each corner of the Wall. You will get inside one of them if the Wall is open.
Options
Private Tour
Lunch included
Pickup included
Reviews
15 reviews
Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor
In-depth tour of the Forbidden City
James D,
Oct 1, 2025
- Review from Viator
5.00Very in-depth visit to many areas of the forbidden city. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and provided local insights to not only our tour of the Forbidden City, but the local area around our hotel. He showed us local stores we were interested in and a hot pot restaurant we went to for dinner and thoroughly enjoyed. A great tour and sharing of Chinese history.
Great tour !
pietro s,
Sep 28, 2024
- Review from Viator
5.00An amazing experience! Our guide Selina was simply perfect, she came tu pick us at our hotel and we spent a lovely day discovering all the forbidden city! The chance to have lunch inside the forbidden city was a one in a lifetime opportunity, we had special noodles very tasty ! Our guide also helped us to reach temple of heaven and to buy tickets after our tour !
In-depth Forbidden City tour with Royal Icehouse Lunch
Honzky,
Aug 24, 2023
- Review from Tripadvisor
4.00We booked this tour through the Marriott Bonvoy Tours & Activities web site because we didn’t realize that the ticket to the Forbidden City is at least a week or even 10 days in advance. Our initial booking wasn’t successful, however our tour guide, Bruce Li, was very helpful and kept trying to book our tickets a day before we left Beijing. Thanks to Bruce’s effort and numerous email communications we finally were able to visit the Forbidden City which is one of my spouse’s must-see places while we were in Beijing. Overall, we were satisfied with the arrangement of our tour. I understand that it is not possible to see all the attractions available inside the Forbidden City in a few hours, this tour however did provide a basic impression of this marvelous historical palace. Bruce explained quite detailed about all the attractions we had visited. Luckily it was a hot day during our visit; we basically walked through the Forbidden City in about 4 hours and that’s a lot of walking. Although this tour is a bit pricy however if someone has never been in China before and does not speak Chinese, a guided tour by a professional tour guide like Bruce is still worth it.
Super Informative with Excellent Guide!
lusannak,
Oct 8, 2019
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00We took the above tour with Angie today. As soon as we booked, communication was thorough, clear and easy to understand. Angie was prompt, and gave us a few tips before we left the Hotel, including to make sure we had appropriate clothing and our passports. Angie took us on the scenic route from our Hotel, to make sure we had seen a few of the city’s most important areas. Angie’s knowledge is extremely comprehensive and is not limited to the subject of the tour itself. Lunch on the tour was a little underwhelming for our Australian tastes, but it was nice to sit down and have a refresher all the same. Afterward, Angie went above and beyond, helping us arrange additional transport for our transfer to the Airport and has even offered to help us “Like an old friend” if we need her help in the future. We would definitely recommend her as a guide!! Thank you Angie!!
Exclenet tour & dinner
Fernando G,
Sep 30, 2019
- Review from Viator
5.00I was impressed with the follow up and punctuality of our guide Angie. She contacted us the day before to make sure we were on time and ready for our tour. We visited the Forbidden City and had dinner in a local restaurant. Angie did a very good job explaining us all the details about the Forbidden City. Instead of having dinner at the Icehouse, we went to a local restaurant, It was grate to have Angie there to helped us with the order, excellent dinner, very nice local restaurant and very good conversation. Al lot of food and very good variety of local dishes.
Forbidden City plus Lunch at Royal Ice House
Inspiration826677,
Sep 19, 2019
- Review from Viator
5.00We booked this private tour as we have an elderly lady who need more attention touring this Forbidden city. We are extremely glad to have Lily as our guide as she was very accommodating and patiently pacing us thru out the entire tour. Lily took extra care of the elderly in our group and at the same time explaining in details of the history of this large palace. Lunch at the Royal Ice House was a disappointment. food was not unique and service not up to mark. Overall a great experience.
Forbidden City Private Tour with Angie
G7081JXcharlesh,
Sep 17, 2019
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Angie picked us up at the hotel on time. When we arrived at Forbidden City we left our things in the car, and she was really helpful to take it back to our hotel. I was very impressed with her knowledge about the history and she make it interactive with asking some questions. Since the Thien An Men was closed that day, she gladly take us to the shopping mall where we want to go. Maybe on the tour description should be clearer and exact, like inclusive of mineral water and snuff bottle. Overall it’s a great experience to have her to guide us.
Private tour Forbidden City with gastronomic experience
Pazeando,
May 9, 2019
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Excellent tour, highly recommended for those who want to know more about the forbidden city, calmly and with an excellent guide!! With a very good level of English:)
Excellent!!
A9440SWmarianap,
May 6, 2019
- Review from Viator
5.00the forbidden city is amazing and I learnt so much with Shanshan. She was an amazing guide! Plenty of time to see everything. Lovely tour. I highly recommend it!!
Ice Warehouse Restaurant for Private Use
wadah826,
Nov 26, 2018
- Review from Tripadvisor
4.00This time, I dined with a Chinese businessman and a Chinese painter at a "chartered ice restaurant" and enjoyed Peking duck, boiled dumplings and steamed fish. It was a reserved space that you can't usually enter, so there was only one round table. Usually, restaurants in such "tourist areas" are not delicious, but since they are only restaurants where VIPs eat, the taste and service were almost perfect.
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