5 days in Beijing
The balanced first-trip plan. It adds a real Great Wall day and a modern-Beijing day without stealing time from the places that make the city make sense.
Use this if Beijing is your main city, not a two-night stop between flights. The extra days remove the two classic mistakes: putting the Great Wall after a palace morning, and treating 798 as a random taxi detour.
Imperial centre
Tiananmen Square → Forbidden City → Jingshan → Shichahai.
Follow the same compact central-axis plan as the 3-day itinerary: square and palace in the morning, Jingshan after the north exit, and Shichahai only if you still want an evening walk. The priority is your passport-linked Forbidden City booking.
South-side Beijing
Temple of Heaven → Qianmen → Dashilar.
Keep the day south and central. Start at the Temple of Heaven, eat around Qianmen, then let the evening stay flexible. It is intentionally lighter than Day 1 because most visitors need a recovery buffer.
Mutianyu Great Wall
One destination. One full day. No city add-ons.
Morning — leave early
Use a pre-booked tourist shuttle, private driver or a carefully planned public-transport route. Bring your booking passport, water, sun protection and a charged phone. Do not rely on finding a convenient last-minute ride outside your hotel.
Midday and afternoon — cable car, walk, return
Choose the lift route that matches your comfort and leave enough time to descend before the last transport. The journey back is part of the day; reserve a simple dinner near your hotel, not a timed city attraction.
Move: return transport is the itinerary. Read the full Mutianyu guide →
Summer Palace
Lake paths, imperial garden architecture and a long north-west morning.
Enter early, choose a realistic lake-and-garden route, and return to central Beijing for dinner. This is the correct day to slow down after the Wall, not to add more monuments.
Modern Beijing
Olympic Park → 798 Art District → dinner in Sanlitun.
Start with the Olympic Park if you want the big architecture in daylight, then move east to 798 for two galleries, industrial lanes and coffee. Finish around Sanlitun rather than returning across the city for another historic sight.
Move: DiDi is simplest between Olympic Park and 798; save both Chinese names. Olympic Park guide · 798 guide
What makes this five-day version work
- It treats the Great Wall as a proper trip outside Beijing, not a spare afternoon.
- It puts 798 in the north-east / east side of the city, rather than forcing it into a palace day.
- It leaves at least two evenings open for weather, laundry, jet lag or a restaurant you want to revisit.