Best Things to Do in Beijing (2026 Guide)

Top Attractions in Beijing

Summer PalaceTemple of HeavenForbidden CityMutianyu Great Wall

Tap a landmark for its full 2026 guide — tickets, hours and how to get there.

Beijing has been the seat of Chinese power for most of the last seven centuries, and it wears that history at full scale. The avenues are enormous, the palace complexes go on for what feels like miles, and just outside the city the Great Wall runs along the ridgelines. This is a capital that does big well. But it also hides a slower, smaller side in the hutong – the gray-brick alley neighborhoods where old Beijing still goes about its day. A good first trip balances the two.

Three to four days is enough to see the headline sights without sprinting. And there has rarely been an easier time to visit: as of 2026, travelers from many countries can enter Beijing without a visa under transit and bilateral arrangements. More on that below. Here is how I would spend the time.

Last updated: July 22, 2026. Disclosure: this guide contains affiliate links — if you book or buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Prices, hours and venues were verified on this date and are shown in local currency with an approximate USD conversion.

Quick Cost Overview

Prices as of 22 Jul 2026 — rates change by season/demand, confirm current price before booking.

Stand Where Empires Ran: Tiananmen and the Forbidden City

Begin at the center. Tiananmen Square is one of the largest public squares in the world, flanked by monumental buildings, and it leads straight into Beijing’s single greatest sight – the Forbidden City. This was the imperial palace for the Ming and Qing dynasties, a walled city of nearly a thousand surviving buildings that now operates as the Palace Museum.

Two practical things. First, you must reserve tickets online in advance, often days ahead, and bring your passport to enter – walk-up tickets are not a thing here anymore. Second, give it time: a proper visit along the central axis, from the Meridian Gate out the back to Jingshan, takes at least half a day. Climb Jingshan Park hill just behind the palace for the classic view back over the golden roofs.

Walk the Great Wall

No trip to Beijing is complete without a day on the Wall, and the question is only which section. For a first visit, two stand out. Mutianyu is the most visitor-friendly – restored, forested, less crowded than the alternatives, and equipped with a cable car up and a toboggan slide down, which is genuinely fun. Badaling is the closest and most famous, easiest to reach but the busiest. Whichever you choose, start early to beat both the heat and the crowds.

The Wall is about 70 to 90 minutes from the city depending on the section, and getting there is the one part of a Beijing trip where a guided tour or private car earns its keep – public transport to Mutianyu in particular is a multi-step affair. A day tour bundles the transport, which is why most first-timers book one.

Book Great Wall tours & tickets

See the Temple of Heaven

Built in 1420, the Temple of Heaven was where Ming and Qing emperors performed the annual rites to pray for good harvests. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests – a circular, triple-eaved wooden hall raised on a marble terrace – is one of the most elegant buildings in China, constructed without a single nail. Come in the morning and the surrounding park is full of locals doing tai chi, playing cards, dancing, and practicing calligraphy on the pavement with water brushes. That everyday scene is half the reason to go.

Escape to the Summer Palace

When the imperial court wanted to get out of the city heat, it came here. The Summer Palace is a vast landscaped park of lakes, hills, pavilions, and the famous Long Corridor, a covered walkway painted with thousands of scenes. It is a place to stroll rather than tick off, and on a clear day a boat across Kunming Lake is one of the more relaxing things you can do in Beijing.

Get Lost in the Hutong

For the human-scale city, head to the Shichahai area northwest of the Forbidden City, where a chain of lakes is ringed by hutong – the narrow alleys of single-story courtyard homes that defined Beijing for centuries. Rent a bike or just wander; duck into a courtyard cafe, climb the Drum and Bell Towers, and watch the neighborhood go about its evening. This is the antidote to the monumental sights, and a reminder that Beijing is a place people actually live.

See Contemporary Beijing at 798

For a complete change of register, head out to the 798 Art District in the northeast, a former East German-built electronics factory complex now packed with galleries, studios, design shops, and cafes inside the old Bauhaus-style workshops. It is where contemporary Chinese art lives, and even if you are not a gallery person, the industrial setting – exposed pipes, old slogans on the walls, sculpture in the courtyards – is a striking counterpoint to the imperial sights. Half a day here shows you the Beijing of now rather than the Beijing of the emperors.

Eat Peking Duck

You cannot leave without it. Peking duck – lacquered, roasted until the skin crackles, sliced and wrapped in thin pancakes with scallion and sweet bean sauce – was perfected in this city, and eating it at a specialist restaurant is part of the trip. The best-known duck houses book up, so reserve ahead or go early, and order the whole bird with a couple of side dishes to round out the meal. Beyond the duck, Beijing is a strong food town: bubbling lamb hot pot in winter, hand-pulled noodles, jianbing breakfast crepes from street carts, and old-Beijing snacks in the hutong that range from delicious to deliberately challenging. Eating across the price range, from a hole-in-the-wall noodle shop to a famous duck restaurant, is one of the real pleasures of the city.

Beijing Prices at a Glance — as of July 22, 2026 (USD)

Attractions & museums (incl. zoo)

Getting around

Signature activities

Food per person

Accommodation per night

Prices confirmed on July 22, 2026 (USD conversions at ≈ ¥6.78 = $1). Rates vary by season, day of the week, and demand — always check the current price before you book. Sources include the official Palace Museum and Mutianyu Great Wall ticketing sites, Trip.com, Klook, TravelChinaGuide and Booking.com.

Where to Stay in Beijing

Stay near the Forbidden City / Wangfujing or Dongcheng for walking distance to the historic core and easy metro access to the Great Wall tour pickup points; Chaoyang and the CBD suit travelers who want nightlife, malls and easy airport transfers; Shichahai puts you inside the hutong for a quieter, old-Beijing base. Book early around May Day, National Day (early October) and Spring Festival, when both prices and availability swing hard.

Klook.com

Where to Eat in Beijing (Updated July 22, 2026)

Quanjude (全聚德) — The historic roast-duck house founded in 1864 — the classic, ceremonial Peking-duck experience.

Siji Minfu (四季民福) — A hugely popular Peking-duck restaurant with branches near the Forbidden City; expect a wait.

Da Dong (大董) — An upscale name known for its crisp, lean take on Peking duck and modern plating.

Jinding Xuan (金鼎轩) — A 24-hour dim-sum and Cantonese spot near the Lama Temple, handy for late nights.

Ghost Street (簋街 / Gui Jie) — Beijing’s famous late-night food street for fiery crayfish, hotpot and skewers.

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