Bejing 2 1/2 days...

My husband and I are visiting Beijing in early May and unfortunately only have two full days. We land at 9.30am on the first day but are not sure how long we will have after getting through the airport/transport/checking in.

We need some help as to what are the ';must sees'; and any advice as to how much we can realistically see.

Day 2 we are off to the Great Wall and so presumably that will take a full day leaving us just a day and a half.

We are quite seasoned travellers and are not afraid of walking!

Any help really appreciated.

Thanks

Bejing 2 1/2 days...

The basic itinerary would look something like this:

Day 1, Temple of Heaven as soon as you can get out of your hotel.

Day 2, Hike Great Wall Simatai to Jinshanling.

Day 3, Tiananmen and the Forbidden City.

If you have time in the afternoon one day--or not enough time on day 1 to go to the Temple of Heaven, go to the Yonghegong Lamasary.

One evening, you can explore the hutongs around Houhai, since that area is open in the evenings.

Bejing 2 1/2 days...

What are your dates?

I presume you%26#39;re flying out on the 3rd day, am I right?

If you have limited time for great wall hiking, you can do the Xiang Shui lake and Huang hua cheng great hiking instead of doing the Simatai or Jingshanling great wall hiking.

You spend more time on the wall rather than on the road.

For simatai, you need spend 5 hour for you to go there and come back.

For Xiang shui lake is 2.5 for you to go there and come back.

In fact, you can do both xiang shui lake and huang hua cheng within one day. They are very close, 8 km away.

Mutianyu Great Wall is a good choice for family visit because it is not so steep and with all facility of cable car and slide.

These three sections are very close. All are located in Huairou district.

If you are interested in Ming tomb and Sacred Road, Badaling is not a bad choice.

You can do the tomb and sacred road in the morning to avoid the crowd in the wall.

In afternoon there are much less visitors.

I presume that I make a stupid suggestion:

If your flight is an international one, you would take one hour to get out of the airport.

If you are very energetic and still have the jet lag, you can go to Mutianyu directly from airport saving the time drive back to your hotel in downtown.

It would take only 50 minutes for you to get to the wall.

You have your lunch at the way to the wall, and can spend lot of time on the wall.

The advantages:

1. You avoid the morning rush hour for the second day visit

2. You do not do back and forth travel.

3. You save the money for airport tranfer.

The disadvantages:

1. You might feel tired

Enjoy your time!

Thanks for the advice - much appreciated. We arrive on 6th May and then depart for Xian first thing on 9th.

I like the idea of going straight to the Wall from the airport but am not sure I can cope with the Jetlag!

I would also second the opinion of going straight to the Great Wall from the airport, but as you said, there%26#39;s jetlag to consider.