Longmen Grottoes (Longmen Caves) Tours and Tickets

Really helpful and proffessional guide.I could exchange some money and I could learn more about the history of two world famous monuments in one day. As usual the chinese are more centered in eating lunch than letting you visit the actual monuments,so you must kindly remind them that you have paid so much money for visiting and not for eating.

We had this experience during the Qing Ming celebration so we encountered a lot of traffic and the places were overcrowded, but our guide Yuefeng was great! He has been an excellent driver and he knows his way around those places saving us a lot of time and bringing us to the most important places. He also gave us a lot of explanations during the trip. I definitely recommend this trip, would have been extremely complicated doing everything with public transports.

Guide was thorough in explaining the history of Longmen Grottoes and Shaolin Temple. Driver was adept at making adjustments based on road closures. The actual destinations were a bit too commercialised (Shaolin) and crowded (Longmen) for the experience to actually be enjoyable. Would also recommend for the tour to be extended to two days and include a trip up Songshan - seems a bit of a shame to travel all the way to Luoyang and not see that amazing view

Excellent service…all the vehicles were modern and clean. Bullet train from Xi’an to Luoyang to visit the Longmen Grottoes and Shaolin Temple was fast and great schedules. Rocky our companion on this excursion provided exceptional support and immense amounts of information about the sites. The Longmen Grottoes or Caves are some of the finest examples of Chinese Buddhist art in the world. The images, many once painted, were carved as outside rock reliefs and inside artificial caves excavated from the limestone cliffs of the Xiangshan and Longmenshan. We then traveled to the Shaolin Monastery also known as Shaolin Temple. This is a monastic institution recognized as the birthplace of Chan Buddhism and the cradle of Shaolin Kung Fu. At the Shaolin Temple we watched a kung-fu demonstration by the Songyang Academy students displaying amazing martial arts. We had an absolutely incredible day…we would definetly book this excursion again.

Our guide, Fey, and driver made sure everything went smoothly for our trip. We arrived by train from Xi'an, and Fey initially relayed that the Grottoes had closed for the day because of heavy rain - but she had a backup plan all ready to go and was reaching out to discuss options. Luckily, by the time we arrived in Luoyang, one entrance of the Grottoes had re-opened, so we looked at the weather and went for it. Fey met us at the train station, the driver and vehicle made the transit very comfortable, and off we went. We were a group of three adults and one 7-year-old. Because only one entrance had opened and because the rain had cooled the weather and it was still during China's summer holiday (we visited in August 2024), Fey mentioned that she had never seen crowds like the morning we went. She helped us navigate through, explaining the Grottoes as we went, and helping to manage break time for little legs. There are a fair number of stairs which are unavoidable, but we took the electric trolley/battery car for the longer walk so it was generally an easy day, physically. (Boats were not running because of the earlier heavy rains so we took the trolley both ways.) This was a wonderful way to see the Grottoes and very happy to have the half-day option as that allowed a fairly easy day trip from Xi'an (breakfast, 45-min taxi to Xi'an North Railway, 30-45 min wait at the station -- we already had paper tickets -- and 1.5 hour HSR ride each way plus the 4-hour visit, and we were back in Xi'an in time for an easy rest and dinner). Other than controlling the weather and crowds (ha!), the only thing that might have possibly improved it might have been to have a headset to hear Fey better with the crowds. As the crowds were unusually high when we visited, this might not normally be an improvement.

The tour was incredibly enriching, offering a wealth of fascinating insights. The tour agent was exceptional responsive and accommodating. Both our guide, Aaron, and the driver were highly knowledgeable and proficient in their roles, ensuring a seamless experience. Despite the increased activity due to a public holiday in China, Aaron adeptly adhered to the schedule, allowing us to conclude the tour punctually, meaning I have two-hour gap before my train departure back to Xi’an. Aaron promptly assisted in rescheduling my train ticket to an earlier time. Overall, it was an outstanding experience and highly deserving of recommendation.

Perfect day trip departing from Zhengzhou. Our driver and guide, mr. Ma, was very polite and attentive during the whole experience. He is very knowledgable about the history and culture of the Shaolin Temple and Longmen Grottoes. Lunch was also very good, with several options to choose from. The car ride is long, but mr. Ma is a very careful driver and we were able to rest and relax going from one place to the other. I recommend this trip to everyone that is interested in visiting both sites at the same day.

The Longmen Grottoes are situated to the south of Luoyang and should absolutely be visited by every tourist making the train journey from Beijing to Xi'an. The detailed craftsmanship, the result of hundred of years of work, is truly a sight to behold and this tour is one of the best ways to do so since it allows plenty of time to appreciate the individual carvings and ask questions about the history of the site. Our guide Joe was very considerate, well informed and enthusiastic about the subject. He took great care of my elderly grandmother and was able to provide a lot of detailed information on the grottoes that you are unlikely to find anywhere else. I couldn't recommend this tour highly enough.