Forbidden City Guided Group Tour with Entry Tickets|Multi‑Departs
Recommended by 98% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Beijing, China
- 2 to 3 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
Why travelers loved this
·
Explore our promoted experiences
Overview
Discover the stories behind Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City during a small-group walking tour in Beijing. Explore all the key sites including the Imperial Garden, and discover fun facts about the Ming and Qing dynasties from your guide. Alternatively, explore Jingshan Park, where you can enjoy panoramic views of Beijing's cityscape, including an unparalleled view of the Forbidden City, instead of Tiananmen Square.
- Use a prebooked ticket to access the Forbidden City
- Hear stories relating to the Ming and Qing dynasties
- Visit the Meridian Gate, Imperial Garden, and more
- A small group means more attention from your guide
What's Included
- Group tour includes a professional guide
- Fobiddden city entrance fee
- If you choose the Tian'anmen Square option entry ticket is included
- If you choose 2 Hour Forbidden City Tour, you will only visit Forbidden City
- Hotel pick up and drop-off
- Gratuites
- Meals
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting points
Select a meeting point
Type to search
End point
- China, Bei Jing Shi, Xi Cheng Qu, 景山景山西街44号南门 邮政编码: 100006
Tour will end at the north gate of the Forbidden city
Itinerary
Make your own way to the Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall, Lao She Tea House, or Donghuamen to meet your guide and small group and head to the entrance of the Forbidden City.
Enter with your prebooked ticket in hand. Make your way to a quiet seating area, and learn about the palace and the Ming and Qing dynasties from your guide. Many say that a visit to the Forbidden City is more about the stories than the sightseeing, and your guide will tell all the tales to make your visit complete.
Check out the Meridian Gate, halls of harmony, heavenly purity, earthly tranquility, and unity; and the tree-lined pathways of the Imperial Garden as well as many other significant sights. Read the Itinerary for a full list of attractions that are seen on the tour.
Continue to Tiananmen Square, in the geographical heart of the city. Once of the world’s largest central squares, Tiananmen Square covers a vast amount of open space. Stand amid the history as your guide explains its past and points out its significant buildings.
Otherwise, head to Jinshan Park and walk up to the summit of Jinshan Hill and enjoy sweeping views over the Forbidden City and Beijing.
Enter with your prebooked ticket in hand. Make your way to a quiet seating area, and learn about the palace and the Ming and Qing dynasties from your guide. Many say that a visit to the Forbidden City is more about the stories than the sightseeing, and your guide will tell all the tales to make your visit complete.
Check out the Meridian Gate, halls of harmony, heavenly purity, earthly tranquility, and unity; and the tree-lined pathways of the Imperial Garden as well as many other significant sights. Read the Itinerary for a full list of attractions that are seen on the tour.
Continue to Tiananmen Square, in the geographical heart of the city. Once of the world’s largest central squares, Tiananmen Square covers a vast amount of open space. Stand amid the history as your guide explains its past and points out its significant buildings.
Otherwise, head to Jinshan Park and walk up to the summit of Jinshan Hill and enjoy sweeping views over the Forbidden City and Beijing.
Beijing (Pass By)
1
Tiananmen Square
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
The Palace Museum
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
3
Hall of Great Harmony (Taihe Dian)
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
4
Hall of Preserving Harmony (Baohedian)
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
5
Palace of Heavenly Purity
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
6
The Imperial Garden of The Palace Museum
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Infants must sit on laps
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Most travelers can participate
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- Your passport name and number are required at time of booking (for all participants)
- Please don't forget to bring your passport, you may be refused entry without it.
- 0-3 Years old infant is free, children have to purchase tickets as well
- Tian'anmen Square might close without advance notice due to government activity, if this happens you will skip the Square
- Tour departs punctually. Please arrive 10 minutes early. Once the tour left, you are unable to join the tour, and this tour is not refundable.
- Chinese citizens, including customers from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, need to reserve the tickets for the Palace Museum 7 days in advance. Once the tickets for the Palace Museum are sold out, it will be impossible to participate in this itinerary. In addition, according to the regulations of the Palace Museum, Chinese citizens can only choose to reserve tickets with their ID cards. Therefore, when making a reservation, it is necessary to submit the Chinese name and ID card number, and on the day of the tour, the submitted ID document must be presented to join the tour group.
- In case of peak travel seasons and when all the tickets reserved online for the scenic area are sold out, tourists are required to go to the ticket office of the scenic area by themselves under the guidance of the tour guide to handle the purchase of paper tickets on-site. Please be informed.
- Since this is a small - group itinerary, your punctual arrival at the meeting point is essential for a seamless travel experience. Tiananmen Square and the Palace Museum have strict regulations and procedures. If you are late, it may unfortunately prevent you from joining the tour and entering the Palace Museum. Due to the unique nature of the itinerary arrangements, in the event that lateness causes you to miss the tour, we regret that we will not be able to process a refund. We highly recommend that you communicate with your hotel in advance to accurately confirm the travel time from the hotel to the meeting point and make sufficient preparations. This way, you can embark on your journey with ease and enjoy every moment of it.
- In Peak season, the security checks at Tiananmen Square are particularly stringent. If the waiting time exceeds one hour, we recommend considering a bus ride that passes by the square. Given the sweltering heat, waiting in line for an extended period increases the risk of heat - related illnesses. Additionally, spending too much time at the square could detract from your experience at the iconic Forbidden City, which is a highlight of our tour. We will only proceed with this alternative if the majority of the group is in agreement. Please keep this in mind as we plan our visit.
- This tour is not recommended for travelers with physical/visual impairments or mobility restrictions due to varied terrain (underground passages, stairs) and the length of the tour. Please note that this tour covers 4 hours of walking.
- This tour is not recommended for travelers with physical/visual impairments or mobility restrictions due to varied terrain (underground passages, stairs) and the length of the tour. Please note that this tour covers 4 hours of walking.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 100 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.9
based on 2,180 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
This was an incredible tour and Maria was amazing. She was really informative and had great energy and enthusiasm throughout the day.
Really good and really fast tour. Maria was great and very thorough when explaining the layout of the palace as well as the traditions around it.
Mike was a fantastic guide. He is clearly experienced as he was able to avoid having us stand in very long lines and we were able to enter the Forbidden City at a less used entrance. He was very knowledgeable about the city and taught us many things. We appreciated his honesty and his opinions about life in China. His English is perfect and sounded native. This is a tour that we absolutely recommend.
Definitely book a tour as a foreigner with Mike so that you get the fast pass access to Tian’anmen Square and the Forbidden City. Worth the cost and Mike was a good guide. Would recommend.
This was a fantastic experience! Mina was a terrific guide. She expertly led us through the ticketing process and booking this tour allowed us to use an expedited security line that saved us at least an hour or two. Mina provided useful background information and helped take photos at the best spots! I’d highly recommend this tour! Thanks Mina!
Like the service from the tour lady ~ with great England accents and interesting historical stories of the palace.
We visited the Forbidden City on Aug 18th started 10:30 am ~ unfortunately we didn't catch her name.
Love the experience and definitely recommend this tour group to anyone will visit FC now and future. Enjoy 😉 🥰😍
Anson was a great tour guide! My friend and I made a slight mistake when trying to meet the group but by perfect chance we were able to find them! We are super thankful for everyone’s patience. The tour is 110% worth it - like Anson said “without me these are just buildings, I give the buildings life!” It’s so true - and this is coming from someone who likes to do things on their own!
Our tour guide Lily was great!! She was very knowledgeable and the tour was enjoyable. Highly recommend!
Missed the tour. The onsite person told us and address, the address would not translate to the cab platform and we got dropped off in the middle of the street. We ran to meet the tour guide only to be told we we were at the wrong place and to come back to where we got dropped off. It took us an hour with the cab and running to find the place and nothing. We went in anyway and explored on our own, but have someone write out the step by steps directions. It was awful and would not recommend. Just go with your family.
Response from Host, Jul 2026
We sincerely regret you missed our tour and had trouble finding the meeting point.
We send full navigation instructions and meeting point photos once the reservation is confirmed. As stated in our notice, taxis cannot reach the Forbidden City main gate directly; guests need to alight at Donghua Gate and walk alongside the river.
There is a possibility platform internal messages may not be forwarded successfully. The majority of our guests locate the gathering place smoothly with our guidance. We recommend checking all booking notifications thoroughly and arriving early for future tours.
Hope you had a nice visit to the Forbidden City.
I highly recommend this tour to anyone interested in Chinese history! Our guide, Vivian, was incredible—extremely knowledgeable, informative, and engaging. I learned so much about the Ming and Qing dynasties, as well as the fascinating history of the imperial concubines and Empress Dowager Cixi. It was a fantastic experience from start to finish.
John the guide was quite knowledgeable and brought us to good spots to view the fobidden city without joining the crowds.
Love the whole experience
If we went without a tour, we would know nothing about the place. Our guide Anson was personable and professional. Pace was quick, and we were able to cover a lot of ground in 3 hours.
It was great and provided a ton of context for everything we saw! It made the trip so much more interesting so when we wandered around after we were looking for things that we had learned. Was the perfect length, wasn't too long that we didn't have time to explore on our own.
Vivian was an amazing tour guide, who brought so much humor, energy, and care to the experience. She was very clever about how to navigate lines & crowds, hooked us all up with the best angles for photos, and was flexible with the preferences of folks in the group. My friend and I were very interested in the history of the sites we saw, and Vivian was eager to answer our questions and discuss fine details. We adored her!
May was a lovely and knowledgeable guide. She is patient and accommodating with the group while also keeping all on track for the half day tour. She kindly offered to take pictures for all of us on the tour. It really feels like she enjoys her job and values those she is leading. Thank you, May!
Very informative. Our guide Vivien gave all the historical background while moving around. Adds a lot of value to what you see and walk through. Makes it a totally different level of engagement
The tour guide was just focused on getting good reviews from guests. I wasnt able to take good photos atleast as he would not give time and he would not assist.
Response from Host, Jun 2026
Dear guest, we’re truly sorry to hear you were unsatisfied with your two-hour shared group tour of the Forbidden City, and we’d like to clarify the actual arrangements of our itinerary here.
This is a compact two-hour group sightseeing tour covering hundreds of years of Ming and Qing dynasty history together with ancient imperial architectural norms. It is objectively impossible to cover every single detail within such a limited time frame, so our guide arranges the tour to focus on core, representative historical knowledge to ensure all group guests can grasp key background stories efficiently as scheduled.
Before and during the tour, our guide clearly informed all visitors that once the guided explanation segment wrapped up, every guest would have full free time to wander the palace courtyards independently, take photos freely, and explore any areas they were interested in at their own pace. The guided route follows a fixed unified schedule to accommodate all members of the shared group, as we cannot pause repeatedly for individual photo-taking requests which would delay the whole team and impact the experience of other tourists.
We always aim to deliver balanced, comprehensive explanations for all group visitors rather than focusing on reviews alone. We regret that our fixed group schedule arrangement did not match your personal travel expectation of extended photo time, and we suggest private customized tours for guests hoping for fully flexible, unrushed sightseeing and photography time in the future.
Best regards,
Qing
Tour guide was amazing and so informative ! Would highly recommened !
Anson was amazing , very friendly , we had a great time !! 5 stars
It was very helpful to visit these spots with a tour guide. Our guide, Jay, was very knowledgeable about the area and really made the experience more enjoyable. He also provided us with great tips about what to do in Beijing.
Great tour guide, very flexible! Vivian was very knowledgeable and because we were a smaller tour she catered to our needs and interests. She was very flexible and we got a lot done in the 3 hours!
Jimmy was a great tour with very clear English. He took us to the main sites of the Forbidden City but also to some area off the beaten track. There was plenty of interesting information and facts and I appreciated that at each part of the Forbidden City, he gave us time to wander around and look at our own pace. He was also very helpful in taking pictures even though there were multiple groups of people.
Great experience for our family! Leo was very knowledgeable and friendly. Helped us to learn so much and to get us where we needed to be on time. He was an amazing guide! Five stars all the way!
We had a great time touring Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City with Moko. He was friendly, knowledgeable, and funny. It was a great blend of history and modern insights.
Our guide Vivian did a fabulous job sharing her extensive knowledge of The Forbidden City. Make sure you have your walking shoes on and be ready to hear a lot of fascinating information. There is a lot to see!
Miko was amazing, he was very nice and he explained everything in perfect detail. Our visit wouldn’t have been the same without him. I recommend the tour 100%
The guide's English wasn't great. And her ability to convey what we saw wasn't great either. She was polite, friendly and listened - but didn't have what it took to educate and inform us.
We are so glad we booked the tour and had an amazing tour guide Anson. Anson was very organized, friendly and knowledgeable! Anson also made all the history very interesting to listen too with some good humour ☺️ the tour made everything more relaxing and easy for us, so I would 100% recommend, especially considering the crowds!
We had a great time - Lily guided us through with a lot of rain and explained details of the vast palace which we would otherwise have known very little about. There was a bit of a line at security but not much any group could do about this.
Tour guide abandoned me, so I'm currently touring Forbidden Palace myself. tour group was too large and she couldn't handle group size.
Waited in line for over an hour and gave up.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxddxx
Member Pricing
From
$20.90
per personWas $22.00(-5%)
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
Compare Similar Experiences
Current
Member Pricing
Forbidden City Guided Group Tour with Entry Tickets|Multi‑Departs
2,180
2 hours
Free Cancellation
From
$22.00
$20.90
5% savings
Customers Who Bought This Tour Also Bought
Explore Similar Things to Do
- City Tours
- Rail Tours
- Full-day Tours
- Bus Tours
- Tours, Sightseeing & Cruises
- Day Trips
- Private and Luxury
- Cultural Tours
- Private Sightseeing Tours
- Beijing
- City Tours - Tianjin
- Rail Tours - Tianjin
- Full-day Tours - Tianjin
- Bus Tours - Tianjin
- City Tours - Datong
- Rail Tours - Datong
- Full-day Tours - Datong
- Bus Tours - Datong
- City Tours - Shenyang
- Full-day Tours - Shenyang
- Bus Tours - Shenyang
Attractions in Beijing, China
- Confucius Temple Tours & Tickets
- Summer Palace (Yiheyuan) Tours & Tickets
- Chang'an Avenue (Chang'an Jie) Tours & Tickets
- Shijia Hutong Museum Tours & Tickets
- 798 Art District Tours & Tickets
- Drum Tower (Gulou) Tours & Tickets
- Qianmen Street Tours & Tickets
- National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) Tours & Tickets
- Beijing National Stadium Tours & Tickets
- New Silk Alley Market (Xiu Shui) Tours & Tickets
- Juyongguan Great Wall (Great Wall at Juyong Pass) Tours & Tickets
- Back Lakes (Hou Hai) Tours & Tickets
- Capital Museum Tours & Tickets
- Dongyue Temple Tours & Tickets
- Liyuan Theatre Tours & Tickets
- Jingshan Park (Jingshan Gongyuan) Tours & Tickets
More attractions near Beijing, China