Forbidden City Ticket Booking

Recommended by 98% of travelers

Badge of Excellence

Beijing, China

High interest

Booked 3 times today.

1 to 4 hours (approx.)

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Overview

The Forbidden City is one of China’s top attractions, and tickets can be hard to get hold of—often selling out as soon as they are released for seven days’ time. This service saves you time and energy. Simply make your reservation at least eight days before you visit and let someone else do the hard work. Upgrade to include the Treasure Gallery: You can also add a guided tour.

Prebook Forbidden City tickets online in the currency of your choice
Choose between two different time slots to suit your schedule
Explore independently, at your own pace, or join a guide
Upgrade to admire imperial jewels, jade, and more

What's Included

Forbidden City entry ticket

Lunch

Meeting and Pickup

Departure Point

Meridian Gate (Wu Men), The Entrance Gates Of Gugong, Beijing 100006 China

What To Expect

Meridian Gate (Wu Men)

Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Near public transportation
Infant seats available
Transportation is wheelchair accessible

Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
1. Easy to book, provided with the correct passport name and passport number.
2. Upon receiving a ticket confirmation letter from the local supplier, you only need to present your passport to enter through security checks to the Forbidden City.
3. Explore the Forbidden City at your own pace. You can freely choose to travel in the morning or afternoon.
5, Tourists holding foreign passports can make reservations within 7 days (not applicable to Chinese tourists, including Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan)

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Reviews

4.9

based on 104 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Forbidden City Tour

Ranjit_M, Mar 2026

Sofia was extremely informative and we had a great tour. We were a small group and it was organised very well.

Response from Host, Mar 2026

Dear Guest, Thank you so much for your wonderful 5-star review! 😊 We are thrilled to hear Sofia was extremely informative and that you had such a great Forbidden City tour. It’s fantastic to know your small group experience was well-organized and enjoyable throughout your visit. We truly appreciate your kind words and recommendation. Welcome back anytime, and we look forward to welcoming you again soon! Best regards, Lily's tickets service

Perfect option. Booking...

Michael_N, Mar 2026

Perfect option. Booking this way made it easy for our trip. The company booked our tickets and then messaged me with the confirmation.

Response from Host, Mar 2026

Dear Guest, Thank you so much for your wonderful 5-star review! 😊 We are thrilled to hear that booking your Forbidden City tickets through us was a seamless and easy experience for your trip. It was our pleasure to handle the reservation and send you the confirmation smoothly, saving you time and hassle during your visit to this iconic landmark. We truly appreciate your kind recommendation. Welcome back to Beijing anytime, and we look forward to assisting you again in the future! Best regards, Lily's tickets service

No tickets even though booked

Lisa_W, Oct 2024

The place itself was beautiful but we don’t take kindly to paying for the tour and then arriving to be told there’s no tickets as they sold out a week before so the guide would give us cash and we should stand in line at the ticket desk and buy one but be sure to not tell them (and sign a piece of paper ) to say that we weren’t on a tour An hour from meet to actually sorting it out and being able to enter - waste of time arrange tickets yourself and get an audio

Response from Host, Oct 2024

Dear Lisa Wang, Thank you taking your time to share your feedback. When you palced your booking, you may figure out the ticket option not available. You only can buy the ticket+tour guide option. The Forbidden City online ticket sold out 7 days in advance, when they were started to sell online, then one minute later, the ticket were gone. Becasue there are 30000 online ticket only limited per day. But the Forbidden City open a new policy this month that we could able to buy the onsite ticket during the day. But the ticket office may ask some strange questions. You just need to say “NO”. Which is very strange, and we don’t understand it too. and we don't know when they will change it or even stop it, but if you want to get the ticket, then we have to be follow it. But with this policy, we could buy the ticket at least during day. That you could able to visit Forbidden City. Otherwise, you may spend lots of money for flight, hotel to come here and cannot be able to get in. Which was happened for past 1 year, millions tourist stucked outside of the Gate cannot be able to get in. But Oct is our peak season, the waiting line would be longer than usual, when you come here in the slow season, it will be much better. And Forbidden City is a huge Palace with 600 years history, to visit this massive Palace with our professional tour guide, which is a totally different experience. Regards lily

Grande tour!

Mariano_F, May 2025

Tour completo e dettagliato. La guida (Marco) è stata eccezionale. Grande conoscitore della storia cinese. Esperienza fantastica!

Response from Host, Feb 2026

Dear Guest, Thank you for your wonderful support. We look forward to serving you again in the future. Best regards, Lily's Beijing Tours Team

Billets pour la cité interdite avec une guide qui ne s’occupe pas de nous.

Jacques_R, Apr 2025

Billets sot disant pris par l’agence Lily. En fait la guide nous a laissé faire la queue et prendre les billets par nous même alors que c’était son travail.

Response from Host, Apr 2025

Dear Jacque, Thank you taking your time to share your feedback. When you palced your booking, you may figure out the ticket option not available. You only can buy the ticket+tour guide option. There are 30000 online ticket only limited per day. And the online ticket always sell out 7 days in advance. But the Forbidden City has a new ticket policy recently that we could able to buy the on-site ticket during the day. So, we could offer this tour with guide service and buy the on-site ticket during the day. We send you the email immediately after you placed the order and tell you we need to line up buy on-site ticket during the day. For the slow season, it’s not a problem at all, but for holiday or high season, you may wait for a long time. So, we suggest the tourists could place the order at least 8 days in advance. Then we could able buy you the on line ticket advance and skip the line. Regards lily

Likely to Sell Out