Beijing in 7 Days on a Budget (With Daily Costs)

Seven days in Beijing: the full city, plus a second wall day

Seven days means you can give the Great Wall a second visit instead of just one, this time the quiet, rugged section instead of the crowd-pleaser. Here’s the full week, cost by cost. Shorter trip? See the 6-day version. Splitting time between Beijing and the rest of China? See Beyond Beijing: China on a Budget and its own 7-day gateway plan .

Day Focus Rough spend pp
Day 1 Tiananmen, Forbidden City, Jingshan Park ¥230-330
Day 2 Great Wall at Mutianyu ¥350-550
Day 3 Temple of Heaven, hutongs, Houhai ¥90-190
Day 4 Summer Palace, 798 Art District ¥45-70
Day 5 Lama Temple, National Museum, Wangfujing ¥65-85
Day 6 Ming Tombs, Olympic Green, Panjiayuan ¥210-360
Day 7 Great Wall at Jinshanling ¥400-600

Book these before you go:

Day 1: Tiananmen and the Forbidden City

Morning: Tiananmen Square security and your reservation (no ticket cost beyond the booking), then Meridian Gate for the Forbidden City, ¥60 peak / ¥40 low season, morning or afternoon slot fixed at booking, three to four hours.

Early afternoon: Jingshan Park, ¥2, for the view over the palace roofline from Wanchun Pavilion.

Evening: Peking duck at Siji Minfu near the palace, ¥154-259 full duck, better value than Quanjude or Da Dong’s ¥300-600pp.

Roughly ¥230-330pp.

Day 2: the Great Wall at Mutianyu

Skip Badaling, the closest section and the one every tour bus targets, making it the most crowded stretch by far. Mutianyu , about 90 minutes out, is well-restored and much quieter.

Morning: Depart 7:30-8am. Shared van round trip roughly ¥150-300pp. Entrance ¥45, shuttle ¥15 return, cable car up and toboggan down together ¥100-140. Hike down to skip the toboggan cost.

Lunch: Noodles or roujiamo near the entrance, ¥30-50.

Evening: Jianbing (¥8-15) or zhajiangmian (¥20-35).

Roughly ¥350-550pp.

Day 3: Temple of Heaven, hutongs, and Houhai

Morning: Temple of Heaven, ¥15 park-only or ¥34 combined (peak), worth the extra for the Hall of Prayer.

Lunch: Dumplings or noodles nearby, ¥20-35.

Afternoon: Wudaoying or Fangjia hutong, not Nanluoguxiang, which has become a craft-beer-and-souvenir strip wearing a historic-lane costume.

Evening: Houhai lakeside, paddleboat optional (roughly ¥40-80/hour) or just the bars.

Roughly ¥90-190pp, the cheapest sightseeing day.

Day 4: Summer Palace and 798

Morning: Summer Palace, ¥30 peak / ¥20 low, half a day around Kunming Lake.

Lunch: Near the East Palace Gate, ¥30-50.

Afternoon: 798 Art District, free galleries (Line 14 to Wangjing South, then a short taxi or walk).

Evening: Sanlitun for a livelier night, or rest if the pace has caught up with you.

Roughly ¥45-70pp plus any Sanlitun spending.

Day 5: Lama Temple, the National Museum, and Wangfujing

Morning: Lama Temple, ¥25, book a timed slot in advance, walk-ups are turned away regardless of nationality.

Lunch: Noodle shop near Yonghegong, ¥20-35.

Afternoon: National Museum of China, free with an online reservation, two hours minimum for the bronze and ancient-China halls.

Evening: Wangfujing for the walk, but skip the scorpion-skewer stalls, they’re priced for tourists snapping photos, not for a real meal, and decline anyone offering a nearby “tea ceremony,” a well-worn scam that ends with a bill in the hundreds of dollars.

Roughly ¥65-85pp, food aside.

Day 6: Ming Tombs, Olympic Green, and Panjiayuan

Morning: Ming Tombs on their own half-day rather than bolted onto a rushed Wall tour, ¥60 peak / ¥20 low general admission, plus ¥30-45 for Changling or ¥40-60 for Dingling if you want a specific tomb interior (combined roughly ¥95). No reservation needed. A car there and back runs roughly ¥150-250pp.

Lunch: Near the Tombs site, ¥30-50.

Afternoon: Olympic Green, free to walk and photograph the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube from outside; going in costs extra and isn’t essential.

Evening: Panjiayuan Antique Market, best on weekend mornings, bargain hard, nothing’s priced to be taken at face value.

Roughly ¥210-360pp.

Day 7: a second Wall day at Jinshanling

If you did Mutianyu on Day 2 and liked it, Jinshanling is the version for people who want the Wall without the crowd. It’s further out, two to two and a half hours each way, rugged and largely un-rebuilt rather than polished, entrance ¥65 peak / ¥55 low season, cable car ¥60 return if you don’t want to hike the whole three to four hour stretch.

Morning: Leave early, by 7am if you can, it’s a longer drive than Mutianyu. Transport for a section this far out typically costs more, roughly ¥250-400pp round trip for a private car or small tour group.

Lunch: Pack something or eat at the small stalls near the entrance, ¥30-50.

Evening: Back in the city by early evening, tired in a good way. A last duck dinner or just noodles near your hotel closes out the week.

Roughly ¥400-600pp, the most expensive single day of the trip, but worth it if the crowds at Mutianyu bothered you two days earlier.

Is a second Great Wall day worth the extra cost?

Yes, if Mutianyu felt crowded. Jinshanling is a genuinely different experience, rugged, largely un-rebuilt, and near-empty compared to any section closer to the city, not a repeat of Day 2. It costs more than any other day this week, but it’s the one addition on this list actually worth defending at that price.

How do you get around for a full week?

The metro runs ¥3 short hops to ¥5-10 across town. Tap a foreign contactless card at the turnstile or use the Alipay/WeChat transport QR code, not both. DiDi elsewhere, card linked through Alipay or WeChat rather than added directly inside the DiDi app.