Beijing in 3 Days: a guidebook for getting the most out of your visit

Ancient and modern, this is the millenary city of Beijing, where you will find more than 2,660 temples, palaces, museums, parks, squares, pedestrian streets lined with galleries, shopping centres and other businesses. A place full of contrasts. Check out the best itinerary for your three-day trip to the Chinese capital.

The plan for your day 1 in Beijing is very simple: make the most of your time to visit as many places as possible. This is the case for Tiananmen Square, the National Grand Theatre, the Forbidden City, Jingshan Park, the Lama Temple, the Confucius Temple and Wangfujing pedestrian street.

Start at Tiananmen Square

The first suggestion for this day is the colossal Tiananmen Square or Gate of Heavenly Peace, considered the largest in the world, due to its dimensions of 880 x 500 metres. This destination is approximately a six-minute drive from the city centre.

Upon arrival you will find many things to do in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Some of them are:

• A 38-metre high obelisk, erected in the centre of the square in honour of the people's heroes.
• The Great People's Palace, built during 1959.
• The Mao Zedong Mausoleum, with the remains of the former chairman of the Communist Party of China.

In addition, on the west side of the square you will find the National Museum of China, and on the east side you will find the Museum of History, just inside the Quianmen Tower. To get an in-depth look at each of these, I recommend you book a Tiananmen Square tour.

• Price: admission is free and the tour starts at €82.
• Opening hours: from 5am to 10pm.

Discover the National Grand Theatre of China

If you are an architectural enthusiast, then when you leave Tiananmen Square you should make your way to the National Grand Theatre of China. This impressive building is located about five minutes' walk east.

You will be amazed by the work of Parisian Paul Andreu: an immense oval dome made of titanium and glass. You can admire this jewel of modern architecture and take photographs in front of its façade.

Be dazzled by the Forbidden City

Next stop is the Forbidden City, known during the Ming and Qing dynasty as the Chinese Imperial Palace, located approximately six minutes by car or 22 minutes walk from the National Grand Theatre of China.

In this millennia-old building dating back to 1406, you'll find huge wooden pavilions, plenty of courtyards and gardens. In addition, there is the amazing museum with relics representative of China's history.

If you book the Forbidden City tour you can delve into the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Longevity, the Tiananmen Gate, the Imperial Yuhuyuan Garden, the Marble Staircase and the Wall of the Nine Dragons.

• Price: the entrance fee starts at 60 yuan or approximately €8 from April to October and 40 yuan or approximately €6 from November to March. The tour of the Forbidden City, along with the Great Wall of China and Tiananmen Square, starts at €82.
• Opening hours: open from 8.30am to 5pm from April to October, and from 8.30am to 4pm from November to March. The museum is closed every Monday.

Don't miss Jingshan Park

About 18 minutes' walk from the above destination you will find Jingshan Park with a beautiful hill, no more than 50 metres high, rising at its centre, from where you will get a privileged view of the Forbidden City. From there, you will get a privileged view of the Forbidden City.

You will be able to walk along a series of steep paths while enjoying the fresh air, nature and the characteristic Chinese park structures and ornaments (wooden gates and pavilions). Certainly an ideal activity if you visit Beijing in summer.

• Price: The entrance fee is approximately 2 yuan, about €0.26, and residents get in for free.
• Opening hours: The park is open from 6am to 9pm from April to October and from 6.30am to 8pm from November to May.

Visit the Lama Temple

The Lama Temple is the next stop on this itinerary. It is a Buddhist and Tibetan temple complex located about 17 minutes' drive from Jingshan Park.

This place, built in 1694 and considered among the best temples in Beijing, is a truly spiritual place. Book a tour of the Lama Temple and take a guided tour of the various buildings that make up the temple and admire the beauty of its traditional Chinese architecture, ornaments and bronze statues.

You will also watch other visitors worship Buddha with their prayers and incense burning.

• Price: The entrance fee starts at 25 yuan or approximately €4 per person; while the tour starts at €79.
• Opening hours: Open daily from 9am to 4pm.

Visit the Confucius Temple

Directly opposite the above destination (550 metres away or approximately seven minutes on foot) you will see the Confucius Temple. There, you will see a life-size statue of the Chinese thinker and enjoy a pleasant natural environment.

During the visit you will walk through a series of pavilions surrounded by beautiful canals and greenery. All of these spaces are accessible via ancient marble bridges. An ideal place to get away from the bustling city, relax, meditate and take some pictures.

• Price: Admission costs approximately 30 yuan, or around €4 per person.
• Opening hours: open daily from 8.30am to 5pm.

Walk along Wangfujing pedestrian street and the bug market

When you leave the Confucius Temple, you can approach Wangfujing Pedestrian Street, about 18 minutes away by car. On this artery, you will find a lively atmosphere with world-class shops, galleries, shopping malls, food stalls, restaurants and much more.

During your walk along Wangfujing, you will come to the famous Bug Street Market, with dozens of food stalls decorated with traditional Chinese red lanterns. You can embark on one of the best food tours in Beijing, tasting a variety of bugs: spiders, seahorses, scorpions, ants, worms, snakes, among others. My recommendation is to book the food tour by tuk tuk.

• Price: both access to Wangfujing Street and the market is free, but you will have to pay for what you consume.
• Opening hours: the bug market is open every day from 6pm to 11pm.

The main objective of your day 2 in Beijing is to visit some of the must-see sights: the Temple of Heaven, Qianmen Street, Beihai Park, Prince Gong Mansion, Beijing Zoo and Beijing Aquarium.

Enter the Temple of Heaven

Your second day's adventure begins at the Temple of Heaven, one of the top destinations on Beijing's best tours. This is a historic site located a 16-minute drive from the city centre.

At the temple you will have access to the Hall of Abstinence, the Circular Altar and the Imperial Vault. In addition, you will see the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, erected on a beautiful marble terrace for the emperor to perform rituals asking and thanking heaven.

• Price: The entrance fee starts at 35 yuan or approximately €5.
• Opening hours: The temple is open from 8am to 6pm in summer and closes one hour earlier the rest of the year.

Walk along the Qianmen Pedestrian Street

The next destination is Qianmen Pedestrian Street, approximately 14 minutes by car or 33 minutes on foot from the Temple of Heaven. In fact, you could take advantage of the metro line 7, which stops near the temple.

The length of this street is about 845 metres, where you will find a variety of shops and restaurants that retain a classic aesthetic. You can go sightseeing while shopping for souvenirs and tasting some traditional Chinese and fusion cuisine. All this in a lively atmosphere.

Stroll through Beihai Park

About a 15-minute drive or 30-minute walk away, you'll find the second destination on your itinerary, Beihai Park. This natural space, about 500 metres wide and 3 kilometres long, is home to a series of gardens, temples, pavilions and walls.

Along your walk through the park, you will discover the Pavilions of the 5 dragons, built in 1602. These are five buildings connected to each other, recreating the shape of a dragon. There is also the Nine Dragons Wall, made of glazed tiles in seven different colours and, on the north side of the park, the 4,000 square metre Beihai Jingxinzhai Garden.

• Price: The entrance fee is approximately 10 yuan, or about €2 from April to October, and 5 yuan or €0.68 from November to March.
• Opening hours: The park is open from 6.30am to 9pm from April to October and from 6.30am to 8pm from November to March.

Discover Prince Gong's Mansion

Prince Gong Mansion is the next stop. It is a 25-minute walk from Beihai Park or a 13-minute drive from Beihai Park. Both times are approximate, as it will depend on your walking speed and traffic flow, respectively.

In this mansion-museum built during the Qing dynasty in 1777, you will have the opportunity to explore various gardens and courtyards. You will be surrounded by a traditional setting with ponds and artificial hills.

• Price: Entrance to the park costs 40 yuan, approximately €6 per person.
• Opening hours: The park is open from 7.30am to 4.30am.

Marvel at the Beijing Zoo

A 14-minute drive from the above destination is the Beijing Zoo, with different animal species (gorillas, elephants, among others) and the marine life centre with sharks, dolphins and fish. In addition, there is the Panda House.

At the zoo you will also enjoy a pleasant natural environment, suitable for relaxing and taking lots of pictures. You will see some lakes and lagoons bordered by beautiful vegetation. You can also sail through an extensive canal.

• Price: The entrance fee to the zoo is approximately 15 yuan or about 1.90 euros in summer, and 10 yuan or about 2 euros in winter. Admission to the Panda Centre starts at 5 yuan or €0.68.
• Opening hours: The zoo is open from 7.30am to 6pm in summer and from 7.30am to 5pm in winter. The Panda House is open from 8am to 6pm in summer and from 8am to 5pm in winter.

Don't miss the Beijing Aquarium

Another must-see attraction is the Beijing Aquarium, just a 14-minute walk from the above destination. This is a huge museum, which exhibits the marine life of thousands of species.

Inside this building considered among the best museums in Beijing, you will see three amazing tanks with sharks, jellyfish and white whales. There are also collections of tens of thousands of marine ornamental fish and freshwater ornamental fish. And finally, enjoy the spectacle of sea lions, dolphins and whales.

• Price: The average price is 175 yuan or about €24 per person. Students and children under 18 pay around 87 yuan or €12.
• Opening hours: daily from 9am to 5.30pm.

After enjoying the best things to do in Beijing, on this last day in Beijing you can escape the hustle and bustle of the city and visit some destinations of great historical, social and cultural significance. You can choose between the Ancient Summer Palace and the Great Wall of China.

Option 1: Visit the Old Summer Palace

Approximately 12 kilometres or 40 minutes drive from Beijing, you will find the Emperor's Old Summer Palace. It is a gigantic garden with ruins, temples, bridges and pavilions. Some of the sights you will see if you book the Summer Palace tour include:

• The Hall of Benevolence and Longevity: with a throne decorated by nine mythical dragons.
• The Garden of Virtue and Harmony: four courtyards dotted with buildings such as the Grand Theatre.
• The ruins of the former summer palace: a product of the destruction caused in 1860 after the Second Opium War.
• Exhibition Hall: with a model of the old palace and a number of relics.

There is also Suzhou Street where you can enjoy some tea houses, old-style restaurants and shops and many other gems hidden in the Old Summer Palace.

• Price: The entrance fee starts at 50 yuan, around €7 per person in winter and 60 yuan or around €8 in summer, and the tour starts at €79.
• Opening hours: open from 6.30am to 6pm from April to October, and from 7am to 5pm the rest of the year.

Option 2: Be Dazzled by the Great Wall of China

A day trip to the Great Wall of China is a great way to end your three-day itinerary in the city. It is one of the seven wonders of the world. If you don't know how to get to the Great Wall of China, don't worry, you can book a tour to the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs. You will travel less than two hours from the city centre to Mutianyu, considered the most beautiful and least crowded section of the Wall.

Once at Mutianyu, you must begin your ascent of the Wall. A 10,000-step staircase, a funicular or a chairlift is available. Afterwards, you will start the walking tour of this millenary construction, admiring its splendid architecture and taking amazing pictures. In the meantime, the guide will tell you the history of the site.

If you prefer to visit the Great Wall of China on your own, don't hesitate to book the bus transfer to the Great Wall of China from Beijing to get there without any problems.

• Price: the cost of the tour starts at €74.
• Opening hours: This section is open daily from April to October from 7.30am to 6pm, and from November to March from 8am to 5pm.

The city of Beijing also called Beijing is a place with many tourist attractions to discover. Therefore, during your stay you will need to organise your time with an itinerary in order to visit as many destinations as possible.