City guide · China
Beijing is vast, but its principal historic sights align around the north-south imperial axis. Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and Jingshan form the centra...
Photograph · N509FZ · CC BY-SA 4.0
Set your days, your pace and the hours you actually want to be out. The planner works around closing days and travel time, and leaves room to eat.
Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor
Beijing is vast, but its principal historic sights align around the north-south imperial axis. Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and Jingshan form the central sequence, while the Temple of Heaven lies south and the lake, hutong and palace districts extend north and west. Great Wall sections and imperial tombs are separate day journeys outside the urban core.
Checked 2026-08-26
September · September offers Beijing a 25.8°C mean high, 14.2°C mean low and rainfall reduced to 49 mm.
Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.
68 places match
Category
Typical visit duration
Interests
北京大运河博物馆
Beijing Grand Canal Museum introduces the Grand Canal of China, the immense waterway linking northern and southern parts of the country. The museum gives travellers a cultural way to understand the canal’s engineering, transport and historical importance.
大运河森林公园
Grand Canal Forest Park is a large green space in Beijing’s Tongzhou District beside the historic Grand Canal. It offers a quieter, more open way to experience the waterway, combining woodland, paths and canal-side scenery.
三里屯
Sanlitun is a lively commercial and nightlife district in Beijing’s Chaoyang District. Once associated with the city’s diplomatic quarter, it now brings together shopping, dining, international brands, bars, hotels, and social life across a busy urban area.
潘家园旧货市场
Panjiayuan Antique Market is a sprawling Beijing bazaar filled with secondhand goods, curios and objects connected with Chinese material culture. Known locally as 潘家园旧货市场, it attracts collectors, browsers and travellers searching for distinctive souvenirs.
烟袋斜街
Yandai Xiejie, whose local name is 烟袋斜街, is a historic hutong alleyway in Beijing. The name translates approximately to Skewed Tobacco Pouch Street, derived from its distinctive shape resembling a traditional tobacco pipe.
什刹后海
Houhai is the northernmost of the three lakes in Beijing’s Shichahai water area, alongside Qianhai and Xihai. Its name means “Back Sea,” reflecting its position north of the former imperial city.
北京市规划展览馆
Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall is a central exhibition venue focused on the capital’s urban form, development and future plans. Near Qianmen, it places Beijing’s immense scale into a visual format that visitors can understand through maps, models and diagrams.
北京警察博物馆
Beijing Police Museum is a municipal museum in central Beijing devoted to the history and development of policing in China’s capital. The museum presents policing as an institution shaped by changing governments, technologies, and urban needs.
宋庆龄故居
The Former Residence of Soong Ching-ling is a historic house museum in Beijing’s Shichahai area.
鲁迅博物馆
Beijing Lu Xun Museum is dedicated to the life, writing and cultural legacy of Lu Xun, one of modern China’s most influential authors.
The Mei Lanfang Memorial Museum is a cultural memorial site in Beijing dedicated to Mei Lanfang, the celebrated Peking opera artist renowned for his dan roles.
Xu Beihong Memorial Museum is a Beijing museum devoted to Xu Beihong, the modern Chinese artist celebrated especially for paintings of horses.
The Cao Xueqin Memorial Hall commemorates the celebrated Qing dynasty author of Dream of the Red Chamber, China's most famous classical novel. Located in Beijing, this cultural site honors Cao Xueqin's literary legacy and his connection to the city.
卢沟桥
Marco Polo Bridge, also called Lugou Bridge, is a historic stone crossing over the Yongding River in Beijing’s Fengtai District.
宛平城
Wanping Fortress, known locally as Wanping Cheng, is a historic walled settlement in Beijing's Fengtai District. Constructed during the Ming Dynasty as a military garrison, it served as a strategic defensive position guarding the western approaches to the capital.
龙庆峡
Longqing Gorge, known locally as 龙庆峡, is a scenic canyon area located north of Beijing's urban core. The gorge features a reservoir formed by dam construction, creating an elongated water body between steep mountainous terrain.
北京园博园
Beijing Garden Expo Park is a large landscaped park in Fengtai District, created as the lasting venue of an international garden exposition.
China Archaeological Museum, 中国考古博物馆, is a Beijing institution devoted to archaeology and archaeological heritage. Its focus is the material record of China’s past: excavated objects, the cultures that made them, and the evidence archaeologists use to reconstruct earlier lives.
Plan the Forbidden City axis as one long central route and avoid pairing it with a distant outer attraction. The Temple of Heaven and Qianmen fit a southern cluster; Shichahai, Drum Tower and nearby hutongs form a northern cluster. The Summer Palace occupies a western half-day, while any Great Wall section requires its own transport plan.
Checked 2026-08-26
Beijing’s official guidance describes the subway as the most convenient public transit for major attractions and transport hubs. Use rail for cross-city moves, then walk within each historic cluster. International bank-card access is available at supported gates under current guidance. Distances and security checks can add time, so leave margins around major monuments and railway stations.
Checked 2026-08-26
A fixed stay length is not recorded. Build the visit around the imperial axis, Shichahai and the western palaces, then add Great Wall sections and imperial tombs only when the available time supports a separate journey.
Group places by district instead of crossing the city repeatedly. Start with the imperial axis, Shichahai and the western palaces; treat Great Wall sections and imperial tombs as separate routes with their own travel allowance.
Use Walking, subway and city bus. Walk within compact clusters and consult the linked official transport information before making longer transfers or relying on a particular route.
Only within individual neighbourhood clusters. The main visitor areas are separated by distances, waterways, major roads or regional approaches, so longer links normally need public transport or a licensed vehicle.
Plan Great Wall sections and imperial tombs separately from the imperial axis, Shichahai and the western palaces. Check the current route, return connection and any access requirements on the official source before departure.
.jpg){kind=link}