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Forbidden City Tour: Explore 18 Palaces
4.9
518 Ratings
Dong Cheng Qu
Embark on an immersive journey through the Forbidden City on a mini group tour. Discover the Palace Museum’s hidden treasures and gain cultural insights in 4 hours. Skip the line and secure your limited ticket today!
Embark on an immersive journey through the Forbidden City on a mini group tour. Discover the Palace Museum’s hidden treasures and gain cultural insights in 4 hours. Skip the line and secure your limited ticket today!
Duration:
4 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Forbidden City-The Palace Museum - Start your day’s exploration of the Forbidden City in the morning with pickup from the lobby of your Beijing hotel. Board a comfortable tour vehicle with your guide and group and head out for the Forbidden City, one of Beijing’s top attractions. Upon arrival, bypass the long lines and whisk directly inside with…
- Forbidden City-The Palace Museum - Start your day’s exploration of the Forbidden City in the morning with pickup from the lobby of your Beijing hotel. Board a comfortable tour vehicle with your guide and group and head out for the Forbidden City, one of Beijing’s top attractions. Upon arrival, bypass the long lines and whisk directly inside with your pre-booked entrance ticket. Begin your exploration of the world’s largest imperial complex, also one of the best-preserved sites in the world. Also called the Palace Museum, this attraction boasts approximately 10,000 rooms in total, where 24 emperors lived for over a span of 500 years from the Ming to the Qing dynasty. Learn about the detailed, eclectic history of the site from your guide, an expert in Chinese culture, during your tour. Please see the Itinerary section for a full list of the 18 different palaces visited during the tour. Your tour ends in the Forbidden City; you are responsible for your own transportation back to your hotel. Please Note: all traveler names and passport number required required. You MUST provide your above info upon booking, in case the tickets are sold out. You MUST have your passport with you for attending this tour.
What's Included
- Forbidden City entrance ticket
- Hotel pickup (optional)
- Professional historian guide
- Local taxes
- Forbidden City entrance ticket
- Hotel pickup (optional)
- Professional historian guide
- Local taxes
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
- Hotel drop-off
- Food and drinks
- Gratuities
- Hotel drop-off
- Food and drinks
Additional Information
Experience the ultimate small group tour of the Forbidden City, where you will explore 18 palaces, including The Palace Museum Antiquarium (Treasures Museum). This 4-hour tour offers a comprehensive insight into the structure and cultural significance of the Forbidden City. The number of tickets sold for the Forbidden City is now restricted daily. Fear…
Experience the ultimate small group tour of the Forbidden City, where you will explore 18 palaces, including The Palace Museum Antiquarium (Treasures Museum). This 4-hour tour offers a comprehensive insight into the structure and cultural significance of the Forbidden City. The number of tickets sold for the Forbidden City is now restricted daily. Fear not, this tour includes the ticket and even lets you bypass the queue!
- Infant and children must be accompanied by adult
- A current valid passport is required on the day of travel
- All traveler names and passport number required required. You MUST provide your above info upon booking, in case the ticket sold out. You MUST have your passport with you for attending this tour.
- If the booking less than 2 people, it may cancelled and full refund
- Tourists holding foreign passports can make reservations within 7 days (not applicable to Chinese tourists, including Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan)
Location
Hotel Kapok Beijing
东华门大街
Address: No. 16 Donghuamen Street, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 木棉花酒店，北京东华门大街16号
You can take taxi to Kapok hotel or take subway Line 8 to Jinyuhutong station and go out from Exit C , and walk to the right side to Kapok hotel for around 8 minutes.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.9
(518 Ratings)
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Anacarolinaa791
Mar 31, 2026
Forbidden City - Pretty nice walk, we managed to get with few people and when we left it was already quite full.
Our guide Sofia explained everything to us!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sendmeh
Mar 19, 2026
Fantastic Guide for the Forbidden City! - "If you're visiting the Forbidden City, do yourself a favor and book Sally as your guide. The site is huge and can be overwhelming, but she brought the history to life with fascinating details and stories I would have completely missed on my own. She was super patient, knew exactly how to pace the tour, and made the whole day seamless. Thanks for a great experience, Sally!" – Tak from Australia
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Shona
Mar 18, 2026
Great tour thank you Sally - Sally was a wonderful guide. Very knowledgeable, friendly and great English. Definitely recommend getting a guide.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Rodrigoa986
Feb 24, 2026
Maggie is wonderful. - Maggie was a great guide who took us throughout the city forbidden an area little visited by tourists of the area of concubines and replicas of Los, royal palaces, funda great experience
Review provided by Tripadvisor
294ashac
Feb 15, 2026
A wonderful highly recommended tour - We had a brilliant time with Maggie who was accommodating and truly knowledgeable. She answered all the questions about the Forbidden City and more whenever asked about the history of the place. We had a perfect balance of everything and she is truly humorous and helpful as a person. We’ll definitely keep in touch with her. Thanks Maggie!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
T2680ogleog
Feb 6, 2026
Great tour on a very cold day - Comprehensive tour. Maggie did a good job 👍
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lenaf1018
Jan 31, 2026
Forbidden city tour - Guide Maggie - I went to the palace museum/forbidden city, our tour guide was Maggie and she was absolutely brilliant.
Maggie messaged us the night before on watts-app, gave us information on what we needed to bring/how to dress beforehand for the weather. Maggie was fun, detailed, accommodating, easy to engage with and had great English.
It really enhanced our experience walking through the palace with her explanations as we understood why things were and what each detail meant.
At the end of the tour she walked my partner and I to a Beijing duck restaurant as we had wanted to find a good and it was near by.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Arvinian_a
Jan 5, 2026
Forbidden City Tours - Sofia was our tour guide and we had a great experience visiting Forbidden city for the first time. We had a small group of 4 and we liked that she presented the history of Forbidden City.
Review provided by Viator
C9965pjsamb
Dec 28, 2025
The perfect tour - A perfect tour!
Maggie is a fantastic tour guide!
The half day Forbidden City and Tian’anmen Square tour was amazing. She met us at the hotel lobby and even called us the evening before to confirm that we had our passports and pick up time.
The tour was perfectly delivered. The pace was just right, our family never felt rushed nor bored!
Highly recommend Lily Tours and Maggie as a tour guide !!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
A5808dhalexp
Dec 16, 2025
forbidden city - great tour guide 👍 better to get tour guide for forbidden city so you don’t have to deal with any confusion getting tickets. tour guide will also explain history of forbidden city
Review provided by Tripadvisor
