Beijing: Imperial Boat Tour to Summer Palace w/Add-On Sites Option 2: 5 Hour Boat Trip to Summer Palace+Private Transfer

Experience an imperial boat trip to the Summer Palace with a private English guide to share stories of the palace & Empress Dowager Cixi. Choose add-ons like the Great Wall/Ming Tombs/Forbidden City.
Channel the legendary Empress Dowager Cixi (the "Dragon Lady") and experience her royal-style journey by boat to the Summer Palace — available from March to October. The boat trip passes through beautiful lakes and ancient landscapes, allowing you to enjoy the charming scenery of the royal waterway, which is a very niche and interesting itinerary.

Upon arrival at the Summer Palace, you can choose an in-depth tour, including its museums, gardens, courtyards and long corridor, to learn about the stories behind this beautiful garden, its historical significance, as well as the life story of Empress Dowager Cixi, a key figure in the late Qing Dynasty who ruled China for 47 years. Throughout the entire process, your private English-speaking guide will provide in-depth explanations of all these contents.

We provide a variety of rich and colorful combination options for this tour, and your private English-speaking guide will tell you the stories behind all these scenic spots:

Option 3: Great Wall (Choose One)
- Badaling Great Wall: The most well-preserved and iconic section, perfect for first-time visitors, you will enjoy its vip pass to skip the line
- Juyongguan Great Wall: A strategically important pass with magnificent natural scenery and ancient military culture.
- Huanghuacheng Water Great Wall: Unique for its combination of Great Wall, lakes and mountains, offering a stunning view.
- Mutianyu Great Wall: Known for its gentle slopes, dense vegetation and well-maintained watchtowers, ideal for families.

Option 4: Ming Tombs
- Sacred Way: Lined with 36 stone statues of animals and officials, showing the dignity of the Ming imperial mausoleums.
- Dingling Tomb: The only fully excavated imperial tomb of the Ming Dynasty, allowing you to explore the underground palace.
- Changling Tomb: The largest and best-preserved tomb among the Ming Tombs, housing the tomb of Emperor Yongle.

Option 5: Summer Palace & Forbidden City Combination
- A seamless imperial cultural experience combining the Summer Palace (royal garden) and the Forbidden City (former imperial palace), with in-depth explanations from your private English-speaking guide.

Option 6: Customized City Tour
- The total duration of the tour is 8 hours. After the main itinerary, you can choose 1-2 attractions to visit in the remaining time (discuss freely with your private English-speaking guide).
- Optional customized attractions: Temple of Heaven (closed on Mondays), Lama Temple, Imperial Academy & Confucius Temple, Beihai Park, Jingshan Park, Panjiayuan Market, Hutong, or enjoy delicious Chinese food (at your own cost), Downtown Shopping etc.

To provide you with more convenience and save you the trouble of arranging tickets, we include the boat ticket, Summer Palace entrance ticket and a private English-speaking guide.
You can choose public transportation or a private car for a more convenient trip; please refer to the description of each option for details.

To guarantee availability book as soon as possible. Early booking is worth consideration especially if you planning the trip during high season like public holidays or weekends.

This excursion you can cancel with no cost up to 24 hours before the start of the trip. If you cancel it after 24 hours or not show up on the excursion you will still be charged the full price of the activity. Being late on pick-up or departure will be considered as not showing up.