Great Wall of China Trek

Depart from London for Beijing.

Depending on your flight arrival time, you will either avoid Beijing’s considerable traffic and transfer to the start of the trek at the small town of Huangyaguan, where you can freshen up and relax! Alternatively, when your arrival time makes it practical, you’ll then transfer into Beijing. Here you’ll enjoy a tour of Tianenman Square and the Forbidden City, the must-see sight of Beijing, before a night in the city. There will be a full trip briefing in the evening. Night city hotel / mountain hotel.

Drive approx. 2 hours

After a fairly leisurely start (or driving from Beijing), you’ll have our first experience walking on the Great Wall. After some steep step sections, which give you a good inkling of what lies ahead, you’ll walk predominantly downhill until you again reach Huangyaguan for the evening. Here the wall crosses the road that leads back to the accommodation. Night mountain hotel.

Trek approx. 3 – 4 hours

The day’s walk begins where you’ll have left the Wall yesterday, and you’ll head up the steep renovated steps towards what appears to be a sheer cliff face. This is where you’ll encounter ‘Heaven’s Ladder’, a steep climb of over 200 steps leading up the cliff face. There are fabulous views from the top, and once the group have had a short rest the path continues gradually on steep tracks through forest, up to the top of the ridge. Once again, you’ll join the old Wall, and follow it along the contours of the mountain until we clamber down into the valley below. You’ll bed down in the houses of a local village, a real cultural experience. Night will be spent in farmers’ houses.

Trek approx. 7 hours

Waving goodbye to our hospitable hosts, we’ll head up through the farming terraces immediately behind the village. The path is steep, and the terraces soon give way to rocky hillsides scattered with scrub. Eventually you’ll re-join the Wall, which is unrestored and crumbling so you’ll follow a path which takes you alongside it, with fabulous views along the ridgeline to the day’s highest point. You’ll then drop down the hillside and make your way on winding tracks through trees back into the valley, where farmers grow maize, and walnut and fruit trees. Back at the village, we walk along the village road to our waiting transport. Our drive through the mountains to Jinshanlin is very scenic. Night mountain hotel.

Trek approx. 4 – 5 hours; drive approx. 3-4 hours

A quick 20-minute hop in the bus takes us to our start point just outside the village of Gubeiko. You’ll walk through the village and farmland until our path takes us alongside an un-restored yet well-preserved section of the Wall. This part appears to be of almost brick-like construction and dates back to the Qing Dynasty – the last dynasty to rule over this vast land. You’ll follow a track down into the valley in order to skirt a Chinese military post and follow dirt paths through trees and undergrowth before rejoining the Wall. There are some steep sections, and we help each other out if need be. Stunning views of the Great Wall snaking along the hilltops keep us going whenever we find it tough! The final stretch to Jinshanlin is on restored Wall with lots of steps. A short walk through the village and small shops takes us to our simple accommodation. Night mountain hotel.

Trek approx. 7 – 8 hours

Starting where you left off yesterday, we’ll head up the carefully restored steps which take us into the mountains one final time. There are a few sections on older bricks and some dirt tracks, but for most of today you’ll walk on good flagstones. The scenery is superb with rolling purple hills fading into the distance, dotted with many watchtowers; classic ‘scales on a dragon’s back’ scenery. After time to soak up this breathtaking panorama, we’ll head down on small paths to meet our waiting transport which takes us to Old Badaling. Night mountain hotel.

Trek approx. 6 – 7 hours; drive approx. 2 hours

The final day of trekking takes you up onto Shixiaguan (Stone Gorge) Wall, at Ancient Badaling, a recently restored stretch of the Great Wall that rewards us with wonderful views of our surroundings and is only occasionally visited by other trekkers, so it makes for a very unique and historic finale to our trek! Once we have absorbed the opportunities to take finish photos and enjoyed looking back over the mountains at our huge achievements, we transfer by bus to Beijing, the nation’s capital and home to over 20 million people! This evening we have a great celebration to mark our achievements. Night hotel.

Trek approx. 3 – 4 hours, drive approx. 1.5 - 2 hours

You’ll enjoy time visiting Tianenman Square and the amazing Forbidden City, before free time to explore or shop. If you saw this on your arrival day, you are free to spend your time as you wish. Night hotel.

Return trip from Beijing to London.