Last Updated: May 23, 2023
When you think of China’s must see attractions, The Great Wall of China is usually the first you think of.
We have always been a little apprehensive about the big tourist sites when we travel as they’ve sometimes disappointed us over the years. But this one did not!
Although you see The Great Wall in pictures regularly, they really don’t do it justice. And once you are there in person it really takes your breath away.
It is hard to describe the magnitude The Great Wall of China stretched out before you. And the scenery surrounding it is just staggering.
Trying to contemplate how something so large had been constructed by millions of people over thousands of years gives you a real humbling feeling when you are on the Great Wall of China.
There are many ways of seeing The Great Wall and it can be a bit tricky to choose the right method to get the most out of it, particularly if you have children involved.
But it is definitely worth doing and was one of our favourite activities we did whilst on our Round-The-World Trip.
And our experience was an extremely rewarding one, so read on for our advice for Visiting the Great Wall of China with kids.
Best Base for the Great Wall of China with Kids
As the Great Wall of China stretches over 21,000 km, there are many places you can visit it from.
But Beijing is on of your best options and one of the most popular bases, as it has a lot of advantages: It’s easy to get to Beijing itself. The Great Wall is then only a couple of hours from Beijing. There are lots of options to get to the wall. And and you still have a many choices of sections of the wall once in Beijing to choose from.
Beijing is also just a great place to go. With so many sites like the Forbidden City amongst others it’s worth adding the capital of China to your Family China Itinerary even without The Great Wall.
The two main tourist areas of the Great Wall from Beijing are the Mutianyu and Badaling sections. They are the most restored, but also very popular so can be quite crowded. They are both about 1.5-2 hours drive from Beijing.
There are also other less visited sections reachable from Beijing such as Huanghuacheng and Juyongguan and the ‘wild‘ sections i.e. not restored, such as Jiankou.
Getting to the Great Wall of China from Beijing with Kids
Getting to the main tourist sections from Beijing is relatively easy and there are a few options. However these areas are still remote so plan your transport properly before you leave.
If you want to head to a section via public transport then the Badaling restored section of the Great Wall is the best served by public transport.
You can get there via high speed rail from Beijing North Railway Station, which goes straight to the entrance in abut twenty minutes.
You can also take the slower S2 train from Huangtudian Railway Station. This takes about 2 hours, but note this drops you off at a different station to the high speed rail and it takes about 20 minutes to walk from there to the entrance.
There are also tourist bus and express bus 877 that go to this section.
The express bus 916 goes to the Mutianyu, Jiankou and Huanghuacheng sections of the wall if you’re heading to any of these. Although you may have to walk part of the way once you get off the bus, depending on which section. Mutianyu also has a dedicated tourist bus, leaving in the morning an returning in the afternoon.
The buses can be quit restrictive though leaving Beijing between certain hours and returning at certain times so plan this well if you go this way.
If the public transport options seems a little tricky and overwhelming, you can take a taxi to your preferred section of the wall from downtown Beijing.
You’ll likely need to agree a price up front and most will require you to take a round trip so include waiting time. You’re looking at upwards of 600CNY ($85) for this, depending on the section you are heading to.
Your final and most convenient (although also most expensive) way is to join a tour. There are many options and tours for visiting the Great Wall from Beijing. Either privately or joining a group. You can sort most out in Beijing or online via the usual websites such as Viator.
We did a bit of digging and found a driver who offered shared and private tours by dropping us at the Jiankou section and collecting at the Mutianyu section (once we had hiked along The Great Wall).
You can find plenty of drivers who do this sort of service on Trip Advisor, so have a little look at then contact the drivers for details and rates.
Best Section of the Great Wall of China for Kids
Deciding the section you want to go to is important for your experience. If your don’t mind crowds too much and are happy seeing the restored section with easy logistics and accessibility with a tour, then Mutianyu is probably for you.
If you want to DIY your visit then then consider Badaling, as this has the most public transport options.
But if you want a more rustic experience with a challenging, but rewarding, hike then we would recommend doing the Jiankou to Mutianyu hike.
You then get a bit of both with hiking along the ‘wild’ section of The Great Wall before arriving at the ‘restored’ section.
We loved our experience of the Jiankou to Mutianyu hike. And this is where we’ll concentrate for the remainder of this post.
The Journey to the Great Wall of China with Kids
Once you have decided your mode of transport it’s time to prepare for your journey. Take plenty of snacks and drinks and sit back for what will likely be a lovely scenic journey.
The last 20 minutes of our drive were absolutely incredible. We wound through the mountains and witnessed an incredible array of reds, browns, oranges and yellows on the tress that were absolutely stunning in the Chinese autumn sun.
Most sections take in the region of 1.5 to 3 hours from Beijing.
It’s advisable to go early to make the most of your day and to avoid crowds if heading to the popular sections.
Depending on your itinerary you may be dropped straight at the entrance.
As we were doing the Jiankou section, we were dropped at the the village near the wall. Where our driver gave us a detailed briefing about what was to come…
Hiking Up To the Great Wall of China with Kids (Jiankou Section)
The first challenge is actually getting up to the wall.
This is achieved by doing a short, but quite steep, trek up a hill. It takes about an hour or so, but was actually really hard going for us as we seemed to be stuck in a wind trap and the autumn wind that day was a particularly bitter one and the kids were not amused.
We even contemplated tuning back at one point as were worried the wind would be even worse once at the top and exposed, but forced ourselves to carry thankfully as we reaped the rewards for pushing through.
Kids Quote: “I don’t like the wind, it’s stinging my face!”
Aden, Age 3
Once you finally got to the top of the hill you will see the wall for the first time towering above you, now getting onto it!
A makeshift ladder using sticks and rope has been created and so this is the only way onto the wall from here.
This posed a bit of a problem for us, due to Nadia having a slight phobia of ladders ever since painfully injuring her leg on one reverting her to crutches for a month. She really struggled to go through with it, but she managed to overcome her fears and get herself onto the wall, with myself and the kids close behind.
But the ladder is very sturdy and not too long, so for anyone without a ladder phobia, it should be relatively easy, even for children, to climb.
And once we got to the top we were blown away, not by the wind which completely disappeared once we were on the wall, but by the site we saw before us…
Hiking On the Great Wall of China with Kids (Jiankou to Mutianyu)
The struggle of the walk up was immediately forgotten once we stood up and looked across the landscape.
The Great Wall is a phenomenal structure winding through the mountains as far as the eye can see with a sense that it never ends.
And seeing it in this section is particularly rewarding due to the lack of people
We felt like we were the first to have discovered this incredible structure and had it all to ourselves!
And you will see why it is called the ‘wild’ Great Wall section.
Nature is trying to re-claim this part of the wall with trees and bushes growing through it with the stones of the path crumbling away.
As the name suggests, the wild element can make the hike a little treacherous at times.
But providing you take your time and keep an eye on your kids you shouldn’t run into any major problems. But usual rules apply, don’t stand to close to the edge as the rocks can crumble away and don’t lean on any rocks or walls as they may collapse without warning.
The terrain changes dramatically as you go. Some parts of the wall are still relatively well preserved and so you will just amble along as if walking on the street. Other sections are incredibly rocky and steep and there are even some sections so steep and loose that you ma have to slide on your bottoms to get up and down, like we did.
You will also potentially leave the wall at some points and walk through the surrounding wilderness before you get back on again. But the paths are all pretty well trampled and the routes obvious, so you shouldn’t get lost at any point and the wall isn’t exactly hard to find even if you do!
Depending on your families hiking abilities will determine how long it takes. For us, with a 3 year old in tow, it took us about 7 hours to hike the wild section (with many breaks).
Whilst not extreme, it is a very challenging hike with constant terrain and elevation changes and very steep sections and sometimes narrow paths. So keep this in mind.
Be extra careful with kids and keep them relatively close in the more challenging sections.
Once you have got to the end of the wild section (well done!) you will reach the restored Mutianyu tourist section.
This is where it can be a bit tricky if you want to get onto this section.
This part of the Wall is blocked off by umm, well, a wall!
Another makeshift aid has been constructed though, with a number of flat rocks placed on top of each other making a wobbly and quite high stepping platform. Again, a little tricky but definitely doable by adults and kids.
As we had reached this section of the wall quite late in the day it was actually reasonably quiet and not to overcrowded. So if you time it right and get there at the tail end of the day it should be less crowded when you arrive.
And it is really interesting to see the restored section in comparison to the wild section as it has a very different feel to it, although still magnificent.
Getting Down from the Great Wall of China with Kids (Mutianyu)
The Mutianyu section has three ways of descending; walking, cable-cars or toboggan!
Walking is an easy relaxed decent with many, but mild steps and the free option.
Or you can purchase single tickets at the top for the cable cars or toboggan.
We were too late for the toboggan and it did look fun, but does mean you can’t concentrate on the view as you head down.
We went down via the cable-cars which was a great way to end our day as the sun was setting and we looked back on the Great Wall feeling quite proud of our accomplishment.
An easy trek it is not, but well and truly worth it and highly recommended for any families wanting to walk one of the most famous sites in the world.