How to Get to Badaling Great Wall: By Train, Bus and Taxi 2023

As the first section of great walls that began to open to the public, Badaling Great Wall, dated back to the Ming dynasty, is the earliest developed and the most famous and representative one both in China and abroad. Situated in the northwest suburban area of Beijing, it is about 75km away from the city center. Tourists can get there by car, train, and bus, with the duration around 2 hours.

Location: Badaling,Yanqing District, Beijing 北京市延庆区八达岭

Distance: 14 km from Juyongguan Great Wall; 44 km from Ding Tomb; 67 km from Bird's Nest; 66km from Summer Palace; 99km from Mutianyu Great Wall; 75 km from Tiananmen Square; 76km from the Temple of Heaven

Travel to Badaling Great Wall with China Discovery - Recommended

Though there are direct buses and trains to Badaling Great Wall, it is extremely busy during holidays and weekend, since a lot of people swarm there due to its great fame, and choosing the public transportation may be super crowded and challenging for the old and the children. China Discovery offers private car service for every customer visiting Beijing. Our skilled driver and experienced guide will pick you up wherever you are in Beijing including the airport, train stations, and busy scenic areas, etc. It's time-saving and much more safe and you will be escorted all the way to Badaling Great Wall with comfortable travelling experience and professional travelling guidance.>Contact Us Now

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Badaling Location Map Badaling Location Map
(click to enlarge)
Badaling Transportation Map Badaling Transportation Map
(click to enlarge)

Train to Badaling Great Wall

From Beijing downtown to Badaling, the most economical and fastest way is to take a train. You can take Train S2. The S2 train is a group of scenic trains named with S2, including S202, S203, S204, S205, etc. It is called “the train bounding for the spring”. Compared with the normal train, the window of the S2 train is in a larger size. In spring, you can enjoy the beautiful cherry blossoms near the Badaling Mountains; In autumn, there are flaming red leaves, as well as many historical relics and memorials along the railway.

Because S2 train belongs to short-distance sightseeing train, it can not be booked online. The departure schedule of the train is often adjusted according to the season and the need for passengers. Therefore, there is not any fixed timetable. The authorized timetable is updated and announced each day by the railway station. During the peak season, the running time of the S2 train to Badaling ranges from 6:20AM to 22:30pm, and for the off season it runs from 7:20am to 9:20pm; the train schedules from Badaling to Beijing downtown are the similar.

You can use Beijing Bus Card to get on the train or buy tickets at the train station and the ticket fare is around RMB 6. Passengers with Beijing bus card can go directly and swipe their cards to enter the station but they should make sure the balance of their card is more than RMB 18, otherwise they can not get on the train. Departure Station in downtown Beijing is called Huangtudian Station (黄土店站), and it takes only about 50 minutes to 1.5 hours to get to Badaling.

Since the train does not use the check-in seating, and there is no certain seat number on the ticket and the train, if taking the S2 train during the holidays (especially the Spring Festival, Tomb Sweeping Festival, and weekends), you are advised to queue up at the railway station at least two hours in advance to buy tickets, for one train can only carry about 400 passengers. If the tickets are sold out and you do not have a bus card, you will be unable to get on the train. In order to get a seat on the bus, you will see the passengers rushing into the train.

Huangtududian Station Pinyin: Huangtudian Zhan 黄土店站

Location: Huangtudian, Huilongguan Town, Changpin District, Beijing北京市昌平区回龙观镇黄土店站

How to Get to Huangtudian Station

Located in the north of Beijing, Huangtudian station is 24km away from the city center and accessible by metro. You can take the Metro Line 8 or Line 13 and get off at Exit G4 of Huoying Station (霍营), then walk around 110 meters to the east, and you will see the Huangtudian Station Ticket Office.

S2 Train VS Bus

● Taking a sightseeing train is a worthwhile experience itself. The scenery you can see by bus is not that good as train’s.

● The S2 train station (Huangtudian Zhan 黄土店站) is far from the urban area, which is not very convenient for tourists who come to Beijing for the first time; and the bus station is much more convenient.

● You need to be aware of the crowds during holidays and weekends on the train.

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S2 Train in Spring S2 Train in Spring
S2 Train Facility Inside S2 Train Facility Inside
Houying to Huangtudian Sign Houying to Huangtudian Sign
Badaling Railway Station Badaling Railway Station

Bus to Badaling Great Wall

Since you can not book the S2 trains online, you can also take a bus to Badaling Great Wall, which includes Tourist Bus departing from Qianmen (前门), and normal city bus from Deshengmen (德胜门). Either by tourist bus or bus 877, you are recommended to get to the departing station as early as you can in case of the terrible traffic jam on your way to Badaling.

Tourist Bus to Badaling

Tourist bus is much more comfortable, comparing with the normal bus, and it will not stop until getting to Badaling parking lot. Since the departing station - Qianmen Tourist Station (北京旅游集散中心前门站) is quite near to Tiananmen Square, the earliest bus will leave right after the Flag - raising Ceremony there at dawn. (Scheduled Duration: 100min; Departure Interval: every 30min)

Bus Arrival at Badaling7 Bus Arrival at Badaling

● Qianmen Station Location: 1 West Rd, Qianmen, Dongcheng District, Beijing 北京市东城区前门西大街一号

● Departure Schedules from Qianmen: Flag-raising ceremony to 11am

● Departure Schedules from Badaling: 9:00am-17:00pm (Peak Season: April 1st to Oct 31st ); 11:00am-16:30pm (Off Season: Nov 1st to March 31st)

Bus 877 to Badaling

The most common bus used by the Beijingers to Badaling is Bus 877. Please notice Bus 919 that used to serve the Badaling Route has been canceled, and the only city bus available to Badaling is Bus 877. It starts at Deshengmen Station (德胜门) and arrives at Badaling Great Wall at the last stop. The bus to Badaling departures in every 30min by 12am, and the bus heading back to beijing downtown start to leave at Badaling front Mount Parking lot from 12am. If there is no traffic jam, the whole duration will be about 2.5 hours.

Tourist Bus VS Bus 877

● Beijing Tourist Bus arrives at the back Mountain of Badaling where you can take the cable car directly, while bus 877 gets to the front mountain, and you need to walk around 20 minutes to the cableway station after getting off the bus. Since the tourist bus started to operate from 2017, it has not got know by so many people, comparing with Bus 877.

● If you want to save your time to Badaling Great Wall and visit Tianmen Square by watching its flag-raising ceremony, you can take the tourist Bus near the Tiananmen. Namely, from Qianmen to Badaling Great Wall or Juyongguan Great Wall. It will not waste your time.

● In terms of travel comfortableness, the tourist bus is much better.

Taxi to Badaling Great Wall

If you want to grab a taxi to Badaling Great Wall from Beijing downtown or the airport, the official price is around RMB 200, but most of the drivers will not want to take you there for the distance is so far and he may encounter traffic jam when crossing to city center, unless you can take a round-trip with him or pay more. You may need to negotiate with the driver for the final deal, and the price will be around RMB 600.

Beijing Bus 877 Beijing Bus 877
Badaling Great Wall Entrance Badaling Great Wall Entrance

Useful Links:

>>How to get to Mutianyu Great Wall | >>How to get to Jinshanling Great Wall | >>How to get to Jiankou Great Wall

>>How to get to Huanghuacheng Great Wall | >>How to get to Simatai Great Wall

How to Plan a Great Wall Hiking Tour

Besides Badaling Great Wall, there are many other great walls offering you the same marvellous views, including the nearby Juyongguan Great Wall, Mutianyu Great Wall and Simatai Great Wall. You can hike and explore either the wild or the well-preserved sections of Great Walls and commemorate the man-made wonder of the ancient Chinese people. China Discovery offers you tailor-made tour service, and you can fully experience all the famous great walls in 2 days. If you have more time, it's also recommended to explore other attractions in Beijing, such as the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, and More!

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S2 Train in Spring S2 Train and Badaling Great Wall in Autumn

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