How to Get to Badaling Great Wall: By Train, Bus and Taxi 2024

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. Every year numerous vistors com to visit Badaling Great Wall to admire its historical walls, fortresses, towers, etc., along with its gorgeous scenery.

Badaling vs Mutianyu

Many travelers wonder whether to visit Badaling or Mutianyu. Here are some info for you to make a comparison.
• Badaling is the most visited and commercialized Great Wall section, while Mutianyu boasts diverse scenery for high vegetation cover;
• Mutianyu consistently ranks China's No.1 Sight on TripAdvisor and is less crowded. Badaling is always crowded especially in Apr. - Oct.;
• The length of Badaling is 2.3 miles, while Mutianyu's is 3.4 miles which will offer you a more authentic hiking experience.

In a nutshell, if you want to visit less-crowded section of the Great Wall, we highly suugest that you choose Mutianyu which also has more length, steeper steps and more winding paths as well a higher altitude for visitors to take a gorgeous view.
⨠ Check detailed Comparison between Badaling Great Wall and Mutianyu Great Wall to decide one to visit.

Top Recommended Beijing Tour with Mutianyu Great Wall:

4 Days Classic Beijing Tour Package (Leisure Paced)

Itinerary: Beijing
Highlights: Forbidden City, Mutianyu Great Wall, Summer Palace, Local Family Visit

Badaling Great Wall Location

Badaling Great Wall is located in Yanqing District, Beijing municipality, China (北京延庆区) about 75km northweat of the Beijing downtown. It's 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. Tourists can get there by car, train, and bus, with the duration around 2 hours.

Badaling Location Map
(click to enlarge)

Badaling Transportation Map
(click to enlarge)

Travel to Badaling Great Wall with China Discovery - Top 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

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 no 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.

Our Customers in Badaling Great Wall

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 Chinese public 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.

Departure 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.

5 Days Beijing In-depth Exploration Tour of History and Hidden Treasures

Itinerary: Beijing
Highlights: Forbidden City, Great Wall, National Museum of China, Lama Temple, Confucious Temple

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.

Bus to Badaling Great Wall

Since you can not book the S2 trains online, you can also take a bus to Badaling Great Wall. 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. The tourist buses depart from stations including Xuanwumen Railway Station (宣武门地铁站), Chongwenmen Railway Station (崇文门地铁站), Hepingmen Railway Station (和平门地铁站), National Museum of China Station (国家图书馆站), and National Art Museum of China (中国美术馆) and arrives at Guntiangou Parking lot (滚天沟停车场), which is 200m away from cableway station and 500m away from the hiking gate. It's about 1.5 hours trip by the tourist bus and will give you less than 3 to 4 hours to visit the Great Wall, since you'll need to go back ahead of time to the paking lot and go for the fixed stops.

4 Days Classic Beijing Tour with Jinshanling Great Wall Hiking

Itinerary: Beijing
Highlights: Great Wall Section(s): Jinshanling

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.

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

3 Days Beijing Essential Highlights Tour

Itinerary: Beijing
Highlights: Forbidden City, Jingshan Park, Mutianyu Great Wall, Hutong, Bird's Nest, Water Cube

How to Plan a Beijing 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!

☛ 4 Days Classic Beijing Tour Package

☛ 4 Days Beijing Highlights Tour with Gubeikou to Jinshanling Great Wall Hiking

☛ 6 Days Classic Beijing Tour with In-depth Great Wall Experience

Our Customers Visiting Tiananmen Square

As the most popular transportation hub in China, you can easily travel from Beijing to any other hot travel destinations in China by flight or train, such as Xian, Shanghai, Yangtze River, Guilin, Chengdu, Tibet and other popular destinations in China by flight or train... China Discovery has designed many great China tour packages from Beijing for you. Please make your choice from our collections or let us customize one for you.

☛ 5 Days Beijing Xian Highlights Tour by High Speed Train

☛ 6 Days Classic Beijing Xian High-speed Train Tour

☛ 12 Days Wonders of China Tour (Beijing, Xian, Guilin, Zhangjiajie & Shanghai)

Our Delighted Guests in Zhangjiajie