Luoyang Trip Planner - How to Design Luoyang Itinerary

Longmen Grottoes, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site located in the suburb of Luoyang City, is a must-see if you visit Henan. The construction of Longmen Grottoes started in AD 493 of Northern Wei Dynasty and it took more than 400 years to complete the grottoes. There are over 2,000 caves scattered in the side cliffs of Western Hill and Eastern Hill on two banks of Yi River. Visiting Longmen Grottoes allows you to take an extraordinary insight to the imperial history and Buddhist culture.

Planning Ideas: 1) It usually takes half a day to explore Longmen Grottoes and it is worthwhile to spend most time in Western Hill where most highlights of Longmen Grottoes locate. 2) Since Longmen Grottoes just 5 km (about 15 minutes' drive) away from Longmen Railway Station (high speed railway station of Luoyang), it is convenient to travel Longmen Grottoes directly if you get to Luoyang by high speed train. 3) If the weather permits, it is a good idea to take a several minutes' boat trip from Western Hill to Eastern Hill, which gives you a different sight of Longmen Grottoes.

In fact, Shaolin Temple is located in Dengfeng City, not Luoyang. However, it is a can't-be-missed site because Luoyang is a great gateway city to Shaolin Temple and it needs only 1.5 hours' drive to travel between them. Shaolin Temple is famous for Zen Buddhism and Shaolin Kung Fu. In this temple, there are various Buddhist halls and architectures, and Forest Pagoda - the existing largest pagoda forest in China, is a must. Of course, the best memorable thing is that you will have a wonderful Kung Fu exploration.

Planning Ideas: 1) There are around 5 stunning Kung Fu shows performed by real monks of Shaolin Temple every day. It is exciting to spend 30 minutes watching it. 2) If you are a Kung Fu enthusiast, it is strongly recommended to take a short-period or long-period Kung Fu training class. 3) For those travelers who are interested in nature or trekking, just spend half a day doing an excursion on Mount Song.

White Horse Temple is China's first Buddhist temple built in AD 68 of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Till now, it has a long history of more than 1,900 years. It is said that White Horse Temple was named in the memory of the white horses that carried lots of sutras and Buddha statues to China. Now the whole temple is divided into three parts - the Main Temple (original White Horse Temple), Qiyun Pagoda and International Zone. Qiyun Pagoda is an old pagoda with peaceful garden while International Zone houses Thailand Temple, India Temple and Myanmar Temple. Each temple has its own featured style.

Planning Ideas: 1) White Horse Temple is located between Shaolin Temple and Luoyang City. It is a good idea to take a visit of White Horse Temple on your way from Shaolin Temple to Luoyang. 2) It is not convenient to get to White Horse Temple from Shaolin Temple by public transportation, using a travel agency with private transfer is recommended.

Apart from three biggest highlights listed above, there are many other attractions in Luoyang to help you explore in-depth Luoyang culture or kill your time. Luoyang Museum and Tianzi Jialiu Museum are two wonderful museums which tell the history and legend of this old capital city in details. Guanlin Temple is a memorial temple to commemorate the great General Guan Yu of the State of Shu during the Three Kingdoms Period. If you are Three Kingdoms fan, don't miss it. It is available to appreciate the mighty Yellow River in Luoyang. Visiting Xiaolang Scenic Area in rainy seasons, you may see the magnificent scene of flood-discharging. In addition, there are a lot of parks and gardens to visit during Luoyang Peony Festival when over 10 gardens are covered with colorful peony flowers.

Luoyang has a continental humid subtropical climate with four featured seasons, namely droughty spring, hot summer, mild autumn and cold winter. The average temperature of a whole year is around 15°C, with the highest temperature of 33°C in July and lowest temperature of -5°C in January. Because most highlights of Luoyang are cultural attractions, it is available to visit Luoyang all the year around. If you want to visit on the most comfortable days, April ~ October is recommended, especially April, May, September and October when the climate is most mild.

Luoyang Peony Festival (early April ~ early May) is always the peak travel period, because thousands of various peony flowers can be appreciated. No matter when you visit Luoyang during the festival, you can easily find a garden with peonies at its full-bloom stage.

▶ Learn more about: Luoyang Weather & Dressing Tips

As you get to Luoyang, you may want to know how to travel to nearby destinations or attractions. Luoyang is not equipped with metro at present, so you can take bus, call a taxi or charter a car to travel around.

Longmen Grottoes is just located 5 km away from Longmen Railway Station, and it is available to travel Longmen Grottoes after you reach Luoyang by high speed train. You can also get there from Luoyang City by bus, taxi or private car. Traveling from Luoyang City to Shaolin Temple, it is most recommended to charter a car because the public transportation is quite time-consuming. For travelers who want to travel Yuntai Mountain and Guoliang Village, using a car is also the best way for a more convenient travel.

Useful Links: How to Get to Longmen Grottoes> | Travel from Luoyang to Shaolin Temple

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Though the accommodation condition of the hotels of Luoyang cannot be compared with those in Beijing or Shanghai, you get a lot of hotels for your choice as well. It offers a range of accommodation in Luoyang, from luxury 5-star hotels to budget business hotels and hostels.

Most travelers choose to accommodate in the city area where there more hotels and most of them offer quick access to restaurants, shopping malls and bus stations. Recommended hotels include 5-star Hyatt Place Luoyang and Friendship Guesthouse as well as 4-star Peony Hotel and Jing'an Peony Plaza. You can also accommodate near Longmen Grottoes and White Horse Temple, but the accommodation is always in very basic condition. Read more about Where to Stay in Luoyang>

In order to have a perfect tour to Luoyang, you can choose to travel with a professional travel agency like China Discovery. We master the most up-dated travel information and are specialized in offering travelers incredible Henan experience. Before your trip, our travel consultants will communicate with you one to one and make an itinerary according to your own travel length, interest and budget. As your itinerary is settled, we will book hotel, flight or trains for you. During your trip, our local travel guide will deal with all details for you and you just need to focus on sightseeing.

For more about private tour with China Discovery, you could contact us to tailor-make the best tour you want.

Luoyang and nearby Shaolin Temple are very popular with our customers. Since 2012, we have helped thousands of customers visited the region successfully. With our fully-inclusive private tour packages, all of our customers enjoyed their trips to magnificent Longmen Grottoes, legendary Shaolin Temple, educational Luoyang Museum, beautiful Yuntain Mountain, etc. Some of them even had the rare opportunities to take part in the grand International Peony Festival in Luoyang. Many customers suggest visit Luoyang with Beijing, Xian, Pingyao and Shandong in northern China to explore authentic Chinese culture. Below are some inspiring travel stories:

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