Vacation In China :Great Wall Review

I highly recommend visiting Mutianyu. We went in winter and it was snowing. The views are stunning and the climb provides excellent views. My sister has also visited Badaling and said Mutianyu was far better to visit because Badaling is overcrowded with tourists and has lost its authenticity due to reconstruction of the wall to make it easy for tourists to climb.

At Mutianyu, we only shared the wall with a handful of tourists. We considered visiting Simatai or Jinshanling but we were told Simatai's steps are far steeper and harder of climb (not great if you're afraid of heights) and Jinshanling is much further away.

In terms of how to organise, we did it through our hotel (Park Plaza Beijing Wangfujing) at a cost of 420RMB per person. It included transport in a car with a driver, an English-speaking guide and lunch.