I searched lots of tour options, private taxi’s, didi and in the end I booked this tour. My hotel, Opposite House wasn’t on the list, which wasn’t a problem and Lisa confirmed straight away on booking. The day before the tour I received a mail confirming my pick-up time and my guide, Helen. Later that evening a received a message from my hotel reception from Helen, a kind message with her cell number. I was picked up on time, by Helen and taken to a private car – my group was small due to the cold weather and it was just two of us on the trip which was great. Helen explained the city as drove to Great Wall. I added on the cable car, and im SO glad I did!! Helen sorted tickets and showed us the meeting points/times and took us up to Tower 14. I trekked to Tower 20 but worth it. I then went back down to 10 and then back to 14 to take the cable car back down. I am so glad I added it, it allowed us more time on the wall. Helen was waiting for us in the café, tea and snacks before heading back to the driver, who was very professional and friendly. Helen was AMAZING! Super kind, friendly, knows the area so well and speaks English. I want her to do a tour for my work colleagues. For the price you pay, it is worth it. (we met others who had paid $76 dollars for the same trip). Do it. Booked it. See it.

Our driver and guide were good and courteous, and their English was good. Our tour group was small, got along, and was on time. Our guide got us to the front of the lines at Badaling. However, Badaling visit would have been better as the first leg of the tour because it was really crowded when we got up there at 2 p.m. The Ming Tomb and Great Wall were worth the trip, and I'm glad I went. However, the cost did not include the ticket for the funicular to get to up to Badaling--that was extra and we had to pay cash to the guide. Also the jade factory tour was little more than a high pressure sales pitch at a Chinese Government run operation, and a number of us chose to wait outside in the rain rather then be followed around in the store. The tea experience was interesting--I enjoyed this. While this was also a sales stop, the sales pressure was not as offensive as it was in the jade factory. The "typical" lunch was at 10:30 a.m., was served with forks and knives--no chopsticks in sight-- and we weren't allowed to take photographs in there. The food was so-so. So while I'm glad I went--the Great Wall was a bucket list destination-- if I were to do it again, I would probably take a different tour.

This tour is interesting as we got to see the major sites in Beijing... we had an early pick up as there are lots of places to see. We also got to experienced a nice foot massage. Our tour guide Mike is nice too.

We've booked this tour while in Beijing. We were picked up from hotel at 6:40 as agreed and then dropped off by 15:00 at same location, which was excellent. Our tour guide was Sabrina, a very nice lady. She provided all information about the Great Wall visit in English as well as kindly arranged the purchase of cable car as requested. The cable car is required if you are not fit for a really uphill to the Great Wall. It cost 120 Yuan return. The trip from Beijing to the Great Wall pass by gorgeous places along the journey. The only down side for this trip was the transport, which in spite its good condition (new can), it was in its full capacity with a driver plus 16 passengers. Too many people for van, they should had used a mini bus instead or had closed the group with one or two less people. We do highly recommend this trip.

The guide was good . The stop at the Jade factory was to long . Just to sell you some stuff. You need the 4 hours at the wall , crowds where big .

Friendly guide. We were a little pushed to buy the cable car ride up to the Great Wall. Apart from this, good service.

My friend and I booked this tour two days in advance and within minutes of making the booking through trip advisor, I received a phone call confirming what hotel we were staying at for us to be picked up. I received a text message from the tour guide, Yoyo, so I would have her contact info and to let us know an approximate pick up time on the night before. Yoyo spoke English very well and gave us a lot of information on the history of the Great Wall and how to be safe while also enjoying it. The pick up was super easy, I got a phone call from Yoyo when she was a couple minutes away and by the time we walked out the lobby doors, she was jumping off the bus to come grab us. It was a small bus and we were able to drive very close to the wall, only about a 10 minute walk from the cable car station. Yoyo also collected money for anyone that wanted cable car/toboggan tickets and went to the counter on our behalf to purchase it. We had plenty of time to see the wall and make our way back down and at the end we were dropped right back at our hotels. So incredibly worth the $18/person!