Forbidden City Beijing Cheap Last Minute Ticket Hack
TL;DR
How to Get Cheap Last Minute Tickets for the Forbidden City Beijing.
Normally, you can only buy tickets for the Forbidden City or Palace Museum in Beijing 7 days in advance – and they sell out fast.
If you’re like us and are not quite organised enough to buy your tickets in advance, here’s how you can get last-minute tickets on the same day.
- How to Buy Tickets for the Forbidden City in Advance
- How to Buy Tickets for the Forbidden City on the Same Day
How to Buy Tickets for the Forbidden City in Advance
There are 3 ways to buy tickets for the Forbidden City:
1. The Official Website
Buying tickets on the official website of the Palace Museum is the easiest way for foreigners to access the Forbidden City.
They go on sale 7 days in advance and sell out almost immediately so you have to be more organised than us to get them.
Tickets cost 60 RMB.
2. The WeChat Mini Program
A WeChat mini-program is a super common way to buy entrance tickets for attractions in China.
They have two downsides for foreigners:
- You have to have WeChat.
- The program is only in Chinese.
Even if you manage to navigate the Chinese mini program, you can only buy tickets 7 days in advance and they sell out days in advance here, too.
3. Travel Agencies Offering English Service
While you should technically only buy tickets for yourself, some agencies offer ticketing services for the Forbidden City in English.
Regular tickets cost 60 RMB and tickets from an agency cost around 75 RMB so the additional cost is not excessive.
Note that you also have to contact the agency a couple of days in advance (preferably more than seven) to give them enough time to book your tickets when they go on sale.
How to Buy Tickets for the Forbidden City on the Same Day
As you have probably realised with all the options we have mentioned above, you can buy tickets 7 days in advance. However, you can not purchase them on the day of your visit!
If you check online, there is one obvious solution for this problem: Booking a guided tour.
Beware that you still have to buy your own ticket on the day of your visit if you book a guided tour:
“[…] As mentioned in the tour (the tickets are included), however, the entrance ticket needs to be purchased individually since the passport needs to be presented.[…]” Marc
Which brings us to the secret of acquiring cheap last-minute tickets to the Forbidden City:
Forbidden City Beijing Cheap Last Minute Ticket Hack
This almost sounds too easy and we’re not quite sure why nobody online mentions this but the Forbidden City Beijing cheap last-minute ticket hack is:
Just go there and stand in line!
Yes, you heard right, you can just go to the ticket office of the Palace Museum southwest of the Meridian Gate, stand in line, and buy your tickets!
When you reach the counter. you have to fill out a form. Afterwards, you can buy your ticket. We could easily pay with cash.
As tickets are limited to 40,000 tickets per day, we cannot guarantee that this will work for you but it did work for us.
Forbidden City Guide
After buying the ticket, you pass through security and can choose to get
- An audio guide (40 RMB).
- A guide (300 RMB for up to 5 people).
Forbidden City Alternative
You have to be prepared to stand in line for quite a while to get same-day tickets to the Forbidden City. It took around one hour for us. If you really can’t be bothered to do that or you don’t manage to get tickets, you can head to Jingshan Park. From here, you can admire the views across the Forbidden City but it’s not the quite same.
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