The Forbidden City Beijing: How to Book, Enter and Walk It
The ticket is the hard part, not the palace. How to book the Forbidden City in Beijing, what it costs, when it closes and last entry, plus a gate-by-gate walking route with timings.
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A golden-roofed hall inside the Forbidden City, Beijing.
To visit the Forbidden City Beijing, you need a real-name reservation made in advance: the museum sells no tickets on the day, and the ticket works only on the date you booked. Book with your passport a week ahead, then plan 3–4 hours inside: in at Meridian Gate, north along the central axis, out through Shenwumen.
Key facts
Ticket: CNY 60 in peak season, CNY 40 in low season. Real-name, passport for foreign visitors. No same-day sales.
Booking opens: 20:00, seven days before your visit.
Open: Tuesday to Sunday. Closed Monday except statutory or national holidays; irregular closures possible.
Last entry: 16:00 from 1 April to 31 October (the Beijing government listing says 16:10, so plan for 16:00); 15:30 from 1 November to 31 March.
Cancel free: until 24:00 the day before. Three misses in 180 days mean a 60-day booking ban.
Route: Meridian Gate in, Shenwumen or Donghuamen out. Allow 3–4 hours for the central axis (editorial estimate).
Before you book: what to settle first
Settle the date first, because the ticket, not the palace, is the hard part of this visit.
According to the Palace Museum's visitor rules (Chinese-language notices), there are no same-day sales, everyone needs a real-name reservation, and the ticket is valid only on the visit day.
The palace is open Tuesday to Sunday and closed on Monday except on statutory or national holidays. It can also close irregularly, so check the museum's notice before you build a Beijing itinerary around one day.
Booking opens only seven days ahead, so a Monday closure can collide with a fixed trip. If your dates are already set, an itinerary validator will catch that clash before you commit to flights.
Scale explains the time. The Palace Museum's English site gives the complex as 961 m by 753 m, covering 720,000 m², with 10 m walls and a 52 m moat. That is a long walk on stone, gate after gate.
Book through the museum's official channels, with a passport, a week ahead.
Where to book
Use the 'Palace Museum' WeChat mini program or the museum's official ticketing site. The museum states that it authorizes no third-party agents.
When booking opens
Booking opens at 20:00, seven days before the visit, per the museum's booking rules. Pick your date a week ahead and set a reminder for that evening, because the slot you want may not last.
What you need
Foreign visitors book and check in with a passport. The Chinese-language rules say one ID can hold one ticket per visit day, so each person in your group books under their own passport. The English pages do not state this as plainly, so treat the Chinese rule as the one that governs.
Passport check-in is the part we can confirm. Our sources do not detail security screening or bag rules on the day. Read the museum's visitor rules when you book, and travel light.
If the mini program is hard to use
The official ticketing site is the alternative to the WeChat mini program. The English booking notice is machine-translated, so check anything ambiguous against the Chinese original.
Agents and resellers
The museum names no authorized agents. Anyone selling entry on the street or through a tour desk sits outside its stated system.
Tickets, hours and booking rules at a glance
Admission is CNY 60 in peak season and CNY 40 in low season, per the Palace Museum's English site, and the palace opens Tuesday to Sunday.
The date ranges we hold (1 Apr–31 Oct and 1 Nov–31 Mar) apply to opening hours. Do not assume the price seasons match them; the ticket page shows which price applies to your date.
Item
Detail
Source
Open days
Tuesday to Sunday; closed Monday except statutory or national holidays; irregular closures possible
The two sources disagree by ten minutes on peak-season last entry, 16:00 versus 16:10. Arrive well before 16:00 and the difference never matters.
Concessions, free-entry categories and audio guide prices are not covered in our sources, so we state none. Check the ticket page for your date.
Slots, last entry and the two paid galleries
Take a morning slot if you want the whole central axis without watching the clock; that is editorial opinion, not an official recommendation.
The booking notice describes morning and afternoon slots. Morning check-in closes at 12:00 and afternoon check-in opens at 11:00, so the two windows overlap by an hour. Confirm your own window on the booking confirmation.
The route below needs three hours or more. A late-afternoon start leaves little margin before the 16:00 last entry in peak season, or 15:30 in winter.
The Treasure Gallery and the Gallery of Clocks are separately ticketed at CNY 10 each. Budget 1–2 hours for both on top of the main visit. That figure is editorial advice, not an official standard.
Cancellations and missed slots
Cancellation is free until 24:00 on the day before your visit, and anything later counts as a missed appointment, according to the museum's booking rules.
Three missed appointments within 180 days bring a 60-day booking ban, per the same rules. It is the one rule that penalizes casual rebooking, so cancel in time if plans shift.
Forbidden City entry and exit: Meridian Gate to Shenwumen
Enter at Meridian Gate, the main visitor entrance, and leave by Shenwumen or Donghuamen.
Visitors pass through an archway toward a historic building in Beijing; the exact gate is not identified.
Meridian Gate (Wumen) is where visitors enter. We call it the main entrance because our sources name it as the entry point without ruling out other gates. You approach it from the south, passing through Tiananmen, the Gate of Heavenly Peace.
We have not verified subway stations or exits, so we do not name them; check a current transit map for your hotel.
You leave by Shenwumen (the Gate of Divine Prowess) at the north end, or by Donghuamen (the Eastern Prosperity Gate). Shenwumen is the natural exit for this route because it faces Jingshan Park.
Tiananmen Square is a separate question. The museum's ticket covers the Palace Museum only, and our sources do not say whether the square needs its own booking, so check that separately if you plan to cross it on the way to the gate.
A walking route and how long it takes
Allow 3–4 hours to walk the central axis from Meridian Gate to Shenwumen.
The Hall of Supreme Harmony and its stone balustrades, the anchor of the central axis.
This is an editorial route, not an official one, and every time below is a rough estimate of walking and looking. It follows the axis north: ceremonial halls first, living quarters next, garden last.
Stage
Time (editorial estimate)
What to see
1. Meridian Gate to the Gate of Supreme Harmony
About 20 minutes
The courtyard, the Inner Golden Water River and its marble bridges
2. The three front halls
About 60–75 minutes
Halls of Supreme Harmony, Central Harmony and Preservation of Harmony; the carved marble ramp
3. The Inner Court
About 45–60 minutes
Palace of Heavenly Purity, Hall of Union, Palace of Earthly Tranquility
4. Imperial Garden and Shenwumen
About 30 minutes
Old cypresses, pavilions, a rockery; exit at the north end
The stages add up to roughly 2.5–3 hours of steady walking. The 3–4 hour allowance covers pauses, photographs and the wait to get through gates.
1. Meridian Gate and the Gate of Supreme Harmony
Pass through Meridian Gate and the Gate of Supreme Harmony stands ahead, across a courtyard where a curved channel, the Inner Golden Water River, is crossed by marble bridges. Look at the scale of the courtyard before the halls start to compete for attention.
2. The three front halls
The Gate of Supreme Harmony opens onto the great paved court and the Hall of Supreme Harmony, raised on a tiered marble terrace. It is the largest of the three halls and the one most associated with enthronements and major state ceremonies. Spend your time on the terrace and the roof lines.
Behind it, the Hall of Central Harmony is smaller and square. It served as a place to pause before ceremonies. Beyond it, the Hall of Preservation of Harmony was used for banquets and examinations. Behind that hall, look for the long carved marble ramp that descends toward the Inner Court.
3. The Inner Court
The scale drops at the Gate of Heavenly Purity. The Inner Court holds the living quarters: the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Union and the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, set in a tighter grid of courtyards.
The two paid galleries lie off this axis, in the eastern palaces. Our sources do not confirm their exact locations, so check the museum map you are given before you detour for the CNY 10 tickets.
4. The Imperial Garden and Shenwumen
The Imperial Garden is the last stop on the axis: old cypresses, pavilions and a rockery in a compact space, after hours of paved courtyards. Exit through Shenwumen at the north end.
After the exit: Jingshan Park
Cross the road from Shenwumen to Jingshan Park (Prospect Hill). The climb gives a view back over the palace roofs, the one place to read the axis you have just walked from above. We have no sourced walking time from the gate to the park or a verified ticket price for it, so fit it in only if your slot leaves daylight and check the park's own notice.
If your Beijing days hinge on a fixed entry slot, an AI trip planner can sequence the walk, the park and meals around it. For more city guides, see the Fortrip blog.
Forbidden City tour: guided or self-guided
A guided and a self-guided visit differ in pace and context, not in entry rules.
Entry: both still require a real-name passport booking.
Pace: a group sets it for you. Self-guided, you set it.
Context: a guide supplies the history as you walk. Self-guided, you bring it with you, so read the route above and the UNESCO listing beforehand.
Audio guide availability and prices are not covered in our sources, so confirm them with the museum. The museum authorizes no third-party agents. Before paying a tour operator, ask what is included and whether your entry ticket is booked under your own passport.
Quick answers
Can I buy a ticket on the day?
No. Reserve a week ahead, from 20:00, with your passport.
Is the Forbidden City closed on Mondays?
Yes, except on statutory or national holidays, and irregular closures are possible.
What is the last entry?
The Palace Museum gives 16:00 from 1 April to 31 October and 15:30 from 1 November to 31 March. The Beijing government listing gives 16:10 for the peak season, so plan to arrive well before 16:00.
How long should I allow?
3–4 hours for the axis, plus 1–2 for the galleries. Both are editorial estimates.
Where do I enter and exit?
In at Meridian Gate, the main visitor entrance; out at Shenwumen or Donghuamen.
What if I cancel or miss my slot?
Cancelling is free until 24:00 the day before. After that it counts toward the three-miss, 60-day ban.
Is the 3–4 hour walk enough for the whole palace?
It covers the central axis only. The side palaces and the paid galleries need extra time.
About this guide and sources
This is an editorial desk guide, not a first-hand report. Figures come from official Palace Museum and Beijing government pages as excerpted in our research, with no dated full-page read, so we give no verification date and link to the site roots rather than specific notice pages. Confirm hours, prices and rules on the booking page for your date. We have no first-hand queue or crowd observations, and we have not invented any.
No. Reserve a week ahead, from 20:00, with your passport.
Is the Forbidden City closed on Mondays?+
Yes, except on statutory or national holidays, and irregular closures are possible.
What is the last entry?+
The Palace Museum gives 16:00 from 1 April to 31 October and 15:30 from 1 November to 31 March. The Beijing government listing gives 16:10 for the peak season, so plan to arrive well before 16:00.
How long should I allow?+
3–4 hours for the central axis, plus 1–2 for the two paid galleries. Both are editorial estimates.
Where do I enter and exit?+
In at Meridian Gate, the main visitor entrance; out at Shenwumen or Donghuamen.
What if I cancel or miss my slot?+
Cancelling is free until 24:00 the day before. After that it counts toward the three-miss, 60-day booking ban.
Is the 3–4 hour walk enough for the whole palace?+
It covers the central axis only. The side palaces and the paid galleries need extra time.
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