Originally Posted by
Flamenguista
Myself and the wife will be breaking up the long journey to Cambodia by stopping in Beijing, where we will take advantage of the 72 hour TWOV. We don't want to rush and see tons of things, but given the small amount of time, I want to plan this intelligently. The only "musts" for us are The Great Wall at Mutianyu, The Forbidden City, and food. We will be there during xmas time in winter.
Monday - Arrive at 17:55 - Eat Dinner and Sleep
Tuesday - ???
Wednesday - ??? - Depart for Siem Reap at 18:45
My big doubt is when to hire the driver? I read earlier in the thread where someone recommended to combine the GW with the flight departure to take advantage of the driver. But will this allow proper time to get to Mutianyu, enjoy the GW without rushing, and get back to the airport with proper time (2-3 hours early) for a 18:45 departure? And further complicating this is the weather in December. So should we give the wall its own day and maybe use the driver to combine it with something else on the way if we have time? Or should we combine the Wall with our departure flight? Thanks.
Usable daylight hours in late December are around 08:00-16:00.
Tuesday Plan: Forbidden City, followed by Houhai/Shichahai hutong exploration. Duck dinner. Do this on your own, by taxi/subway/foot.
Wednesday Plan: Hire the driver for full day service hotel door to airport door. Have breakfast and check out of hotel around 08:00. Temple of Heaven 08:30-10:30 (assuming you are in a central hotel not one on the north/northeast side). Drive to Mutianyu arrive around 12:00. Have lunch first in Mutianyu village. Up on Wall 13:00-15:00. That is about all you can likely stand in winter, especially if the wind is up--it's quite cold and exposed. Depart by 15:30, to airport 16:30. I presume you are taking the Air China nonstop to REP. This is more than enough time before an 18:45 flight departure.