If your party is greater than 2 people, hiring a car pencils. For 2 or less people, outfits like Beijing Hikers (I hate plugging them repeatedly because I feel they are overpriced) are worthy of consideration; they go to places that are far more interesting than Mutianyu, and don't play gift shop games.

I'm going to Beijing in June and want to visit the Great Wall. I would like to take train, bus or something from Beijing to a nice spot at the wall and walk for a whole day, and then get back preferably by train or bus at the evening. I'm young and healthy and can walk long distances. I would like to walk on a part of the wall that isn't full with tourist, but a place where I could find a restaurant for lunch/dinner during the day not to far away from the wall. Any suggestions?

Maybe Huanghua?

Is it possible to take the train/bus to a part of Huanghua and walk one direction and then take the train/back? Or do you have to walk a distance and then back again?

There is lots of great hiking to do around Huanghua that isn't actually on the Great Wall itself. As far as transportation is concerned, I've met people up there who have availed of mini-buses, but they've always ended up taking a taxi back into town because apparently the mini bus drill is both annoying and time consuming. I suggest you gather a few friends and hire a car. In addition to saving time, this would allow you to do a routing with different start and end points, as you desire (beijinghikers has more than enough maps/info on its website to pull this off).

Thanks for the info, I'll definetly check it out! Not sure yet how many people we will be, but I guess taxis are pretty cheap anyways.

Can I get opinions please on the best part of the GW to visit with a 17 year old girl, quite fit, a sixty something lady, not sure on fitness and me, a 40 something, not very fit?

Have got a guide & driver arranged to go middle of Feb - I know it will be very cold but this is when they visit. None of us have been to the GW before, due to the coldness we're expecting, my thinking is that a couple of hours will be enough for this trip - we have visitors again late March so happy to spend a bit longer then. I've done a bit of research but am I right in thinking that both Badaling & Mutianyu have a cable car thing, I hate them, 17 year old will be fine, sixty something hates them - is there any way of avoiding one?

Hope this isn't too garbled a question - any advice greatly appreciated.

I suggest you check out the Beijing Hikers site and focus on ~2 degree of difficulty hikes. Like I've mentioned previously, they document everything you could possible need to know to go on your own. Based on your requirements, I think Huanghua might be a bit too ambitious, especially if the conditions are icy.

Today we went to Mutian Yu section and really loved it. We hired a driver and guide - if anyone wants a recommendation, please feel free to PM me.

We only spent about 90 minutes there as it was very cold, although it got warmer the further up we went. Some very steep steps to be climbed but so worth it for the views. I did struggle a bit but I'm pretty unfit, my 17 year old managed everything easily. I won't be taking my parents there next month when they visit as they have both had knee replacements & they just won't manage it all.

Would highly recommend this part, yes, it's a bit touristy and there are hawkers selling mostly tat in my view, but great experience & I will go back with hubby who couldn't come today.

Is there another operator like beijinghikers? Want to visit a non-refurbish section like Simatai with a friend (i visited it two years ago, when it was open) but have a fixed day to go and beijinghikers dont offer a suitable tour that day.

I've chanced upon several clones during the past year, but can't recall any names off hand. There is also a group on bjstuff.com that is based on hiking; they basically assemble groups of 3 and hire cars to go to random great wall sections. You could always post a new thread there.

Can somebody recommend a good way to get to Mutian Yu or Si Ma Ti for an English speaker who doesn't speak any Mandarin? I know that the public bus goes to Mutian Yu, but my understanding is that it is hard to get on the right bus or buy a ticket without speaking Mandarin, and that people typically scam tourists into getting off before the actual stop and then make them take expensive taxis to get to the site. I guess same problem with Si Ma Ti.

I saw Jiejie's links earlier in this thread for the backpackers. As I'm not staying in the hostel, not sure if those would work for me as I'm not sure if that hostel is near a subway stop. Thanks in advance for the help!

I thought Simatai was still closed, no? You might want to check out the "hiking around Beijing" group on bjstuff. Anyone can plan or join a trip on there, though most have been to Mutianyu countless times before, and therefore seek out places that are further off the beaten path.

Hotel concierge should be able to get you a driver. If you're AA Exp I can't imagine you're a struggling student. It's worth the money to rent a car. I did it in '05 - sure (like everything in China) it's a lot more expensive. But it's a once in a lifetime event, don't think just do it.

The fact that he's inquiring about public transit options suggests to me that he's not particularly interested in using a hotel car.