Forbidden City (Palace Museum)
Beijing, China
故宫博物院 (Gùgōng)
The Ming and Qing emperors' palace in the heart of Beijing, and how to get in.
Checked 6 October 2026
The Forbidden City was the palace of 24 Ming and Qing emperors and is now the Palace Museum: a walled city of halls, courtyards and gardens that you walk through from the Meridian Gate in the south to the Gate of Divine Prowess in the north. The museum sells no tickets on the day: every ticket is booked online, in your passport's name, and goes on sale at 20:00 Beijing time seven days before your visit, so set an alarm.
About Forbidden City (Palace Museum)
The Forbidden City was built for the Yongle Emperor and completed in 1420, when he moved the Ming capital to Beijing. For almost five hundred years it was the home and court of 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties, closed to anyone without business there. Behind a 10-metre wall and a 52-metre-wide moat, it measures 961 metres from north to south and 753 metres from east to west.
Its layout is a statement of power. Ceremonial halls line the central axis of the city: the Outer Court, with its three great halls on marble terraces, was where emperors were enthroned and received the court. Behind it lies the Inner Court, with the emperor's and empress's palaces, the six eastern and six western palaces of the consorts, and the Imperial Garden. Yellow-glazed roofs, red walls and the rows of guardian beasts on the ridges all signal rank.
The last emperor, Puyi, abdicated in 1912 but was allowed to stay in the Inner Court until 1924. The Palace Museum opened in 1925 and today holds more than 1.5 million objects, from bronzes and porcelain to clocks, paintings and imperial seals. Many halls are still furnished as they were when the court lived there.
It is huge, and most of it is more interesting than the crowded central axis suggests. The side palaces, the Treasure Gallery in the north-east and the restored Hall of Mental Cultivation, which reopened in December 2025 after almost ten years of work, are where you get a sense of how the court actually lived.
What to see
Meridian Gate and the Hall of Supreme Harmony
You enter through the Meridian Gate (Wumen), cross the inner Golden Water Bridges and reach the vast courtyard below the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the largest hall in the palace and the setting for enthronements. The Gate of Supreme Harmony in front of it has been closed for repair work since 3 August 2026, with no reopening date announced, so you can't walk through it.
The three halls and three palaces of the central axis
Behind the Hall of Supreme Harmony come the Halls of Central and Preserving Harmony, then the Inner Court: the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Union and the Palace of Earthly Tranquillity. Most interiors are furnished as they were and are seen through the doorways, so the crowd builds in front of each one. Go early or come back late in the day.
Hall of Mental Cultivation
The emperors' living quarters and working office from the Yongzheng Emperor onwards, west of the central axis. It reopened on 26 December 2025 after nearly ten years of restoration, with 1,020 objects on display, including the tiny Three Rarities Studio of the Qianlong Emperor and the east chamber where Empress Dowager Cixi ruled 'from behind the curtain'. It is included in the main ticket.
Treasure Gallery (Palace of Tranquil Longevity)
A separate CN¥10 ticket opens the north-east quarter built for the Qianlong Emperor's retirement: the Nine Dragon Screen, gold, jade and jewellery in the Treasure Gallery, the Gallery of Qing Imperial Opera with its three-storey stage, the Stone Drum Gallery and the Zhenfei Well. It is quieter than the central axis. Last entry is 16:10 (April–October) or 15:40 (November–March).
Gallery of Clocks
The Hall for Ancestral Worship (Fengxiandian), east of the central axis, holds the court's collection of mechanical clocks and automata, many made in Europe as gifts. It needs its own CN¥10 ticket, booked together with your entry ticket.
The Six Western Palaces
The courtyards where imperial consorts lived, including the Palace of Gathered Elegance (Chuxiu Gong) and the Palace of Earthly Honour (Yikun Gong), several with their original furniture. They are a few minutes off the central axis and far less crowded. On the eastern side, the Palace of Prolonging Happiness (Yanxi Gong) is closed from 1 September to 31 October 2026 for conservation survey work and is due to reopen on 1 November 2026.
Imperial Garden
The formal garden at the north end of the palace, with rockeries, ancient cypresses, pavilions and the Hill of Accumulated Elegance. It is the last stop before the Gate of Divine Prowess exit, so leave time for it.
Forbidden City (Palace Museum) tickets: which to buy and where
Book the CN¥60 (April–October) or CN¥40 (November–March) ticket on the Palace Museum's own site or its WeChat mini-program, and add the Treasure Gallery (CN¥10) in the same booking. The rule that catches people out: there are no tickets on the day. Sales open at 20:00 Beijing time seven days ahead, each ticket is tied to the passport number you enter, and you choose a morning or afternoon session.
The official ticket site
The Palace Museum (故宫博物院)
The official English booking site is bookingticket.dpm.org.cn, linked from the museum's English site intl.dpm.org.cn; in China, the same booking runs in the '故宫博物院' (Palace Museum) WeChat mini-program. Every official site ends in dpm.org.cn. You sign in with an email address, pay by international credit card, WeChat Pay or Alipay, and receive no QR code: your passport is the ticket.
Palace Museum entry ticket (official)
CN¥60 (1 April–31 October); CN¥40 (1 November–31 March)
(€8 · €5)
Official ticketsSkips some lines
- Includes
- Entry for one day in a morning session (check in by 12:00) or an afternoon session (check-in from 11:00). Real-name: one ticket per passport per day. You still queue at the security and passport check at the Meridian Gate, which nobody skips.
- Best for
- Everyone who can book at 20:00 seven days ahead
Official site · as of October 2026See this ticket → (opens in a new tab)Treasure Gallery and Gallery of Clocks (official add-ons)
CN¥10 each
(€1)
Official ticketsSkips some lines
- Includes
- Treasure Gallery: the Palace of Tranquil Longevity area, with the Nine Dragon Screen, the Opera and Stone Drum galleries. Gallery of Clocks: the Hall for Ancestral Worship. Booked with the main ticket, on the same 7-day release.
- Best for
- Anyone with more than two hours; the Treasure Gallery especially
Official site · as of October 2026See this ticket → (opens in a new tab)Forbidden City ticket (Klook)
US$12.80 ticket only; US$11.69 with an English electronic guide, afternoon session (promotional price)
ResellerSkips some lines
- Includes
- Klook books the real-name ticket with your passport details. Confirmation can take 24–48 hours. Dates more than 7 days ahead are 'pre-sale': if the date sells out when the official sale opens, the order is cancelled and refunded.
- Best for
- People who can't use the official site or want to queue a booking early
Klook · as of October 2026See this ticket → (opens in a new tab)Forbidden City ticket booking service (Beijing tour supplier on Viator)
From €26.33 with a Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City group tour; €32.69 Forbidden City tour only (prices for 8 October 2026)
ResellerSkips some lines
- Includes
- The supplier books your ticket with your passport name and number (it asks for bookings at least eight days ahead) and adds a guided tour; a Treasure Gallery upgrade is offered. Tour ends at Jingshan Front Street.
- Best for
- Booking more than a week out, with a guide
Viator · as of October 2026See this ticket → (opens in a new tab)
How to buy
- Work out your date: the museum is closed on Mondays (except public holidays). Tickets for a given day go on sale at 20:00 Beijing time seven days before. For a Saturday visit, that is 20:00 on the previous Saturday.
- Before the sale, open bookingticket.dpm.org.cn (the 'Book Tickets' link on intl.dpm.org.cn), switch it to English, sign in with your email address and the verification code it sends, and get your passport ready. In China, you can use the '故宫博物院' WeChat mini-program instead.
- At 20:00, choose the date and the morning or afternoon session, enter each visitor's name and passport number exactly as printed, add the Treasure Gallery or Gallery of Clocks if you want them, and pay by international card, WeChat Pay or Alipay.
- If the date shows as sold out, check again later that evening and over the following days: unpaid orders and cancellations come back. Free cancellation runs until midnight the day before your visit.
- On the day, go to the Meridian Gate (the only entrance) with the original passport you booked with. There is no ticket or QR code to show: staff scan your passport, helped by face recognition.
Look-alike sites
The museum states that it authorises no third-party agent for its tickets: the official channels are the booking site on bookingticket.dpm.org.cn (linked from intl.dpm.org.cn and www.dpm.org.cn) and the '故宫博物院' WeChat mini-program. Sites with 'Forbidden City tickets' or 'Palace Museum' in their name that sell at a mark-up are agencies, not the museum. Platforms such as Klook, Viator and GetYourGuide are agencies too: they book the same real-name ticket for you, in the same 7-day window. A seller who doesn't ask for your passport number can't have booked you in.
We can never guarantee a ticket seller, tour company or deal. Prices, opening hours and what is included change, often without notice: check the details on the seller’s own page before you pay, and book through the official site where you can. How to avoid ticket scams · Disclaimer.
Guided tours of Forbidden City (Palace Museum)
The central axis is easy to follow alone, but without a guide or an audio guide the halls are just impressive buildings. An English audio guide from the Meridian Gate is enough for most people (the last published price, from 2023, was CN¥40 with a CN¥100 deposit; the museum gives no current price). A guided tour is worth it if you can't get tickets yourself (agencies book the ticket as part of the tour), if you want the stories behind the side palaces, or if you have only two hours and want the essentials in order.
Small-group or private guided tour with ticket
Forbidden City Tour (Group/Private), Tickets Included
Discover Beijing Tours (via GetYourGuide)A Beijing company with several options: a 2-hour group tour from the Meridian Gate (8:30, 10:30, 12:30 or 14:00), a 3-hour Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City tour from Lao She Teahouse (7:30, 9:30 or 11:30), and private tours from your hotel. Guides use Bluetooth earpieces. Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
from €14 (ticket-only option); guided options cost more
See this tour → (opens in a new tab)Private guided tour (1–5 people)
Official guided tour in English
The Palace Museum
Prices from the museum's list dated November 2024. The museum's own guides, bookable at the guide service by the Meridian Gate (tel. +86 10 8500 7427). Bluetooth headsets are free; gallery tickets aren't included. Its cheaper walk-in group tours (CN¥50–70) are in Chinese.
CN¥600 for 1 hour (central axis); CN¥1,200 for 2 hours with the Treasure Gallery; CN¥120–300 per extra person over five
(€80 · €160 · €16–40)
See this tour → (opens in a new tab)Group guided tour with ticket
Beijing Forbidden City Guided Tour
CivitatisEnglish-speaking guide, headphones and the Treasure Gallery included. Needs at least 10 people to run. Book more than a week ahead: for later bookings, the listing warns that the ticket isn't pre-booked.
from €34.49
See this tour → (opens in a new tab)Join-in group tour, Chinese and English
Entrance ticket + Jingshan Park half-day tour (afternoon, bilingual guide)
Klook (local partner)Afternoon session with a guide speaking Chinese and English, ending with the climb to the Jingshan viewpoint. Non-refundable, with confirmation within 48 hours.
US$25.95 (promotional)
See this tour → (opens in a new tab)
We can never guarantee a ticket seller, tour company or deal. Prices, opening hours and what is included change, often without notice: check the details on the seller’s own page before you pay, and book through the official site where you can. How to avoid ticket scams · Disclaimer.
Forbidden City (Palace Museum) deals and discounts
The official ticket is the best buy: CN¥60 in summer, CN¥40 in winter, plus CN¥10 for the Treasure Gallery. Platforms charge a mark-up for booking it for you; that is worth paying only if you can't book in the 7-day window yourself. The only real saving is visiting between November and March.
Off-season price, November to March
From 1 November to 31 March the ticket costs CN¥40 instead of CN¥60, and the palace is far quieter. The galleries stay at CN¥10. Hours are shorter: last entry 15:30.
Half price at 60 and over
Visitors aged 60 and over pay half price (CN¥30 in summer, CN¥20 in winter; CN¥5 for each gallery) on showing their original ID. The rules don't limit this to Chinese citizens, and a foreign visitor reported getting it in 2024, but it is not confirmed that the English booking site offers it for a foreign passport: check before you count on it.
Student ticket CN¥20
Students over 18 studying up to bachelor's level pay CN¥20 all year (CN¥5 per gallery), on showing a student card at the gate. Free entry for under-18s applies only to Chinese citizens (including residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and foreign permanent residents), so foreign children need a ticket; forum reports disagree on whether they can have the student rate.
Free for disabled visitors
Disabled visitors enter free with their own disability certificate, but must still book; an accompanying person pays. The rules don't say whether foreign certificates are accepted.
Women's Day, Children's Day and occasional free days
Women pay half price on 8 March, and on 1 June one parent accompanying a child under 14 does. The museum also opens free on occasional anniversaries, announced a few days ahead (such as Monday 27 July 2026), with bookings through the WeChat mini-program only.
Jingshan Park for CN¥2
The best view over the palace roofs costs CN¥2 (CN¥10 during the spring flower show). Buy it at the gate (cash, WeChat, Alipay or a foreign card) or online with your passport up to 7 days ahead.
Best time to visit Forbidden City (Palace Museum)
Time of day: the morning session lets you in from 8:30, and the hours from 10:00 to 13:00 are the busiest. Arrive at opening and go straight up the central axis before the groups catch up, or book the afternoon session (check-in from 11:00) and arrive around 14:00, when many groups have left. Allow for last entry at 16:00 (15:30 in winter).
Season: April–May and September–October have the best weather but the peak price. November–March costs CN¥40, is quieter, and snow on the golden roofs is a sight in itself, but it is cold and closes at 16:30. July and August are hot and crowded with school holidays.
Avoid Chinese public holidays: National Day Golden Week (1–7 October 2026), the May Day holiday in early May and the summer holidays, when tickets can go within minutes of release. The museum is closed on Mondays, but it opens on Mondays that fall in public holidays.
Tips and tricks
Gathered from travel forums, locals and the sight’s own advice, rewritten in our own words. What worked for others, not a guarantee.
Be online at 19:55 on release day
Tickets for each date are released at 20:00 Beijing time, seven days before. Sign in to the booking site before then with your passport details at hand. In busy periods they can go in minutes, but cancellations and unpaid orders reappear later the same evening, so keep checking.
From Palace Museum booking notice, 2026; travel guides, 2026
Book the same passport you will carry
Your passport is your ticket: there is no QR code, and staff check the original at the Meridian Gate, helped by face recognition. Dual nationals should book with the passport they will carry that day. Each passport can hold one ticket per day.
From TripAdvisor Beijing forum, 2025; Palace Museum booking notice, 2026
Come without a bag
Visitors report that the security line for people without bags moves faster. Suitcases, wheeled carts, tripods, selfie sticks and stabilisers are banned. Bags can be left free of charge at the Meridian Gate and collected at the Gate of Divine Prowess exit, 8:30–18:00.
From TripAdvisor Beijing forum, 2025; Palace Museum visitor rules, 2023; Klook, 2026
Take the Treasure Gallery route north
Instead of walking straight up the central axis with everyone else, turn east after the Palace of Earthly Tranquillity into the Treasure Gallery (CN¥10), past the Nine Dragon Screen and through the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, and rejoin at the Imperial Garden. It is markedly calmer.
From Palace Museum suggested routes, 2026; Wander in China, 2026
Don't miss the Hall of Mental Cultivation
Closed for almost ten years, it reopened in December 2025 and is included in the main ticket. It is west of the Palace of Heavenly Purity, off the main axis, so many visitors walk straight past.
From Xinhua, December 2025
You can only go one way
Entry is from the Meridian Gate in the south only; the route runs north, and you leave by the Gate of Divine Prowess (north) or the Donghua Gate (east). Plan your onward trip from the north side: Jingshan Park is across the road.
From Palace Museum visitor rules, 2026
Climb Jingshan straight after
From the north exit, cross the road to Jingshan Park (CN¥2) and climb to the Wanchun Pavilion for the classic view down the length of the palace. Late afternoon light is best, and the park stays open until 21:00 in summer.
From Beijing municipal government park pages, 2024–2025
Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay before you go
Link a Visa or Mastercard to Alipay or WeChat Pay before the trip. The official booking site also takes international cards, but cafés, shops and buses around the palace mostly expect mobile payment.
From Beijing municipal government payment guide, 2024; Palace Museum booking site, 2026
Check whether you need a visa
Ordinary passport holders from more than 40 countries, including most of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, plus the UK and Canada (since 17 February 2026), can stay in China visa-free for up to 30 days. For the main list the scheme runs until 31 December 2026; it has been extended before, but check. US citizens are not on that list but can use the 240-hour visa-free transit with an onward ticket to a third country. Check the latest rules before you fly.
From Chinese consulate notice, November 2025; AP, February 2026; National Immigration Administration, August 2026
How to get to Forbidden City (Palace Museum)
- Metro: Line 1 to Tiananmen East (Tian'anmen Dong) or Tiananmen West (Tian'anmen Xi). Follow the signs for the Palace Museum (故宫), not Tiananmen Square, through the passport and security check, then walk north through Tiananmen Gate and the Duanmen courtyard to the Meridian Gate. It is roughly 1 km; allow extra time for the security and passport checks on the way. The passage through Duanmen is open 8:00–16:00, Tuesday to Sunday.
- Alternative approach: you can also reach the Meridian Gate on foot along the moat roads from the Donghua Gate (east, about 800 m from Wangfujing) or the Xihua Gate (west). There is no entry from the north or east: those gates are exits only.
- Bus: lines 1, 2, 52, 82 and 120 and the Sightseeing Lines 1 and 2 stop at Tiananmen East; lines 1, 5 and 52 at Tiananmen West. From the north exit, lines 101, 103, 109 and 124 stop at Shenwumen and Jingshan East Gate.
- Car or taxi: the museum has no car park and the nearest public one, on Jingshan Houjie, is small. Taxis and ride-hailing can't stop on Chang'an Avenue in front of Tiananmen, so use the metro.
Scams and problems to watch for
Tea house and 'practise my English' invitations
Friendly strangers around Tiananmen, Wangfujing and the palace start a conversation and invite you to a tea tasting or a bar, and the place then demands a very large bill; the UK Foreign Office warns this can be followed by threats or card fraud. A variant is 'art students' who take you to their 'exhibition' to sell prints at high prices. The tell-tale sign: a stranger who approaches you and suggests going somewhere else. Say no and keep walking.
Touts selling tickets or 'skip-the-line' entry
People around the Meridian Gate and Tiananmen, some showing guide cards, offer tickets or quick entry for a premium. The museum says it authorises no third-party agents and warns against buying from roaming sellers. Every ticket is real-name: a ticket booked under someone else's passport won't get you in; only one booked with your own passport number works.
Look-alike booking sites
Sites with 'Forbidden City' or 'Palace Museum' in their name sell the CN¥60 ticket at a mark-up, or take your money before the 7-day release without being able to guarantee a ticket. The official booking site is on dpm.org.cn; anything else is an agency. A real booking always asks for each visitor's passport number.
Accessibility
Wheelchairs and pushchairs are allowed in (only luggage and wheeled carts are banned), and the official service map marks step-free routes, accessible toilets and pushchair rental. The central axis has ramps around the main terraces, but much of the palace is old stone paving, and many side courtyards have high wooden thresholds and steps. Allow plenty of time: the walk from Tiananmen to the north exit alone is well over a kilometre. Disabled visitors enter free with their own disability certificate (an accompanying person pays), but must still book; the rules don't say whether foreign certificates are accepted, so ask the ticket service line (+86 400 950 1925, 8:00–20:00) before you travel. Getting there by wheelchair-accessible taxi needs booking well in advance, and visitors report needing help in Chinese to arrange it.
Combine it with
Jingshan Park
The artificial hill directly north of the palace, once known as Coal Hill. Climb to the Wanchun Pavilion for the classic view over the golden roofs; CN¥2, open until 21:00 in summer.
Tiananmen Square and the National Museum of China
The square lies south of Tiananmen Gate. Entry is free but needs an online reservation (passport, 1–7 days ahead) through the 'Tian'anmen Square Visit Reservation' mini-program; the flag-raising and flag-lowering ceremonies have their own slots.
Beihai Park
An imperial lake garden with the White Dagoba, a short walk west of Jingshan. A calm place to end the day, with boats on the lake in summer.
Temple of Heaven
The Ming emperors' altar complex in south Beijing, with the round Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. It works well on a separate morning, when locals do tai chi and dance in the park.
Great Wall of China
On SightsaleA full-day trip north of the city, to Mutianyu or Badaling. Don't try to fit it into the same day as the palace: do it the day before or after.
Questions people ask about visiting Forbidden City (Palace Museum)
How do I buy Forbidden City tickets as a foreigner?
Book on the Palace Museum's official site, bookingticket.dpm.org.cn (linked from intl.dpm.org.cn), with your email address and passport number, or in the '故宫博物院' WeChat mini-program. Pay by international card, WeChat Pay or Alipay. Tickets cost CN¥60 from April to October and CN¥40 from November to March (2026), and your passport is the ticket.
How far in advance should I book Forbidden City tickets?
Tickets for each day go on sale at 20:00 Beijing time exactly seven days before, and you can't book earlier on the official site. For holidays and summer dates, book at 20:00 sharp, as they can sell out within minutes; at quiet times there are often tickets a few days ahead. Agencies such as Viator and Klook take 'pre-sale' bookings earlier but can't guarantee them.
Can I buy Forbidden City tickets at the gate?
Officially, no: the museum doesn't sell tickets on the day of your visit, and every visitor must book in advance with an ID. Some visitors reported buying at a window on the day in 2024, but the museum's 2026 rules say no same-day sales, so don't plan on it.
Is the Forbidden City open on Mondays?
No, it is closed every Monday, except Mondays that fall in Chinese public holidays. It is open 8:30–17:00 from April to October (last entry 16:00) and 8:30–16:30 from November to March (last entry 15:30).
How long do you need in the Forbidden City?
Two hours for a quick walk up the central axis, 3–4 hours if you add the Treasure Gallery, the Hall of Mental Cultivation and the Western Palaces, and a full day to see the galleries properly. Add an hour for Jingshan Park afterwards.
Is a Forbidden City guided tour worth it?
It is if you can't get tickets yourself, since agencies book the ticket as part of the tour, or if you want the stories behind the halls. Otherwise an audio guide is enough, and the central axis is easy to follow. The museum's own English guides cost CN¥600 for one hour for up to five people (price list dated November 2024).
Do I need my passport to visit the Forbidden City?
Yes. Tickets are booked and checked by passport number, and you must show the original passport you booked with at the Meridian Gate; photos and copies are not accepted. Carry it for the Tiananmen checkpoints on the way in as well.
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Before you go
The things that apply at every big sight: booking ahead, what skip-the-line really means, and the scams that follow tourists everywhere.