Chongqing and Zhangjiajie in seven days, privately

Why these seven days

Chongqing and Zhangjiajie sit two and a half hours apart by train and could not be less alike, which is the point of putting them together. The city gives you China at its most vertical and most alive at night; the park gives you the landscape that Avatar borrowed. Seven days is enough to do both properly without a single day that is only travel: the train leaves after breakfast and the afternoon is already in a cave on the far side.

• Hongya Cave after dark, the stilt-house complex on the Jialing River that is lit up every night, seen from the Qiansimen Bridge, and the monorail that runs straight through a residential building at Liziba station
• The Yangtze River cableway, a cabin across the river with the whole peninsula below, and the old lanes and stairways of a city built on a hillside
• Wulong’s Three Natural Bridges, three stone arches up to 200 metres high over a sinkhole gorge, reached by a lift down the cliff and walked from the bottom; Transformers: Age of Extinction was filmed here. Fairy Mountain, the high grassland next door, turns gold in November
• The Bailong Elevator and the Hallelujah pillar, a glass lift up 326 metres of cliff to the column that became the floating mountains of Avatar, and the long view from Tianzi Mountain
• The glass bridge, 430 metres across and 300 metres above the canyon floor, then down into the canyon itself and out by boat
• Tianmen Cave, an arch 131 metres high in a cliff face, with the summit walkways and their glass sections, done early on the last morning before the queues

Day by day

Day 1 · Arrive in Chongqing

Your driver meets you at Jiangbei airport or at any of the city’s railway stations (Chongqing East, West, North or Shapingba) and takes you to your hotel near Jiefangbei, the pedestrian heart of the city. In the evening the driver takes you to Hongya Cave for the night lights, with the view from the Qiansimen Bridge, and brings you back. There is no guide on day 1; your confirmation letter names three hotpot restaurants near the hotel and how to get to them. If your flight lands late, the Hongya Cave evening moves to day 2.

Day 2 · Chongqing, the mountain city

09:00 with your guide. Across the Yangtze by cableway, boarding at the south station (Shangxinjie) where the queue is shorter and before the tour-group rush of the afternoon, then up through Baixiangju, an old apartment block whose stairwells are the local way of looking at the river. Lunch in Shancheng Lane, the stepped alley along the cliff (your own, about ¥50–100). In the afternoon the Liziba viewing platform, where you wait for a monorail train to run through the building; the Eling Erchang factory, now cafés and studios; and Ciqikou, the old river port with its lanes of shops. The day ends at Hongya Cave and the Qiansimen Bridge as the lights come on, or at Jiefangbei and the Shibati stairs if you saw the lights on day 1. Back at the hotel by about 20:00. Expect about 5 km on foot; Chongqing has no flat streets.

Day 3 · Wulong: the Three Natural Bridges and Fairy Mountain

07:00 from the hotel for the 170 km drive south-east, about two and a half to three hours. At the Three Natural Bridges a shuttle takes you from the visitor centre to the rim and a lift down the cliff into the gorge; from there you walk the gorge floor under the three arches, past the Tang-style courtyard inn built for the film, and out the far end, about two and a half to three hours of walking with steps. Lunch in Fairy Mountain town, your own. Then Fairy Mountain itself, a high grassland with a small sightseeing train (included), for about two hours. You are back in Chongqing by about 19:30.

The Three Natural Bridges close at 16:30 from 1 September to 30 April (17:00 in summer), which is why the day starts early. The last kilometre out of the gorge is uphill; a shuttle for that stretch (¥15) runs on most days, but visitors in October 2026 report it suspended during road works, so allow for the climb. Lifts and shuttles queue on weekends and after public holidays; that is another reason to be at the gate at ten.

Day 4 · High-speed train to Zhangjiajie, then Yellow Dragon Cave

After breakfast your driver takes you to Chongqing East or Chongqing West station for a direct high-speed train to Zhangjiajie West, two to two and a half hours in second class (there are more than twenty a day; we send you the train number when the tickets are issued). Your Zhangjiajie guide meets you on the platform side of the station. After lunch, Yellow Dragon Cave: about two hours inside a limestone cave with a boat ride on its underground river, and it is the same in any weather. Then to your hotel in Wulingyuan town near the east gate of the park. Evening, optional: the Charming Xiangxi song-and-dance show in town, which we can book for you (zone B ¥198) if you tell us a day ahead.

Day 5 · The Forest Park from the top

08:00 from the hotel and in through the east gate (Wujiayu). A shuttle bus takes you to the Bailong Elevator, a glass lift up 326 metres of cliff in about a minute and a half, with the pillar forest opening out beside you. At the top are the Yuanjiajie walkways: Mihuntai, the Hallelujah pillar and the First Bridge Under Heaven, mostly level railed paths. When time and crowds allow, the guide adds Yangjiajie and its Natural Great Wall. On to Tianzi Mountain and its viewpoints over the whole landscape, then the cable car down and the Ten-Mile Gallery train out and back along the valley. Out of the park at about 16:30. Lunch is your own, from the snack stalls on Tianzi Mountain (about ¥30–60). On weekends and around public holidays the elevator queue can pass an hour in the afternoon, which is why the day starts with it.

Day 6 · Golden Whip Stream, then the glass bridge

08:00 to the south gate, the Forest Park gate, and the Oxygen Bar square. Golden Whip Stream is about 7.5 km of nearly level path along clear water between the pillars, two and a half to three hours; as this is a private tour, you can walk part of it and turn back. Shuttle out, lunch, then the Grand Canyon glass bridge, 430 metres across; after the bridge you go down into the canyon (many steps), walk about 3.5 km of boardwalk along the river and leave by boat, two and a half to three hours in all. Back in Wulingyuan by about 16:00.

Golden Whip Stream has a resident troop of macaques, and they are one of the pleasures of the walk as long as the rules are followed: food zipped away inside a bag, nothing carried loose in the hand, and no feeding. The canyon’s optional extras (zipline, slide, MR cinema) can be added on the spot; the queues for them often pass an hour.

Day 7 · Tianmen Mountain, then your train or flight

07:30 from the hotel for the 40 km to the cableway station in the city, then the free shuttle bus to the mountain gate for 08:00. The express cableway goes up to the mouth of Tianmen Cave, the escalator through the mountain takes you to the summit, and the summit walkways, including the glass sections hung over the drop, bring you round and back the same way: four to four and a half hours. Down by about 13:00, lunch your own, and your driver takes you to Zhangjiajie West station (about 15 minutes) or the airport (about 20 minutes). Book a train leaving at 15:00 or later, or a flight at 16:00 or later.

Since 13 October 2026 Tianmen Mountain’s main cableway has been closed for an upgrade and only this route, Line C, is running. Every visitor now uses the same express cableway: queues build after nine in the morning and the descent after 15:30 is the busiest, so this tour goes up at eight and comes down before the afternoon rush. The ticket price has not changed. Local guides expect the rebuild to take a year or more.

What is included, and what is not

Included

• Two English-speaking licensed guides: one in Chongqing for days 2 and 3, one in Zhangjiajie for days 4 to 7
• Your own car and driver throughout: airport or station pick-up and the first evening in Chongqing, the city day, the Wulong day and the transfer to the station; the station pick-up in Zhangjiajie, days 4 to 7, and the drop-off at the station or airport (an SUV for two, a 7-seat van for three to five, a 9–14-seat van for six)
• Six nights in four-star-standard hotels, twin rooms with breakfast: three near Jiefangbei in Chongqing, three in Wulingyuan town near the park’s east gate, international brands where available
• Second-class seats on the high-speed train from Chongqing to Zhangjiajie West
• Every ticket: the Yangtze River cableway; the Three Natural Bridges and Fairy Mountain, with the park shuttles, the cliff lift and the Fairy Mountain train; Yellow Dragon Cave with its boat; the Forest Park four-day ticket and shuttle buses; the Bailong Elevator up and the Tianzi cable car down; the Ten-Mile Gallery train; Tianmen Mountain Line C (express cableway, escalator, summit walkways); the Grand Canyon glass bridge, canyon walk and boat
• PICC (People’s Insurance Company of China) travel accident insurance, accidental death or disability cover up to CNY 1,000,000, reduced for travellers over 70

Not included

• International flights, and your travel to Chongqing and away from Zhangjiajie
• Lunches and dinners: you choose and pay, about ¥50–100 a meal in Chongqing and ¥30–60 in the park; the guides take you to places to eat
• Tianmen Cave escalator (¥32) and glass-walkway shoe covers (¥5), paid at the gate if you want them; the shuttle for the last kilometre at the Three Natural Bridges (¥15)
• Fast-lane tickets for the Bailong Elevator and the Tianzi cable car, ¥100 each. We can buy them in advance; the park suspends them from time to time
• Shows and cruises, bookable through us: the Charming Xiangxi show in Wulingyuan (zone B ¥198), the Two Rivers night cruise in Chongqing (¥138), the Sichuan opera face-changing show at Huguang Guild Hall (¥170)
• Optional activities at the Grand Canyon (zipline, slide, MR cinema), paid on the spot
• Single-room supplement: about US$630 for the six nights
• Personal travel insurance covering medical costs, cancellation and baggage, which we recommend you buy at home

Price and rules

• Prices are in US dollars; if you pay in Chinese yuan, the amount is converted at the rate on the day of payment. Two people is the minimum.
• Travellers aged 12 and over pay the same price. For children under 12, write to us: they do not pay for the guides or the car, only for their tickets and bed, and we quote the difference.
• Tell us the ages of everyone in your party when you book. Travellers aged 65 and over are entitled to reduced or free entry at the Forest Park, Tianmen Mountain and the Grand Canyon, and tickets have to be issued correctly against passports.
• Any departure date, except 1–7 October (China’s National Day week) and the week around Chinese New Year (6 February 2027), when hotel prices double and the park is at its busiest.
• A 20% deposit by card-payment link (3% card fee) or Alipay confirms the booking; the balance is due 14 days before departure, when the train tickets go on sale and we pay the hotels.

Cancellation

• 30 days or more before departure: full refund.
• Between 30 and 7 days before departure: half the price refunded.
• Less than 7 days before departure: no refund.

How to book

Email [email protected] with the date you want to start, how many people, the names exactly as they appear on your passports (park tickets are issued by name), your flight or train into Chongqing, whether you leave Zhangjiajie by train or by air, and whether anyone wants a single room. We reply with a day-by-day confirmation and a payment link. After the deposit we book the hotels; the train tickets are issued the day they go on sale, fifteen days before travel, and we send you the train number.

Who it suits

An ordinary level of fitness is enough. The Three Natural Bridges are walked from the bottom with steps on the way out; Yuanjiajie and Tianzi Mountain are mostly level walkways with stairs between viewpoints; Golden Whip Stream is long but flat and can be shortened; the descent into the Grand Canyon has many steps; and Chongqing itself is a city of stairs and slopes. If anyone is unwell, both guides know the nearest clinics and hospitals, can call them for you and can translate. Guides on this tour have done first-aid training. A Mandarin-speaking guide can be arranged on request.

Weather and changes

Rain is not bad news here: the hour after it stops is when cloud fills the valleys and the pillars appear to float, which is the photograph everyone wants. The Forest Park opens in rain and Yellow Dragon Cave is the same in any weather. Cable cars and the elevator pause in thunderstorms, high wind and dense fog; when that happens the guide switches the day round at no extra cost. Tianmen Mountain currently runs on Line C only. Wulong is at its best in the autumn colours of November; from December to February there can be snow on Fairy Mountain, which stays open.

Ticket prices and opening arrangements last checked October 2026. They change; the tour price does not.