2 Days In-depth Exploration of Zhangjiajie National Park

► This is a guided tour by eco-friendly public transport. If you need a private car, feel free to contact our travel consultants to arrange it for you.

Zhangjiajie (Wulingyuan) Scenic Area is so large that it would take 5 days or even a week to make a thorough visit. Of course, an ordinary tourist won't spend that much time. We have a perfect route worked out by our professional tour experts, allowing you to explore Zhangjiajie in depth in just two days and visit the most essential scenic spots, including Tianzi Mountain, Yuanjiajie, Golden Whip Stream, Yangjiajie, and Ten-mile Gallery.

In the morning, our guide will pick you up from your own-booked hotel in Wulingyuan Town. We’ll take a taxi directly to the entrance of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. Our guide, who is familiar with the hiking trails and corners of the park, will take you efficiently through the main sights of the core scenic area without missing a single one.

► Time Plan: 8:00 – 18:00
► Duration: 8 to 10 hours, including one hour lunch break
► Route:
Wulingyuan Wujiayu Ticket Office (Entry) → shuttle bus (20 minutes) → lower station of Bailong Elevator (30 minutes up including the waiting time) → upper station of Bailong Elevator → shuttle bus (10 minutes) → Yuanjiajie (1.5 hours for sightseeing) → Yuanjiajie Tianqiao Station → shuttle bus (30 minutes) →  Tianzi Mountain Station → He Long Park (1 hour for sightseeing) → Tianzi Pavilion → Wolong Mountain (100-120 minutes to go downhill) → Monkey Park (15 minutes for sightseeing) → Ten-mile Gallery (30 minutes for sightseeing) → Ten-mile Gallery parking lot → shuttle bus (15 minutes) → Wulingyuan Wujiayu Ticket Office (Exit)
► Tips:
1. Hours of the Shuttle Bus: 7:00 – 19:00
2. Bailong Elevator links Golden Whip Stream at the foot of the mountain to Yuanjiajie at the top. It reduces a 3-hour hike to a 2-minute lift. Hours: 8:00 – 17:30. We have generously included the elevator in this tour.
3. Ten-mile Gallery can be visited on foot in one hour, or you can take the sightseeing train at your own expense; Hours: 8:00 – 17:00.

Finally, our guide will escort you back to your hotel by taxi.

This morning, our guide will pick you up from your hotel and take you by taxi to another, more distant and less used entrance, the Forest Park Ticket Office, from where we will begin to explore Zhangjiajie’s classic hiking trail along the Golden Whip Stream, to see some lesser-known attractions. Please be sure to wear comfortable hiking shoes and follow our guide for safety.

► Time Plan: 7:00 – 18:00
► Duration: 11 hours, including one hour lunch break
► Route:
Forest Park Ticket Office (Entry) → walk 10 minutes to Oxygen Bar Tourist Service Area → 1 hour hiking along Golden Whip Stream → fork road at Zicao Pool (turn left) → Shadao Valley (uphill to Yangjiajie) → walk 45-60 minutes to a fork (turn left to a bridge) → walk 1.5 hours to go uphill → Lingshi Yaoshu (turn right) → walk 25 minutes to Air Corridor → walk 35 minutes to One Step to Heaven → walk 35 minutes to Wulang Worshipping Buddha → walk 45 minutes to Wulong Village and Tianbo Mansion (1 hour for sightseeing) → Jinji Baoxiao → Wulong Village Crossroad Station → shuttle bus (15 minutes) → Yuanjiajie Tianqiao Station → walk 1 hour to go downhill through Luancuan Slope → 1 hour eastward hiking along Golden Whip Stream → Shuirao Simen → shuttle bus (15 minutes) → Wulingyuan Wujiayu Ticket Office (Exit)
► If time is tight or you want to save some energy, we can skip the Luancuan slope. Take the shuttle bus from Yuanjiajie Tianqiao Station to the upper station of Bailong Elevator, go down by elevator, and then connect to the shuttle bus to Shuirao Simen. It saves 2 hours in this way.

Exiting from the Wulingyuan Wujiayu Ticket Office, our guide will accompany you in a taxi back to your hotel.

★ Clearly Marking Prices & No Hidden Charges
Our tour is clearly marked with price, including tour guide service, transportation, and attractions. We are not like some tour operators who are vague about prices, or some that only offer entry tickets and charge extra inside the park. The tickets we offer you are the combo tickets, including not only the admission fee, but also the hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus running among major scenic spots in the park, and even the Bailong Elevator. Of course, hotels and meals are booked and paid by yourself, taking into account your individual needs.

Zhangjiajie (Wulingyuan) Scenic Area has 5 entrances/exits with ticket offices.
1. Wulingyuan (Wujiayu) Ticket Office is the main entrance and exit for most visitors. It is convenient, but on holidays there are long lines and you may have to wait 2 to 3 hours to get into the park.
2. Zimugang Ticket Office is the southeast gate and the smallest among the five. There are also shuttle buses running from here to Shuirao Simen and Bailong Elevator, saving 20 minutes than entering from Wulingyuan (Wujiayu) Ticket Office.
3. Forest Park Ticket Office is the south gate, convenient for visiting Yellow Stone Stronghold and Golden Whip Stream.
4. Tianzi Mountain Ticket Office is the northwest gate. You can take the shuttle bus directly from here to the Tianzi Mountain or Yuanjiajie Scenic Area.
5. Yangjiajie Ticket Office is the west gate, leading to Yangjiajie Cable Car, and convenient for visiting Yellow Stone Stronghold and Golden Whip Stream.

1. Wulingyuan Town: (Recommended. Pick-up service of our guided tour available.) It is near the main entrance, where the transportation is convenient and saves you a lot of time to enter the scenic area. There are plenty of restaurants and hotels catering to different budgets. The theater for the show of Charming Xiangxi is also here to enrich your nightlife.
2. Tianzishan Town: If you want to see the sunrise, you can consider staying here. Enter through Tianzi Mountain Ticket Office early the next morning and take the shuttle bus to go up the mountain.
3. If you arrive late, it is recommended to stay in downtown Zhangjiajie first. There are many hotels to choose, but it is far from the core scenic area, so you need to take a bus or taxi to the scenic area the next day. If you want to do the above 2 days in-depth tour of Zhangjiajie, it is recommended to spend the night in Wulingyuan Town or Tianzishan Town after the first day of the trip.

► In the past, many tourists chose to stay at hotels on the mountains of Zhangjiajie (Wulingyuan) Scenic Area to save time and watch the sunrise and sunset. However, due to the environmental protection regulations that came into effect in 2017, all accommodations in the scenic area have been closed down, and now staying overnight inside is generally impossible.

There are no more than 100 days in a year when you can see sunrise in Zhangjiajie. If it's clear and starry the night before, then the next morning is likely to have better visibility and a higher chance of seeing the sunrise.

Month	Time for Sunrise	Time for Sunset
January	07:32	17:50
February	07:27	18:16
March	07:03	18:37
April	06:27	18:56
May	05:56	19:14
June	05:38	19:33
July	05:42	19:41
August	05:58	19:30
September	06:15	19:00
October	06:31	18:24
November	06:51	17:52
December	07:15	17:39

► Note: Sunrise is from about 5:30 to 7:30 in the morning. However, the scenic area opens at 7:00, so it is difficult for visitors to see the real sunrise, especially in summer. What you can see is generally the dawn view.

1. Tianzi Mountain: If you stay overnight at Tianzishan Town, you can enter through Tianzi Mountain Ticket Office to avoid the crowd. Take the shuttle bus to Sanchakou Station and walk 15 minutes to the Grand View Platform (Daguantai) to watch the sunrise. The upper station of Tianzi Mountain Cable Car is also a good place.
2. Zhaixing Terrace of Yellow Stone Stronghold: It is suggested you stay in a hotel near the Forest Park Ticket Office the night before. In the next morning, take the shuttle bus for 10 minutes to reach the lower station of Yellow Stone Stronghold Cableway, go up in 2 minutes, and walk 8 minutes to Zhaixing Terrace.
3. Laowuchang: It has a magical garden in the air. If you want to see sunrise here, you need to stay overnight here the day before. Or you can take the Bailong Elevator in the morning to have a distant view of Laowuchang in the stunning dawn lights.

The best places to watch sunset in Zhangjiajie are Imperial Brush Peaks, Tianbo Mansion, Laowuchang, and Tianzi Mountain. The scenic area closes at 18:00. Do not miss the last shuttle bus which runs till 19:00 in the high season while 17:00 in the low season.

► For visitors who want to extend their trip to three days, the following day tours are highly recommended:
Day Tour to Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon & Glass Bridge
Day Tour to Tianmen Mountain & Tujia Customs Park