5 Days Best Guilin Yangshuo Vacation
- Duration: 5 days (published programme)
- Collection: Guilin Tours
- Elephant Trunk Hill, Reed Flute Cave
- Huangluo Yao Village - Ping'an Village (Seven Stars with Moon, Nine Dragons & Five Tigers)
- Hiking from Ping'an via Zhongliu to Dazhai - Jinkeng Village
- Review the programme below for included and optional arrangements.
Planning 5 Days Best Guilin Yangshuo Vacation
The published idea runs for 5 days. Consider whether that timing fits your arrival, departure and preferred sightseeing pace.
The published material highlights Elephant Trunk Hill, Reed Flute Cave; Huangluo Yao Village - Ping'an Village (Seven Stars with Moon, Nine Dragons & Five Tigers); Hiking from Ping'an via Zhongliu to Dazhai - Jinkeng Village. Use these details to decide which parts of the journey matter most to your group.
- Discuss walking comfort, hotel preferences and any activities you would like to prioritise. Changes are subject to the final agreed programme.
- Check the daily programme, transfer days, optional activities and exclusions before confirming.
- Share your group size and any practical preferences when requesting a proposal.
Ask about this travel idea. The full original programme remains below for reference.
Day 1 Guilin Arrival
Highlights: Elephant Trunk Hill, Reed Flute Cave
Welcome to Guilin , the most scenic city in China. Upon your arrival, be met by your local guide and escorted to your hotel in Guilin downtown.
You’ll start your Guilin tour after a break. Firstly make a visit to the symbol of Guilin landscape – Elephant Trunk Hill . A giant rock hill vividly shapes like an elephant which is drinking water. Besides, there are many historical sites here for you to explore, such as stone carving, Buddhist temple, relic exhibition, etc. Then, drive about 7 kilometers (about 20 minutes) to next attraction – Reed Flute Cave , a majestic underground palace with sparkling different colors. The magical Mother Nature condenses millions years of natural efforts to form the incredible stalactite, stalagmite, stone shield and stone waterfall of different sizes and shapes.
After the tour, be transferred to your hotel.
Day 2 Guilin – Longsheng ( B, L )
Highlights: Huangluo Yao Village – Ping'an Village (Seven Stars with Moon, Nine Dragons & Five Tigers)
In this morning, you’ll be driven about 80km (about 1.5 hours) to witness one of the most beautiful rice terraces in China – Longji Rice Terrace , an amazing feat of farm engineering rising up to 1000m high in Longsheng County. There are several featured Zhuang and Yao minority villages along the road and you’ll take a visit to the special Huangluo Yao Village , the First Village of Long Hair in the World, where you can see women in red ethnic clothes with very long hairs (the longest can reach up to 1.7 meters).
Later, continue your drive to a beautiful 600-year-old Zhuang Village – Ping’an and check in your hotel located near the rice terraces. After some rest, start to explore the breathtaking views. The rice terrace is layer upon layer, like the changing ladder created by nature leading to the blue sky, forming a majestic painting between heaven and earth. From Ping’an, you can hike on the cobbled paths built among terraces to catch the best landscape. Climb up to the great lookouts at Seven Stars with Moon and Nine Dragons and Five Tigers from which you can get superlative views of terraces and villages. Hike half day around, then back to Ping’an for dinner and accommodation.
Different seasons will show you the different views. From mid-April to Mid-June, local people will release water into the terraced fields. Patches of patches watery terraced fields will reflect its beauty in the sun shine. While during mid-June to mid-September, the glossy and green rice terraces wave with summer breeze, and you can also see the curves of the terraced fields. The months from late September to early October are the mature time of the rice when the whole terraced fields will become golden and local farmers will start to harvest
Good to Know:
1. Weather : The temperatures of Longsheng are normally lower 2℃ to 3℃ than Guilin City (28.3℃ in July and 7.9℃ in January), while the mountain tops temperature is lower than the mountain foot, so please take some warm clothes with you.
2. Walking: When arriving at Ping’an Village, you can only be dropped at Ping’an Village Tourist Center parking lot that you need to walk about 900 steps to your hotel. Comfortable shoes are highly recommended!
3. Luggage carrying: For the aged or travelers who are lack of physical strength, you’d better hire a local porter to help carry your heavy luggage to the hotel (pay extra expense on your own).
4. Notice: The Viewing Platform of Seven Stars with Moon is under a reconstruction which means it is closed for travelers at present. The hiking route between Seven Stars with Moon and Nine Dragons and Five Tigers would do some adjustment during the construction. You won’t miss the amazing rice terraces scenery when visiting.
Day 3 Longsheng – Guilin(B, L)
Highlights: Hiking from Ping'an via Zhongliu to Dazhai – Jinkeng Village
In the morning, you will get up before the sunrise and go to the well-known photography location at West Hill Music , the top 1 choice for enjoying Longji Rice Terraces. Enjoy your time to take the sunrise photo of the terrace, composed with the morning glow, shadow, mists, forests, peaceful mountainscape, etc. After the shooting, go back to your hotel and enjoy your breakfast. After some break, continue to hike to Large-scale Thousand-layer Terraces and take photos of the unbelievable scenes of countless layers of soft and bright terraced fields pouring down to the deep bottom of the village pit. And then, have some pleasant time shooting the folk custom and costumes of Jinkeng’s Red Yao people and their featured wooden tilted houses.
After the visit, be escorted back to your hotel in Guilin City.
Evening Ideas: You can take a leisure walk around the famous city water system – Two Rivers and Four Lakes for the amazing night views.
Day 4 Guilin – Li River Cruise to Yangshuo (B, L)
Highlights: Li River Cruise – Yangshuo Countryside View – West Street
As the declaration in Chinese textbook” Guilin’s landscape is the best under heaven”, today you will explore this best landscape starting with a relaxing sightseeing cruise along the Li River from Mopanshan Pier to Yangshuo Town. Along the 84-kilometer cruise, dazzling scenery will overwhelm your eyes like a vast endless Chinese painting of winding river, green limestone karst mountains, fascinating countryside views, amazing scene of A Painting of Nine Horses, and notable view printed on the back of the 20 RMB note. (Please note: Lunch is served by the cruise with simple local Chinese cuisine. And you can take some snacks when getting on board.)
After about 4 hours’ cruise, disembark in Yangshuo Town , and check in your hotel. After a short break, you will start your exploration of the ideal countryside view by taking the Ten-mile Gallery sightseeing bus from Fengming Tourists Service Center via Gongnong Bridge, Big Banyan Tree, to the Moon Hill for 1.5-2 hours. Throw yourself into the stunning countryside views and relaxed atmosphere. Be enthralled by the patches of paddy fields nestling under green Karst hills, with farmers cultivating the soil. Record the peculiar hole of Moon Hill at Li Village with your simple shutter with a simple wander. Also, if time and your physical condition permit, climb up that hill (needs about 30-50 minutes up with thousands of steps) to appreciate the larger moon hole closer and have a broader panorama of the Karst wonders of Yangshuo Town. Then, take the sightseeing bus back to Fengming, and our driver will send you back to have a leisure walk on the ancient West Street to experience how the western culture and Chinese culture perfectly and peacefully coexist here. Whether you want to enjoy a cup of drink in bar, taste some local food, or just experience the relaxing atmosphere, you get it here.
Optional evening activity:
Watch the splendid evening performance of Impression Liu Sanjie with the Li River itself as the stage, which was directed by famous director – Zhang Yimou (usually performs for an hour between around 19:45 and 22:20).
Day 5 Yangshuo – Guilin Departure(B, L)
Highlights: Yulong River Sightseeing & Outdoor Activities – Flight / Train off Guilin
This morning, after breakfast, start your impressive exploration of the best charming sightseeing and ideal countryside ease at Yulong River . Let all the refreshing scenes please your eyes and souls to the utmost. Just enjoy every moment to close up to the Karst hills dotted around, chatting stream, rippling mountain reflection, swaying floras, patches of vivid crops, old dwellings on the riverside, comfortable breeze, clear azure sky….We prepare diverse kinds of ways for your enjoyment of the fun and beauty, including biking, hiking, sightseeing bus, bamboo rafting and scooter . You can easily choose and combine your ideal way(s) and part of Yulong River. ( Please tell your likes to your travel consultants before booking the tour. ).
Biking (some physically demanding & sightseeing by the river)- Ride to enjoy the river view, the real fields, the antique houses and hundreds-year-old stone bridge (route: Yangshuo – Jima – Jiuxian Village – Shuiedi Dock – Gongnong Bridge – West Street; for 3 hours). During the tour, pay a visit of a local family near Chaoyang to have a short break and see their living environment and farming tools of local peasants.
Bamboo Rafting (relaxing and interesting & sightseeing on the river) – have fun with the classic bamboo rafting (Route A: Shuiedi Dock – Gongnong Bridge for 40-50 minutes; Route B: Jima Dock – Gongnong Bridge for 1.5 hours) to see the more serene view like pieces of traditional Chinese landscape ink paintings.
Sightseeing Bus (most leisurable and comfortable & sightseeing on the road) – sit leisurely on the bus from Jima to Gongnong Bridge to appreciate the lovely countryside view (about 0.5 hour). You can get off and on anywhere on the middle way to explore more about your interested place.
After the visiting, be transferred to catch your flight / train to next destination. (Note: arrange your flight or train in late afternoon or early evening.)
Note: according to the regulations of Yulong River Tourism, children less than 1 meter high and elders over 70 years old are not allowed to take the bamboo rafting.
What’s Included
- Professional licensed English-speaking guide
- Admission tickets for all attractions listed in the itinerary
- Accommodation as listed in the itinerary (4-star standard)
- Necessary vehicle transfers as listed in the itinerary
- Domestic flights (economy class) and high-speed trains (second class) as listed in the itinerary
- Airport (and train station) pick up and drop off
- Luggage Transfers: between airports (railway station) and hotels
- All meals as listed( “B” for Chinese and Western breakfast buffet in your hotel; “L” for Chinese Lunch in local restaurant; “D” for Chinese dinner in local restaurant.)
- Accident insurance
- Our service charge, including tour planning, handling, operational and communication charges.
Not Included
- China visa
- Personal expenses
- Accommodation not listed in the itinerary
- Single Room Supplement
- Tourist sites which are not listed in the itinerary
- Recommended optional activities
- Flights or trains not listed in the itinerary
- Excess Baggage Charges
- Optional tips to guides, drivers, etc.
Pricing Note
Final pricing is tailored to your travel dates, party size, hotel preferences and confirmed services. Your proposal will clearly list every included and excluded item.
Travel Tips
Pack comfortable walking shoes and clothing suited to the season. Keep your passport available on travel days, and tell your planner about mobility or dietary needs before departure.
