Jane Stormer | Jan 13, 2018

I spent hours walking these paths. Walk the bridges and covered walkways, watch the boats pass, and enjoy the architecture and landscaping. In the spring the cherry blossoms bloom and so do the crowds. Totally worth a visit. This was made for the emperor to enjoy, so you will likely find it impressive! It is more natural and casual than the Forbidden City.

Frietzen VanderMeulen | Mar 2, 2018

We went in the winter months so it was chilly but we had a great time nonetheless! The audio guide that we bought at the front gate was fantastic. Spent hours walking around and never got bored!

Jie Le | Jan 10, 2018

Fantastic Experience Quite a view into Chinese Culture/History!! One of the longest covered walkways in China as you walk to different sights. The pagodas are Beautiful. I loved the dragon boats that traveled across the lake. The Stone Dragon Boat is a must see.

Amy Gepfert | Mar 3, 2018

Stunning place, even in winter and despite the bitterly cold weather. We had a guide, who really brought the palace's fascinating history to life, and I definitely recommend doing the same. Plus wear very very warm clothes in winter!!

Andy Marschand | Feb 19, 2018

This place is huge. If your tour devotes an hour or less here there is not time to see everything. You need at least 3 hours and that still won't be enough time to see everything! The lake and scenery is beautiful. We went in February and it was cold and grey, this would be a place to visit in summertime if that is an option, but if not it is definatley still worth coming to see!

David Ferdinando | Apr 2, 2018

This place gets very busy in the afternoon. Worth visiting early morning to avoid crowds. Huge place, not very peaceful around the waterfront, but well worth a visit if you head to Beijing. Stunning in the Spring/Summer. Visiting the Palace is a surcharge fee... But if you decide you want to visit it whilst in the gardens you can buy tickets inside so you don't have to go back to the entrance. Expect to climb quite a few steps if you visit the Palace... You can also access the Palace from the gardens at the top / back if you prefer not to go up the steps from the waterfront.

kathleen brosnan | Mar 28, 2018

Lots of walking about and an interesting place. I loved the lake and the gardens. Nice and cool walk. Although the price in the shops there are high but I guess that's most tourist places. I enjoyed my time here. And would recommend it as a place to see in Beijing. I felt I wasn't really in the city so it was a nice welcome break.

Kimberly Pham | Mar 27, 2018

If you like nature then this is a great place to visit. The garden is beautiful. On a nice clear day the view across the lake is stunning. Must take your time to walk around. This place is huge.

陈岩 | Apr 4, 2018

从小住在颐和园旁边，可能有三、五十次游览的经历吧。而且从初中开始作为志愿者在乐寿堂、长廊一带讲解建筑风格和历史典故，也算是半个工作人员了。 推荐几条路线： 1. 北宫门进入，上万寿山通过智慧海到佛香阁，俯瞰昆明湖。拾阶而“下”，到湖边沿长廊向东，游览乐寿堂等处。东宫门出。 2. 东宫门进入，向北到码头，乘摆渡到西堤码头（也有可能是石舫码头），从南侧上万寿山，北侧下山，北宫门出。 3. 北宫门进入，从西侧（右侧）绕过万寿山，经耕织图上西堤，一直向南。过玉带桥，沿昆明湖南岸向东，东南门或东宫门出。 1、2适合初次到访颐和园的游客，可以游览大部分精致。3适合常客，赏花、赏雪皆宜。

Omar Abdelsamad | Mar 19, 2018

This is a lovely place and despite visiting during the winter, the beauty was still there. The large lake freezes over during the winter, allowing a winter wonderland. Though the location can get a little crowded, I was still able to find some attractive locations to rest and contemplate. Definitely recommend.

Alan Harnett | May 15, 2018

Summer Palace is a beautiful historical site in Beijing. I came here by taking the subway which was easy. When you get off the subway use Apple Maps which will provide walking directions. Especially you get off the subway on the East side. Walk South then West to get to the entrance. Once you buy your ticket (the ticket sellers only speak Chinese), but the ticket menu is in English you can enter. The summer palace is huge! It takes about 3 hours to walk the entire site. There is an optional boat ride that takes you around the lake. It does get busy, but there are places you can walk to avoid the crowds. A hike up the building on the hill is worth the long trek up the stairs. The views are wonderful and they are some nice pictures of old artifacts in the buildings. Throughout the site are bathrooms, places to get food, and tourist shops. You could bring food and make a whole day here.

Shailesh Sreedharan | May 17, 2018

The scale of this historical monument is amazing. It is spread over many hectares of land and has some very interesting facts associated with it. It has large lake, a man made hill with a pagoda and the longest corridor in the world. There is a dragon boat to cross the lake to get from the entertainment area of the palace to one of the exit gates. It is a good tourist place to do with the family.

David M | Apr 15, 2018

This palace is a MUST if you’re in Beijing! A short taxi out of the city and you’re in beautiful surrounds by the lake. There is an initial entry fee which costs next to nothing and then you must pay to access the temple etc within the complex. Choose your times wisely because it gets damn packed. The painted walkway is stunning and when the lotuses are in bloom - wow - astonishing!

Andrew Fox | May 3, 2018

Beautiful area, many breathtaking views. I went at the beginning of Spring and the visibility was perfect. Would love to see in different seasons. Take the whole day and wear comfortable shoes. I walked for 7 hours and still didn't see a lot of what is on offer.

Stacey Andrews | Jun 5, 2018

The Summer Palace is a beautiful historical place to visit. We spent a couple of hours here and would recommend 2-3 hours to visit. Temperatures were hot the first week of June: about 38-41 C! Nice thing though is that there is quite a bit of shade amongst the trees and a light breeze from the huge lake. Crowds were not bad at all on a weekday afternoon. Our Tour Guide also informed us that it has the longest corridor in the world; it's very picturesque with the paintings/pictures/murals. And there's a couple of months during the summertime that the lotus flowers will bloom in the lake!

Denzil Kiang | May 31, 2018

We reached here around 4pm, and managed to avoid most of the huge tour groups. The weather wasn’t too hot too and it was a pleasure to walk around at our own pace with some private walking space. Many restrooms, souvenir shops and food available throughout the place and there are boat rides available if you’re not a fan of walking one round of the lake. The last entry to the summer palace is at 6pm, but you can stay inside until much later. Do note that if you’re keen to visit the other attractions/sites/boat rides within Summer Palace, most of them close around 5pm. The sunset here is really beautiful.

Thiago Moura | Jun 16, 2018

The place is really big and for sure a great experience. You'll find many scenarios and views. But be aware that you'll not find good food for a reasonable price, they will charge you even the map of the place if you want to have it. I recommend you to bring your own snacks kit... The exit from South gate is a bit fat from the train station but the way back to north gate is a bit worse to do since you have to hike the hill again...

alessandro petronilli | Jun 9, 2018

A place must to see in Beijing, the huge park with a lake inside is full of treasure, some little and hides, others you can't even miss to see. You can spend almost a day just walking inside and try to see as much as you can and even take a little trip by boat in the main lake. It's possible to buy souvenirs, water and food inside, so if you're in late don't worry, it will only cost a little bit more. Try to figure out first which are the attraction you want more to see, in order to make your visit easier. The Summer Palace is easily accessible by metro.

James Semanko | Jul 19, 2018

Beautiful place to visit but be prepared to deal with crowds any time you visit. We went in the rain and we still had more tour groups than we could count. That said, understanding that the Summer palace is situated on a man made lake from hundreds of years ago is mind boggling! The effort it took to excavate the lake in these pictures is astounding. The architecture... The stairs... The temples... The stairs... The park... Be prepared to walk A LOT! Absolutely beautiful...

Jose Lejin P J | Aug 4, 2018

Beautiful place to visit. It is one of the main attraction in Beijing. many historical things to see. It is combination of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. It is part of UNESCO world heritage List. Amazing architecture and gardens.

Lioner | Jul 24, 2018

This hotel looks really nice outside but actually it's not that good. I had stayed there for 11 days. It was terrible. The curtains didn't work. The water was blocking in the sink. The bathtub was broken also. It's a little bit embarrassing to say but the size of closestool is too small that every time I use it my personal area will touch part of it（mine is normal size） The more ridiculous thing was that they didn't care about my complain. I told them these problems the first day but nobody did any things for me. I don't think it's worthwhile to pay money for staying in this hotel. I advice you to choose a better one.