Tianjin to Beijing on our own

The shore excursions from the Celebrity cruise for an overnight in Beijing is $1599 per couple :eek:

Is it doable on our own? How far is the train station from where Celebrity docks in Tianjin? We looked at the train schedule and it says that it goes to Beijing south in less than 45 mins.

We plan to stay in Beijing for one night. The next day we would like to take a tour to the Great Wall and have the tour drop us off at the port in Tianjin. Has anyone ever done this? It will be 6 of us.

Any suggestions? Thank you for your help.

You can take a taxi to the train station.

For the Great Wall you do not need a guide, just a driver to take you there. The same driver can take you to your ship afterwards. You can contact a driver from here: http://www.thebeijinger.com/classifieds/cars-drivers

You can take a taxi to the train station.

For the Great Wall you do not need a guide, just a driver to take you there. The same driver can take you to your ship afterwards. You can contact a driver from here: http://www.thebeijinger.com/classifieds/cars-drivers

Does that mean that the driver will wait whatever amount of time you are at the wall?

Hi Travellovers

We did a trip on the Millie 2 years ago which docked at Tianjin for 2 days. We Hired a brilliant private guide,who sorted out the driver for us.

We left Tianjin on day one,by taxi and did a full tour with her, then stayed the night in Beijing and up early next day for full days tour, then she arranged for us to be dropped back at the port that evening.

We were 4 people but I know she can do larger groups . If you want more details I'm happy to email you .

If you are talking about the new cruise port for Beijing, always keep in mind that it is a long ride into town. Beijing is a big city and what you want to see is not all in one area. Very little English spoken in the city and none to almost none (except for guides) spoken in places other than city. You get NO hints what the signs or directions say -- even sometimes hard to tell what the stores are selling and one street or tiny cut through looks just like all the others. I LOVED China but it was the wonderful guides that made it possible to see as much as we did. Private car and driver. Pick up at the pier and sleep at a hotel in BJ (we got a great deal at the Park Hotel but lots of choice on-line) 2nd day pick up at hotel and tour then back out to the pier. I would leave more than 2 hours to travel back. Does Celebrity have a shuttle to BJ and back to ship?

We enjoyed our tour of 10 days arranged with the help of China Odyssey (Susan Su was our agent). She is working on another trip to Asia for us right now so you know that is a high recommendation of their services. She worked with me and allowed me to book my own hotels (points!) and airfare (again points!) but did guides, transportation, entertainment and some meals for us in 3 different cities. Free quotes if you want to contact them on-line. I bet you would see more than from shore excursion bus so factor that in plus factor in you are in charge and get to decide what you want to see most -- not ever going to see everything -- but you set your own highlights. Be thrifty but don't be penny-wise and pound- foolish. Worth paying to maximize every minute.

Hi Travellovers

 

We did a trip on the Millie 2 years ago which docked at Tianjin for 2 days. We Hired a brilliant private guide,who sorted out the driver for us.

 

We left Tianjin on day one,by taxi and did a full tour with her, then stayed the night in Beijing and up early next day for full days tour, then she arranged for us to be dropped back at the port that evening.

 

We were 4 people but I know she can do larger groups . If you want more details I'm happy to email you .

Can you please post the information on who to contact for the tour of Beijing and the Great Wall that you describe in your post? We are also taking the Celebrity Millenium out of Hong Kong on March 11, 2017 with a 3 day stop in Tainjin

It can be a bit tricky to navigate port to train station on your own without speaking Chinese. Of course the absolute rip off taxi driver and guide wouldn't dream of charging anywhere near $1600 even accounting for entries and hotel costs.

Once you are at station getting a train ticket and then moving around Beijing is fairly straightforward in cheap metered taxis. Sites where a guide is useful (e.g. Temples and Forbidden City) will have reasonably priced unofficial guides and also official English speaking guides.

It was a few years ago but I was able to find a driver who would take me from Beijing for under $100 and that was a nice new car with an English speaking driver. A mid-range chain hotel should be able to arrange a pick-up at port for something in that range. They should also be able to find a driver to take you to the wall, wait and then drive you to port for not too much more. I would think $150 depending on what Great Wall site you go to. There is no reason for a guide at the wall. It is self evident what you are looking at.