Terracotta Soldiers from Tianjin

im booked on a celebrity cruise that will be docked for 2 nights at Tianjin and I really want to take a trip to see the terracotta soldiers. Celebrity are offering this but the cost is almost the same price as the cruise. Has anyone does this using an independent tour operator, also taking in the main sights of Bejing.

BJ is close enough to Tianjin's int'l cruise terminal on a day trip and back.

Terracotta Army are in Xian, a good 8+ hours away by HST/railways ... even longer driving or riding in a motorcoach, like 11 to 12 hours, each way.

Is Celebrity offering this with an overnight land-stay package ? Doing both on a 2 nights port stop/visit would still be, IMO, rushing it ... aside from being pricey.

Have you and will you consider possibly doing a land-based tour to better explore these historical landmarks & heritage sites ? RT coach airfares, nonstop between JFK-PEK is currently priced at just $520+ round trip p/p on Air China.

To see Xian you need a full day at the site to see everything. I would suggest that you take a land tour that includes Xian as well as the other major attractions in China. Not sure where you are from, but the tour cost for 12 to 15 days including air fare from the west coast of US is around $2,000 to $3,500. There are a number of tour companies like Gate 1, we used a company located in Bellevue Washington - China Spree and were very happy with them. They are highly rated on Yelp and Tripadvisor.

We did a tour with Affordable Asia which is based here in Southern Calif (Alhambra)....Just an amazing all inclusive trip to Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai....for approx $1800 pp. So glad we did this option before an Asia cruise the following year.

When we were on the Celebrity Millennium earlier this year, we booked a private tour for four to see the Terracotta warriors. We chose the "Multi City: Beijing – Xi'an Tour, with flights" with Catherine Lu Tours, ranked #1 on Trip Advisor.

It was a 3 day tour with return domestic flight and Tianjin port transfers. We booked our own hotel. We toured the highlights of Beijing on Days 1 & 3. Day 2 was spent going to Xi'an for the warriors. Beijing airport is confusing, and we asked the driver to ensure we checked in at the correct place. We would not hesitate to recommend this company.

We did a 21 day land tour of China in 2012, it was fantastic. I highly recommend such a tour, instead of taking the outrageously expensive excursions to Xian.

The terra-cotta warriors are wonderful, but there is a lot more to see in China and just don't work on an excursion from a cruise ship.

They are in Seattle at one of the Museums....Until Sept 4th. They are AMAZING......

We did a 21 day land tour of China in 2012, it was fantastic. I highly recommend such a tour, instead of taking the outrageously expensive excursions to Xian.

 

The terra-cotta warriors are wonderful, but there is a lot more to see in China and just don't work on an excursion from a cruise ship.

I agree. We looked at a China cruise, but by the time we had added all the places we wanted to see it became obvious that a land tour was the way to go. So many of the must see places are far from the ocean that the cost of seeing them on individual excursions is astronomical. If time permits and you are determined on a cruise add a land tour before or after.

We are returning to China this autumn to see an area we missed on our nineteen day tour. This time we are following the tour with a short cruise.

Sheila

Thanks all, unfortunately we don't have enough days holiday to add a land tour before or after and don't really like having a fully land based trip as we travel constantly for work living out of suitcases. I think we're going to book the 3 day excursion GNN recommended and whilst it might be pricey seems like a good doable option.

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I know people who have done the TerraCota warriors as a day trip from Beijing. Assuming Tianjin has direct flights to Xi'an you might be able to do it on your own for a very reasonable cost. In my opinion it is certainly close to the great wall for the most impressive sight in China. You could even fly back to Beijing and do the second day there before taking the train back to Tianjin. This wouldn't be easy but is certainly doable even foe a relatively in-experienced traveler without any Chinese.

When we were on the Celebrity Millennium earlier this year, we booked a private tour for four to see the Terracotta warriors. We chose the "Multi City: Beijing – Xi'an Tour, with flights" with Catherine Lu Tours, ranked #1 on Trip Advisor.

 

It was a 3 day tour with return domestic flight and Tianjin port transfers. We booked our own hotel. We toured the highlights of Beijing on Days 1 & 3. Day 2 was spent going to Xi'an for the warriors. Beijing airport is confusing, and we asked the driver to ensure we checked in at the correct place. We would not hesitate to recommend this company.

Thank you for suggesting this company. We are hoping to travel to the Terra Cotta Warriors pre-cruise (we deprt from Shanghai so the Bejing trip won't work). Unfortunatley she doesn't seem to offer this as an option but will keep her in mind for our overnight call in Beijing.

Thank you for suggesting this company. We are hoping to travel to the Terra Cotta Warriors pre-cruise (we deprt from Shanghai so the Bejing trip won't work). Unfortunatley she doesn't seem to offer this as an option but will keep her in mind for our overnight call in Beijing.

We are flying using FF points on direct flight SFO to Xi'an pre-cruise next month to see Terra Cotta warriors before departing from Shanghai on our Millenium cruise. We are using China Highlights for pickup/drop off at airport and private tour while in Xi'an. (We used same company for tour post cruise last fall in Beijing and were very happy. ). We then are using Choice air for flight from Xi'an to Shanghai. China Highlights will customize your trip and they also offer excursions in Shanghai, if you want.

We are using China Highlights

I agree with Floridafolks on China Highlights. We toured Beijing for 5 days with China highlights last trip, they were fantastic. 5 people in an modern 13 seat minibus. Great English speaking guide, early start each day, lunch at a different restaurant after our tours and then back to our hotel usually by 3pm for swim and relaxation. this included being picked up from the ship in Tianjin and dropped off at Beijing Airport for 11pm flight on the last day. Total was US$1255 everything was included, lunch, drinks, admission fees so I thought that it was a great deal split between 5 people over 5 days.

tillycass, My husband and I did an overnight excursion to Xi'an from Shanghai through Eastern Journeys. The tour company was terrific – they can also make arrangements in Beijing – and seeing the Warriors was a real thrill! Here are links to the tour company's website and my Xi'an blog post, which you might find helpful:

http://www.easternjourneys.com/index.html

https://www.themodernpostcard.com/shanghai-part-1-overnight-xian-terra-cotta-warriors/

Good luck with your plans, and have a wonderful trip!

Mary

Travel Blog: http://www.themodernpostcard.com

We are flying using FF points on direct flight SFO to Xi'an pre-cruise next month to see Terra Cotta warriors before departing from Shanghai on our Millenium cruise. We are using China Highlights for pickup/drop off at airport and private tour while in Xi'an. (We used same company for tour post cruise last fall in Beijing and were very happy. ). We then are using Choice air for flight from Xi'an to Shanghai. China Highlights will customize your trip and they also offer excursions in Shanghai, if you want.

Would love to hear more! How was the tour?

How long did you stay in Xi'an?

Did you book a hotel there?

How many were in your group?

Thanks in advance!

Would love to hear more! How was the tour?

How long did you stay in Xi'an?

Did you book a hotel there?

How many were in your group?

 

Thanks in advance!

Our tour was fantastic! We flew from SFO to Xi’an direct and were met by our China Highlights guide and driver for transfer from airport to hotel. We stayed at Hilton inside the city walls(using points) The next day we were picked up at hotel early and saw the TerraCotta Warriors - then the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and Muslim Street, Drum and Bell towers before returning to hotel. The next day we were able to walk city wall from our hotel location before being picked up by guide and driver for trip to airport later that afternoon. We did the tour with just 2 of us. This was great and let us tailor timing to our desires. ( We had done a small group tour with 5 people in Beijing last year with same China Highlights and that was very good too. )

If you have other questions, do not hesitate to ask.

Note - Since you are also heading to Shanghai - When arriving in Shanghai we got to take the Maglev into town- a great experience and easy with luggage. We stayed at the Andaz (using points) and it was fabulous with a great location and complimentary happy hour with great drinks and hors d’ oeuvres each evening. My DH is a Diet Coke addict and soft drinks were complimentary all day. Everything in the room was controlled by an IPad.

Our tour was fantastic! We flew from SFO to Xi’an direct and were met by our China Highlights guide and driver for transfer from airport to hotel. We stayed at Hilton inside the city walls(using points) The next day we were picked up at hotel early and saw the TerraCotta Warriors - then the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and Muslim Street, Drum and Bell towers before returning to hotel. The next day we were able to walk city wall from our hotel location before being picked up by guide and driver for trip to airport later that afternoon. We did the tour with just 2 of us. This was great and let us tailor timing to our desires. ( We had done a small group tour with 5 people in Beijing last year with same China Highlights and that was very good too. )

 

If you have other questions, do not hesitate to ask.

 

Note - Since you are also heading to Shanghai - When arriving in Shanghai we got to take the Maglev into town- a great experience and easy with luggage. We stayed at the Andaz (using points) and it was fabulous with a great location and complimentary happy hour with great drinks and hors d’ oeuvres each evening. My DH is a Diet Coke addict and soft drinks were complimentary all day. Everything in the room was controlled by an IPad.

Thank you so much!

We are still over a year away, with a couple of trips in between. I am an "uber planner" and like to have all of my plans made well in advance. I think the plan to fly directly into Xi'an is a great suggestion. The TerraCotta Warriors are a must see for us.