In China, there is a popular saying: 'Guilin's landscape is the best under heaven'. Guilin's picturesque karst landscape and idyllic countryside views attracts millions of travelers from China and abroad. But what would be your ideal Guilin trip? How many days are needed to explore Guilin's beauty? This article will help you plan your perfect Guilin itinerary.
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- How Many Days to Spend in Guilin?
- 5-Day Classic Guilin Highlights Tour
- A 3-Day Guilin Essence Tour
- An 8-Day Guilin and Hong Kong Trip
- An 8-Day Guilin and Guizhou Trip
- A 9-Day Guilin and Huangshan Trip
How Many Days to Spend in Guilin?
For a classic Guilin trip, most visitors choose a combination of downtown sightseeing, a Li River cruise, and stays in Yangshuo and Longsheng counties, which usually takes about 5–6 days.
If you have limited time, you could focus on downtown Guilin, a Li River cruise, and a trip to Yangshuo, which takes about 3 days.
If you have more days to spend (and are happy you have spent long enough in Guilin), we recommend you visit nearby complimentary places, such as Hong Kong, Guizhou, or Huangshan.
- Hong Kong (3+ days to enjoy Hong Kong's numerous outdoor activities).
- Guizhou (3+ days to explore diverse minority cultures in Guizhou).
- Huangshan (2+ days to appreciate China's top mountain views)
The five itineraries below show how these day allocations would work out in practice and what could be covered in that time:
1. 5-Day Classic Guilin Highlights Tour (Most Chosen)
With 5 days in Guilin, you could explore most of the highlights and experience the local culture at a comfortable pace. Spend a day in downtown Guilin, and 4 days in the nearby counties of Yangshuo and Longsheng.
- Day 1: Visit Guilin city's top attractions: Elephant Trunk Hill, Reed Flute Cave...
- Day 2: Take a Li River Cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo, during which you would see celebrated mountain-and-river views.
- Days 3–4: Yangshuo (cycling between the paddy fields, visiting a local farmers' house, cave exploring...)
- Day 5: Longji Terraced Fields (visit the famous terraced fields and learn more about their peoples' culture and life.)
Discover real reviews of Highlights Travel Family's best-rated service across trusted platforms.
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I highly recommend Lele to anyone visiting Guilin !
Our trip to Guilin would not have been the same without Lele as our guide! He was absolutely amazing in every way. His English was excellent, making communication smooth and easy. Lele was always punctual, professional, and went above and beyond to ensure we had the best experience. His explanations were insightful and engaging, bringing the history and culture of Guilin to life. Lele even helped us take photos, making sure we captured every special moment. Thanks to Lele , our visit to Guilin was a perfect 10/10—from the incredible tourist sites and friendly people to the delicious food. I highly recommend him to anyone visiting Guilin ! more
Apr 2025, Pong J
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Recommended to anybody
We had a great experince staying in the mountain hotel when viewing the incredible rice terrasses. A visit to the hotsprings was invigurating and very relaxing. We would highly recommend this for a change of normal tourist routines. Guilin was vibrant and even more so as it was a local festival. Food galore, people got dressed up in traditional dresses to take photoes with spectecular colourful backgrounds of the lake with the two pagodas. The highlight was a visit to the caves. Huge chambers expertly lit to bring out the many different features. Travelling by boat from Guilin to Yangshuo for four hours showed us the beautiful scenery, part of which is even depicted on the rmb 20 bill issued in China. Yangshuo is surrounded by the fascinating Peaks which mark the country in thousands. Punters on the rivers provide a romantic foreground for pictures to be treasured long after our visit. A cable car ride transported us over great heights towards a wooden suspension bridge followed by challenging steps to the top. The view was worth the effort but we quit going down to the famous glass bridge as the subsequent walk up the hill to the cable car station was too daunting for me being slightly aged. A great lunch of beer fish in a boutique hotel in one of the old villages was followed by a visit to a famous old stone bridge which inspired a number of local artist to play their craft. A perfect finish to our six night holiday Our tour guide was Chais who displayed a remarkable patience to our wims and showed us how to appreciate his home country. All the places we visited by car driven by Shi whom I would recommend to anybody as a very safe driver taken care of us. Thank you to all who made this trip worthwhile Rosita and Folker Krueger from Perth West Australia more
Apr 2025, Folker
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We had an excellent time in Guilin. Our guide Sarah was very helpful and packed our days full of amazing sites. When our boat cruise was cancelled due to weather she quickly rearranged our itinerary and we were still able to do everything we had hoped to. The extra driving that it took to make this happen was at no cost to us.
I spent two short days in Guilin my travel guide Sarah was a wonderful host, making sure we got to see and taste the best of Guilin. Our driver Zeng was also excellent, she made sure we arrived at each destination safely. I would definitely recommend travelling to Guilin however two days is not enough to see all the beautiful sites it has to offer. I will be sure to come back again and book a tour with Sarah as she is very welcoming and funny so we had many laughs during our stay together. more
Apr 2025, Stay32724810674
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For family travelers with kids, we recommend the numerous outdoor activities in Yangshuo, including cave exploring, rock climbing, cycling amongst the paddy fields, meeting local farmers and seeing their house, learning Chinese calligraphy, and cooking.
If you are interested in minority culture and hiking, our private guide can accompany/guide you on a hiking tour at Longji Terraced Fields and arrange many interesting things, such as ethnic Chinese cooking and rice farming experiences.
Our private tours are customized according to your time and interests. Here are some of the sample tours in Guilin.
- 5-Day Guilin Off-the-Beaten-Path Tour
- 6-Day Guilin Longsheng Yangshuo Tour
- 4-Day Guilin Longji Ethnic Group Tour
2. A 3-Day Guilin Essence Tour (Good for Limited Time or Short Trips)
If you have about 3 days in Guilin, we suggest a tour to visit the downtown highlights and a trip to Yangshuo.
- Day 1: Visit Guilin's top attractions (Elephant Trunk Hill, Reed Flute Cave…)
- Day 2: Take a Li River Cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo to enjoy the breathtaking river-and-mountain views.
- Day 3: Take a biking tour in Yangshuo to see some of the most beautiful countryside views representing the south of China. Enjoy some relaxing time in Yangshuo West Street, maybe having coffee in pubs or bars.
Inside tips: You can use Guilin's 72-hour (3-day) visa-free transit policy with this itinerary, if you then head to a third country/region, such as Hong Kong, where you can take a departure flight. For more on this, see the Guilin and Hong Kong itinerary below.
The Top 3 Side Trip Itineraries from Guilin
If you have a longer holiday to see Guilin, we recommend considering an extension trip from Guilin to see a similarly-themed or convenient destination, such as Hong Kong in the south, Guizhou in the north or Huagnshan in the east.
1. An 8-Day Guilin and Hong Kong Trip (Top Visa-Free Option)
Guilin is near Hong Kong, which is a popular exit city after finishing a Guilin or China trip. And you can take a bullet train from Guilin to Hong Kong for about 3 hours.
Hong Kong offers rich kids-friendly attractions for family travelers. If you are transiting in HK to take advantage of the Guilin's 72-hour (3-day) visa-free transit policy (see above), then you must use Guilin Liangjiang International Airport, flying from Taipei, KL, Seoul, or Jakarta.
- Days 1–2: Guilin downtown sightseeing at Elephant Trunk Hill and Reed Flute Cave followed by a Li River Cruise from Guilin city to Yangshuo.
- Days 3–5: Enjoy charming Yangshuo's karst landscape by bamboo rafting, biking in countryside, rock climbing, cave exploring, and so on.
- Days 6–8: Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, Ocean Park is a must-visit attractions, especially if you are traveling with kids. It is a special experience to take a raft ride through a jungle landscape, which features alongside many other rides. The park also offers a plethora of animal exhibits, including a giant panda habitat, a shark aquarium, and a sea lion show.
If you would like to see the skyline of Hong Kong, you should visit Victoria Peak. The view from the top of Victoria Peak is undoubtedly an awesome attraction, which is great to visit at sunset. You can enjoy the panoramic views of the city and the harbor from the highest point in Hong Kong.
For most children, it would be great to finish with Hong Kong Disneyland, where you can view spectacular fireworks shows, parades, and live performances featuring beloved Disney characters.
2. An 8-Day Guilin and Guizhou Trip (Best for Ethnic Culture)
If you are interested in China's diverse ethnic groups and their fascinating culture, you are recommended to visit Guizhou province from Guilin, which would take you about 3 hours by bullet train. Guizhou is known for its stunning natural scenery, unique minority culture, and delicious cuisine.
- Days 1–2: Guilin downtown sightseeing tour to Elephant Trunk Hill, Reed Flute Cave, and so on. Taking a Li River Cruise from Guilin downtown to Yangshuo.
- Days 3–5: Discover Yangshuo's amazing countryside by bamboo rafting, biking in the countryside, rock climbing, cave exploring, and so on.
- Days 6–8: Guizhou
In Guizhou, we would arrange a hiking tour in the biggest Dong villages in China to enable you to experience minority culture and life. See how the local Dong people make paper from wood pulp, and visit a village where people still carry on their forebears' trade of papermaking today.
In the village, you can learn how to make a piece of paper with a respected expert, step by step. Then make a piece of paper yourself and take the paper home as a souvenir. In a farmer's house, you can cook lunch with fresh local ingredients.
For a more relaxed time, stroll along the village's bluestone paths, and observe close-up the daily lives of minority people. Read more about our Guilin and Guizhou tour.
3. A 9-Day Guilin and Huangshan Trip (Good for Photographers)
If you are photography lovers, or even professionals, then this itinerary would be good for you. Our experienced photography guides would lead you to the best vantage points of Guilin's impressive landscapes and famous Li River. Take awesome photos of famous oddly-shaped rocks and pines and the seas of clouds among Huangshan's Yellow Mountain peaks.
- Days 1–2: Guilin Downtown Sightseeing (Elephant Trunk Hill, Reed Flute Cave…)
- Days 3–5: Yangshuo (Xingping Ancient Town, the Li River, Xianggong Hill)
- Days 6–9: Huangshan
In Guilin, our photography guide would usually choose these three special places for photography: Xianggong Hill, Xingping, and the Li River.
On Xianggong Hill, our planning and our guide would help you take advantage of the comfortable nearby hotels so that you don't spend too much time on the road to capture the sunrise. There would be about a 20-minute climb up Xianggong Hill to photograph the breathtaking sunrise at the place where the Li River runs at a right-angled bend.
The Li River and Xingping Ancient Town are two must-visit places for photography. Xingping is the best place for rosy sunsets and an evening shoot with a fishing scene on the Li River — we'd organize a bamboo fishing boat, a cozy gas lamp, an experienced fishing man, and several cormorants.
Being different from Guilin's river-and-mountain views, in Huangshan, you would witness abundant breathtaking views of imaginatively named rocks and trees. To help you make full use of your time, our experienced guide would lead you to the best places to take pictures of sunrises, sunsets, and iconic views.
You could also experience local life there by taking part in many interesting activities, such as farming, cooking the regional cuisine, and learning more about local culture. Read more about our Guilin and Huangshan Photography Tour.