---
title: "Great Wall Helicopter Tour with Cable Car Ride"
date: 2026-10-31
canonical: https://tourgreatwallofchina.com/tours/great-wall-helicopter-tour/
---
# Great Wall Helicopter Tour with Cable Car

- Ticket price: From 649.86 USD per person (Prices checked 2026-10-31, prices may vary)
- Duration: 8 hours
- Best for: Once-in-a-lifetime aerial Great Wall view
- Unique experiences
- Check availability: https://www.getyourguide.com/beijing-l186/beijing-great-wall-helicopter-tour-with-cable-car-ride-t1318849/?partner_id=D7H7I6M&utm_medium=online_publisher&cmp=tourgreatwallofchina_com_all_agent_markdown (GetYourGuide · This site contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission when you book through our links, at no extra cost to you.)

- ★ 15-minute helicopter flight over Mutianyu and the wild Jiankou section
- ★ Cable car ride up to Mutianyu's watchtowers after landing
- ★ Meal and bottled water included in the tour price
- ★ A genuinely rare aerial perspective most Great Wall visitors never see
- ★ Private transfers bookend the whole day

## Our take
This is the one tour on this list I'd only recommend to a specific kind of traveler: someone who wants a genuinely unique, once-in-a-lifetime view of the Great Wall and has the budget for it. At $649.86, it costs multiples of every other tour here, and the aerial portion itself is short at roughly 15 minutes. The honest caveat is that this listing has only a single review so far, since it's a newer activity, so the reputation isn't established the way a 900-review hiking tour is.

The **Great Wall helicopter tour with cable car** pairs a short, genuinely rare aerial flight over the wall with a more conventional cable car ride up to Mutianyu's watchtowers, so you get both the bird's-eye view and the chance to actually stand on the stones afterward. It's the most expensive product in this entire selection, and it's built for travelers who want something the shuttle buses and hiking groups simply can't offer.

## What makes the Great Wall helicopter tour with cable car special?

Almost every other way to see the Great Wall happens at ground level, on foot or by cable car. This tour starts in the air instead, with a roughly 15-minute helicopter flight covering about 45 kilometers over the Mutianyu Great Wall Scenic Area and the wilder, largely unrestored Jiankou section nearby. Seen from a helicopter, the wall's path across the ridgelines is far easier to appreciate than it is from any single viewpoint on the ground, since you can actually trace how it climbs and drops across the mountains for kilometers in either direction.

## What should I expect on the Great Wall helicopter tour with cable car?

After the flight, you transition to a cable car that carries you up to Mutianyu's watchtowers, which is a comfortable way to reach the wall itself without a long climb right after landing. From there, you're free to walk the ramparts and photograph the views at your own pace. An included meal and bottled water round out the day, and the whole experience, including transfers, runs about 8 hours. Mutianyu itself is one of the most visited and best-preserved sections of the Great Wall of China, known for its restored watchtowers and sweeping mountain scenery, which makes it a strong match for this tour's photography-heavy appeal.

## Who should book the Great Wall helicopter tour with cable car?

This suits travelers celebrating a special occasion, anyone who's already walked the wall on a previous trip and wants a different kind of experience this time, or photographers who specifically want aerial shots that a ground-level visit can't produce. If budget is a bigger factor than novelty, our [Mutianyu Great Wall shuttle tour](https://tourgreatwallofchina.com/tours/mutianyu-great-wall-bus-tour/) reaches the same section on foot for a small fraction of the price, and our [Great Wall sunrise and sunset photoshoot](https://tourgreatwallofchina.com/tours/great-wall-sunrise-sunset-photoshoot/) is a far more affordable way to get professional-quality ground-level photos.

## Prices and what's included

Prices start from **$649.86** per person, covering a meal, bottled water, the Great Wall entry ticket, the helicopter ticket itself, and a round-trip cable car ticket or a chairlift ascent with a toboggan descent, depending on which option you select. Gratuities for the guide are optional and not included in the base price. Because the helicopter portion depends on weather and air traffic clearance, confirm flexibility around your travel dates when you book.

## Getting there

Your exact meeting point and transfer arrangements are confirmed directly at booking, since this is a specialized, lower-volume product rather than a fixed daily departure. Bring comfortable shoes, a camera, and sunscreen, since you'll be walking and photographing outdoors for a meaningful part of the day in addition to the flight itself.

## Insider tips

Book with some flexibility around your exact date if your schedule allows it, since helicopter operations in China are more weather- and clearance-dependent than a standard road tour, and a delay is more likely here than on a bus or van trip. If photography is your main reason for booking, ask about cloud cover and haze forecasts for your date, since Beijing's air quality can meaningfully affect how clear the aerial views turn out. Treat this as a splurge activity on top of, rather than instead of, a full ground-level visit to the wall, since the flight itself is brief relative to the day's total cost.

## How does this compare to other Great Wall experiences?

If you want the same Mutianyu section without the helicopter and at a much lower price, see our [Mutianyu Great Wall shuttle tour](https://tourgreatwallofchina.com/tours/mutianyu-great-wall-bus-tour/) or our [Mutianyu private tour with an English driver](https://tourgreatwallofchina.com/tours/mutianyu-great-wall-private-tour/). Photographers who want professional ground-level portraits at golden hour rather than an aerial view should look at our [Great Wall sunrise and sunset photoshoot](https://tourgreatwallofchina.com/tours/great-wall-sunrise-sunset-photoshoot/). For background on the Jiankou section glimpsed during the flight, the [Great Wall of China's own Wikipedia entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_of_China) covers its full extent across northern China.

## What's included
- ✓ Meal
- ✓ Bottled water
- ✓ Great Wall entry ticket
- ✓ Helicopter ticket
- ✓ Round-trip cable car ticket, or chairlift ascent and toboggan descent
- ✗ Gratuity for the guide, optional

## Route and itinerary
1. **Private transfer from Beijing to Huairou District**: Your exact meeting point is confirmed at booking. Huairou District, home to Mutianyu Great Wall, is the helicopter's departure area for this tour.
2. **Board the helicopter**: The flight covers about 45 kilometers and lasts roughly 15 minutes, passing over the Mutianyu Great Wall Scenic Area and the rugged, largely unrestored Jiankou section.
3. **Land and ride the cable car to the top of the wall**: After the flight, a cable car carries you up to Mutianyu's watchtowers, so you're not climbing the steepest sections on foot right after landing.
4. **Walk the wall and take photos at your own pace**: This is your time to actually stand on the Great Wall after seeing it from the air. The contrast between the aerial view and walking the stone ramparts is the main appeal of pairing these two experiences.
5. **Enjoy an included meal**: A meal and bottled water are built into the tour price, so you're not hunting for food after a packed, unusual day.
6. **Private transfer back to Beijing**: Your driver returns you to your starting point to close out the day.

## FAQs
### How long is the helicopter flight over the Great Wall?
The flight itself lasts about 15 minutes and covers roughly 45 kilometers over the Mutianyu and Jiankou sections of the wall.

### Do I still get to walk on the Great Wall during this tour?
Yes. After the flight, a cable car takes you up to Mutianyu's watchtowers, where you can walk the ramparts and take photos at your own pace.

### Is a meal included in the helicopter tour?
Yes. A meal and bottled water are included in the base price, along with the Great Wall entry ticket and helicopter ticket.

### What happens if the helicopter flight is cancelled for weather?
Helicopter operations depend on weather and air traffic clearance, so confirm the operator's rescheduling policy for your specific dates when you book.

### Is this tour good for photographers?
Yes, the aerial perspective is genuinely rare, though for ground-level portrait-style photos specifically, our dedicated sunrise and sunset photoshoot tour may suit photographers better.

### Why is this tour so much more expensive than other Great Wall tours?
The price reflects the cost of operating a private helicopter flight in addition to standard ground transport, entry tickets and the cable car, which is why it costs several times more than a shuttle or private driver tour.