Xi'an, home to the Terracotta Warriors, enjoys the laudatory title of 'Living History Museum', because of its abundant historical and cultural relics.
Xi'an is about 2 hours by air from Beijing and 2½ hours from Shanghai. It was the eastern terminus of the Silk Road and one of the four Chinese capitals of the world's ancient civilizations, with a history of over 3,000 years.
If you are planning a tour of Xi'an, read on to get the best from your time and some tips on planning the itinerary.
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The Best Things to Do in Xi'an
The main attractions of Xi'an are its historical sites, delicious food, and Muslim culture. Some of the activities that we would recommend include:
Witness the Terracotta Warriors and Horses (the most significant archeological excavation of the 20th century) and learn how to make Terracotta Warrior at a Cave Dwelling.
Cycle or walk atop the ancient City Wall: Pedaling along these very old battlements provides a great view of Xi'an.
Admire an ancient Buddhist pagoda: Big Wild Goose Pagoda is indeed a place of peace, tranquility, and meditation in the middle of a bustling metropolis.
Learn about China's history at Shaanxi History Museum: Regarded as "the pearl of ancient dynasties and the house of Chinese treasures", the museum is one of the four largest museums in China, with over 370,000 historical items.
Have a pleasant stroll to taste local snacks and buy souvenirs at the Muslim Quarter.
Night activities: Enjoy the night scenery around the Bell Tower, take part in a Tang Dynasty Dinner Show, stroll on the ancient Big Wild Goose Pagoda Square, and watch the music fountain performance…
How Long to Stay in Xi'an: 2–4 Days
It depends on your schedule and your interests. Usually, people spend 2–4 days there.
Days | Most Recommended Attractions | Xi'an Tour for Inspiration |
---|---|---|
1 full day | Terracotta Warriors, the Ancient City Wall | Xi'an Highlights Tour |
2 full days | Terracotta Warriors, the Ancient City Wall, Shaanxi History Museum, Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Muslim Quarter | Essence of Xi'an Tour |
3 full days | The above plus a Mount Hua adventure OR more historical sites like Qianling Mausoleum, Maoling Mausoleum, and Famen Temple | Xi'an Highlights and Mount Hua |
4 full days | Extend to Luoyang for the Longmen Grottoes and Shaolin Temple OR extend to Pingyao Ancient Town | Tailor-made according to your interests |
If you have your own travel ideas, just contact us and our travel advisors will tailor-make a Xi'an tour for you. See more on Ultimate Xi'an Itineraries: How Long to Spend in Xi'an
Discover real reviews of Highlights Travel Family's best-rated service across trusted platforms.
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Best Tour Ever
Other highlights are too many to mention but here are a few Ken taking us to the Terracotta Warriors and our food tour in Xian was amazing, more
Feb 2024, Liz Hickson
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Amazing Time in Xi'an
On our way to our hotel Jenny arranged dinner to be delivered by the hotel robot (an experience that was a must on the kids list!) before we even checked in, nothing was a problem, everything quickly solved!Jenny's knowledge of Xi'an and its history was also amazing. No question went unanswered, it was such an interesting trip! We'd definitely like to come back and spend a little longer here to see what else there is to do. more
Feb 2024, JenB
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Thank you, Shannon. Thank you, Xi,an.
We met our tour guide Shannon in Xi,an and we enjoyed very much our stay. Her good English level and her knowledge of the history of the city made our jorney very memorable. Kind, flexible and patient, she attended all our wishes. We will always be grateful for her work. more
Feb 2024, Man B
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Historical Xi'an
Our guide in Xi'an was Ken. Ken's knowledge of Chinese history is excellent so we were well entertained with the history of Xi'an and China while we were driving to various sites. The main attractions we went to were the Terracotta Warriors, The City Wall and The Big Goose Pagoda. The history behind the sites were well explained to us by Ken and he could answer all our questions. It made the site visits so much more interesting. Ken also assisted us in ordering food and introduced us to local dishes which were all great recommendations. Wish we could have spent more time in Xi'an. Thanks Ken for a memorable trip. more
Feb 2024, ChumSA
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Historica Xian
Mi esposo y yo, tuvimos la oportunidad de visitar la hermosa ciudad de Xian, la muralla de la ciudad, los guerreros de terracota, el barrio musulmán, todo esto con la mejor guia del mundo mundial!!! Susana, quien aparte de ser super simpática, tiene un gran conocimiento de la ciudad, la historia de los lugares y monumentos y aparte está siempre al pendiente de cualquier cosa que necesites y va más allá par hacerte tener una experiencia excelente, nos quedamos con ganas de regresar. Gracias x todo!! more
Feb 2024, Betty A
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Memorable and Great Trip!
Our guide, Jenny, was extremely knowledgeable of the area, history and culture. She addressed our questions and provided additional insights and recommendations for our free time. She was an amazing guide that always checked in and took the extra steps to make the trip special. Jenny definitely made our trip to Xi’an memorable and very special! more
Feb 2024, karolX8974SV
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China highlights Xi’An.
I had a wonderful trip to China. Susan was my guide. The history and sights picked were wonderful. The Terracotta Warriors were the highlight of me trip. Susan even helped me get some of the authentic replicas shipped home that arrived at my house just two weeks later. The making of dumplings with Susan’s aunt and neighbor was most memorable as well. Susan also sent pictures of the Chinese New Years Lanterns to me after I arrived home. They were in construction when I was there. more
Feb 2024, Megan S
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China Highlights is Excellent
Jenny was the tour guide in Xian, showed us the terracota warriors found in 1974 by a farmer behind a mountain masoleum, with projected ongoing excavations for next 100 years. Made clay model terracota warriors.Jenny is very enthusiastic and bubbly, helped us all the way, from picking up us from train station to dropping us off at the airport. more
Jan 2024, Brahma P
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Excellent 2-day Xi'an trip
Xi'an was my last stop in Northern China with China highlights. I have had great experiences with all of my guides but Mervyn was exceptional. Really easy to talk to, wonderfully knowledgeable and was really on top of the details. The timings for entry to and moving venues were really smooth.While in Xi'an, I visited the Terracotta army, the Xi'an museum & , the Muslim quarter and the city walls. All great to see if you come to the city.Mervyn chose some great restaurants with delicious local dishes as well as helping me to try really good snacks and street food in the Muslim quarter.Highly recommended! more
Jan 2024, Sherpa325441
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Xian the city where all began!
Our guide (Ken) speak very good English and know a lot, he was very patient and he had no problems with plan changing.We really recommend the private tour, it is very convenient and time saving. You can visit all the places using your private driver without having to wait. more
Jan 2024, Maria V
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Great Guide Made Xi’an Extra Special
Our tour guide Jenny was excellent and made our time in her city extra special. Not only was she a wealth of knowledge about Xi’an’s ancient history, she also had insights and great recommendations for local restaurants and places to see based on her own experience. We saw Teracotta Soldiers, the Muslim quarter, a shadow puppet show, the Xi’an museum, and had a dumpling banquet!! Highly recommend China highlights who coordinated our trip to multiple cities in China. more
Jan 2024, Rose A
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Memorable Trip with Rocky
Our tour guide was Rocky and he reached early at the train station to wait for us on the first day when we travelled down from Beijing. In fact, every morning, he will be super early to wait for us at the hotel....he will not rush us. He is definitely someone with good work ethic and someone who takes his work very professionally.Rocky was very helpful and together with the driver Li Shifu, helped us with our luggage. Rocky filled us in with so much history and was always ready to answer our questions on anything about China. He ordered very nice local food for our meals and also showed us other nice local food. We are so fortunate to have Rocky as our guide. more
Jan 2024, Celia L
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Our trip to Xi'an was incredible.
Our trip to Xi'an was incredible. We had Ken as our tour guide for a few days and we loved all the experiences. He is a very capable guide and knows a lot about history. We needed him to translate many things in the city and he was very patient with us. He speaks very good English and is punctual. He took many pictures for us and was very calm dealing with my father who walked sometimes slowly. more
Jan 2024, Monica L
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What a perfect stay
At each location the local guide (Nina in Beijing, Mervyn in Xi’an and Jack in Lijiang) together with their drivers was amazing and really helpful and helped us to organized additional visits or gave us very appreciated recommendations about where to go or eat in the evening. The drivers were always on time and brought us safely everywhere we went. What a perfect stay! more
Jan 2024, RC
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Lots to see and experience! We had a blast!
Jenny (from China Highlights) was a fantastic guide in Xi’an and gave great local entertainment and food recommendations - special mention to the Empress of the Great Tang show and Muslim Quarter local cuisines!She was also very knowledgeable of Xi’an history and really brought to life the stories behind the famous Museum of Terracotta Warriors and Horses, other local attractions like the Wild Goose Pagoda and more!My husband and I really enjoyed our 1.5 days in Xi’an and would highly recommend. Thanks Jenny! more
Jan 2024, a_raptor
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Susan was our guide and she was really helpful and highly prepared. She gave us all the information about places visited and organized everything in evergreen single details.I highly suggest to choose China Highlights and Susan to discover this Amazing city. more
Jan 2024, Alessandra
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What a perfect stay!
What a perfect stay! We were nicely picked up at the train station by Mervyn and the driver on the day of the arrival and given some good suggestions for the dinner. The day after, first stop was the Terracotta army. On the way Mervyn told us many interesting things about the history of China and the various capitals, dynasties and the mausoleums and walked us through the Terracotta museum. Very good food for dinner’s at the resteurant recommended. We then took a funny bicycle ride on the city wall and visited the super nice streefood and the mosque in the Muslim quartier. Then a tasty dinner with a huge variety of dumplings and a nice dance opera show. Finally the drum tower, the bell tower and the wild goose pagoda. Mervyn was very well organised and would explain all the nice background information. more
Jan 2024, rnt200120
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Xi’an with Juan!
From the beginning at the airport drive to the hotel, Juan explained us in a perfect Spanish the history of Xi’an. His seemly inexhaustible knowledge about culture and history let us truly enjoy places such as the city wall and the terracota warriors, places whose potential we could have only overseen if gone by ourselves. more
Jan 2024, Diego Gorrón
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This is the way to see China
We travelled to China in September/October to visit a relative who lives in Shanghai. He was too busy to show us the sights of China so we decided to use China Highlights. I am so pleased we did. Carol arranged a trip for us to X'ian and back to Shanghai. It wasn't cheap, but it was well worth it. We caught the bullet train to X'ian. more
Jan 2024, LDreviews
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Susan is great!
Susan is great!She is very knowledgeable about Xi An city and history. We really enjoyed and learned a lot about that city. more
Jan 2024, Tiong-Oen
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The Best Time to Visit Xi'an
Xi'an has four distinct seasons; summer is very hot and winter is freezing.
The best times to visit Xi'an are spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November), which boast comfortable temperatures and relative freedom from the crowds and rain showers of summer.
The peak season is from May to mid-October when the prices for hotels and flight tickets are higher. You should prepare to spend significant time waiting in lines and hear the noise of big tour groups of Chinese visitors.
The rainy season occurs from July to September, although there isn't much rain.
We recommend that you at least 3 months in advance if you plan to visit during these Chinese holidays:
- China's summer holiday season (July and August)
- Labor Day (May 1–3)
- National Day (October 1–7)
- Spring Festival (late January or early to mid-February)
How to Get to Xi'an: Bullet Trains or Flights
Xi'an has an international airport: Xianyang Airport. It has flights from Hong Kong, Macau, Seoul, Singapore, San Francisco, Bangkok, and Tokyo.
As Xi'an is located in the heart of China, it takes no more than 3 hours to fly to Xi'an from most major Chinese cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guilin, and Lhasa.
Many visitors travel to Xi'an after their trips to Beijing or Shanghai. See the 6-Day Beijing and Xi'an Tour. Bullet trains are increasingly becoming a viable, quick option. It takes 4-6 hours from Beijing and 6-7 hours from Shanghai.
Getting a Visa… or No Need to Get a Visa?
You may enjoy 6-day visa-free access to Xi'an if you take an international transfer via Xi'an Xianyang International Airport. Read more on Xi'an's 144-hour visa-free policy.
If you plan to visit other destinations in China, you need to apply for a China visa.
Famous Local Food You Should Try in Xi'an
Praised as 'the capital of table delicacies', Xi'an is rich in delicious local and foreign food.
The most famous local food is the "two banquets and two soups of Xi'an"- Shaanxi snacks banquet, the dumpling banquet, lamb soup with pita bread, and pig colon soup with bread.
Muslim Snack Street is a great Muslim food hub, where you can find various kinds of Muslim food, such as skewers of lamb, chicken wings, quail eggs, bowls of noodles, mutton soup, and green bean custards. We specially design a food tour to hunt for Xi'an's local food in Muslim Quarter.
Beilin District (碑林区) in Xi'an is a food paradise, where the majority of local restaurants are located.
Read The Top 10 Dishes You Should Try in Xi'an.
Discover Authentic Xi'an with Us
Our specialists have journeyed to every corner of the city and uncovered the best things to see and do. They can use their first-hand knowledge to help plan your trip to Xi'an.
Take a minute to fill in a form, and we will begin to create your own trip, or you can find some inspiration from our following popular itineraries.