Zhangjiajie and Guilin are both listed into China's top 10 most beautiful natural places. A lot of travelers would consider the differences between Zhangjiajie and Guilin, and try to figure out which is the better to visit. Actually, each one has its own feature; why not to cover them both? We are here to offer the well-arranged Guilin Zhangjiajie Tours for you. And aslo, the tour program is flexible and can be customized to suit your need.

Zhangjiajie Introduction

If you have seen James Cameron epic movie "Avatar", you will remember those awe-inspiring scenes from the planet "Pandora" with all those floating mountains. Those 'Avatar' mountains are not really floating, but they exist in Zhangjiajie city, south China's Hunan province. Quartz sandstone peak forest and karst caves constitute the distinctive landscape feature of Zhangjiajie, which are rare in the world. The filmmakes took inspiration from the towering columns of the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park - a World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 1992.

And also, there is a must-vist tourist site - Tianmen Mountain when you travel in Zhangjiajie. Within, the world's longest cableway, 99 Bend's mountain road, cliff-hanging walkway, glass skywalk, and amazing Tianmen Cave all make it very popular among tourists. Even in the same city, the scenery is quite different from the national park.

How to get to Zhangjiajie from Guilin

Zhangjaijie is not easily accessible from Guilin, for there is no direct flight, even no direct bus or trains between the two cities.  

By Flight
Zhangjiajie Hehua Airport (IATA airport code DYG) is located in Yongding District, about 4 kilometers from the center of Zhangjiajie. There are direct flights connecting Zhangjiejia with Beijing, Chengdu, Xi'an, Changzhou, Shanghai, Changsha, Guangzhou, Qingdao, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Xi'an, Zhuhai, Chongqing, Tianjin, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Shijiazhuang only.

Now there is no direct flight available between Guilin and Zhangjiajie. So if you want to travel to Zhangjiajie from Guilin, you have to choose a connecting flight via other cities.

By Train
There is no direct train linking Guilin and Zhangjiajie; you can choose to change trains or buses via other cities, like Liuzhou or Changsha.

Option 1
One can take a bullet train from Guilin to Liuzhou first, then change to an overnight train with sleeping berth to reach Zhangjiajie.
1). From Guilin to Liuzhou, there operates over 50 bullet trains linking the two cities every day. These trains are set to leave from Guilin/Guilin North Railway Station; and arrive at Liuzhou Railway Station (柳州站) for about 1-1.5 hours.
2). From Liuzhou to Zhangjiajie, there are just 3 overnight trains available, that is Train K748, Train K1474 and Train T282; with a journey time of 10.5-11.5 hours; so you can sleep and spend the night on the train and when you wake up, you will arrive in Zhangjiajie. Please kindly be advised that, all the 3 overnight trains are set to depart from Liujiang Railway Station (柳江站), not Liuzhou Railway Station (柳州站) any more. That means, after your arrival in Liuzhou from Guilin, a 35-minutes taxi ride is needed from Liuzhou Railway Station (柳州站) to Liujiang Railway Station (柳江站) for your overnight train to Zhangjiajie.

If you want to visit Fenghuang Ancient Town, you can get off the train at Jishou Railway Station; and then, change a bus to reach there for around 80 minuters. If not, another 2-hour journey on the same train will take you from Jishou to Zhangjiajie.

Option 2
One can take a high-speed train from Guilin/Guilin North Railway Station to Changsha South Railway Station, then transfer to a coach or train from Changsha to Zhangjiajie.
Guilin - Changsha: There are 14 bullet trains operating between Guilin and Changsha, with a travel time of 3.5 hours. It costs RMB 182 yuan for second-class seat, and RMB 250 yuan for first-class seat.

Changsha - Zhangjiajie:
1). By Air: there are 4 direct flight from Changsha to Zhangjiajie every day; the journey takes about 1 hours.
2). By coach: people can take coach at Changsha West/Changsha East Bus Station to reach Zhangjiajie Bus Station. Bus here departs every one hour from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm. And the journey takes about 4 hours.
3). BY Train: there are 7 train from Changsha Railway Station to Zhangjiajie Railway Station, with a duration of  4.5-5.5 hours.

By Bus
Zhangjiajie is over 600 kilometers from Guilin by expressway, so taking a bus is not recommended for such a journey.