First Time Travelers

First time travelers to China and to Guilin are going to be amazed at all that the city has to offer. If you are a first time traveler, you will definitely want to do a bit of everything to get a sample of what this city has to offer. Even if you’ve been to Guilin a few times, you might find a few tips that you didn’t know about. First time travelers are going to quickly realize that there is too much to do and they might find themselves running from attraction to attraction with everything becoming a blur. Plan a bit of down time and try not to do too much in a short period of time.airport, leave the train station or just while walking around the city is a Li River boat tour. There are different lengths of tours, so make sure that you clear up what the tour includes, how long it is and how much it costs. There are numerous Li River tours leaving from Guilin during the day and early evening, so you may not want to schedule a particular cruise and just find a boat that is leaving when you want to go. While you are on your cruise, you will see the karst mountains that line the river. This topography has left tons of beautiful caves open to tourists and will also have your reaching for your camera as the boat rounds every river bend.

First Impressions – The Li River

The first thing that you will hear people offering you when you get out of the airport, leave the train station or just while walking around the city is a Li River boat tour. There are different lengths of tours, so make sure that you clear up what the tour includes, how long it is and how much it costs. There are numerous Li River tours leaving from Guilin during the day and early evening, so you may not want to schedule a particular cruise and just find a boat that is leaving when you want to go. While you are on your cruise, you will see the karst mountains that line the river. This topography has left tons of beautiful caves open to tourists and will also have your reaching for your camera as the boat rounds every river bend.

How Many Caves is Too Many?

Most travelers coming to Guilin for the first time are going to find that a visit to one or two caves is enough, and that any more is going to get repetitive (and cut into their traveling budget). If you’ve seen a few caves while you tour Guilin, you’ve seen them all. Timing your trips to the caves is important. In the early morning, caves are going to be filled with more tour groups that got an early start to the day, making them crowded and noisy. Try going in the afternoon, saving the caves for the end of your day, leaving just enough time to enjoy them before they close for the evening.

The 5 Yuan Investment that Will Make Planning a lot Easier

First time travelers on a Guilin vacation are going to need to plan well in order to figure out what they want to see. When you first arrive in the train station or airport, invest in a local map. For a few yuan, you’ll have information about tourist attractions, bus routes, hotel information and you will be able to get an idea of where everything is in the city. It will be well worth the small investment.

• GLSIC-1: One day Li River Discovery Seat-in-coach Tour from $72
• VGLALC-3: Guilin Li River Cruise Day Tour from $95
• VGL-1: 3-Day Guilin City Highlights Tour from $199
• VGL-4: 4-Day Classic Guilin & Yangshuo Tour from $279