PalaisFermé Monday (except public holidays)

Forbidden City (Palace Museum)

#2sur 10 lieux à visiter à BeijingBeijing, Beijing Municipality, China

Aussi appelé Gugong · 故宫

L'essentiel

Horaires d'ouverture : 08:30–17:00 and 08:30–16:30, closed Mondays, last entry 16:00. Entrée : CN¥60. Comptez 4 hrs. Meilleure période : 08:30-10:00.

Mis à jour le 18 septembre 2026 · Rédigé par Traveliac, avec assistance IA · 4 min de lecture

ItinéraireSite officiel

Photo: Pixelflake / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Horaires d'ouverture: 08:30–16:30; Closed Mondays
Prix d'entrée: CN¥60; Billet à partir de
Durée nécessaire: 4 hrs
Meilleur moment de la journée: 08:30-10:00
Meilleurs mois: Apr – May, Sep – Oct
Adresse: 4 Jingshan Front Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100009, China

À propos de Forbidden City (Palace Museum)

The Forbidden City (Palace Museum) charges CNY 60 per adult from 1 April to 31 October and CNY 40 from 1 November to 31 March, as of 2026, and admits foreign visitors only against a real-name reservation tied to a passport. The complex covers 72 hectares behind a 7.9-metre wall and a 52-metre moat, and its courtyards run about 961 metres from the Meridian Gate in the south to the Gate of Divine Prowess in the north. Yellow glazed roof tiles, red-lacquered nanmu columns and white marble terraces set the palette. The three great ceremonial halls stand on a three-tier marble platform whose dragon-head drainage spouts still discharge rainwater in a summer storm. The Palace Museum, which took over the site in 1925, holds the former imperial collection and admits a daily quota that guides commonly cite as 40,000 visitors.

Meilleur moment de la journée : 08:30-10:00. On a Tuesday to Thursday, or after 14:30 when tour groups thin out, keeping the last-entry cutoff in mind.

Horaires de Forbidden City (Palace Museum)

Horaires d'ouverture: 08:30–16:30; Monday Closed
Tue–Sun 08:30–17:00 and 08:30–16:30; 08:30-17:00 from April to October (last entry 16:00); 08:30-16:30 from November to March (last entry 15:30).
Fermé le: Monday (except public holidays)

Monday	Closed
Tue–Sun	08:30–17:00 and 08:30–16:30

Bon à savoir : Reservations sell out within minutes around the 1-7 October National Day holiday, Spring Festival and weekends in late April to early June.

Horaires d'ouverture établis à partir de bookingticket.dpm.org.cn et de sources publiques, mis à jour le 18 septembre 2026. Ils peuvent changer sans préavis — vérifiez avant de partir. Comment nous rédigeons ces guides

Prix d'entrée de Forbidden City (Palace Museum)

Entry fees for Forbidden City (Palace Museum)
Billet	Prix
Billet standard	CN¥60
Tarif réduit (étudiant / senior)	CN¥20
Enfants	CN¥20

CNY 60 per adult from 1 April to 31 October and CNY 40 from 1 November to 31 March, as of 2026. The Treasure Gallery and the Gallery of Clocks are optional extras at CNY 10 each. Children under 6 or under 1.2 m are reported free. Sources conflict on concessions: some list CNY 20 for students and ages 7-18 and half price for visitors over 60, others list half price for children and seniors, so verify at the official site. Entry needs a real-name reservation tied to a passport.

Tarifs établis à partir de bookingticket.dpm.org.cn et de sources publiques, mis à jour le 18 septembre 2026. Ils peuvent changer sans préavis — vérifiez avant de partir. Comment nous rédigeons ces guides

Meilleure période pour visiter Forbidden City (Palace Museum)

Quiet
Moderate
Busy
Very busy

08:30 - 09:30
Opening surge
Security queues at the Meridian Gate build fast but the courtyards ahead are still open, the best window for photographs of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Moderate
09:30 - 13:30
Tour group peak
Coach groups fill the central axis and the marble steps of the three great halls; expect shuffling movement and blocked doorways.
Very busy
13:30 - 15:30
Afternoon crush
Late lunchtime arrivals keep the main route busy, though the eastern and western palaces thin out.
Busy
15:30 - 17:00
Closing wind-downBest time to go
Groups leave before the closing cutoff; the northern gardens are quiet but staff begin herding visitors toward the exit.
Quiet

Histoire de Forbidden City (Palace Museum)

The Forbidden City was built between 1406 and 1420 for the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty, after he moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing. Sources cite more than a million labourers, with nanmu timber hauled from the southwest, marble cut near Beijing and floor bricks fired in Suzhou. Twenty-four emperors, 14 Ming and 10 Qing, ruled from the compound until Puyi, the last, was expelled in 1924.

Fire destroyed the timber halls repeatedly, so most surviving buildings date from Qing-era rebuilding. Popular lore claims 9,999 rooms; modern surveys count roughly 980 buildings and 8,886 bays of rooms, so the larger figure is legend rather than fact.

The Palace Museum opened in 1925, UNESCO inscribed the palace as a World Heritage Site in 1987, and it was covered again by the Beijing Central Axis inscription in 2024.

Règles et étiquette à Forbidden City (Palace Museum)

Forbidden City entry requires the passport used for the booking. The gate scanner reads both the ticket QR code and the document, and each ticket is locked to one named visitor, so a friend cannot use a spare. The museum does not sell same-day tickets to foreign visitors at the gate; booking is through the museum's own site, where a passport number, name and email are enough, with tickets reportedly released seven days ahead at 20:00 Beijing time (verify the current window).

Forbidden City security screens bags by X-ray at the Meridian Gate, and lighters, knives, drones and large tripods are refused. The route runs one way from south to north, exiting through the Gate of Divine Prowess or East Prosperity Gate, and tickets are single-entry. Roped-off halls are viewed from the doorway; touching lacquered columns and stepping on marble thresholds are both discouraged.

Conseils pour visiter Forbidden City (Palace Museum)

1
Forbidden City visitors gain the most by booking the first morning slot and walking the central axis before the tour groups arrive, then turning east into the Gallery of Clocks (CNY 10) and the Treasure Gallery (CNY 10), which are quieter than the main halls. Courtyards are paved stone with almost no shade, so bring water and a hat between May and September.
2
Forbidden City exit at the Gate of Divine Prowess leads across the road to Jingshan Park, where a short climb gives the classic rooftop view over the golden roofs; walking there takes about five minutes. Anyone outside Tiananmen Square offering 'tickets' or 'guided entry' is a tout, since genuine tickets exist only through the official booking site and authorised platforms. Audio guides rent for roughly CNY 40, as of 2026, at the Meridian Gate.

Comment se rendre à Forbidden City (Palace Museum)

L'étoile rouge indique Forbidden City (Palace Museum) ; les repères numérotés sont les 7 lieux les plus proches de nos guides, chacun avec son classement dans sa ville. Touchez un repère pour plus de détails.

4 Jingshan Front Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100009, ChinaItinéraire sur Google Maps

Depuis Beijing Capital Airport (PEK)
27 km · 60-75 min
CNY 25 Airport Express plus CNY 4-5 subway
Depuis Beijing Railway Station
4 km · 20 min
CNY 3
Depuis Wangfujing
2 km · 10-25 min
CNY 3 or free on foot

Aéroport le plus proche

Depuis Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK), about 27 km; Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX), about 50 km.

Gare la plus proche

Depuis Tiananmen East (Line 1), a 10-minute walk through the Tiananmen Square security checks to the Meridian Gate.

FAQ — Forbidden City (Palace Museum)

Do you need a passport to enter the Forbidden City?

Yes. Each ticket is a real-name reservation locked to one passport, and the gate scans both the QR code and the original passport used for booking, so carry the physical document.

How much is the Forbidden City ticket in 2026?

CNY 60 for adults from 1 April to 31 October and CNY 40 from 1 November to 31 March, as of 2026, plus CNY 10 each for the Treasure Gallery and Gallery of Clocks; concession rules differ between sources, so verify on the official booking site.

Is the Forbidden City closed on Mondays?

Yes. The Forbidden City is closed every Monday except public holidays, so plan Tuesday to Sunday.

Can you buy Forbidden City tickets on the day?

No. Same-day walk-up tickets are not sold to foreign visitors, and reservations open roughly seven days ahead, so book as soon as your date is bookable, especially around 1-7 October.

Rédigé avec l'assistance de l'IA à partir de sources officielles et de registres publics, et publié seulement après les vérifications décrites dans Comment nous rédigeons ces guides. Personne chez Traveliac ne s'est rendu sur place. Mis à jour le 18 septembre 2026. Comment nous classons et vérifions les lieux