Ways to visit
Longji Rice Terraces Private Tours
Your own car, your own start time, and the choice of which valley you spend the day in. Here is what a private day buys you at Longji, what it does not, and who should book something else.
The most-booked private day
Seven to twelve hours from Guilin or Yangshuo, admissions to every named site included, and both Ping’an and Jinkeng Dazhai in reach on the same day.
From $119 per personCheck Availability
What a private tour of the Longji Rice Terraces actually is
A car, a driver and, on most of them, a guide, booked for your party alone. You are collected from your hotel in Guilin or Yangshuo, driven the 77 kilometres to the entrance, and taken up to whichever village you choose.
The vehicle waits while you walk. That is the whole difference in one sentence: you decide when to come down, not a timetable.
Why choose a private tour
You pick the valley on the day
Join-in coaches commit to Ping’an or Jinkeng before you book. On a private day you can look at the cloud, ask your driver what the light is doing, and change your mind at the junction. Two of these tours cover both valleys in one outing.
Two of them are priced by the car, not the head
One private day is $193 for a car of up to four and another is $136 for up to eight. Split four ways that is under $50 each, which undercuts every per-person fare here. If you are travelling as a group, do the division before you compare.
You start when you want to
The join-in departures leave at 8:30 and reach the gate at eleven, which is after the cloud has gone. A private car will leave at seven if you ask it to, and that hour is the difference between the cloud sea and a clear valley.
Three of them are transport only, on purpose
Not every private fare includes a guide. Three of these are a driver, a car and nothing else, which is exactly right if you want the road handled and the day to yourself. Each card says which.
Private tours vs join-in day tours
| Private day | Join-in day | |
|---|---|---|
| Priced | Per person, or per car on two of them | Per person, always |
| Who is in the vehicle | Only your party | Up to ten or fifteen strangers |
| Route | Ping’an or Dazhai, your choice on the day | Fixed before you book |
| Start time | Yours, usually 8:00–9:00 | Fixed, usually 8:30 |
| Gate ticket | In the fare on six of them, at the gate on three | In the fare on most |
| From | $68 per person, or $136 for a car of up to eight | $65 per person |
Starting fares as published by each operator in August 2026. Per-group fares are shown with the vehicle cap that fare covers.
See every Longji Rice Terraces tour
The honest summary: below three travellers, a join-in coach is better value and the guide is usually better. At four or more, the per-car fares change the arithmetic completely.
What you get, and what you don’t
In the fare
- ✓ Hotel pickup in Guilin, and Yangshuo on five of them
- ✓ A private air-conditioned car or van with driver
- ✓ A private guide on six of the nine
- ✓ The CNY 80 scenic-area ticket on six of the nine
- ✓ Village lunch on three
- ✓ Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead, on every one
Not in the fare
- ✗ The gate ticket, on the three transport-only fares
- ✗ The Dazhai ropeway, except on the cable-car day
- ✗ The CNY 80 long-hair performance at Huangluo
- ✗ Lunch, on six of the nine
- ✗ Gratuities — one operator suggests CNY 50–100 per person
- ✗ Highway tolls on one fare, at CNY 70 for the round trip
Planning a private tour
Fares start at $68 per person and run to $328 for the three-day trip, with the two per-car options at $136 and $193. Days run eight to ten hours door to door, and the three-day trip puts Longji on its second day.
Book a few days ahead for most of the year and a week or more through the harvest. One operator reports its private days being taken about seven weeks in advance on average, which is worth knowing for late September.
Tell the operator which valley you want when you book, and whether you would rather start early. Both are easy to arrange in advance and awkward to change on the morning. If you have not decided between the two, the four villages page maps every tour to the villages it actually visits.
The cheapest private car with a guide
Ten hours, a guide who also drives, three hours hiking at Ping’an and a stop at Huangluo. You buy the CNY 80 ticket at the gate.
From $68 per personCheck Availability
Who should choose something else
If you are travelling alone or as a pair and want the guiding rather than the flexibility, a join-in coach gives you a licensed guide, the ticket and lunch for less than half the price of the cheapest private day. The small-group tours are set out separately.
If steps are the difficulty, the answer is not private or join-in but the ropeway — and one specific day tour bundles the return trip into its fare.
And if you only want a viewpoint and a photograph, the terraces do not need a full day. A shared trip that pairs Longji with the Li River gives you the view at a lower price and gets more into the same two days.
Frequently asked questions
Should I go to Ping'an or Dazhai?
Ping’an if you want the classic view and a shorter day; Dazhai, in the Jinkeng valley, if you want a bigger and emptier landscape and do not mind the extra distance. Ping’an is a 20 to 30 minute climb from the road, while Dazhai has a cable car. One ticket covers both, so the real constraint is time.
Is the entrance ticket included in Longji Rice Terraces tours?
On most of them, yes, and the card for each tour says which. Three of the cheaper options deliberately leave it out so you pay only for the transport, and on those you buy the CNY 80 ticket at the gate on the way in. Two more include it on the fuller booking option and not on the basic one.
Can I do a Longji Rice Terraces tour from Yangshuo?
Yes. Five of the options here collect from Yangshuo hotels as well as Guilin ones, and one will drop you in Yangshuo at the end for an extra fee. The drive is longer from Yangshuo, so those days start earlier and finish later.
Is it accessible for wheelchairs or pushchairs?
The terrace paths are stone stairways and almost every listing states that it is not wheelchair accessible. One three-day private tour does describe itself as wheelchair-accessible, and one day tour is marked stroller accessible. If steps are the problem, the Dazhai cable car and the electric buggy at Ping’an remove most of the climbing.
How far ahead should I book a day tour?
A few days is usually enough, and a week or more through the harvest weeks in late September and October. One operator reports its private days being booked about seven weeks ahead on average. Every tour here refunds in full up to 24 hours before departure, so booking early costs nothing.
What shoes should I wear?
Trainers or light walking shoes with a proper sole. The paths are dry stone steps in good weather and slippery ones after rain, and there is no section that needs boots. Sandals make the descent harder than it needs to be.
What does the shuttle bus inside the scenic area cost?
CNY 40 per passenger, and it is compulsory rather than optional when your group arrives in a vehicle with ten seats or more. Large vehicles are not allowed up the village roads. Smaller private cars drive straight through.
Private Longji Rice Terraces tours
Longji Rice Terraces Private Car & English-Speaking Driver
From $136 per group (up to 8)
Check Availability