Traveling in Zhangjiajie—come quickly.
Traveling in Zhangjiajie Some people like independent travel, but having gone to Zhangjiajie last year, I'll still give you some honest advice: joining a tour group is a bit better. National Day is peak season. If you go by yourself, you simply can't figure out what's where, and there are people everywhere. By the time you figure out where to buy tickets and where to line up, it'll already be dark. When we went last year, even with a guide leading us, we still had to line up for hours—what a sea of people~ Another problem is that Zhangjiajie...
Traveling in Zhangjiajie
Some people like independent travel, but having gone to Zhangjiajie last year, I'll still give you some honest advice: joining a tour group is a bit better. National Day is peak
season. If you go by yourself, you simply can't figure out what's where, and there are people everywhere. By the time you figure out where to buy tickets and where to line up, it'll already be dark
. When we went last year, even with a guide leading us, we still had to line up for hours—what a sea of people~ Another problem is that Zhangjiajie's
sights are not especially concentrated. If you go by yourself, you also have to find transportation, which is very troublesome. The key worry is that even if you have money, you may not find a car. There's also the accommodation problem: during those days it's very hard to find a place to stay inside the scenic area by yourself, and even if you find one, it's frighteningly expensive. So considering these
points, joining a tour group is a bit better. Although the one-time payment feels relatively expensive, doing it yourself may end up costing more in bits and pieces, and you won't enjoy it as much
.
If it's not Golden Week, then going by yourself may be a bit better: fewer people and lower expenses all around. This is my most valuable experience.
It's best to go by yourself, because there isn't much to see in Zhangjiajie city; the main attraction is the National Forest Park. If you join a tour group, they'll drag you to places that waste money, and since you're a young couple, going by yourself is freer. To go to the National Forest Park, just go to the bus station and take a bus—there are direct ones. For accommodation you can stay at Pipa Stream Hotel in the Forest Park; the environment there is very nice. Welcome to our Zhangjiajie.
Traveling in Zhangjiajie
Objectively speaking, the scenic appeal of Zhangjiajie is above that of Guilin and Huangshan, and the reception facilities are quite complete. The tourism market is relatively mature
, so both joining a tour and independent travel are feasible.
Joining a tour group from your place of departure can save you a lot of trouble, such as food, accommodation, and transportation. But it definitely doesn't mean all that's left is sightseeing. Relatively speaking, after joining a group, many optional paid items and unavoidable shopping stops are hard to avoid. And if the guests don't contribute, the guide may not even give you a pleasant look. There's no way to change this, because now all mature scenic areas nationwide, under competitive pressure, have local receiving agencies taking groups at cost or at a loss. The remuneration of the receiving agency and guide basically all comes from the guide's secondary income generation.
Moreover, joining a tour group is very unfree; every place is just a quick glance. In addition, a tourist's contract for joining a tour group is signed with the organizing agency, but the executors are the destination travel agency and destination guide. Many discrepancies inevitably arise in between. After arriving at the destination, if travelers want to take other itineraries outside the contract, it cannot be implemented. Changing the contract is also very troublesome. It is precisely these many restrictions of joining tour groups that have made independent travel so popular now, because independent travel has no restrictions, is unrestrained, and is very free. As long as you choose your destination well and contact a local independent guide or hotel, you can easily get it done. Compared with other scenic areas nationwide, Zhangjiajie has even more advantages for independent travel. That is, joining a tour group from your place of departure absolutely cannot take you to Zhangjiajie's most attractive sights, such as Tianbo Mansion in Yangjiajie, Wulong Village, One Step to Heaven, Sky Corridor, One Step Is Hard at Daguantai, Immortal Bridge, Tianzi Seat, the Divine Soldiers Gathering at Laowuchang, Sky Garden, and other essential sights. If you don't believe it, those friends who joined tours can recall whether they visited these places?