Private Day Tour: Chengdu Panda Base and Leshan Grand Buddha

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. Your day trip starts with hotel pickup by your private and friendly guide and driver. Head directly to the Chengdu Panda Base (aka the Panda Breeding Center, officially known as the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding), located about 40 minutes outside of central Chengdu. Arrive at the center before feeding time to observe the beloved bears when they are at their most active. Your guide leads you through different areas to see baby and adult giant pandas, as well as red pandas, cat-like animals that are not closely related to giant pandas but are still pretty cute. Learn about the protection of panda bears in the wild and recent achievements in breeding, feeding and reintroduction to the wilderness.

   2 hAdmission included

2. Next up, leave the panda base and take in the scenery during the 3-hour drive to Leshan, where you'll have lunch at a local restaurant before visiting the Grand Buddha, part of a UNESCO World Heritage site inscribed as 'Mount Emei Scenic Area, including Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area.' Work started on the Grand Buddha in the year 713 and was completed in 803 after several delays. Carved out of a cliff next to the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers, the massive sculpture stands 233 feet (71 meters) high and measures 92 feet (28 meters) wide. It is the largest carved stone Buddha in the world by far. Begin your tour of the site at the Grand Buddha Temple (Lingyun Temple), which sits behind the Buddha’s giant head (as you approach, note the statue’s hair, which includes approximately 1,020 coiled buns). Inside the temple, view intricate sculptures and wall decorations, and then follow your guide down a trail that leads to the base of the Buddha. Make sure you got enough good photos of this wonder before head back to Chengdu, where your day trip ends with hotel or airport drop-off.

   2 hAdmission included

Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

Ratings come from 1 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Know before you go

How it compares in Chengdu

• Its from-price is close to the median of the 212 day trips we list in Chengdu.
• Its length is typical for the group.
• By number of reviews it ranks 80 of 212.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Chengdu

Chengdu is the Sichuan capital where giant pandas, tea houses, Three Kingdoms shrines and blazing hotpot define an easygoing western Chinese city.

Chengdu is best known as the home of the giant panda, and a breeding and research base on the northern edge lets visitors watch pandas feeding and climbing. In town, the Wuhou Shrine honours Zhuge Liang and other heroes of the Three Kingdoms period, while Du Fu's Thatched Cottage preserves the garden where the Tang poet lived. Wenshu Monastery and Qingyang Palace are working Buddhist and Daoist temples.

Top-ranked sights in Chengdu: Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Leshan Giant Buddha (Da Fo), Kuan Zhai Alley (Kuan Zhai Xiang Zi).

See all 783 experiences in Chengdu