Longmen Grottoes Tickets: Follow the Four-Part Route

A full adult ticket to the Longmen Grottoes costs ¥90 (about US$13.50, £10 or €12) and covers four areas in a fixed one-way order: West Hill, East Hill, Xiangshan Temple and Bai Garden, each with its own ticket check, so keep the ticket and your passport until the end. In winter, ticket sales stop at 16:30.

Longmen is near Luoyang, 1 hour 15 minutes from Xi’an by the fastest morning train (times below). That makes a day trip realistic even on winter hours, and a night in Luoyang worth it only if you want the quiet morning hours.

Four areas along the river

The operator’s full adult admission was ¥90 when checked on 15 October 2026, about US$13.50, £10 or €12 at ECB reference rates from 14 October 2026. The stated inclusion is West Hill Grottoes, East Hill Grottoes, Xiangshan Temple and Bai Garden, following that order along a one-way route. There are four ticket checks.

Begin with West Hill and give the carved cliff its share of your attention. It builds to Fengxian Temple, the largest group of niches cut into the cliff at Longmen and, in the operator’s words, the finest surviving Tang stone sculpture, made under Emperor Gaozong. Its seated Vairocana Buddha stands 17.14 m high. Give that terrace time before you cross the river, then look back at the small niches around it; the contrast is the point.

UNESCO describes Longmen’s Buddhist sculpture in the context of the Northern Wei and Tang periods. The early Guyangdong and Binyang caves and the later monumental carvings give you a reason to look for changes in the figures, clothing and composition. A guide can help explain those differences if the history interests you more than collecting viewpoints.

Across the river, continue with the East Hill section and the onward route to Xiangshan Temple and Bai Garden. Keep enough time and energy for this part before agreeing a collection time. The included areas are separate stages of the visit, so a driver waiting at the wrong point can make a straightforward departure awkward.

Follow the signs and staff directions between the areas. Individual caves and stairways can be closed off, so if one sculpture is the reason you’re coming, check that it’s open before you build the trip around it.

You’ll spend time outside as well as looking at carvings, so plan for the forecast and wear shoes suited to walking and steps. Bring water and leave room for a break. Tell a guide or transport organiser about mobility needs before buying, and ask which parts of the intended route involve stairs.

Day hours, summer and winter

The operator’s seasonal pages, checked on 15 October 2026, set out the following daytime schedule. Check the current notice for winter 2026/27 or a later visit, including any special arrangements on your chosen date.

Those four times aren’t the same thing. In winter the ticket office stops selling at 16:30; if you’ve booked ahead you can still go in until 17:00, but the site is cleared at 18:00, which leaves an hour for four areas on both banks of the river. Aim to be through the first check by early afternoon at the latest.

In winter, if a late train into Luoyang gets you to the gate close to 16:30, stay the night and go in the morning instead. The longer hours return on 1 March, so check them again for a spring 2027 trip.

A night tour isn’t an extension of the day ticket. The operator sells it separately at ¥120 per person with real-name booking, and at night only the West Hill grottoes and Xiangshan Temple are open (its Chinese ticket and visitor pages, read on 8 November 2026). Confirm the operating date and end time of the night programme before booking it, and keep the daytime plan workable on its own.

Passport, booking and concessions

Longmen’s published rules use real-name booking with a selected visit time slot, so the ticket is tied to your passport and a date. Keep the passport with you for all four checks. The operator lists its official WeChat channels on its ticketing pages; if you buy through another service, find out who issues the admission before the day, because the English pages don’t confirm online checkout with a foreign passport and a booking that needs correcting is easier to sort out from home.

Don’t plan on a walk-up purchase. The full adult price is the one to budget with: children up to 1.4 m tall go free whatever their nationality, but the operator’s Chinese policy limits the other free categories to Chinese citizens, and a student-card discount you see advertised elsewhere may not apply to you.

You’ll need a way to pay locally too; the China payment guide covers the setup beyond a single app.

With a guide or on your own

A guide earns their fee at West Hill, where the difference between the early Northern Wei caves and the later Tang carving is easy to walk past. Ask how long the visit is, which areas it covers and whether the guide carries on across the river or stops after West Hill; for a station pickup, send the train number, not just the date.

Be cautious about filling the same day with several distant attractions. If Longmen is the reason for the journey, give it enough room for the carvings, both sides of the river and a break. The Xi’an guide and two days in Xi’an can help you decide how many separate excursion days fit your stay before adding this one.

Luoyang Longmen station to the gate

For the rail approach, look for Luoyang Longmen railway station in the timetable. The attraction’s directions list a taxi or bus 71 from that station. Check the current bus stops and service before relying on it for a tightly timed return.

The station and the scenic area are separate places. Include the local journey, the approach to the entrance and any queue in your plan. Agree a precise drop-off with a driver, particularly if your booking or tour names a specific meeting point.

The operator also lists an optional electric shuttle at ¥10 per person one way (about US$1.50, £1.10 or €1.35), checked on 15 October 2026, for the approach from the service area towards the checkpoint. This is a separate charge from admission. Confirm where the ride ends and what walking remains before choosing it for someone with limited mobility.

From Xi’an it’s an easy day trip by fast train. On 12306’s timetable for 17 November 2026, G652 leaves Xi’an North at 07:07 and reaches Luoyang Longmen at 08:22 (1 hour 15 minutes, ¥173 in second class, ¥284 in first), and trains run through the morning. In the evening, G915 leaves Luoyang Longmen at 18:39 and is back at Xi’an North at 20:04. Those are one date’s times read on 8 November 2026, so look up yours. In winter the site clears at 18:00, so G915 is about the earliest train you can count on if you stay to the end, and later ones ran until 20:17 that day; the 08:00 opening means the 07:07 gets you in early. The rail booking comparison covers how to buy.

With luggage, deal with the bags before you reach the site: the route runs one way and ends at Bai Garden on the far bank, not back at the entrance. Then book the return train with the walk out, the ride to Luoyang Longmen and the station checks in mind.