Things to do in Luoyang
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Luoyang
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Peony Festival from early April to early May, peak bloom usually 15 to 25 April, with the year's biggest crowds and hotel prices.
Best all round months after the festival peak and in autumn, warm and drier with good mountain hiking weather.
Hot, humid summer. Sightsee at dawn, use night openings and expect mountain weather gambles.
National Day Golden Week, 1 to 7 October, is a domestic travel peak to avoid at headline sights if you can.
Cold, dry and quiet with the cheapest hotels, plus snow on Laojun Mountain and a Chinese New Year crowd exception.
Late March is the value shoulder, just before the festival, with most sights quiet and prices still normal.
What's on
- China Luoyang Peony Cultural Festival early April to early May, peak bloom 15 to 25 April
Over a thousand peony varieties in the city's gardens, with night openings, light shows and peak crowds and prices.
Best things to do in Luoyang
Longmen Grottoes
A cliff of Buddhist carving along the Yi River, crowned by the huge Vairocana Buddha in Fengxian Temple.
White Horse Temple
China's first Buddhist temple, founded in 68 AD, calm in its old core with Thai, Burmese and Indian halls beside it.
Luoyang Museum
The free museum that explains Luoyang, from early bronzes to the Tang sancai tomb figures the city is famous for.
Luoyang Ancient Tombs Museum
Walk down into a real Northern Wei emperor's tomb, then through 25 reassembled tombs spanning a thousand years.
Sui and Tang Dynasties Luoyang City Yingtian Gate Site
Wu Zetian's reconstructed palace gate, a small ruins museum by day and a spectacular light show after dark.
Sui and Tang Luoyang City National Heritage Park
The reconstructed Mingtang hall and Tiantang tower on Wu Zetian's palace foundations, best as an evening cluster.
Lijing Gate
The old town's floodlit west gate on the moat, and the start of an evening walk down Luoyang Old Street.
Luoyi Ancient City
Lantern lit rebuilt lanes around Wenfeng Tower, and at night the densest hanfu dress up scene in Luoyang.
Where to stay in Luoyang
Old Town (Laocheng)
first trip, evenings on foot
Lijing Gate, Luoyi Ancient City, Cross Street food and the Yingtian Gate cluster are all walkable from here.
Xigong and Jianxi, Peony Square and Wangcheng Park
all round base and local life
The commercial centre, with Guangzhou Market food streets, Wangcheng Park, metro lines and the best value hotels.
Luolong
trains, museums and April peony gardens
New and quiet, with the museum, both big peony gardens and the high speed station, but thin evenings.
Think twice about
- Luoyang Railway Station perimeter, Xigong
The city's most transient and tout heavy blocks, noisy at night with the weakest central restaurant streets. Use the station, do not sleep beside it.
- White Horse Temple and far Chanhe east
Isolated at night with almost no eating or walking life, and a long ride from every other sight.
- Cross Street and Luoyi lanes at festival peak
Not unsafe, but loud and crowded late for light sleepers and families, and hard to get a car out of in the evening.
Best restaurants in Luoyang
Zhen Bu Tong Restaurant (Zhongzhou East Road Branch)
The historic flagship for the full 24 course Water Banquet, served with ceremony in private rooms.
Lao Luoyang Restaurant
The locals' all round Luoyang kitchen off Peony Square, for noodles, lamb and banquet dishes without the script.
Guanji Water Banquet
Water Banquet dishes ordered one by one at local prices, including the sour, peppery sliced meat soup.
Xiaojie Guotie
Luoyang's famous long pan fried dumplings at Guangzhou Market, crisp, juicy and queued for all day.
Shizi Street Night Market
The Cross Street night graze in the old town, for bufan soup, jiangmian noodles, skewers and peony cakes.
Majieshan Beef Soup Restaurant
A beef soup institution claiming a Qing dynasty founding, where prep starts at 3am for the dawn bowls.
Nanguan Small Bowl Beef Soup
The connoisseur's breakfast bowl, open from about 4.30am with a local queue by seven and free soup refills.
Fang Zhongshan Hu La Tang
Henan's peppery hulatang breakfast soup at a busy Fang Zhongshan branch, thick, hot and sweating you awake.
Outdoor things to do in Luoyang
Shaolin Temple
The famous kung fu temple and its Pagoda Forest, impressive and very commercialised in equal measure.
Sanhuangzhai
The cliffside Songshan hike from Shaolin, cable car up then a long step trail to Sanhuangzhai monastery.
Laojun Mountain Scenic Spot
A Taoist mountain with golden summit temples above a sea of cloud, best done overnight for sunrise.
Sui-Tang City Ruins Botanical Garden
A large, shaded botanical park over palace city ruins, the calm in city walk and the quieter peony garden.
Luo River
The river banks where Luoyang walks at dusk, a free reset between ticketed sights and the night lights.
Best hotels in Luoyang
Luoyang Marriott Hotel
The city's international luxury benchmark in Luolong, new, lake view and handy for the station and gardens.
Christian's Hotel
Luoyang's famous independent hotel, large modern rooms and service reviewers rate above five star rivals.
Hyatt Place Luoyang
A reliable international mid tier hotel across from Wangcheng Park, with Guangzhou Market eating at the door.
Liangyi Xunji Hotel
A courtyard boutique inn in the old town lanes, minutes from Luoyi Ancient City and Lijing Gate.
Luoyang Xingfuli Inn
A simple, kind host led inn by Luoyi Ancient City and the Cross Street night market eateries.
Is Luoyang expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CN¥220 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CN¥480 a person |
| Splurge | CN¥1,100 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Longmen Grottoes: a few days ahead
- Luoyang Museum: a few days ahead
- Luoyang Ancient Tombs Museum: a few days ahead
- China National Flower Garden: a few days ahead
- Shaolin Temple: a few days ahead
- Laojun Mountain Scenic Spot: a few days ahead
- Luoyang Marriott Hotel: weeks ahead
- Zhen Bu Tong Restaurant (Zhongzhou East Road Branch): a few days ahead
- Book April peony festival hotels weeks ahead and expect peak prices.
- Book Longmen tickets online with passport details and take the opening or a night tour slot.
- Luoyang Museum is free but reservation based and closed on Mondays.
- Laojun Mountain has daily visitor caps, so book ahead and check the summit forecast.
Is Luoyang safe?
- Watch for pickpockets in festival crushes at Wangcheng Park and the peony gardens.
- Carry water at Longmen, where the cliff path has no shade in summer.
- Summits on Songshan and Laojun Mountain are windy and much colder than the base.
- Emergency numbers in China are 110 for police and 120 for ambulance.
Luoyang travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Buy tang sancai replicas and peony porcelain as decoration, never as antiquity.
- Restaurants facing the scenic gates charge gate prices for canteen food, so walk two streets in.
- A full 24 course Water Banquet is built for a group table, not for two people.
- Agree hanfu rental price, deposit and return terms in full before you sit down.
Getting around Luoyang: public transport and more
- Metro Line 1 runs east to west and Line 2 north to south to Luoyang Longmen station.
- Ride hailing via Alipay is cheap and is the default for the tombs museum, White Horse Temple and Dengfeng.
- Agree prices with non metered drivers at scenic exits before you ride, especially at Sanhuangzhai.
- High speed trains reach Xi'an in about 1.5 hours and Zhengzhou in under an hour.
Who Luoyang suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Luoyang your trip
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