Purple Mountain in a Day: Which Sites, in What Order?
Choose the two Purple Mountain sights that matter most instead of trying to exhaust the whole ridge. Hills, internal transport and closing times make the order crucial, especially once fatigue starts deciding for you.
The short answer
The mausoleum above its main gate is shut unless it is a public holiday or one of Sun's anniversaries. Do Ming Xiaoling instead — no closure listed, only its museum shuts — plus Meiling Palace and Linggu on the combo; the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall by the Music Stage is closed Mondays too.
For the mausoleum get off at Xiamafang or Xiaolingwei, not Muxuyuan: during the control hours (09:00-17:00 on weekdays, 08:30-17:30 at weekends and on public holidays) the shuttle from Muxuyuan does not go that way, and you would walk to the Meiling Palace stop to change. Taxis and ride-hails cannot drive into the scenic roads in those hours either — they drop you at Muxuyuan (Zijinfang car park) or Xiamafang station.
The ¥100 combo covers exactly four: Ming Xiaoling, Meiling Palace, Linggu and the Music Stage. Ming Xiaoling (¥70) plus Meiling (¥30) is already ¥100, so if you do both, buy the combo. The mausoleum is free but booked separately; the cableway, the shuttle and the ¥32 commentary line are never in it.
¥10 a ride, ¥30 for the day — three rides and the pass has paid for itself. Keep the order mausoleum → Meiling → Ming Xiaoling → Linggu, and be on the big loop before 16:30 if Linggu is on the list; after that it is Zhonglingjie metro or bus 202.
The observatory has been closed since 2026-09-01 with works scheduled to the end of 2027; the cableway still runs (¥60 / ¥100) but is only worth it on a clear day for the view. Keep it out of this one day.
Side by sideEach cell ends with the date of the notice it was checked against
Swipe sideways; the first column stays put
Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum
中山陵Open the place →- Book ahead? Hours
- Yes — free, but only with a real-name booking for a time slot: the 南京钟山风景区 WeChat official account, the 中山陵园票务中心 service account, Meituan, or on-site kiosks. On holidays the park itself says book ahead and enter in your slot. When slots are released is not published. Above the main gate 08:30-17:00; closed Mondays, except public holidays and Sun's anniversaries · 2026-06-18
- Ticket & combo
- Free with a real-name booking; not part of the ¥100 combo. Bag storage at the visitor centre ¥10 a piece per day (08:30-16:30), lockers ¥10 per 2 hours · 2025-09-30
- Metro + shuttle (control hours)
- Metro Line 2 to Xiamafang, then the shuttle to the Zhongshan Ling South stop, bus 34 or the footpath; or Xiaolingwei, then the shuttle to the Zhongshan Ling (Zijinshan Road) stop. From Muxuyuan the shuttle does not run towards the mausoleum during the control hours (09:00-17:00 on weekdays, 08:30-17:30 at weekends and on public holidays) — walk to the Meiling Palace (Shichao Culture Park) stop and change. Taxis and ride-hails may not drive in during the same hours; set-down at Muxuyuan (Zijinfang car park) or Xiamafang station · 2025-09-25
- How long to give it
- The park publishes no visit length. The climb is 392 steps and 10 landings over 700 m, rising 70 m from the archway to the sacrificial hall; the burial chamber is shut, so the hall doors are the end and you walk back down · 2025-06-26
- Getting in on a passport
- Unclear. The bilingual guide lists passports for real-name ticket purchase, but the booking rules mention only an ID card, and the kiosks say bring 'your own ID card'. Call ticketing on 025-84437786 or 025-84433582 (08:30-17:30), or ask your hotel to book · 2025-06-26
- Don't mistake it for
- The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall by the Music Stage shuttle stop is a separate museum, closed Mondays, not the tomb; 'Zhongshan' (钟山) is also the whole mountain park, of which the mausoleum is one area · 2026-09-23
Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum + Stone Elephant Road
明孝陵 + 石象路Open the place →- Book ahead? Hours
- No booking: buy at any gate or in the 钟山风景区 mini-program; without WeChat, Trip.com's international site sells it directly (platform, checked September 2026). Ticket sales 06:30-18:30 (Feb-Nov), 07:00-17:30 (Dec-Jan); no closing day listed. The Ming Xiaoling Museum is 09:00-17:00, last entry 16:30, closed Mondays · 2025-06-26
- Ticket & combo
- ¥70; the four-site combo is ¥100 and covers Ming Xiaoling, Linggu, the Music Stage and Meiling Palace. Plum Blossom Hill is inside this ticket. The in-area commentary shuttle (Gate 3 → Gate 2 → Gate 1 → Golden Water Bridge) is ¥32 extra and not in the ¥30 day pass · 2025-09-30
- Metro + shuttle (control hours)
- Metro Line 2 Muxuyuan is the park's named station for Ming Xiaoling — walk or take the shuttle that loops past Gates 1 and 2; buses 20 and 315 stop at 明孝陵. The museum and the start of the spirit way are at Xiamafang Ruins Park. From Meiling Palace, the line via Ming Xiaoling Gate 7 · 2025-10-09
- How long to give it
- No visit length published; it is a long outdoor walk, not a building: Xiamafang gateway → Great Golden Gate → Square City stele pavilion → Stone Elephant Road (615 m) → Wenwu Fangmen → Soul Tower. The biggest block of the afternoon · 2026-09-23
- Getting in on a passport
- Real-name tickets; a passport is accepted (park's bilingual guide). Trip.com lists its ticket as needing no collection (platform) · 2025-06-26
- Don't mistake it for
- Not the Ming Tombs (十三陵) outside Beijing; and mingxiaoling.com is an expired, parked domain, not the ticket office · 2026-09-23
Meiling Palace
美龄宫Open the place →- Book ahead? Hours
- No booking: buy at the gate or in the 钟山风景区 mini-program. 07:30-18:00, last entry 17:30; no weekly closure listed. Holiday hours change (19-20 June 2026 it stayed open to 19:00) — check the park's notices · 2025-08-06
- Ticket & combo
- ¥30, or in the ¥100 four-site combo — which only saves money if you do Ming Xiaoling as well (¥70 + ¥30 is already ¥100) · 2025-09-30
- Metro + shuttle (control hours)
- The shuttle from Xiamafang metro (Line 2): Xiamafang → Zhongshan Ling car park west → 美龄宫, ¥10 a ride; Xiamafang station is about 900 m away in a straight line (OSM). The Meiling Palace (Shichao Culture Park) stop is also where you change if you came from Muxuyuan in control hours · 2025-10-09
- How long to give it
- No visit length published; one villa, and the park itself says it is the first thing to drop if you are short of time · 2026-09-23
- Getting in on a passport
- Real-name tickets; a passport is accepted (park's bilingual guide) · 2025-06-26
- Don't mistake it for
- Not the Presidential Palace (总统府) in the city centre — that was the government seat; this is the villa on the mountain · 2026-09-23
Linggu (Beamless Hall + Pagoda)
灵谷景区（无梁殿 · 灵谷塔）Open the place →- Book ahead? Hours
- No booking: buy at the gate or in the 钟山风景区 mini-program. Ticket sales 06:30-18:30 (Feb-Nov), 07:00-17:30 (Dec-Jan); no closing day listed · 2025-06-26
- Ticket & combo
- ¥35, or in the ¥100 four-site combo. Free-entry days are run and announced by the park each year, not fixed; in 2026 the Mid-Autumn round was free coupons in the mini-program, entry 'with an ID card only' — the notice does not mention passports · 2025-09-30
- Metro + shuttle (control hours)
- Metro Line 2 to Zhonglingjie, then walk along Linggusi Road or take bus 202; from the mausoleum side the big-loop shuttle runs via 流徽榭 to 灵谷景区, but only 08:30-16:30. Main gate: the Red Gate (红山门) · 2025-10-09
- How long to give it
- No visit length published. The Beamless Hall, then the 60 m pagoda with 252 steps on its spiral stair — whether the stair is open on the day is not published; ask at the gate before you walk up · 2026-09-23
- Getting in on a passport
- Real-name tickets; a passport is accepted (park's bilingual guide) · 2025-06-26
- Don't mistake it for
- Linggu Pagoda is a 1931-1933 memorial tower for the war dead, not a Buddhist pagoda; the working Linggu Temple you may see signposted is a small part of the Ming temple, not the Beamless Hall complex · 2026-09-23
Open-Air Music Stage
中山陵音乐台Open the place →- Book ahead? Hours
- No booking: buy at the gate or in the 钟山风景区 mini-program. Ticket sales 06:30-18:30 (Feb-Nov), 07:00-17:30 (Dec-Jan); no closing day listed · 2025-06-26
- Ticket & combo
- ¥10, or in the ¥100 four-site combo · 2025-09-30
- Metro + shuttle (control hours)
- About 220 m from the Bo'ai Archway at the foot of the mausoleum (OSM) — on foot before or after the climb. Shuttle stop 孙中山纪念馆（音乐台）, the end of the Zhonglingjie metro line; last buses from there to 19:00 in Feb-Nov · 2025-10-09
- How long to give it
- Ten minutes unless there is a concert on — a lawn, a stage and a pond · 2026-09-23
- Getting in on a passport
- Real-name tickets; a passport is accepted (park's bilingual guide) · 2025-06-26
- Don't mistake it for
- The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall shares its shuttle stop name, 孙中山纪念馆（音乐台）, but is a separate museum (09:00-17:00, closed Mondays) · 2026-09-23
| Compare | Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum | Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum + Stone Elephant Road | Meiling Palace | Linggu (Beamless Hall + Pagoda) | Open-Air Music Stage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book ahead? Hours | Yes — free, but only with a real-name booking for a time slot: the 南京钟山风景区 WeChat official account, the 中山陵园票务中心 service account, Meituan, or on-site kiosks. On holidays the park itself says book ahead and enter in your slot. When slots are released is not published. Above the main gate 08:30-17:00; closed Mondays, except public holidays and Sun's anniversaries · 2026-06-18 | No booking: buy at any gate or in the 钟山风景区 mini-program; without WeChat, Trip.com's international site sells it directly (platform, checked September 2026). Ticket sales 06:30-18:30 (Feb-Nov), 07:00-17:30 (Dec-Jan); no closing day listed. The Ming Xiaoling Museum is 09:00-17:00, last entry 16:30, closed Mondays · 2025-06-26 | No booking: buy at the gate or in the 钟山风景区 mini-program. 07:30-18:00, last entry 17:30; no weekly closure listed. Holiday hours change (19-20 June 2026 it stayed open to 19:00) — check the park's notices · 2025-08-06 | No booking: buy at the gate or in the 钟山风景区 mini-program. Ticket sales 06:30-18:30 (Feb-Nov), 07:00-17:30 (Dec-Jan); no closing day listed · 2025-06-26 | No booking: buy at the gate or in the 钟山风景区 mini-program. Ticket sales 06:30-18:30 (Feb-Nov), 07:00-17:30 (Dec-Jan); no closing day listed · 2025-06-26 |
| Ticket & combo | Free with a real-name booking; not part of the ¥100 combo. Bag storage at the visitor centre ¥10 a piece per day (08:30-16:30), lockers ¥10 per 2 hours · 2025-09-30 | ¥70; the four-site combo is ¥100 and covers Ming Xiaoling, Linggu, the Music Stage and Meiling Palace. Plum Blossom Hill is inside this ticket. The in-area commentary shuttle (Gate 3 → Gate 2 → Gate 1 → Golden Water Bridge) is ¥32 extra and not in the ¥30 day pass · 2025-09-30 | ¥30, or in the ¥100 four-site combo — which only saves money if you do Ming Xiaoling as well (¥70 + ¥30 is already ¥100) · 2025-09-30 | ¥35, or in the ¥100 four-site combo. Free-entry days are run and announced by the park each year, not fixed; in 2026 the Mid-Autumn round was free coupons in the mini-program, entry 'with an ID card only' — the notice does not mention passports · 2025-09-30 | ¥10, or in the ¥100 four-site combo · 2025-09-30 |
| Metro + shuttle (control hours) | Metro Line 2 to Xiamafang, then the shuttle to the Zhongshan Ling South stop, bus 34 or the footpath; or Xiaolingwei, then the shuttle to the Zhongshan Ling (Zijinshan Road) stop. From Muxuyuan the shuttle does not run towards the mausoleum during the control hours (09:00-17:00 on weekdays, 08:30-17:30 at weekends and on public holidays) — walk to the Meiling Palace (Shichao Culture Park) stop and change. Taxis and ride-hails may not drive in during the same hours; set-down at Muxuyuan (Zijinfang car park) or Xiamafang station · 2025-09-25 | Metro Line 2 Muxuyuan is the park's named station for Ming Xiaoling — walk or take the shuttle that loops past Gates 1 and 2; buses 20 and 315 stop at 明孝陵. The museum and the start of the spirit way are at Xiamafang Ruins Park. From Meiling Palace, the line via Ming Xiaoling Gate 7 · 2025-10-09 | The shuttle from Xiamafang metro (Line 2): Xiamafang → Zhongshan Ling car park west → 美龄宫, ¥10 a ride; Xiamafang station is about 900 m away in a straight line (OSM). The Meiling Palace (Shichao Culture Park) stop is also where you change if you came from Muxuyuan in control hours · 2025-10-09 | Metro Line 2 to Zhonglingjie, then walk along Linggusi Road or take bus 202; from the mausoleum side the big-loop shuttle runs via 流徽榭 to 灵谷景区, but only 08:30-16:30. Main gate: the Red Gate (红山门) · 2025-10-09 | About 220 m from the Bo'ai Archway at the foot of the mausoleum (OSM) — on foot before or after the climb. Shuttle stop 孙中山纪念馆（音乐台）, the end of the Zhonglingjie metro line; last buses from there to 19:00 in Feb-Nov · 2025-10-09 |
| How long to give it | The park publishes no visit length. The climb is 392 steps and 10 landings over 700 m, rising 70 m from the archway to the sacrificial hall; the burial chamber is shut, so the hall doors are the end and you walk back down · 2025-06-26 | No visit length published; it is a long outdoor walk, not a building: Xiamafang gateway → Great Golden Gate → Square City stele pavilion → Stone Elephant Road (615 m) → Wenwu Fangmen → Soul Tower. The biggest block of the afternoon · 2026-09-23 | No visit length published; one villa, and the park itself says it is the first thing to drop if you are short of time · 2026-09-23 | No visit length published. The Beamless Hall, then the 60 m pagoda with 252 steps on its spiral stair — whether the stair is open on the day is not published; ask at the gate before you walk up · 2026-09-23 | Ten minutes unless there is a concert on — a lawn, a stage and a pond · 2026-09-23 |
| Getting in on a passport | Unclear. The bilingual guide lists passports for real-name ticket purchase, but the booking rules mention only an ID card, and the kiosks say bring 'your own ID card'. Call ticketing on 025-84437786 or 025-84433582 (08:30-17:30), or ask your hotel to book · 2025-06-26 | Real-name tickets; a passport is accepted (park's bilingual guide). Trip.com lists its ticket as needing no collection (platform) · 2025-06-26 | Real-name tickets; a passport is accepted (park's bilingual guide) · 2025-06-26 | Real-name tickets; a passport is accepted (park's bilingual guide) · 2025-06-26 | Real-name tickets; a passport is accepted (park's bilingual guide) · 2025-06-26 |
| Don't mistake it for | The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall by the Music Stage shuttle stop is a separate museum, closed Mondays, not the tomb; 'Zhongshan' (钟山) is also the whole mountain park, of which the mausoleum is one area · 2026-09-23 | Not the Ming Tombs (十三陵) outside Beijing; and mingxiaoling.com is an expired, parked domain, not the ticket office · 2026-09-23 | Not the Presidential Palace (总统府) in the city centre — that was the government seat; this is the villa on the mountain · 2026-09-23 | Linggu Pagoda is a 1931-1933 memorial tower for the war dead, not a Buddhist pagoda; the working Linggu Temple you may see signposted is a small part of the Ming temple, not the Beamless Hall complex · 2026-09-23 | The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall shares its shuttle stop name, 孙中山纪念馆（音乐台）, but is a separate museum (09:00-17:00, closed Mondays) · 2026-09-23 |
Plum Blossom Hill：Inside the Ming Xiaoling ticket (¥70), about 600 m east of the Stone Elephant Road — one walk with the tomb; only worth a detour in plum season, which in 2026 ran February to mid-March. February-March visitors, on a weekday morning if possible; the rest of the year a hill you pass on the way.
Scenic-area shuttle：The glue of the day: ¥10 a ride or ¥30 all day on every line except the ¥32 Ming Xiaoling commentary line; the route list is Chinese-only, so search stop names in Amap before you set off, and remember the big loop runs only 08:30-16:30. everyone; take the ¥30 day pass if you will ride three times or more.
Purple Mountain Cableway：¥60 one way, ¥100 return to Toutuo Ridge (448 m), not on the combo; with the observatory halfway up shut until the end of 2027 it is now the view and nothing else, and the ¥105 observatory combo may not be sold. a clear day with time to spare — not part of this one-day plan.
Purple Mountain Observatory：Closed for works since 2026-09-01, scheduled to the end of 2027, reopening to be announced — do not plan it, and ignore the prices still on the park's older pages. nobody until it reopens; on the cableway you ride past its stop.
One by one
Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum
中山陵The morning, and the one thing on the mountain you cannot just turn up for: book the slot before the day, arrive by Xiamafang or Xiaolingwei rather than Muxuyuan, and do the 392 steps while it is cool. Free, but the climb ends at the hall doors — the chamber is shut. The trap is Monday: above the main gate it is closed unless it is a public holiday or one of Sun's anniversaries, and then Ming Xiaoling, about 1.3 km west, is the day instead. For everyone on a first visit who has booked a slot; anyone who cannot book it (no passport route confirmed) should phone first rather than turn up.
Open the place →Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum + Stone Elephant Road
明孝陵 + 石象路The afternoon, and the one that pays for the combo: walk it in the park's own order from the Xiamafang gateway past the 1413 stele and the stone animals to the Soul Tower, whose roof went back on in 2009. What you pay for is outdoors — beasts, gates, a pavilion, a mound — so it keeps going when museums are shut. It is also the Monday answer: no closure listed, only its museum shuts. For everyone; the one to keep if you drop the rest, and the Monday substitute for the mausoleum.
Open the place →Meiling Palace
美龄宫The midday stop, because it sits on the shuttle between the mausoleum and Ming Xiaoling: from Xiamafang the line runs via the Zhongshan Ling car park to its door, and it is where the Muxuyuan crowd changes buses anyway. Worth it if the Republican story is why you came to Nanjing; otherwise the first thing to cut — but on the combo it costs nothing extra once you are doing Ming Xiaoling. For anyone who came for the Republican layer; the first cut for everyone else.
Open the place →Linggu (Beamless Hall + Pagoda)
灵谷景区（无梁殿 · 灵谷塔）The optional last stop, and the one furthest east: come for the all-brick Beamless Hall — no timber, which is why it outlived the rest of the Ming temple — and the memorial pagoda, not for a temple. The trap is the clock: the big-loop shuttle from the mausoleum side stops at 16:30, after which it is Zhonglingjie metro on foot or bus 202. On the combo it is already paid for; if you are tired, it is the one to leave. For people with energy left after Ming Xiaoling and before the 16:30 last big-loop bus; architecture lovers for the Beamless Hall.
Open the place →Open-Air Music Stage
中山陵音乐台Ten minutes tacked onto the mausoleum, never a trip of its own: it is 220 m from the archway, and on the combo it is free. Skip it without a second thought if the morning runs late. For anyone already at the foot of the mausoleum with the combo in hand.
Open the place →