How Many Days to Spend in Henan: My Honest 4-Day Verdict

Check this — you have booked the flight and loaded WeChat Pay, but then someone asks how many days to spend in Henan and your brain freezes. That is exactly where I see people waste time. I have guided tourists through this province for over a decade, and the biggest mistake is not the number of days. It is basing yourself in the wrong city.

The no-fluff verdict? Give it 4 full days. Base in Luoyang for 3 nights, with one day for Kaifeng. And do not even think about putting Shaolin Temple and Longmen Grottoes on the same day. I will show you why below.

How Many Days to Spend in Henan: The Short Answer

Here is the thing: you can't do Henan in 48 hours. The province's top draws are neatly placed — Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, and Kaifeng's ancient yards further east — but moving between them eats time. I have had clients who tried. Two days turned into a blur of train stations and sore feet. Three days feels doable if you cut Kaifeng. Four days is my consistent sweet spot. It is long enough to cover the icons, eat properly, and still catch a train onward without panic.

From this table, you can see that even 4 days is not about seeing everything — it is about being smart with moves. The next section maps out the actual timetable I follow.

What Can You Actually Do in 3, 4, or 5 Days?

The 4-Day Sweet Spot I Actually Use

This route gives you the province's two UNESCO-tier icons without burning out. Day 1: land in Zhengzhou, then jump straight to Luoyang. With a midday arrival, take a taxi to the Henan Museum (about 15 minutes). Store your bags in a left-luggage locker, enjoy the exhibits for 2 hours, then ride the high-speed rail to Luoyang Longmen station — roughly 40 minutes. Check into a hotel near Laocheng old town and spend the evening eating beef soup noodles. I always tell my clients to skip the shopping malls near the station; the old city is where the soul is.

Day 2: Longmen Grottoes before sunrise? No, at 8 a.m. The west cliff gets crowded by 10 a.m. Plan to be at the entrance for the first slot. Ticket prices hover around 90-100 yuan for adults, with discounts for students and kids; you will need your passport to buy the ticket. The basic route takes 3 hours, but if you want to cross the bridge for the classic panoramic view, add another 45 minutes. Afternoon: choose between Luoyang Museum (free, reservation via official WeChat) or White Horse Temple (around 35 yuan). Evening: try a local water banquet — it is a river of soups.

Day 3: Shaolin Temple — from Luoyang, the public bus takes about 1.5 hours from the city’s long-distance station; a private driver will cost around 400-500 yuan for the round trip and is way easier if you are carrying day packs. Get there before 10 a.m. so you do not miss the martial arts show at the training center. After that, walk to the Pagoda Forest — that is my favorite corner. Unless you genuinely want to hike Mount Song, skip the cable car; it adds money and two hours of steps. Back to Luoyang by late afternoon.

Day 4: Take a high-speed train to Kaifeng via Zhengzhou East. Total door-to-door time is about 2 hours. If you love Song-dynasty vibes, Qingming Riverside Landscape Park is entertaining. If not, head for Iron Pagoda and walk the old city walls. Keep your afternoon open for an early dinner and then return to Zhengzhou for an easy flight next day.

The 3-Day Compression

With only 3 days, cut Kaifeng and stay based in Luoyang for all three nights. Day 1: land, train to Luoyang, and hit Longmen late afternoon — the crowds thin by 4 p.m. and the limestone takes on a warm glow. Day 2: Shaolin Temple as an early trip. Day 3: morning at Luoyang Museum or White Horse Temple, then train directly to Zhengzhou airport via the high-speed rail. It is wiry, but doable.

The 5-6 Day Expansion

Add one of Henan's natural wonders. I would pick Yuntai Mountain if you are into canyons and glass bridges, or Laojunshan near Luoyang for sunrise that makes you forget the night bus. Either needs a full day plus an overnight if you do not want to miss the best light. For 6 days, do both if your legs are ready.

Transportation Times That Decide Your Henan Trip Length

High-speed rail is your best friend. Trains between Zhengzhou and Luoyang run every half hour, taking about 40 minutes. Buy tickets on the official 12306.cn portal or use a travel platform with English support like Trip.com. A passport is mandatory when collecting paper tickets at a self-service machine — keep it physically with you.

Inside cities, taxi fares are cheap and meters are supposed to run. Hand the driver the Chinese address of your hotel. For navigation, do not use Google Maps in China; it will tell you to walk across nonexistent streets. Apple Maps is surprisingly reliable, and I also suggest downloading AMap (called Gaode) with its English interface. And yes, you need a VPN for many foreign apps once you land — set it up before you come.

For ride-hailing, Didi works in English, and you can bind a foreign Visa card. But have cash ready for the occasional driver whose company card server is acting up.

Booking Tickets: Passport and Payment

Booking tickets without fluent Chinese is the biggest pain in Henan. Shaolin Temple and Longmen Grottoes both accept online bookings through Chinese apps, but the interface can overwhelm foreigners. Here is my insider sequence: first, try entering your passport number in the official mini-program; if that fails, use a site like Trip.com or Klook — they sell the same tickets with a markup but save you a meltdown. At the entrance, always carry your passport because the QR code is tied to your identity. For smaller sights like the local museum, you can often pay with cash at a manual window, but some now require reservation. Ask your hotel to make a call or open the page for you.

The Longmen Grottoes is a UNESCO World Heritage site, as listed on whc.unesco.org. The site has been inviting visitors for more than 1,400 years, and it deserves at least half a day. Before you book any domestic transport, verify your China visa or visa-free policy on the official National Immigration Administration website.

Why Not Combine Shaolin and Longmen?

Why do so many itineraries say you can do both in one day? Because they are only about 60km apart geographically. What they don't tell you: each site is a full day of walking. I once did the combo with a young couple — by 4 p.m. they were sitting on a curb unable to enjoy the last pagoda. Since then my rule is simple: never combine them. If your time in Henan is under 3 days, pick Longmen over Shaolin. The grottoes are more unique; Shaolin has suffered a bit from commercialization and a parking lot that never stops growing. For most people, Longmen delivers more depth.

Local Eats That Actually Refuel You

Your legs need fuel, and Henan's food is made for tired travelers. Try three things: hand-pulled stewed noodles (烩面), spicy pepper soup (胡辣汤), and the elaborate water banquet in Luoyang. In Luoyang old town, the cross-street market glows at dusk — order a bowl of beef soup and a sesame cake. Prices are low: street food around 10-25 yuan, a sit-down water banquet around 80-120 yuan per person. Vendors accept Alipay and WeChat, but if your card is not accepted, cash works. Carry a few 10-yuan bills for backup.

Final Verdict

After a decade of guiding, here is my final decision tree. 2 days = very fast business travelers; 3 days = if you only care about Longmen and Shaolin; 4 days = the perfect first-timer route; 5-6 days = add nature and slow down. Base in Luoyang, avoid moving your hotel every night, and buy your high-speed tickets early. Do that, and you will leave Henan with the right memory.

Verified and fact-checked by the editorial team.