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Q: Best access point to see the Great Wall?
From what place/city is the best way to see the Great Wall? I know some places are just overrun with tourists.
Also, what is the best time of the year to go there?
11 years 10 weeks ago in Transport & Travel - China
Badaling seems to be the better place to see the Great Wall as there are not so many people travelling that distance. You can take a bus. DO NOT visit during National Holiday week in October. You will see nothing but the backs and heads of other people.
Too cold to do it during Spring Festival and I did my visit in August. A bit warm but it was a glorious day and the air was clear.
Last year in November we went to the Jin Shan Ling section of the wall. It is very nice and almost no other tourists were there. It is a bit difficult to get to though. The best way is to hire a car for the round trip, as there will be no taxis to take you back to Beijing.
I did Badaling. Just fine I thought. The cable-car ride was fun. The Wall is pretty darn amazing too. I believe we are all assuming your Base-station is BJ.
* I luv to call it BJ 
I went there about ten years ago and visited Mutianyu. Took a pee on it too. They have a tabogan ride to take you back down but it costs a bit. Fun though.
TedDBayer:
I wanted to pee off The Great Wall, but my guide won't let me or hold it for me.
I have been to Simatai and Mutianyu, and I definitely recommend Simatai if you don't want to find many tourists. However, walking through this section of the wall requires more effort than Badaling or Mutianyu.
Badaling is the popular one and bus loads of tourists go to see it.
Mutianyu is the less popular one but a good section without the people.
Simatai if you want to see the un-preserved sections of the wall.
My recommendation would be Simatai and Mutianyu
goomba:
We tried to go to Simatai in November 2012. That section was closed for renovations. The sign said it would be closed "a few weeks" but the locals at the Jinshanling wall access told us it will be closed for two years!
SwedKiwi1:
As mentioned by goomba, the Simatai section is probably still closed for whatever renovation work that they are doing there. But going from Jinshanling to Simatai (as far as you can get) is still well worth it and gives some great views of the Great Wall without the many tourists.
In Nov 2011, I did a 7 or 8 hour hike on the Jiaoshan to Sandaoguan section of the Great Wall, in Shanhaiguan (near Qinhuangdao).
It was really fantastic, especially once I was beyond the initial restored Jiaoshan section. Aside from a trio of friendly students near the start I had the whole place to myself, possibly because it was pretty cold (but comfortably so for me). Quite a different experience to the more known Beijing sites and one of my best days spent in China.
Google around, you'll find information on it easy enough. You also have the Laolongtou and Jiumenkou sections of Wall around there which I also visited, interesting and unique in their own ways also. It's all basically the Eastern starting (ending?) point of the Wall.
Or if not inclined to hike around all day, a taxi from Shanhaiguan to each of those sites could be done in a few hours, still would make for a really interesting and varied exposure to different facets of the Wall.
GO in the summer time when the weather is nice. Also, if you don't want to climb up to the great wall you could take one of those cable carts up....that's what I did the first time because there were too many people and because my legs were getting tired of walking everywhere.
Sidebar:
My parents went to the Great Wall in 1983, and brought back a t-shirt for me. The tag read,
"Made in Texas." :() !!! Good luck finding something like that today!
