Short answer
Free does not mean walk-in. Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum and Nanjing Museum charge nothing and both require a real-name reservation made with your passport. Turning up without one is how people lose a morning.
Give Purple Mountain a full day. The mausoleum, Ming Xiaoling, Linggu Temple and the Music Hall sit inside one large scenic area, and the distances are bigger than the map suggests.
Book first, plan second. Reserve the two free sites a few days out, buy the Purple Mountain combo ticket if you want more than one stop up there, and put the museum on a weekday morning. Almost everything outdoors is unshaded, and a Nanjing summer afternoon is not the time to be climbing steps.
What needs booking, and what does not
| Site | Entry | Booking |
|---|---|---|
| Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum | Free | Real-name reservation in advance; passport accepted as the ID |
| Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, Linggu Temple, Meiling Palace | Ticketed | Combo ticket on the official channel |
| Nanjing Museum | Free | Reservation required; foreign passports handled at the tourist centre |
| Memorial Hall of the Nanjing Massacre | Free | Book ahead |
| Presidential Palace | Ticketed | Book ahead; closed one day a week, commonly Monday |
| Confucius Temple and Qinhuai lanes | Streets free, temple ticketed | Walk in |
| Zhonghua Gate and the city wall | Ticketed | Buy at the gate or on the official channel |
| Niushou Mountain | Ticketed | Walk in |
| Xuanwu Lake | Free | Walk in |
Purple Mountain without wearing yourself out
All of it sits in one scenic area northeast of the centre. Metro Line 2 to Muxuyuan puts you at the edge, and shuttle buses run between the main stops.
Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum is the one to reach first: a long walk in, then a broad staircase of several hundred steps to the burial hall, with the view back over the forest as the reward. Arrive at opening. Coach groups land mid-morning and the stairway becomes a slow-moving crowd.
Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum is a short shuttle ride away and a quieter, older site — the approach through the Sacred Way, lined with stone animals, is the part people remember. It is also the best place in Nanjing for autumn colour, which peaks in November.
Linggu Temple completes the loop, with a pagoda and a wooded park worth an hour. With only half a day on the mountain, do the mausoleum and Ming Xiaoling.
The museum, the memorial and the old city
Nanjing Museum is the best indoor stop in the city and the answer to a rainy day. Free luggage storage is available at the entrance and at each gallery desk. Two to three hours is realistic; the Republic-era galleries alone take an hour. Reserve ahead, bring the passport and confirm the closed day, commonly Monday.
The Memorial Hall of the Nanjing Massacre is free, requires booking, and is not a sight to slot in between two others. It is quiet, it is heavy, and most visitors need one and a half to two hours. Etiquette is stricter than elsewhere: no flash photography, low voices, no joking in the exhibition halls.
The Presidential Palace mixes offices, gardens and a lake, five minutes from Daxinggong station on Lines 2 and 3. Ticketed, worth about two hours, best booked ahead.
Confucius Temple and the Qinhuai riverfront work as an evening. The lanes and the river are free; the temple building itself is ticketed, and if you have seen a Chinese temple interior you can skip it. Zhonghua Gate and the surviving city wall give the best late-afternoon walk, and the wall is where you see the scale of the Ming defences at once.
Which famous stops to skip
- The Confucius Temple interior. The lanes and the river are the attraction; the building is a reconstruction with a ticket.
- Xuanwu Lake. A pleasant city park and nothing more.
- The city wall at midday in summer. No shade on top.
- Theme parks and aquariums. Nanjing's value is history and landscape.
Best window for each sight
| Sight | Best window | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum | At opening | Empty stairway, cool air, no coach groups |
| Nanjing Museum | Midweek, 09:00–11:00 | Fewer school and tour groups than weekends |
| Ming Xiaoling | Late morning, or November for colour | Autumn foliage is the reason to go twice |
| City wall at Zhonghua Gate | Last hour before sunset | No shade on the wall, best light for the ramparts |
| Confucius Temple and Qinhuai | After 21:00 | The 19:00–21:00 peak is wall-to-wall people |
| Memorial Hall | Opening time | Quieter halls, and you leave before the groups build |
The five mistakes that cost you a day
- Assuming free means no ticketBoth free sites require a real-name reservation. Reserve ahead and carry the passport you booked with.
- Booking under a different name than the passportReservations are real-name. The name and passport number you enter must match the document in your hand.
- Doing Purple Mountain and the city centre on the same dayPick one. The mountain is a full day with travel; the centre is another.
- Going up the mountain at 11:00That is when the coaches arrive and the sun is highest.
- Building a day around a museum that is closedSeveral sites close one day a week, commonly Monday.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to book Nanjing attractions in advance?
For the free ones, yes. Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum and Nanjing Museum both run real-name reservation even though entry is free, and a foreign passport works as the ID. The Memorial Hall and the Presidential Palace are also best booked ahead. Niushou Mountain and the Confucius Temple streets are walk-in.
Is Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum free?
Entry to the mausoleum, stele pavilion, sacrificial hall and burial room is free but requires a real-name reservation made with your passport. The Open-air Music Hall is a small separate charge, and a combo ticket covers the Music Hall, Ming Xiaoling, Linggu Temple and Meiling Palace.
How long do I need for Purple Mountain?
A full day. The mausoleum, Ming Xiaoling and Linggu Temple sit inside one large scenic area with long walks and shuttle buses between them. Adding the city centre sights to the same day is the mistake that ruins both halves.
Does Nanjing Museum need a reservation for foreigners?
Admission is free but a reservation is required, normally through the museum's official site or its WeChat account, and foreign visitors can get a ticket with a valid passport at the tourist centre on site. Check the official channel for the current route and the closed day.
Which metro stations serve the main sights?
Line 2 has Muxuyuan for Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum and Minggugong for Nanjing Museum. Daxinggong, on Lines 2 and 3, serves the Presidential Palace. Xinjiekou, Lines 1 and 2, is the central interchange, and Line 3 reaches Fuzimiao for the Confucius Temple area.
Are the sites closed on any particular day?
Several Nanjing museums and memorials close one day a week, commonly Monday, and the Presidential Palace is among them. Days and hours shift with holidays and seasons, so check the official channel for each site before you build a day around it.
Related reading
To see how these fit together across a short trip, the two-day itinerary sequences the mountain, the museum and the riverfront, and the Nanjing section covers getting around and where to sleep.
Compiled from the published ticket and reservation rules of the Zhongshan Mountain scenic area, Nanjing Museum, the Memorial Hall of the Nanjing Massacre and the Presidential Palace, plus municipal visitor information and foreign-visitor reports, cross-checked 30 September 2026. Reservation windows, combo prices, closed days and shuttle services change with the season; the official channel for each site is the authoritative version.