After doing some research I decided that my one day trip to the wall would be to Samatai and I am glad i made that choice. A number of my fellow conference attendees also went to the wall but chose Badaling for the convenience factor.

Others were disappointed I was not - the reason being the location. When I showed others my photos they knew they'd made the wrong choice!

Simatai is 2.5 to 3 hours NE of Beijing. The road as far as Miyon is good and mostly dualled. The last 60K or so is a little slower going but OK. Arrival at Simatai gets the excitement going as you see the small watch towers dotted high up on the mountain ridge. There is plenty of parking and many shops and restaurants, far more than the people there. Simatai is surely gearing itself up for mass tourism - lets hope they dont spoil it.

There are a number of options to get to the wall from where you park. The cable car is probably the easiest way up although there is still some height to gain after that, but there is another little train that will take you almost to the ridge. Taking the cable car will put you at watchtower 5 or 8 depending on the path you take afterwards. There is a longer but easier path to watchtower 1. From watchtower 1 its a long slog up the many steps through the various watchtowers, (past the possible exit paths at towers 5 and 8) all the way upto number 12 which is far as you can go. Beyond here is very dangerous and a guard was there to turn you back if you were foolish enough to continue!

During my 2 hour walk along the wall there were few other people around, save the guides who attach themselves to you and the water and snack sellers. A truly wonderful experience on a fine day.

Simatai is not really suitable for the old and very unfit but im pretty unfit and still managed a great day out on the wall at Simatai. After wards I thouroughly recommend a beer at the small bar area with decking that allows great views of the wall.

We walked the Great Wall from Jinshanling to Simatai on 15th August 2007. We travelled to Jinshanling from Beijing (2 - 2 1/2 hrs) in a private taxi which we booked via the internet. We used a taxi driver called John ([--]) who spoke good English and was very accomodating. We agreed a price of 700RMB but there were 4 adults. To get onto the wall there is an 50 RMB entrance fee. We then travelled upto the wall via cable car which we paid for separately.
The actual walk is 10.5km and will take about 4 - 5 hours depending how fit you are. It provides stunning scenery. It is well worth the trek. However, it is not an easy trek as it does get very steep and as the wall has not been restored is quite uneven in places. Good walking shoes are advisable. Plenty of fluids will be needed esp. if its hot but that will mean carrying extra weight. Cold drinks can be bought from vendors which you tend to find in the watchtowers. We bought cans for 5 RMB. However, you do need to be very firm with them and tell them thats all you want otherwise they will follow you. Don't be fooled that a lot of the vendors are older as they can climb the wall very quickly and can easily keep up!!!
Make sure that you take enough money with you though as just over half way you have to pay another entrance fee of 30 RMB to get onto the Simatai section. At the end of this section you will also need to pay 10 RMB to cross the rope bridge (no other way across!!) We ended our walk here as just looking at the next section was enough!!! We walked down to the car park which was a good 15 -20 min walk where we met up with John and he took us back to Beijing.
Overall, although the trek was hard for us in places it was worth every minute and we would recommend doing this section. Not only are the views stunning it was very quiet and not too busy (unlike Badaling!)

I don't think I can remember any man-made thing ever impressing me like the Great Wall. It's simply mind-boggling to see a small part of it snaking through the mountaintops, and then think about 3000 miles of wall stretching across China.

The Wall at Simatai is simply wonderful. Views of the mountains and the surrounding area are breathtaking. My work colleague and I took the walking path to Tower No. 3 and then walked up about a billion stairs to get to Tower No. 8. By the time we reached No. 8, I was ready to take the cable car down. We could've visited a couple more towers, but I was completely worn out. If I had been in better shape, it would have been worth it to continue on to the higher towers.

I recommend that anyone who is in marginal shape or worse not take the walking path and then the steps up. Take the cable car to the No. 8 tower and either continue up from there or walk down to No. 3 tower and then take the path to the bottom. Note: After getting off the cable car headed up, there is a fairly difficult trek up the mountain to the wall, and the steps down between some of the towers are very steep with uneven spacing.

The Great Wall at Simatai was the highlight of my brief stay in Beijing. If I get to head back to China, I plan on hitting the gym to get in better shape and then visiting the wall at least one more time.

I have visited the Great Wall at both Simatai and Badaling, and Simatai wins hands down!

The Great Wall at Badaling has been restored to the point of looking like something from Disneyland. The crowds also feel like something from Disneyland, so I felt the true power of the Great Wall was lost.

The Wall at Simatai is still quite authentic, and when we were there (March 2007), there were no crowds at all. The view was absolutely breathtaking! It was one of the best things I have done in all my trips.

A lot of good advice has already been written on what to expect, how to get there (private car is best if you can negotiate a good price), etc, so I thought I would just provide a list of what to take:

What to take:
- Backpack to carry up the wall
- Plenty of water!! The higher you get the more expensive it is. Take plenty with you, it is a hard climb.
- Suncream, hat, long sleeve shirt, sunglasses in summer
- Thermals, waterproof/windproof jacket, sunglasses (it can still be very glarey), gloves in winter
- Good, sturdy shoes
- Snacks for the climb
- Camera!!! With spare batteries
- Tissues and hand santiser for the toilets at the beginning

We were concerned that it was going to be a very hard climb (especially for my mother), but we took it slow and found it quite easy. I highly recommend Simatai!