FLAMELS
Google
This is one fantastic place to stay, 1000 m from the wall and 200 m from the train station building, 50 m from the west end of the station platform. Charming inner living room, great food, great hosts. I stayed there because it was the only place I could reserve online at walking distance from the Badaling Great Wall, and had good experiences at other youth hostels elsewhere in the world. But this one was a notch above in terms of atmosphere, food, hosts. Clean, wifi & computers available. The bed I used in a room for four men (in which I was alone) was a bunk bed as usually find in hostels, but more confortable than usual.||||Regarding the travel from Beijing to Badaling, prefer the S2 train (70 min of a smooth ride from Beijng North station, 12 Yuans) over the 919 bus (24 Yuan), which will get stock into the traffic and will rather take more than 2 hours of a less confortable ride. However, be aware that not all S2 trains stop at Badaling. (I did the mistake, but fortunately, the train was stopping at Badaling on its way back from Yanqing, 15 min away.) At the Beijing North station, have the train number written on a piece of paper, otherwise it’s very difficult to be understood and they will direct you from one ticket counter to the other, doing the line again each time.||||Indeed, the wall at Badaling becomes very crowded from around 8am, so my plan to sleep there and visit the wall early in the morning (it opens at 6am) and then go back to the Courtyard Hostel to have an excellent breakfast before leaving for Beijing, turned out to be a very good idea.||||I was alone but would not hesitate to go there with my wife and teenagers.
