Zhangjiajie Travel Guide: Where Every Scenic Area Is, and How to Get Around
Zhangjiajie's scenic areas are spread across Wulingyuan, Yongding, Cili and Sangzhi — knowing what sits where makes your itinerary far smoother.
First-time visitors often assume all of Zhangjiajie's sights are clustered together. In fact they are spread across four districts/counties, and knowing the layout saves a lot of back-and-forth.
- Wulingyuan District: the Wulingyuan core area (Zhangjiajie National Forest Park + Suoxiyu + Tianzi Mountain + Yangjiajie), Baofeng Lake, Huanglong Cave — the heart of the peak scenery, including Yuanjiajie's Qiankun Pillar, the Avatar mountain.
- Yongding District: Tianmen Mountain, right beside the city, with a cableway station near the railway station.
- Cili County: the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge — note it is not in Wulingyuan, roughly one hour from downtown.
- Sangzhi County: Marshal He Long's hometown and Badagong Mountain, leaning toward red tourism and nature.
Getting around: Zhangjiajie Hehua International Airport and Zhangjiajie Railway Station are both in downtown Yongding. Downtown to the Wulingyuan core area is about 40–60 minutes, to the Cili Grand Canyon about one hour, and to Fenghuang Ancient Town about 3.5–4 hours. Inside the scenic area you mainly use shuttle buses, with cableways or the Bailong Elevator on some sections.
(Compiled by our editors as travel reference; please defer to official scenic-area notices.)