Guilin Travel Forum

Is it better to stay in Guilin or Yangshuo? Yangshuo looks nicer to me but some people have said it is too touristy and crowded. We are travelling in April and we want to be in this area about 4 or 5 days.

Yangshuo is only touristy and crowded if you stay on West Street.
Try Li River Retreat: http://www.li-river-retreat.com

You may spend one or two nights in Guilin and the rest in Yangshuo
In Yangshuo , I shouldn´t miss the light and music show

The same hotel/hostel, Li River Retreat charges much higher.

My experience is that Guilin is more expensive; besides, Guilin is one large city whereas Yangshuo is considerably smaller and a nicer town to stay in.

Much higher than what? OP didn't say that they're looking for the cheapest place in town.

They offer different hotels in their packages, as far as I know, the same quality hotel they charge more than other angents do.

Do you know that? If you do not, never mentioned other new visitors.

I do not blame their services here, may their english-speaking guide or other services are still worth a try, but customers should be well informed before choosing their services or packages.

Foreigners do not mean being ripped off.

"If you do not, never mentioned other new visitors."
Sorry, that sentence doesn't make sense to me.
What you said earlier: a package is a PACKAGE. The price differs not just because of the hotels. It's also the overall service provided, language ability etc etc etc.

If the difference between two packages is only the hotel included, then you may easily figure out whether they charge more or not. That's why I said they charge more!

Most of visitors usually are not well informed of the room rates of those hotels/hostels at Yangshuo, therefore they might be over charged.

Anyway, maybe that's my bias. Too many traps in the country and you have to be aware of them.

We stayed in both, Guilin and Yangshuo. There is no comparison. Yangshuo was one of the highlights of our trip while Guilin did not impress at all.

We stayed 5 days in Yangshuo and really enjoyed that town. Especially the bike tour with a local guide.

As for the shows, caves and other tourist traps, it was pretty bad. To learn more, go to my Yangshuo page at http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/b1a10/f2ab2/

To get to Yangshuo from Guilin, we chose a 5 hours boat tour and it was awesome.

Hi Ruth We preferred Yangshuo because it was much smaller and you could bike around the magnificent landscapes. Guilin itself does not have much to see. You will find those people who have recommended Guilin will in fact have spent most of their time out of Guilin ie. Yangshuo and its surrounds.
I also had a terible experience with the food. Be very careful what you eat. They do have a speciality...snake oil which I think I unwittingly ate and had a reaction when I ordered their special noodles.

We spent two days in Guilin and tried to see the main places. Have a look at our pages to get an idea. The only place we did not see that you might want to consider but it is some miles north of Guilin are the Longsheng terraces.(Yangshuo is south). You could hire a driver and car which probably we should have done.

The bottom line is that they are both touristy and becoming more so.Guilin is a big city Yangshuo is not. Whatever you do make sure you get on a river, preferably in Yangshuo so you can photograph the scenery which is unbelievable (which it was for us. I think you have already seen my tips.. remember to go to the language school and please say hullo from us.

thanks a lot Alice.I have pored over your pages and Homer and Eddies' and they are most useful... looking forward to the trip now!
cheers