How to Get to Guilin: Flights, Trains & Airport (KWL) Guide

At dusk, my high-speed train pulled into Guilin Railway Station. Behind the platform, karst peaks stood dark against a purple sky. Ten minutes later I was slurping a steaming bowl of Guilin rice noodles at a corner shop — crisp pork belly, fragrant brine, about 10 CNY (1.5 USD).

Getting to Guilin sounds easy — and it is, if you pick the right station and route. The hard part of how to get to Guilin is not the scenery. It’s choosing among three train stations and an airport 30 km outside town. Pick wrong, and you lose an hour plus a wad of taxi money.

How to Get to Guilin: Three Ways In

Plane, high-speed train, or long-distance bus — all three get you into Guilin. The difference is time and money.

Bottom line: from Guangdong or Hong Kong, take the train. From Beijing, Shanghai, or overseas, fly into KWL, then ride the airport shuttle or a taxi into town.

From These Cities: The Fastest Way In

This is the cleanest answer to how to get to Guilin from each major gateway city.

Fares and times shift with the season — treat these as normal ranges, and double-check on 12306 before booking.

Plane or Train? Where You Start Decides

One rule sorts it out: if you’re in Guangdong (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong), take the train. If you’re coming from the north, the northwest, or overseas, fly. The plane-vs-train question is really a question of how to get to Guilin efficiently. Here’s the breakdown:

• Close and quick — train around 3 hr (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Nanning). It drops you downtown, no airport transfer, and it runs on time.
• Far — train 8–10 hr (Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, Chengdu). Fly instead. KWL sits 30 km out, but you save the better part of a day.
• Tight budget — train. Second-class fares are transparent, unlike flights that swing with the season.
• Lots of luggage or kids — train first. The airport still needs a transfer into town; from Guilin station, a taxi is ten minutes to the core.
• Worried about weather — train, again. Guilin gets summer thunderstorms, and flights get delayed more often than rails. (Check the best time to visit Guilin before you lock in dates.)

By Plane: Guilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL)

Where you can fly in from

KWL is a busy domestic hub. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi’an, and Chengdu all have frequent flights. International nonstops are limited — mainly Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, and Bangkok. From Europe or North America, you’ll connect through Beijing (PEK) or Shanghai (PVG), about 20–24 hours total. Searching flights to Guilin mostly surfaces those domestic legs; the long-haul hop into China is the part to book separately if you plan to fly to Guilin China from abroad.

Airport to downtown

The airport sits 28–30 km west of the city. Three ways in:

• Airport shuttle line 1: 20 CNY (3 USD) one way, ending at the Civil Aviation Building (near Guilin Railway Station), with a spur to Elephant Trunk Hill and East-West Alley. About 40–60 minutes. The last bus follows the last flight — basically, a flight lands, a bus runs.
• Taxi: metered, 80–100 CNY (11–14 USD) including the toll. From 23:00 to 05:00 there’s a night surcharge, roughly 100–130 CNY (14–19 USD).
• Ride-hailing (Didi): a quick car runs 70–90 CNY (10–13 USD), or 90–120 CNY (13–17 USD) at peak or late night. There’s a marked pickup area outside the terminal — follow the signs.

Headed straight to Yangshuo? The airport also runs a bus to Yangshuo bus station, about 50 CNY (7 USD) and 1.5 hours — no need to loop through downtown first. See our Guilin itinerary for how to fold it in. And once you’re in town, where to stay in Guilin matters more than how you got there.

By Train: Three Stations, Don’t Get Off at the Wrong One

This is the trap most visitors miss. Guilin has three train stations, all carrying the word “Guilin,” in very different places. For most of southern China, how to get to Guilin comes down to picking the right one.

Guilin Railway Station — your first choice

Right in the Xiangshan district downtown, about 1.5 km from Elephant Trunk Hill. Locals of a certain age still call it “Guilin South Station” — an old nickname. Remember: on 12306 and every booking app, only “Guilin” (桂林站) exists. There is no “Guilin South.” If a map or a local says “South Station,” they mean this one — don’t go hunting for a different stop. Most Guangzhou trains arrive here, and a taxi gets you into the core sights in ten minutes.

Guilin North Railway Station — the workhorse

In the Diecai district, 7–8 km from downtown, a 20–30 minute taxi. This is where the bulk of Guangzhou, Guiyang, and Chongqing trains start or end. From the exit, grab a taxi or bus 100 straight downtown.

Guilin West Railway Station — avoid if you can

Out in Dingjiang Town, Lingchuan County, about 16 km from downtown — a 35–45 minute taxi at 45–65 CNY (6–9 USD). This is mostly a passing stop for Guangzhou–Guiyang, Chengdu, and Chongqing trains. Skip it unless you truly can’t get a ticket at the other two.

Three stations, one rule: book Guilin if you can, then Guilin North, and Guilin West last.

How to Book Tickets

Once you’ve settled how to get to Guilin, buying the ticket is the easy part. Three ways to book:

• Official 12306 English app/website: English interface, foreign passports accepted, Visa/Mastercard and WeChat/Alipay, no booking fee, easiest refunds and changes. But registration may ask for a Chinese phone number, and international cards sometimes fail — no Chinese number? Just use Trip.com below.
• Trip.com (least friction for foreign travelers): full English, foreign-currency settlement, English support, no phone-number hurdle. Bookings open 15 days ahead — popular routes sell out fast, so book early. The catch: about 3–5 USD service fee per ticket. For the full run-down, see our China high-speed rail tickets guide.
• E-tickets & boarding: Chinese rail is fully paperless. You don’t collect a paper ticket — just bring the passport you booked with. Automatic gates at Guilin and Guilin North handle passport scans poorly, so head for the Manual Channel and let staff check your passport. Don’t queue at the wrong gate.

Four Mistakes That Cost You Time and Money

1. Mixing up the stations. Guilin and Guilin West differ by one word — and more than a dozen kilometers. Plenty of travelers step off and find themselves in the suburbs, paying about 60 CNY (9 USD) extra for a taxi. Make sure you’re heading to “Guilin Railway Station,” not “West.”
2. Following the touts. Outside Guilin and Guilin North stations, people shout “Taxi! Yangshuo! Direct to hotel!” Ignore them all. Use the official taxi queue, or call a Didi.
3. Assuming drivers speak English. Most don’t. Save your hotel’s name and address as Chinese text, plus a map screenshot, and show the driver the Chinese.
4. Booking at the last minute. Around Spring Festival, Golden Week, and summer holidays, hot routes sell out and prices climb. Book early. Don’t wait until you’re at the station.

Quick Answers

Step off the train, slurp a bowl of rice noodles, look up — and the peaks are right there. Getting to Guilin really isn’t hard. The only people who struggle are first-timers who pick the wrong station. Where are you starting from? Match your city to the table above, and you’ll be fine.

Ke Ping — Founder, Insider China Travel

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