Where is Dunhuang and How to Get to Dunhuang

Where is Dunhuang

Dunhuang is located in the northwestern Gansu province, borders on Xinjiang ygur Autonomous Region, and close to Jiuquan, Zhangye and Urumqi. It is about 1000 kilometers away from Urumqi, 395 kilometers away from Jiuquan, and 594 kilometers away from Zhangye. Lanzhou is the capital of Gansu province, about 1100 kilometers away from Dunhuang.  It is a major town along the ancient Silk Road, and  best known for Mogao Grottoes.


 

How to Get to Dunhuang

The transportation network of airways and highways in Dunhuang is quite completed, so the transport to Dunhuang is quite convenient. Dunhuang has one airport and one railway station for passengers’ use, and people from different cities can get to Dunhuang  through different ways. Here offers you some options to get into Dunhuang.

Option 1: Airplane

Dunhuang International Airport (IATA: DNH, ICAO:ZLDH) is in the east of Dunhuang downtown, and about 12 kilometers away from the city downtown, and 3.5 kilometers away from Dunhuang Railway Station. Tourists from Beijing, Lanzhou, Urumqi, Xining and Xian, could take flights directly to Dunhuang. Every day, several nonstop flights from Xi’an are available, which takes a flight time of 2.5 hours. Flights from Beijing to Dunhuang take about 3.5 hours, flights from Lanzhou to Dunhuang take about 2 hours, and flights from Urumqi and Xining to Dunhuang take less than 2 hours.

After getting off from the airplane, tourists could take an airport shuttle bus to the downtown and get off at Dunhuang Hotel, which costs 15 yuan per person, or take a taxi with a fare about 30 yuan, or take a public bus with a ticket of 3 yuan.

Option 2: Train

Dunhuang Railway Station is located in the east side of Dunhuang, about 11 kilometers away from the downtown. Due to certain reasons, trains to Dunhuang are usually fast trains, not high speed trains. Trains from Beijing, X’an, Lanzhou, Urumqi  and Zhangye directly to Dunhuang are available to tourists. In Beijing, Xi’an and Urumqi, everyday there is only one train departing for Dunhuang, and in Lanzhou, there are four trains travelling to Dunhuang every day, and five trains from Zhangye to Dunhuang are available.
 

After getting out of Dunhuang Railway Station, tourists could take a taxi to the downtown, which costs about 30 yuan in a distance of 11 kilometers, or take a public bus which costs 3 yuan for a ticket.

Option 3: Bus

Dunhuang is accessible by buses directly from Golmud, Hami, Jiayuguan, Lanzhou, Liuyuan, Xining and Zhangye. Long distance buses from Lanzhou, Zhangye to Dunhuang are available, but there are few buses.  I don’t recommend it to you, considering safety, ticket fare, time duration, and comfortableness.

Option 1 is fast and convenient, recommended to most tourists, especially tourists with a large budget, and option 2 is pretty slow in speed, recommended to tourists with a tight budget and tourists in need of a slow train travelling. Topchinatravel offers transfer service, wherever you are, in an airport or railway station, we could drive you to your destination. If you need this service, don’t hesitate to contact us.

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