Description : A relatively pleasant an relaxed town with lots of shops and greenery inside and lots of caves just outside.

Comments : You do not need to spend the night here if you arrive early : leave your bag at the Train or bus station, check out the sights and then leave to Shaolin, a more relaxed place to sleep (at least this was the case before the "Shaolin Revolution", see the locality for more details)... Alternatively, Luoyang can be visited as a day trip from Shaolin.

What to do : As soon as you arrive, take Bus No81 from the train station to the Longmen caves / Return by bus No60 and stop at Xiyuan Park / Walk along the green streets up to Wangcheng Park / Walk or take Bus No101 or 54 to the busy shopping and market  area / Go back to the train station pick up your bag and then take a minibus to the White Horse Temple / From the temple, charter a bus coming from Luoyang to  Shaolin...

What you may not like : The insistence of the motorcycle drivers at the caves to drive you to the wrong entrance / The postcard sellers inside the compound / The bad condition of most of the caves / Not being allowed to enter the caves / Back in town, the (very) young beggars around the shopping centers / The activity, noise and pollution around the train and buses stations...

How long ? One day is enough

Where to stay ?

Hotels  << Get precise info, book online and save money !

• Luoyang Hotel (393 5181), opposite the Train Station / Dorm without bath 8(8), 10(5), 15(4), 20(2), 35(1) + 5Y air cond / Bed 45 Dbl with bath and air cond / Bad toilets / Dirty common bath / HW 17 to 23 // Go there for the cheapest bed in town in an acceptable dormitory as well as for the cheapest Sgl and Dbl in town / What you may not like : the basic, old, smelly and noisy rooms

• Tianxiang Hotel (394 0600), a bit further on Jinguyuan Lu / Sgl or Dbl without bath 50 / Dbl with bath and air cond 100 / Chinese toilets & shower / HW 20 to 23 // Go there if the above hotel is full as the rooms are also quite old, ugly and broken while being a bit more expensive...

• Tax Bureau Hotel (393 6634), on Hedong Lu, a small street off Zhongzhou Lu, Bus No103 from Train Station / Bed in rooms without bath but air cond around 30-40 / Bed 40(4), 50(3) or 50(2) with bath and air cond / OK toilets /  Shower inside a room / HW morning, noon & evening // Go there for the nicest room in town at reasonable prices, to see if you can really pay for one bed only, for the huge quad separated in two rooms. / Thks to Katja (Slovenia) for some ad. info. 

• Luoyan Binguan (394 7451), on Zhongzhou Lu, opposite Wangcheng Park, Bus No103 / Sgl, Dbl or Trpl with bath 180, 130 or 150 / HW 19:30 to 23:30 // Go there for the nice rooms if the above is full.

Luoyang Hotel	luoyang lushe
Tianxiang Hotel	tianxiang lushe
Tax Bureau Hotel	shuiwu binguan
Luoyan Hotel	luoyan binguan

What to see/visit ?

• Longmen Caves : Y45, Exp

If you have seen the caves at Datong, you will probably be disappointed by the bad condition of those. So you might consider not buying the ticket but  crossing the bridge instead and walk on the opposite river side for an excellent free view of the complex (it looks impressive but most of the holes are in fact empty) as well as the Ancestor Worshipping Temple, the biggest and nicest  statues of Longmen. Also on this side are a few caves (in the same bad conditions) that you can visit for 5Y only : a somehow better deal...  You can continue your walk by a nice stroll in the countryside along the river. If you change your mind about seeing the decapitated Buddha, you can from there head toward the souvenirs shops and second ticket office...

• Xiyuan Park & Wangcheng Park : Y2 & Y3

• Luoyang Museum : Y10, 8:30 to 12 & 15 to 18:30

• White Horse Temple : Y20, Exp, Minibus from bus station (2Y, 30-45mn), bus heading to Shaolin (idem) or Bus 56 from Xiguan Traffic Circle / Nice indeed with its gardens but expensive certainly. If you go to Shaolin, you can probably skip it...

Bus Schedules :

To	Price	Type	Dur.	Time	Nb	Freq.
Shaolin	7	ordi	2	6:30 to 17	++	20mn
Zhengzhou	13/23	O/I	3/2	6 to 16:30	++	20mn
Kaifeng	25/35	O/I	3/2.5	11:30/6 to 16:30	few	(1)
Xi'an	62	sleep	10	16:30/19/20	3	na
Taiyuan	82	sleep	7	17	1	na
Nanjing	116	sleep	12	11	1	na

(1) Leave when full

Trains 

The trip back to Shaolin : Bus / SSS / R / Y6.5 / 2 hrs

It is much faster and easy to reach Shaolin from here than from Zhengzhou but you should also be careful not to join a tour if you leave in the morning. The risk free ticket office is on the east of the long distance bus station, on the corner of Guang Hua Lu.  It takes some time to leave the city and this part of town is not particularly attractive... Once in the countryside, the sights are much nicer and, just before arriving, the road goes up to offer a good panorama on the right side.