We are a group of 4 and we intend to visit Chengdu/Jiuzhaigou in Sept. How easy is it to book a tour of JZG in Chengdu.

Hi, I suggest you book a tour in advance to ensure a smooth trip there. If you are interested, I recommend Travel China Guide to you and their email address is tourstravelchinaguide.com
They are able to arrange you 3-4 star accommodation for sure, because they are good at tailor-made itineraries and service.

From Chengdu city to JZG scenic area, there is around 9h bus travel! I just heard a nre highway is planned to be constructed this year and it requires abut 5 years to finish. Then the journey from Chengdu to JZG only takes 3.5-4h.

It shall be safe enough to fly from Chengdu to the valley and it is more conenient. Although u may enjoy some scenery by bus, it will be very suffering with the 9h's bus travel.

Thanks for your advice.

Travel China Guide is good but very expensive and is more suitable for tourists who don't understand Mandarin.

An option is to join the local tours while in Chengdu or in JZG. I am told there are companies in Chengdu that ferry tourists to JZG regularly.

However if we fly to JZG and look for similar types of tour operators are we able to find them easily. Has anyone tried this arrangement?

I heard that the JZG airport might arrange tour to the valley for your convenience. You'd better dial 0837-7243699 to consult in advance.

However, to my experience, it is also easy enough to tour the valley on your own and there are many hostels or hotel near the scenic area.