6 days

About this activity

Day 1: Lhasa

Airport Pickup. The airport shuttle bus leaves Lhasa Airport at 12:30 and 16:00.

Day 2: Lhasa

Your climate-controlled coach or minivan will collect you from your hotel lobby around 8 a.m. to start your Lhasa city tour. You'll visit the UNESCO-listed Potala Palace, a focal point for Tibetan Buddhism and home to the Dalai Lama for many centuries, then wander the alleys and byways around Barkhor Street. You'll also explore the 1300-year-old Jokhang Temple with its sacred golden Buddha, the spiritual epicenter of Tibetan Buddhism.

Day 3: Lhasa

The day begins around 8 a.m. when your climate-controlled transport collects you for more exploration around Lhasa. Today's tour includes two of the “great three” Gelug sect monasteries: Drepung Monastery and Sera Monastery. Drepung is the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery, founded in the fifteenth century on a mountainside. Sera, not far from Lhasa, was famous for its debates.

Day 4: Lhasa – Gyantse – Shigatse

Your driver will collect you in the morning to drive from Lhasa to Shigatse via the old mountain route. You'll stop at the sacred Yamdrok Lake, pass the striking Karo-La glacier 16,273 feet (4960 meters) above sea level, and visit the Pelkor Chode Monastery in Gyantse. You'll arrive in Shigatse, Tibet's second city and the spiritual home of the Panchen Lama, in the afternoon. Your local operator can recommend a hotel or you can book your own.

Day 5: Shigatse – Lhasa

Check out of your Shigatse hotel early in time for a morning pickup. Visit Tashilhunpo Monastery, one of the oldest and best-preserved Gelug sect monasteries in Tibet, and a must for any student of Tibetan Buddhism: the Panchen Lama has his Summer Palace nearby. You'll take a new but almost equally scenic route back to Lhasa, through the green farmland of the Nyang-chu Valley.

Day 6: Lhasa

The airport shuttle bus leaves at 7:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. from downtown Lhasa. You'll be picked up from your hotel lobby, and transferred to the bus stop. If you prefer, you may arrange your own hotel-to-airport transfer.

Fixed Departure Dates in 2018

Apr: 1, 4, 9, 11, 15, 18, 22, 25, 29

May: 2, 5, 8, 13, 16, 19, 23, 27, 30

Jun: 3, 6, 11, 13, 17, 20, 24, 26

Jul: 1, 4, 8, 11, 15, 18, 22, 25, 29

Aug: 1, 5, 8, 12, 15, 19, 22, 26, 29

Sep: 2, 5, 8, 10, 12, 16, 19, 22, 26, 28, 30

Oct: 17, 21, 24, 28, 30

Nov: 6, 10, 13, 15, 20, 23, 27

Dec: 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, 21, 25

If your preferred tour date is not in the list, please check with local tour operator if any person has signed up the same day. A new group will be created if 5 adults sign up for the new tour date eventually (Plan A), or full refund guarantee (plan B).

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Included

Tibet Travel Permit (TTB) and Alien's Travel Permit (PSB)
Chinese visa invitation letter if required
4-night accommodation and daily breakfast at Lhasa Gang-Gyan Hotel Tibet 4
1-night accommodation and breakfast at Tashichota Hotel, Shigatse 3*
English-speaking tour guide
Climate-controlled coach for sightseeing and transfers
Shuttle bus to and from Lhasa airport

Not included

Meals and beverages
Airfare and train ticket
Personal expenses
Gratuities
China visa

Additional

Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
A minimum of 2 adults per booking is required
Adult price is based on twin / triple share of a hotel room
Child price is based on child without extra bed
If you need one adult in one room, additional single supplement will be informed and charged
If you need extra bed for child, additional cost will be informed and charged
Please notice the hotel allows only maximum of 3 persons to stay overnight in one room
Please be prepare the hotel facilities and service standard in Tibet will not be as good as cities in inland China. A 4-star hotel in Tibet equals maybe the standard of a 3-star hotel in Beijing. At Rongphu Monastery Kent, hot water is only available for limited hours.
For shuttle bus between airport and hotel, each passenger (except an infant) can check-in a maximum of 2 pieces of baggage, total dimensions per bag shall not exceed 158 cm (62") . Over sized and excess baggage are subjected to the availability of storage space on coach, and surcharge will be charged.
If you do not want to wait for our airport shuttle bus, the taxi fare will be paid by yourself.
If you travel from a Chinese city to Lhasa, all foreign travelers need a Tibet Travel Permit (TTP) in addition to a Chinese visa. TTP is inclusive in our package, the local operator in Lhasa will apply for you. China visa application is not included.
Please first obtain a Chinese visa from a Chinese Embassy on your own and then book this package at least 20 days prior of your arrival day in Tibet. If the Chinese Embassy requests an invitation letter for Chinese Visa, your local tour operator can prepare one and send it to you.
Your local tour operator will apply for a TTP for you (minimum 15 days lead time) and send it to one of their offices for you to collect. Office locations include Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, Guilin, Chengdu, Kunming, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Zhuhai, Changsha, Nanning and Macau.
To apply for the TTP, please provide traveler's name (as appears on passport), nationality, age, sex, occupation, and passport number as well as photocopies of your passport and Chinese visa.
The following travelers can not get a TTP issued by Tibet Tourism Bureau: diplomats, journalists, professional media photographers, and government officials. These travelers need to apply directly to the Foreign Affairs Office at Lhasa City Hall: your local tour operator is unable to help.
If you travel from Katmandu to Tibet, the visa (by land or by plane) is called TIBET GROUP VISA (TGV). Please remember that you do not need to apply any other type of China visa from your home countries. Every passenger is required for a TGV if you enter Tibet from Nepal. And this TGV can only be issued from the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu.
How to apply a TGV: After you book the Tibet tour with a local agent, you will need to send your passport copy to the agent by email attachment. If you also plan to travel further to mainland China after Tibet, you will need to specify which Chinese cities will be visited. And what date you plan to fly out of China. The local agent in Lhasa will go to Tibet Travel Bureau to apply an "China Group Inviation Letter" for you. The local agent in Lhasa will send "China Group Inviation Letter" and your passport by email to an agent in Kathmandu. The Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu works for the Tibet group visa on Monday, Wednesday, Friday only. The agent in Kathmandu will make an appointment with you by email: when and where to collect your passport. After you have arrived in Kathmandu, the agent will take you to the Chinese embassy to fill in the visa form (bring your original passport. You will also be required to forward 2 passport size photos (the photos must be 2.5*3.5 CM in size) at the embassy (you may bring 2 photos from home or just simply take instant photos in Kathmandu).
You will pay the cost to this agent in Kathmandu in cash. Based on the visa application time and cost, there are 3 categories for your reference, and please note that The local Nepal agencies charge additional USD20 per person service charge according to the group size. *Urgent Application: 3 working days. Cost for American passport holders USD144. Other nationalities passport holders: USD65 *Top Urgent Application: 1.5 working days. Cost for American passport holders USD175. Other nationalities passport holders: USD85
Highly recommend you not to travel from Kathmandu to Lhasa, because the above TIBET GROUP VISA is very inconvenient.
If your travel date is not on our fixed depart list, please choose a random departure date we already have, state your ideal travel date and submit. The local operator in Lhasa will check the availability and come back to you with a final answer: Plan A to create a new group, or plan B for 100% refund guarantee.