7 Days Chengdu to Lhasa Train Tour

Detailed Itinerary of the 7 Days Chengdu to Lhasa Train Tour

Day 1: Chengdu Arrival

Arrive at Chengdu airport or train station, your guide and driver will pick you up and transfer to your hotel in Chengdu. The rest of the day is your free time. Stay overnight in Chengdu.

Optional: If there is enough time, you can take a short walk at the traditional Jinli Street, where you can have a cup of tea, taste local snacks, experience special atmosphere of Chengdu. Later, go to a local restaurant and enjoy an authentic Sichuan Cuisine. Also, you can go to appreciate a Sichuan Opera in the evening.

Jinli Street	Jinli Street

Day 2: Chengdu Tour and Board the Train to Tibet

In the morning, drive about half an hour to Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda, where you can see the cute pandas. Because giant pandas prefer cool and humid temperature, so it is advised to visit the base in the early morning before temperature goes up; mostly only in the morning you can see lovely and very playful pandas. There is also a panda museum for you to learn more interesting facts about pandas. It takes about three hours to visit this site, you will enjoy a happy time with pandas here.

In the afternoon, you will visit Wenshu Temple, it is a Buddhist holy land integrating Buddhist forest relics, ancient garden constructions, pilgrimage and sightseeing, and religious study. The atmosphere is calm and quite, you can wander on the peaceful paths. It takes about one hour to visit this temple. Then, the rest can be free for you to explore around.

In the evening, you will be transferred to Chengdu Railway Station for the train to Lhasa. The train departs from Chengdu North Railway Station, and the train Z322 goes every other day at 21:37. It takes about half hour to check in, please be sure to arrive at the train station at least one hour before the train departure. Your passport, Chinese visa and Tibet Permit will need to be checked when you check in. Stay overnight on the train.

Giant Panda	Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda

Day 3: Travel on the Train

Today, you will spend the whole day on the train and you can enjoy the fabulous scenery along the railway. The Chengdu plain, grassland, desert, snow mountains and the lakes will attract you deeply. The part of railway from Xining to Lhasa is the famous Qinghai-Tibet Railway, you will be amazed at the wonderful plateau landscape. Stay overnight on the train.

Tanggula Mountains	Grassland

Day 4: Arrival and Acclimatization

Arrive at Lhasa train station in the morning, your guide and driver will pick you up there in person with a warm Tibetan style welcome ceremony and afterwards transfer you to the hotel. From the train station it is only about 15km and takes about 20 minutes by drive. Afternoon, have a good rest to acclimatize the high altitude. Overnight in Lhasa.

Day 5: Lhasa City Tour

In the morning, visit Lhasa’s landmark - Potala Palace, in which myriad chapels, audience halls, Buddhist frescoes, Thangkas, combinations of Mandela, figures of the Buddha stored. In the afternoon, visit the Johkang Temple, the center of Tibetan Buddhism, built during Songtsen Gonpo’s regin by princess Wenchen of the Tang dynasty, 647 A.D. After the Johkang Temple, we will start a circular pilgrim route along Barkor Street where you can purchase traditional Tibetan and Nepalese artifacts, religious implements, antiques, books, music instrument, Thangkas, and etc. Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Potala Palace	Johkang Temple

Day 6: Lhasa City Tour

In the morning, drive to Drepung Monastery which used to serve as the government center in Tibet until the fifth Dalai Lama moved to the famous Potala Palace. It is the biggest Buddhism College in Tibet and once homed to more than 10,000 monks. In the afternoon, drive to visit Sera Monastery, which is famous for its scripture debate session among monks that starting every afternoon except Sunday. Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Drepung Monastery	Sera Monastery Debating

Day 7: Departure Transfer

Our guide and driver will transfer you to airport or train station based on your departure time, tour ends.