8 Days Lhasa to Kathmandu Himalayan Panoramic Tour

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival upon Lhasa

Highlights: Arrival & Pick-up & Acclimatization

Schedule today: Arrival at Lhasa at airport or train station, our guide and driver will pick you up and transfer you to hotel for acclimatization; you can have your free time hanging out at this holy city to get the first impression of Tibet 

Warm Tibetan Style Pickup Service	Warm Tibetan Style Pickup Service

Day 2: Lhasa city tour

Highlights: Potala Palace, Johkang Temple，Barkhor Street

Schedule today: In the morning, visit the symbol or landmark of Lhasa- Potala Palace (video), the successive Dalai Lama’s winter residence since the 7th Century by the 33rd great king of Tibet. In the afternoon, visit the center of Tibetan Buddhism- Johkang Temple (video), where you will come across lots of devoted pilgrimages coming from every corner of Tibet. Both sites are under the list of the world cultural heritages by the UNESCO. Afterwards, free time for you to wander through the Barkhor Street, the busiest street in old Lhasa quarter.

Potala Palace	Johkang Temple

Day 3: Lhasa city tour

Highlights: Drepung Monastery, Sera Monastery

Schedule today: In the morning, we will visit Drepung Monastery which is the biggest Tibetan Buddhism College with the biggest number of monks in Tibet. The monastery used to be the winter residence of the Dalai Lama before the 5th Dalai Lama moved his residency to the Potala Palace. And in the afternoon, we will visit another influential Gelugpa Monastery- Sera Monastery (video), where you can see the largest scale of sutra debating (video) among monks is famous all across Tibet.

Drepung Monastery	Sera Monastery

Day 4: Lhasa – Gyantse – Shigatse

Highlights: Yamdrok Lake,  Pelchor Monastery, Karo Glacier, Gyantse Pelkor

Schedule today: In the morning, drive to the historic town of Gyantse via Yamdrok Lake (video), according to local mythology, Yamdrok Lake is the transformation of a goddess, on the Gangbala Pass, you will have a clear picture of this Tibetan holy lake in turquoise, in distance you can also see the snowcapped Summit of Ninjingkangsang. In Gyantse (video) , you will find the largest stupa in Tibet-Kumpa Stupa (Ten-thousand stupa), just next to the Stupa is the Pelchor Monastery (video). Another important site in Gyantse is Dzong Castle which once was a battle field where Tibetan fought against British invasion. Continue drive to Shigatse and stay overnight there.

Yamdrok Lake	Pelchor Monastery

Day 5: Shigatse - Sakya - Tingri  

Highlights: Tashilumpo Monastery, Sakya Monastery

Schedule today: In Shigatse, the second largest city in Tibet, we can visit Tashilumpo Monastery (video) which is the seat of Panchen Lama, the equally important religious figure in Tibet as Dalai Lama. The monastery was built by the first Dalai Lama in 1447, and inside the Monastery placed the highest statue of Buddha in Tibet which is 26.8 meters high. Note, in Shigatse, we have to obtain the Alien’s Travel Permit ( for Mt. Everest) from the government, our guide ought to do that for you, but she/he probably cannot guide you to visit the monastery in that case. After lunch, we will have a detour to visit very famous Sakya Monastery en route, Sakya is a very historic and important order in Tibetan Buddhism with distinctive architecture and doctrine. The murals inside the Sakya Monastery is said to be the best of all monasteries in Tibet, very delicate and characteristic, even earns the reputation of second Dunhuang Grottoes in China.Plus, Sakya Monastery also boasts the largest collection of Buddhism sutra on pattra-leaves. Afterwards, drive to Tingri (Shegar) for overnight. If we sleep one night here, the local altitude at 4300 meters will greatly help us to better acclimatize ourselves before heading Everest Base Camp (5200meters).

Tashilumpo Monastery	Sakya Monastery

Day 6: Tingri - Rongbuk Monastery & EBC 

Highlights: Rongbuk Monastery, Everest Base Camp

Schedule today: In the morning, drive from Tingri to Mount Everest Base Camp, it only110km distance but takes 3 hours due to the zigzagging road condition. If the weather is good, on the top of the Gyalpo-la pass you can see 4 of the highest mountains over 8000 meters (Mt. Everest; Mt. Makalu; Mt. Lotse; Mt. Cho Oyu) in the world at the same glance, what a great picture. About 10 km before arriving our destination, according to the rules, we have to take local green-bus to reach Rongbuk Monastery which is just located besides the site of the guesthouse and tents for the tourists staying overnight at Everest Base Camp. Note that this Everest Base Camp is for normal tourists only, not for mountaineers who will go further 4km. Rongbuk Monastery is the highest monastery in the world with both monks and nuns, and it is also the best position to take a picture of soaring Mt. Everest peak. We could do some short hiking around the Rongbuk Monastery and explore more on this base camp since we have the whole afternoon free of time. Also, the sunset view over the peak of Mt. Everest is stunning breathtaking when weather is clear enough. Stay overnight here at local tent guesthouse or at Rongbuk Guesthouse depends on weather and availability.

Rongbuk Monastery before Mt. Everest	Everest Base Camp for Tourists

Day 7: Rongbuk Monastery & EBC - Gyirong Town

Schedule today: Unlike yesterday, today we will have a long drive to Gyirong Town that is only 23km from China-Nepal border. If weather is good, you can choose to wake up early to see the stunning sunrise view of Mt. Everest. After breakfast, we will head to Gyirong County. On the road you will pass Peikutso Lake, the beautiful turquoise Peikutso(4590m) is one of Tibet’s magical spots with stunning views of the snowcapped Shiishapangma(8012m) and the Langtang range bordering Nepal to the south. If we leave EBC around 9 AM, it will be around 6PM when we reach the Gyirong Town considering we could have some sightseeing stops on the way.

Sunrise over Mt. Everest	Peikutso Lake & Mt. Shishpangma

Day 8: Gyirong Town - Gyirong Port (Tour Ends)

Highlights: sunrise in Gyirong Town, China-Nepal border crossing

Schedule today: The Gyirong Port opens at 10 AM and there are 24 km from the Gyirong Town to the port. So we will depart hotel from the town before 9AM to ensure we can cross the Gyirong Border ASAP (the road in Nepal side is not that good and takes long time to reach Kathmandu.) Our guide will help you with Chinese border formalities and you will cross the border and check in Nepal side by yourself. It takes around 8 hours to travel from Gyirong to Kathmandu by car. Note, all our service in Tibet ends at Chinese border of Gyirong, you are on your own once cross the border. Tour ends, our guide and driver will drop you off at border. Welcome to Tibet next time.

Sunrise at Gyrong Town	Gyirong Port

Price Guide

April - June.25	June.26 - August	September - Oct.15	Oct.16 - Nov.15	Nov.16 - March
USD 1030 p/p	USD 1137 p/p	USD 1087 p/p	USD 1030 p/p	USD 950 p/p

What's included in this price?

1. Free group pick-up from airport & free group drop-off from hotel, BUT only three times available, surcharge (RMB 450) occurs if your flight schedule does not meet the free transfer time. Stay at airport for 1-2 hours to await other tourists is possible since this is a group pick-up service.

Group Pick-up Time at airport	09:30 - 10:30	12:30 - 13:30	15:30 - 16:30
Group Drop-off Time leaving hotel	06:30 from hotel	08:30 from hotel	12:30 from hotel
A. The drive length is about one hour between airport and downtown B. It's free to have pickup and drop-off between train station and downtown

2. Entrance fee to all the above mentioned tourists attractions

3. English speaking local Tibetan Guide.

4. Well maintained vehicle throughout the whole tour.

5. All Tibet traveling permits concerned, such as TTP and PSB.

6. Clean and comfortable 3 star standard hotels with private bath room and breakfast in Lhasa and Shigatse, guesthouse or yak hair tent near EBC, 2 star hotels in Tingri and Gyirong Town. The quote is based on 0.5 room per person, twin sharing.

Lhasa (Day1,2,3)	Tashi Noda Hotel or Yak Hotel	3*
Shigatse (Day4)	Gesar Hotel or Manasarovar Hotel	3*
Tingri(Day5)	Roof of the World Grand Hotel or Everest Hotel	2*
EBC(Day6)	Rongbuk Guesthouse or Yak hair tent	Basic
Gyirong Town(Day7)	TBD	2*

7. Tour guide and vehicle's entry fee to Mt. Everest.

8. Oxygen supply on Vehicle.

9. Delivery fee of Tibet permits.

10. Guide and driver's food and accommodations.

What's excluded in this price?

1. Lunches and dinners.

2. Tips for the tour guide and driver.

3. Bank service fee when you transfer deposit to our company.

4. Transportation into and out of Lhasa.

5. Air or train tickets into and out of Lhasa

6. Single supplement.
(The single supplement occurred when solo traveler stayed in a twin room alone. To help our solo travelers to save money, you may agree to share a room with another independent traveler. In this way, no extra charge is needed. We offer the opportunity for tourists to share a room with others during the tour. So they do not need to afford the single room supplement. When you accept this offer, we would assume that tourists are willing to share the twin room with any group member. The gender and age difference is not taken into our consideration. If you do mind these differences or are sensitive to accommodation with strangers especially with opposite sex, you may pay single room supplement for a single room when booking.)

Departures 2024

If you couldn't find a tour date suitable for your travel schedule in the below form, please contact us and we will help you to open a new date based on yours .