Lhasa Tours and Packages
Lhasa, the spiritual heart of Tibet, is an ultimate destination for city explorers. As the leading Tibet tour operator, we have tailored a wide collection of Lhasa tours for you to enjoy a pleasant sightseeing around the holy city. Not only will you visit prestigious cultural and religious landmarks including Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple, but also you will roam the old street of Barkhor to witness the lifestyle of local Tibetans.
Meanwhile, we can also take you to discover the surrounding highlights of Lhasa city, from the holy lakes of Yamdrok and Namtso to other distinctive Tibetan monasteries like Ganden and Samye. With safety guarantee and tourist-oriented service, your fantasy of exploring a dreamy religious world would be fully granted.
Team up with a small group of like-minded global travelers to discover the holy Lhasa city. The 4-day Lhasa tour is the most classic itinerary for tourists to enjoy the best highlights of the holy city. Adding one to two days, the tours allow you to discover popular attractions in Lhasa surroundings, like Yamdrok Lake, Ganden Monastery and Namtso Lake. All these group tours are favorably budget, but include excellent services like Tibet travel permit application, free shuttle transfers, professional Tibetan English-speaking guides etc. Choose one from the following to start your wonderful Lhasa city tour!
If you have been to Lhasa before or want to discover the Lhasa and its surroundings in your own way, then nothing works better for you than customizing a private Lhasa tour. We collect the most recommended Lhasa and surrounding private tours. From 5 days to 8 days, you can choose to add more places to fulfill your Lhasa trip. There are also different theme tours for different travel experiences, like joining in Saga Dawa Festival, staying in Local Tibetan house etc.
Keen to engage in a particular activity such as highland trekking, cycling or family tour, photography journey, etc.? We also offer the thrilling thematic tours in Tibet and Nepal for you. Of these diverse travel themes and activities, you got to find the right one for yourself.
Need more professional help for planning your upcoming Lhasa tour? No worries! Click the latest Tibet travel advice and get to know loads of useful tips before heading to Tibet.
1. What travel documents are needed for Tibet Lhasa tour?
As for visiting Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet, all you need is Tibet Travel Permit, the entry permit to Tibet Autonomous Region. Since Tibet Tourism Bureau(TTB) won’t accept any individual application, you can email us the photo image of your Passport information page and Chinese Visa page and the photo of yourself at least 20 days before your Tibet tour starts. And then we’ll take care of the rest matters.
2. When is the best time to visit Lhasa?
To be honest, Lhasa city can be visited at any time of the year, and there are different highlights to experience for a Lhasa tour in different seasons. The weather in Lhasa in spring is still a bit cold, with small wind and snow, and the average daily temperature is about 10 degrees. It is the perfect time for you to soak up the hot spring at Yangpachen, or enjoy the blossoming flowers in Lhasa surroundings.
When in summer, you can find Lhasa to be a comfortable and cool place, with daily temperature of around 25 degrees. Rains always fall at nights, and warm and bright sunshine takes up the daytime. With snow melted, one can take Namtso Lake trekking for great sights.
In autumn, the weather in Lhasa is similar to that of spring. With dry air and clear sky, it is the great time to do trek around the city. One can explore the short trails, like Ganden to Samye, to enjoy the best of the scenery of Lhasa during this season.
Unlike many have supposed, the winter in Lhasa is not that cold, owing to its strong sunshine. It can be even warmer than most cities in northern China. Since it is the low travel season for Tibet tours, one can enjoy great discounts on hotels, flights and the like during this time.
3. How to get to Lhasa?
Lhasa, as the capital city of Tibet Autonomous Region, can be easily accessed in convenient ways, from either Kathmandu or mainland China. If you start from Kathmandu, you can take a direct flight to Lhasa, which will take you only around 2 hours. Or, you can take an overland trip from Kathmandu to Lhasa, to go through the scenic road journey via Friendship Highway.
If you travel to Lhasa from mainland China, you can take direct trains or flights from gateway cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Xi’an, Chongqing, Guangzhou etc. The flights to Lhasa vary in duration and prices, depending on the travel distance from these cities. Trains to Tibet will be more cost-effective, on the other hand, despite its longer travel time on the rails.
4. What to see in Lhasa tour?
Touring Lhasa, you can take the splendid man-made wonders and fantastic natural landscape in just one go. If you are a history lover, then you should not miss out Potala Palace, the landmark of Tibet; Norbulingka, the summer palace of Dalai Lama; and Tibet Museum, the encyclopedia of Tibetan culture.
You certainly couldn’t afford to visit Jokhang Temple, the spiritual center and enjoy the famous Barkhor kora with local Tibetan pilgrims; Drepung Monastery, the largest monastery in Tibet; Sera Monastery, the vigorous monk debating in the afternoon.
For more off-the-beaten track, visit the Ganden Monastery, which is built on the top of Wangbur Mountain and is also the first Gelugpa monastery founded by guru Tsongkhapa; another choice is to enjoy the mediation in Drak Yerpa monastery, a cliff-side Buddhist retreat, which offers an amazing view and Buddhist vibes.
Wanna take great shoots of Tibet lakes? Make an excursion to come the holiest Yamdrok and Namtso Lake.
5.What and where to eat in Lhasa travel?
Traditional Tibetan foods and drinks mainly consist of Tsampa, yak meat, mutton, butter tea, barley wine, and various dairy products. Apart from these staple food, Lhasa has more to offer. Wandering along Barkhor Street, you’ll find loads of restaurants providing kinds of Nepalese cuisines, Indian dishes, western meals at a very reasonable price.
If you go for traditional Tibetan food, Tibetan Family Kitchen is highly recommended. You can even enjoy our cooking class there. For western food, go to Dunya Restaurant, a restaurant owned by a Dutch couple, offers great western food with great atmosphere.
6. What kind of hotels are available in Lhasa?
As the capital of Tibet, Lhasa has a wide variety of accommodations for you to choose from, ranging from the high-end hotels to the simplest guesthouses. Just a kind reminder here, due to the remote location and economic development, the hotel facility and service are not as good as that of big cities of China. To put it simply, a five-star hotel in Lhasa may be only as high as a three-star hotel in Beijing, and you’d better not hold a high expectations for hotels in Lhasa.
Top luxury 5-star hotels: St. Regis Lhasa Resort; Shangri-La; Intercontential Lhasa Paradise; Songtsam Choskyi Linka Lodge
Comfortable 4-start hotels: Lhasa Gang Gyan Hotel, Lhasa Yak Hotel
Economic 3-star hotels: Tibet Villa Hotel, Lhasa Shangbala Hotel
Tibetan-style hotels: House of Shambhala, Lhasa Dhood Gu Hotel
Cheap guesthouses: Dong Cuo International Youth Hostel, Phuntsok Kasang International Youth Hostel.