Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, covers an area of 544 square kilometers and is "The Land of Gods" in Tibetan, sits on the north bank of River Lhasa, a tributary of the Yarlung Tsangbo River, at an altitude of 3,700 meters. It has a history of over 13 centuries. With more than 3,000 hours of sunshine annually, Lhasa is famed as "the City of Sunshine". It is the capital of Tibet Autonomous Region and the center of Tibet's political, economic, cultural and religious activities. There are many historic sites and famous relics in the city proper and its suburbs, among which the Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Drepung Monastery, Sera Monastery and Ganden Monastery are world famous.

This route is quite fit for those people:

1)who always live in the comparatively low altitude and come to Tibet for the first time
2)who will bring children to Tibet
3)elder travelers
4)The people who don't have limited time of traveling.

Interested in this tour?
Contact us for a quotation.

Itinerary day by day:

Day1 Fly to Lhasa

Potala Palace Jokhang Temple Barkhor Street Drepung Monastery Sera Monastery

The guide will meet you at Gonggar Airport, and transfer you to Lhasa cit. On the way, you'll get greeted by Nie Tang Budda - a Budda image engraved in the mountain face. The rest time is free for relax and more oxygen. Overnight in Lhasa.

Day2 Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Barkhor street

The first day of sightseeing starts from Lhasa's cardinal landmark- Potala Palace, a structure of massive portions. Its towering image already appearing on various occasions, but your first sight of the Potala will still be an awe-inspiring moment. It takes at least a good 2-hour to visit those rooms, halls and chapels.
In the afternoon, we will drop a visit of the Jokhang Temple, the spiritual center of Tibet. Everyday, pilgrims from every corner of Tibet trek a long distance to the temple. The temple is the product of Han, Tibetan and Nepalese architectural techniques. Then we will visit Barkhor, the oldest street in a very traditional city in Tibet.

Day3 Drepung Monastery, Sera Monastey, Norbulingka

About 8km west of central Lhasa is the Drepung, once world's largest monastery with about 10,000 monks. This day's sightseeing begins with these white monastic buildings piled up on the hillside. Walking up to the hill is a pleasant thing, an easy break from the solemn ambience inside the halls and chapels. At the plat roof of hillside, you can have very good views of the whole Lhasa city and the distant mountains.

Drepung is one of Lhasa's two great Gelugpa monasteries, the other is Sera. Around 5km north of central Lhasa, Sera may not be as grandiose as Drepung, but is more serene surrounded by many small temples. The 'Buddhism Scriptures Debating' in Sera is very famous.
Norbulingka, whose name literally means ¡°Jewel park¡± and was founded by the seven Dalai Lama in 1755, Norbulingka is the summer Palace for the successive dalai lama. People enjoys the opera dancing during the Shodun festival.

Day4 Exit the Lhasa, our guide will see you off there and our service ends here.

If you have one or two more days, the tour can be extended like this:

Extension optional tours

A. one more day to Yamdrok Lake or Yampacheng for the grassland

Yamdrok Lake

Yamdrok Lake: On the old road between Gyanste and Lhasa, dazzling Yamdrok lake can be seen from the summit of the Kamba-la (4794m). The lake lies several hundred metres below the road, and in clear weather is a fabulous shade of deep turquoise. Far in the distance is the huge massif of Mt. Nojin Kangtsang (7191m).

B. one more day to Namsto Lake

Namtso Lake

Namsto Lake: Namsto, approximately 190km north-west of Lhasa, is the second-largest saltwater lake in China. It is over 70km long and reaches a width of 30km. They Nyenchen Tangula range, with peaks of more than 7000m, towers over the lake to the south. Namtso is a tidal lake and the ring marks of earlier lake levels are clearly visible by the shoreline. In clear weather the water is a miraculous shade of turquoise and there are magnificent views of the nearby mountains. The wide open spaces, dotted with tents of local nomads, are intoxicating.

C. one more day to Gandan Monastery or Tsurphu Monastery

Gandan Monastery

Gandan Monastery: Gandan, just 40km north-east of Lhasa, was the first Gelugpa monastery. If you only have time for one monastery excursion outside Lhasa, Ganden would probably be the best choice. With its stupendous views of the surrounding Kyi-chu Valley and fascinating kora, Ganden is an experience unlike the other major Gelugpa monasteries in the Lhasa area.

Tsurphu Monastery: Tsurphu Monastery around 70km west of Lhasa, is the seat of the Karmapa branch of the Kagyupa order of Tibetan Buddhism. The Karmapa are also known as the Black Hats, a title that dates back to 1256.

Interested in this tour?
Contact us for a quotation.