5 Days Lhasa and Ganden Monastery Tour

per person

This 5-day journey brings you a great chance to feel the mystic Tibetan culture in Lhasa.

Overview:

This 5 days Lhasa journey will take you to explore the main attractions in Lhasa city. You could learn more about Tibetan Buddhist culture and mystic Tibetan history by visit world-known Potala Palace, the center of Tibetan Buddhism- Jokhang Temple, a wonderful debating in Sera Monastery and so on. Above those attractions, you could pay a visit to Dark Yerpa, a well-known heritage site, and Ganden Monastery, the most important monastery in Gelupa Tibetan Buddism.

Brief Itinerary:

Day	Daily Outline	Attractions
Day 1	Arrival in Lhasa (3680m)	Pick up and transfer to the hotel.
Day 2	Lhasa sightseeing	Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Barkhor Street
Day 3	Lhasa sightseeing	Drepung Monastery, Sera Monastery
Day 4	Lhasa – Dark Yerpa – Ganden(3800m)- Lhasa, 160km, Approx. 3hrs	Dark Yerpa, Ganden Monastery
Day 5	Lhasa Departure	Send off to airport/railway station

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 Arrival in Lhasa (3680m)

Welcome to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet! Your Tibetan guide and driver will wait for you at Lhasa Airport or the train station and then take you to the hotel. When driving on the road, you could enjoy the Tibetan pure blue sky and white clouds. It takes 1.5 hours from the airport to the center of Lhasa and about 20 minutes from the train station. After arriving at the hotel, you must be very excited and can’t wait to visit Lhasa city. But you are suggested to take a good rest in order to adapt to high altitudes. If you feel good, you could stroll through the city of Lhasa like Potala Square, where you can enjoy the beautiful night view of the Potala Palace.

Good to know：

*For travelers who are the first time to visit high altitude land, you are suggested to have a good rest in your hotel on the first day.

*If you would like to stay in a hotel with oxygen supply, you are suggested to stay at hotels such as Shangri-La Hotel, Lhasa (with a luxury oxygen spa) or Shambhala hotel (oxygen is supplied).

Stay overnight in Lhasa, 3/4-star

Day 2 Lhasa Sightseeing- Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple

Attractions: Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Barkhor Street

Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, is well-known as an international tourism city with mystic Tibetan Buddhist culture and natural plateau scenery. Today, we will arrange you to explore this old and holy city which is already over 1300 years.

In the morning, you will head to visit world-known Potala Palace, which has the highest architecture in the world. It was built by Srongtsen Gampo in the 7th.century and used to be the winter palace of the Dalai Lama. Except for the art of buildings, you could also visit the gilded burial stupas of former Dalai Lamas and meditation Cave of the 33rd great king of Tibet.

After lunch, you are going to visit another symbolic scenic spot of Tibet-Jokhang Temple. It is considered to be the spiritual center of Tibetan Buddhism. In the temple, there is a golden life-sized statue of 12-year-old Sakyamuni, which was brought by Princess Wencheng from the Tang Dynasty. So, you could see many devout Tibetans do a pilgrimage in front of Jokhang temple. Afterward, you could stroll around the famous Barkhor Street, where you can enjoy a sweet tea, and buy some Tibetan souvenirs.

With the attractions, we will arrange a welcome dinner for you tonight. Hope you can enjoy the relaxing night with your friends and guide.

Stay overnight in Lhasa, 3/4-star

Day 3 Lhasa Sightseeing- Drepung Monastery, Sera Monastery

Attractions: Drepung Monastery, Sera Monastery

Today, you will also discover two other highlights of Lhasa – Drepung Monastery and Sera Monastery. In the morning, you are going to visit Drepung Monastery, the largest monastery in Tibet. Before the liberation of Tibet, more than 10,000 monks lived and studied. Therefore, Drepung Monastery is also well-known as the “Mother School of Dalai Lamas”

In the afternoon, you will visit the Sera Monastery. You can enjoy a wonderful Buddhist debate in the monastery, open daily from 3 pm to 5 pm, except on Sundays. You can participate in the daily debate of 80 monks in a closed courtyard. This is more like a question and answers session on Tibetan Buddhism. Through this debate, you can learn more about Tibetan Buddhism culture.

Stay overnight in Lhasa, 3/4-star

Day 4 Lhasa - Dark Yerpa – Ganden(3800m)- Lhasa, 160km, Approx. 3hrs

Attractions: Dark Yerpa, Ganden Monastery

In the morning, you will head to visit Dark Yerpa, which is about 16km northeast of Lhasa. This is a famous monastery consisting of a temple and a series of ancient meditation caves. In the past, more than 300 monks practiced in those caves. Songtsen Gampo, the first king of Tibet, has been meditated in a cave around Dark Yerpa. This peaceful site offers you a good way to explore natural scenery and Tibetan Buddhist culture.

After lunch, you are going to visit Ganden Monastery, which is about 50 kilometers northeast of Lhasa. It’s the most special monastery among the top six monasteries of Gelugpa Tibetan Buddism. It was built in 1409 by the founder of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism, Master Zongkaba. If you prefer, you can do a short trek around Ganden Monastery to visit the beautiful natural scenery around Ganden Monastery. After finishing visiting, you will go back to Lhasa city.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

Day 5 Departure from Lhasa

Your tour ends today. After breakfasts, you will be free for the morning. Our staff will pick you up at your hotel and send you off to Lhasa Airport/Railway Station.

Cost and Inquiry

Since it’s a customized Tibet tour of which the price is different depends on the travel season, hotel class, and the number of travelers, etc. Please let us know your tour plan by filling in the following form. Your trip advisor will contact you within 24 hours for a private Tibet tour designed only for you.

1-7 DAYS

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1 Service Information- What is a private Tibet tour?

For private Tibet Tour Packages, we will provide a private local tour guide, a private vehicle and private driver for your own group. So that you don't have to share the vehicle and tour guide with others. Also, your private tour guide will take care of only your group on the tour. With the help of your private tour guide, you will see more Tibet landscapes and cultures in Tibet. What’s more, you will have the flexibility to arrange the group activities as well.

Please feel free to contact us directly for customizing your own Tibet tour. Your trip advisor will contact you within 24 hours and design the tour package according to your interest, schedule, and any other requirement. We promise to provide you with a satisfactory tailor-made Tibet tour.

2 Tibet Travel Permits and China Visa

For foreign tourists who would like to travel to Tibet, you need to get your Tibet Travel Permits as well as China visa. For China visa, you need to apply for it in your home country before the tour starts. For Tibet Travel Permits, we will take care of all necessary Tibet permits after your Tibet tour booked with us. You are suggested to send us your copies of passport and Chinese visa by email at least 12-working days prior to your entry date, so that we can get all your Tibet Permits in time before the tour starts and mail it to your hotel in a Chinese city.

Kindly note: If you enter Tibet from Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, you don’t have to apply for a Chinese visa in your home country. You are required to get a China Group Visa when you arrive in Kathmandu within 3-working days. We have a nepal partner who can help you get it in Nepal. So don’t worry about it! : )

3 High Altitude Sickness Information: How can I prepare for high altitude adjustment?

As Tibet located on a plateau with the average altitude of 3,600 meters, most people who want to travel in Tibet always worry about high Altitude Sickness. Don’t worry too much! Our customers' age range from 20 years old to 70 years old, there is no evidence that suggests that age has anything to do with the occurrence of mountain sickness. Here are some tips for high altitude adjustment as follows,

* Travelers with a severe cold, a high fever, acute or chronic pulmonary diseases, and severe cardiovascular diseases should avoid traveling to regions with a high altitude such as Tibet.

*Nifedipinum, Nuodikang Capsules and Suoluomabao Capsules (known as Hongjingtian Capsules in Chinese) can help some people prevent altitude sickness. You are suggested to take them three days before arriving in Tibet.

*To prevent altitude sickness, you are also suggested to have a proper rest when you arrive in Lhasa for the first day. You can have two days in Lhasa with a lower altitude in order to adapt to high altitude, then travel to Everest Base Camp or other high lands in Tibet. * Our tour guide will take care of you and give some useful tips on how to avoid high altitude sickness on arrival. A bottle of oxygen and first aid kit will be prepared on the vehicle for each person for emergency use. You can drink pretty water every day to prevent altitude sickness. Cigarette shall be forbidden as well as drink alcohol. What’s more, always remember that if you have any problems or feel uncomfortable, please tell your tour guide immediately or contact our travel consultant.

4 Accommodation Information

To be honest, the overall accommodations in Tibet is not good as many other main cities in China such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou because Tibet located on a plateau with the average altitude of 3,600 meters. In recent years, with the development of Tibet tourism, the accommodations in Tibet have significant improvement.

Accommodation in Tibet is divided into star hotel, guest houses, and tent. You can enjoy comfortable star hotel in most Tibet areas such as Lhasa, Shigatse, Nyingtri and Tsedang, etc. If your Tibet tour plan includes other remotes areas such as EBC, Mt.Kailash, Trekking in Tibet, there are many simple hotels, guest houses, and a tent for your choice. Usually, the accommodations in Lhasa, Nyingtri, and Shigatse ranging from the cheap guesthouse to the luxury five-star hotel. The highest standard accommodation in Tsedang and other place is a 4-star hotel. In Tingri, Gyirong, the highest standard is 3-star; and other small or remote areas of Ngari, EBC and Namtso Lake, the guest houses may be your only option unless you would like to stay overnight in the tent.

We hand-picked the hotels in each city in Tibet to ensure you have cozy and comfortable places to stay while traveling in Tibet. Also, All the accommodations we picked have good locations and unique Tibetan features.

5 Meal Information

Breakfast: if you are going to stay in a star hotel, breakfast is usually included. But if you are going to stay in a guest house or a tent, there is no breakfast provided by the hotel.

Lunch and Dinner: Usually, we don’t include lunch and dinner on our tour itinerary. Your tour guide will recommend some good restaurants for your reference. Because according to our many experiences in Tibet tourism, some travelers may have Faith and are vegetarians, they don’t want to eat meat. So we will recommend some good vegetarian restaurants.

We have created a list of our favorite restaurants in Tibet and personally selected some local restaurants to recommend to our customers. In Lhasa, you can choose Chinese food, Western food, Tibetan food, Nepalese food as well as Indian food. Our tour guide is happy to recommend quality restaurants and take you to the restaurant according to your taste and preferred style.

6 Recommended Tibet Packing List

For the most Important Ones: The passport with all necessary documents such as your passport, Chinese visa, and Tibet travel permits.

For Clothes: In winter, from November to next March, you’re suggested to bring down jackets, warm sweaters, gloves, woolen hats. In summer, you can wear a T-shirt in day time but the Jacket is necessary at the hotel in the morning and evening as it is still cold in the morning and evening. What’s more, if your Tibet tour includes overnight at Everest Base Camp or Namtso Lake, or a several days outdoor trek in the mountain area, to keep warm is very important. The winter clothes are a must.

For Shoes: it’s very important to have a comfortable pair of boots, especially your travel covers the remote area and you have to walk for a long distance.

For bags: A large backpack, a smaller one, plus a waist bag make it perfect. The smaller one can be used for daily activities and can also be put into the big one when necessary. The waist bag is to take some small and important things with you. It’s okay for you to take a big suitcase.

For Skincare products: The skin care products are quite necessary for Tibet as wind and solar radiation are very strong in Tibet. You can bring lip balms, sunblock, and skin creams，sunglasses.

For Cash: you’re suggested to bring some cash such as RMB and prepare enough cash for the days you are out of Lhasa since ATMs are difficult to find in the remote areas of Tibet.

7 Best time to visit Tibet

The best travel in Tibet is from April to October. The weather will get warmer and some shops in remote areas will be reopened.

1)Peak Season: June, July, August, September (June to October 15th )

The weather from July to August gets warm. But the cost of vehicles, food, accommodation and tour guides will be higher because Chinese people have a long holiday and choose to travel to Tibet during that time.

2) Best value: Traveling in Tibet from April to June and from the end of October to the end of November is recommended because the weather is still good and warm and the tour cost will be greatly reduced. Travel expenses during this time are usually a few hundred dollars cheaper than the peak season.

3)Shoulder season: December, January

From December to January, Tibet will enter winter season and the weather in winter will very cold. But you’re suggested to travel in Lhasa city, which called the city of Sunlight. You can visit famous monasteries in Lhasa such as Potala Palace, Sera Monastery and Jokhang temple, etc.

Kindly Note: From late February to March, Tibet will be closed for foreign visitors because of Tibet New Year. All travel agency can’t help you get your Tibet Travel Permits.

5 Days Lhasa and Ganden Monastery Tour