Pick up at Lhasa airport

Lhasa - We will pick you up from Lhasa Gongkar airport and will provide transfer to the hotel, the rest of day is free in order to acclimate to the altitude

Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Barkhor old street market

Potala Palace - In the morning visit the Potala palace, the most important and significant construction of Tibet with history over 1400 years, it is divided into two palaces, the red and white, the red is the symbol of religious and white is the symbol of politics.
Potala palace is located 3700 meters above the sea level on the top of “Marpo ri” the red hill in the center of Lhasa city. The 33rd King of Tubo dynasty Songtsen Gampo built this palace in the 7th century. Fifth Dalai Lama rebuilt the Potala palace in 17th century. Potala palace was being rebuilt for over 1300 years to become the present size. Previously Potala was religious and political center for the successive Dalai lamas. There are two palaces in Potala: Red symbolizing religion and White symbolizing politics. The Potala palace consists of great chambers, praying halls, chapels, monks’ schools, and monks’ dormitories. 8 golden tomb stupas of successive Dalai lamas (5th and 7th to 13th), 5 solid mandalas, Thangkas, scroll-paintings, stupas, 70 thousand cultural relics and 60 thousand volumes of scriptures. The Potala palace is called the pearl on the roof of the world. In 1989 Potala Palace is listed as the world cultural heritage by UNESCO.

Jokhang Temple - In the afternoon we will visit the oldest temple of Tibet: Jokhang temple, Jokhang means house of the Buddha, it was built in 642 BC at the time of Tubo king Songtsen Gampo. It is the most sacred temple of Tibet.

Barkhor Street - After Jokhang temple, we will visit the oldest market in Tibet. Barkhor market is located around Jokhang temple, “Barkhor” means the middle clockwise path, the layout was aiming to make clockwise walk around temple. Here you can see lots of Tibetan traditional handicrafts and souvenirs. You can spend the remainder of the day in Barkhor street market.

Drepung Monastery and Sera Monastery

Drepung Monastery (Zhebang Si) - There are three biggest Gelugpa yellow hat sect monasteries in Lhasa, on day 3 we are going to visit two of them: Drepung and Sera monasteries. Drepung monastery is located 8km to the west of Lhasa city at the below of Gyalpen Wutse mount, Drepung in Tibetan means “a pile of rice”, it was built in 1416 by Jamyang Choeje Tashi Palden, the great disciple of master Tsongkhapa, At some point it used to be the house for 7700 monks and four main Khangtsen (colleges): “Loseling”, “Gomang”, “Deyang”, and “Ngagpa”. The main shrine of the monastery is Maitreya, Jampa Thongtrol the future Buddha. It is believed that upon visiting this Maitreya Buddha you can escape suffering. Every year lots of pilgrims visit this Drepung.

Sera Monastery - In the afternoon we will visit Sera monastery which is located 5 km to the north of Lhasa city at the bottom of Sera Utse mount or hermitage. Sera monastery is another large Yellow hat monastery in Lhasa. It was built in 1419 by Jamchen Choeje Shakya Yeshi, he was a disciple of master Tsongkhapa. It used to house up to 5500 monks. Sera in Tibetan means “hail storm” as it is believed that monastery was built during a big hail storm. There are three main colleges located here : Sera Je, Sera Me and Sera Ngagpa. The most holy shrine of Sera monastery is Hayagriva, the horse-necked and it was dug out from underneath the site of monastery. The philosophical debate of Sera monastery attracts a lot of visitors and pilgrims. After visiting Sera we will bring you back to the hotel to relax.

Samye Monastery and Yumbulagang palace

Tradruk temple

Transfer to Lhasa airport

Lhasa - We will provide transportation back to Lhasa airport

• Tibet Travel Permit
• 5 nights 3-star hotel accommodation
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• In-vehicle air conditioning

The tour offers a comprehensive overview of the key attractions in Lhasa and its surroundings, making it ideal for first-time visitors to Tibet. The entire trip will be organized, including the Tibet Travel Permit, airport pick-up and drop-off at Lhasa, accommodation in a 3-star hotel (with breakfast and lunch included), and guided tours to Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Drepung Monastery, Sera Monastery, and Norbulingka.

Please allow a minimum of 3 weeks for the Tibet Travel Permit to be issued and delivered to your chosen hotel address in China. Contact us via Tripadvisor, either by email or phone, to provide the address of your hotel in China and the details of your arrival date and time at Lhasa airport for pick-up. Additionally, we will need your passport information, nationality, gender, and details of your Chinese visa to facilitate the Tibet Travel Permit.

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.