7 Days Nagchu Horse Racing Tour Small Group Tour
Fixed dates, guaranteed to run
The group meets in Lhasa on the date you choose below and travels with one Tibetan guide and one vehicle, never more than 8 people. Holding a seat is free; you pay the US$100 permit fee only when you confirm, 30 days before departure. The same tour also runs as a private trip on your own dates.
Hold a seat — no deposit →2027 departure dates
Each date is Day 1, the day the group meets. Fly in from Chengdu that day, or board the train in Xining the day before. Click a date to hold a seat on it.
Overview
The Nagchu horse racing festival opens on 10 August every year, whatever the Tibetan calendar says, and it is the biggest in Tibet: speed races, riders snatching khata scarves from the ground at full gallop, archery, and a tent city where nomad families from all over the north meet for a week. This tour reaches Nagchu the day before and gives you the whole opening day at the Gesar racecourse.
Three easy days in Lhasa come first, because Nagchu is 850 m higher. The road north goes by the farming valleys of Lhundrub and Reting Monastery among its old junipers; the road home is the paved national road across the grassland, so the two drives are different.
Tour highlights
- ✓The Nagchu horse racing festival from its opening morning, 10 August
- ✓Reting Monastery and the quiet road north through Lhundrub
- ✓The North Tibet Grassland: nomad camps, yak herds and the Nyenchen Tanglha range
- ✓Three easy days in Lhasa: Potala, Jokhang, Barkhor, Tibet Museum, Sera debate
- ✓Out by Reting, back on the national road — never the same road twice
- ✓The tent city and market of the festival
Day-by-day itinerary
Day 1Arrive in Lhasa (3,650 m) — a quiet first day
Your guide meets you at the airport or railway station with a white khata scarf and takes you to the hotel. The rest of the day is for rest. Lhasa hotel.
Meals: none
Day 2Lhasa — Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Barkhor kora
The Potala Palace in the morning, then the Jokhang Temple, the holiest temple in Tibet, and in the afternoon the Barkhor, walked clockwise with the pilgrims and their prayer wheels. Lhasa hotel.
Meals: breakfast
Day 3Lhasa — Tibet Museum and Sera Monastery
The Tibet Museum in the morning and the monks' debate at Sera Monastery in the afternoon (not on Sundays). A third easy day prepares you for the grassland, about 850 m higher. Lhasa hotel.
Meals: breakfast
Day 4Lhasa → Lhundrub → Reting Monastery → Damxung → Nagchu
North through the farming valleys of Lhundrub, past barley fields and wetlands where black-necked cranes feed, to Reting Monastery among its old juniper trees. Then down a mountain valley to the national road at Damxung and on across the open grassland to Nagchu, arriving the day before the races. Nagchu hotel.
Meals: breakfast
Day 5The Nagchu horse races — opening day, 10 August
A whole day at the Gesar racecourse from the morning: the opening ceremony, the speed races, riders picking up khata scarves at full gallop, archery, and the tent city and market where nomad families from all over northern Tibet meet. Nagchu hotel.
Meals: breakfast
Day 6Nagchu → Lhasa on the national road
Back to Lhasa on the paved national road across the grassland, about 310 km, with the Nyenchen Tanglha range beside you for much of the way — a different road from the way north. Lhasa hotel.
Meals: breakfast
Day 7Departure from Lhasa
Breakfast, then your guide takes you to the airport or railway station in time for your flight or train. If you leave in the afternoon there is time for one last hour on Barkhor Street.
Meals: breakfast
What's included
✓ Tibet Travel Permit and all other permits for the route
✓ English-speaking Tibetan guide
✓ Tourist vehicle with driver for the whole tour
✓ 6 nights: Lhasa 4, Nagchu 2, twin share, with breakfast
✓ Entrance fees for every sight in the itinerary
✓ Lhasa airport or railway station pick-up and see-off
✓ Oxygen in the vehicle and an oxygen canister per person; travel accident insurance
✓ Two nights in a simple hotel in Nagchu
✗ Flights or trains to and from Lhasa
✗ Lunches and dinners
✗ Single room supplement (free for 5 rooms or 10+ travellers)
✗ Tips for the guide and driver
✗ Personal expenses and anything not listed
Questions travellers ask
When is the Nagchu horse racing festival?
Every year on 10 August. This tour reaches Nagchu on 9 August, so you see the whole opening day.
How high is this tour?
Lhasa is at 3,650 m, Reting about 4,000 m and Nagchu about 4,500 m. Three easy days in Lhasa first help your body adjust, and the guide carries oxygen.
Will we also see the Damxung horse race?
We pass Damxung on the way north, but the tour is built around Nagchu, the biggest of the horse festivals. We never put two horse races in one tour; one is the highlight.
Where do we stay in Nagchu?
Two nights in a simple hotel in Nagchu town. Hotels there are basic and fill up before the festival, which is why we book early for the group.
How many people are in the group, and who are they?
Between 3 and 8 travellers, usually from several countries, with one Tibetan guide and driver for the whole tour. The same dates and prices are offered on our sister site tibettravel.com, run by the same office in Lhasa, so guests from both sites travel together in one group.
Do I pay a deposit to hold a seat?
No. Holding a seat is free. To confirm it, you pay the US$100 permit fee at least 30 days before departure, which starts your Tibet Travel Permit; the permit is included in the price. The rest is paid later, as explained on our how-to-book page.