8 Days Lhasa–Everest Round Trip · Relaxed Pace 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.
farewell 4 April 2027 30 May 2027Shigatse Linka Week Departure
farewell 6 June 2027 16 Jun 2027Saga Dawa in Lhasa
farewell 24 June 2027 30 Jul 2027Gyantse Horse Racing Departure
farewell 7 August 2027 28 Aug 2027Shoton Festival Departure
farewell 5 September 2027 25 Sep 2027Late September Departure
farewell 3 October 2027
Overview
The same road to Everest as our 7-day tour, taken one day slower. Day 5 is kept for the drive west and the five-peak view from the Gyawula Pass, with no monastery squeezed in first; Tashilhunpo gets its own unhurried morning on the way back, when Everest is already behind you; and the tour ends with a last evening in Lhasa instead of a departure from Shigatse.
Three nights in Lhasa come first, the lake, the glacier and Gyantse's Kumbum fill Day 4, and the way back from Everest runs through Sakya Monastery on a different road. Everest is reached by vehicle; there is no trekking.
Tour highlights
- ✓Sunrise at Everest Base Camp (5,200 m) after a night at Rongbuk
- ✓A whole day for the road west and the five-peak panorama from the Gyawula Pass
- ✓Tashilhunpo Monastery with a full morning, on the way back
- ✓Yamdrok Lake, the Karola Glacier and the Kumbum stupa of Gyantse
- ✓Sakya Monastery — out one road, back another
- ✓A last free evening in Lhasa before you fly
Day-by-day itinerary
Day 1Arrive in Lhasa — rest and acclimatise
Your guide meets you at Lhasa Gonggar Airport or the railway station and drives you to the hotel. The rest of the day is free: drink water, walk slowly, and let your body get used to 3,650 m. Lhasa hotel.
Meals: none
Day 2Tibet Museum · Nanshan Park · Jokhang Temple · Barkhor Street
The Tibet Museum in the morning is the best short introduction to the land and its people. From Nanshan Park on the south side of the city you look across the river to the Potala Palace. In the afternoon, the Jokhang Temple, the holiest temple in Tibet, and a walk around the Barkhor with the pilgrims. Lhasa hotel.
Meals: breakfast
Day 3Potala Palace · Sera Monastery monk debate · a Tibetan family
The Potala Palace in the morning, on the timed ticket your guide has booked. After lunch, the monks' debate in the courtyard of Sera Monastery (daily except Sundays, 3–5 pm). In the evening you visit a local family for butter tea, tsampa and conversation, with your guide translating. Lhasa hotel.
Meals: breakfast, dinner
Day 4Gampala Pass · Yamdrok Lake · Karola Glacier · Gyantse · Shigatse
An early start south from Lhasa. The road climbs to the Gampala Pass (4,794 m), and from the top Yamdrok Lake, one of the three holy lakes of Tibet, lies below you in a long curve of turquoise. Today the group does not turn back here: the road goes on west past the Karola Glacier, close enough to the highway to feel its cold, and reaches Gyantse early in the afternoon.
Gyantse's Kumbum, built between 1427 and 1439, is a nine-storey stupa with 77 chapels, one above the other like a mandala in three dimensions; give it an hour. The day ends in Shigatse, Tibet's second city, for the night.
Meals: breakfast
Day 5Drive west · Gyawula Pass five-peak view · night at Rongbuk
After breakfast the group drives west. There is no monastery this morning; the day belongs to the road. It climbs to the Gyawula Pass, and when the sky is clear — it often is — five of the world's highest peaks stand in one line in front of you: Cho Oyu, Gyachung Kang, Everest, Lhotse and Makalu, all above 7,900 m, from one spot on the road.
The group reaches the Rongbuk guesthouse (4,980 m) in the late afternoon, with the north face of Everest filling the view from the door. In the last light the summit turns gold. Bring warm layers: the night is cold and full of stars.
Meals: breakfast
Day 6Everest Base Camp sunrise · Sakya Monastery · back to Shigatse
Up before dawn for the 20-minute walk on flat ground from the guesthouse to Everest Base Camp (5,200 m). The first light on the north face, before the clouds build, is the clearest of the day; take as long as you like. After a simple breakfast the group drives east on a different road from the one it came by.
The way back passes Sakya Monastery, founded in 1073 and for two centuries the ruling power of Tibet; you know it at once by its walls striped grey, white and red. Inside is one of the largest collections of old Tibetan manuscripts anywhere. On to Shigatse for the night.
Meals: breakfast
Day 7Tashilhunpo Monastery · drive back to Lhasa — last evening in the city
This is the morning that sets the 8-day tour apart. With Everest behind you and no long drive west ahead, Tashilhunpo Monastery, founded in 1447 by the first Dalai Lama and the seat of the Panchen Lamas since, with the 26-metre gilded statue of the future Buddha, the tombs of past Panchen Lamas and the courtyards where the monks live and study. takes the time it deserves.
After the monastery the group drives back to Lhasa along the Yarlung Tsangpo valley, four to five hours. The evening is free: a last walk on the Barkhor, a last round of the stalls near the Jokhang, or a butter tea while the city goes dark. Lhasa hotel.
Meals: breakfast
Day 8Lhasa departure
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
✓ 7 nights: Lhasa 4, Shigatse 2, Rongbuk 1, 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
✓ Welcome dinner with the family visit; drinking water daily
✗ Flights or trains to and from Lhasa
✗ Lunches and dinners not listed
✗ 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
Is this a climb? How fit do I need to be?
It is not a climb. Everest Base Camp is reached by vehicle, with a short flat walk of about 20 minutes at the end, so no trekking fitness or equipment is needed. What you need is a normal tolerance of altitude: Lhasa is at 3,650 m and the Everest days go above 5,000 m. Three nights in Lhasa first give your body time to adjust. Anyone with a heart or lung condition, or a history of serious altitude sickness, should check with a doctor before booking.
Which permits do I need, and are they included?
Three, all included and all arranged by us: the Tibet Travel Permit that every foreign visitor needs, the Alien's Travel Permit for the places outside Lhasa, and the Border Defence Permit for the Everest area. You only send us your passport and China visa details; allow at least 15 days, more in high season.
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.
When is the best time to see Everest?
Mid-May to the end of June and the autumn are the clearest: the summit is visible from base camp on most days. July and August are the rainy months and Everest is often in cloud. In winter the days are bright but the tent camp is closed and the road can be blocked by snow in some years, so winter Everest is only for guests who accept a change of plan.
What is Everest Base Camp like?
Quieter than the photographs and more moving than you expect. The Tibet-side base camp is a flat plain of grey moraine at 5,200 m. The summit itself is hidden behind lower ridges; what you see is the north face, a wall of rock and ice filling the top of the sky, with prayer flags marking the spot. The walk from the vehicle takes about 20 minutes; the air is thin, so go slowly.
How is this different from the 7-day Everest round trip?
The order of Tashilhunpo. The 7-day tour sees it on the morning of Day 5 and drives to Rongbuk the same afternoon; this tour keeps Day 5 for the road and sees Tashilhunpo on Day 7, on the way back, with a whole morning. It also ends in Lhasa rather than Shigatse. Both tours run on the same dates, so travellers on the two share the first six days.
What if my dates do not match a departure exactly?
If you are a day or two early or late, you can join the group for the days that overlap and we arrange a guide and vehicle privately for the days you miss, so you still see everything. If no date fits, the whole tour runs as a private trip on your own dates; ask us for a quote.
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.