9 Days Nyingchi · Lhasa · Yamdrok · Shigatse Small Group Tour
Fixed dates, guaranteed to run
The group meets in Lhasa — on this tour, in Nyingchi 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 19 April 2027 27 Jun 2027Early Summer Departure
farewell 6 July 2027
Overview
Tibet from its gentlest side first. Nyingchi, in the forested east, lies about 600 m lower than Lhasa, so the first three days — the Lulang valley, the viewing platform for Namcha Barwa, the green water of Basumtso — are an easy start for your body as well as a different Tibet: pines, orchards and rivers rather than bare plateau.
Then the train through the gorges to Lhasa for the Potala Palace, the Jokhang and the Sera monk debate, and the road south-west over the Gampala Pass to Yamdrok Lake, the Karola Glacier, Gyantse and Shigatse. The contrast between the first days and the last is the point of the tour.
Tour highlights
- ✓Three days in Nyingchi: Lulang valley, the Namcha Barwa viewing platform and Basumtso Lake
- ✓The Lhasa–Nyingchi railway: 47 tunnels and 121 bridges through the gorges, about three and a half hours
- ✓Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, the Sera monk debate and a Tibetan family in Lhasa
- ✓Yamdrok Lake from the Gampala Pass, the Karola Glacier and the Kumbum stupa of Gyantse
- ✓Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse
- ✓The easiest altitude entry Tibet offers
Day-by-day itinerary
Day 1Arrive in Nyingchi — rest and acclimatise
Fly into Nyingchi Mainling Airport. At about 3,000 m Nyingchi is one of the gentlest entries into Tibet. Your guide meets you and drives you to the hotel in Bayi, the main town, on the Nyang River. Today is for rest; a walk along the river in the afternoon if you feel like it. The forested hills around the valley already look nothing like the plateau to come. Nyingchi hotel.
Meals: none
Day 2Bayi · Lulang · Namcha Barwa viewing platform · Lamaling Temple
East up the Nyang valley through Tibetan villages, walnut orchards and conifer forest into the wide bowl of Lulang (3,720 m), spruce and fir all round; its stone-pot chicken, slow-cooked with herbs, has been famous for years. On the way the group stops at the viewing platform for Namcha Barwa (7,782 m), the easternmost of the great Himalayan peaks and one of the shyest: fully clear on fewer than 15 days a year. On a lucky morning it stands huge and white above the trees; on most days you see the valley, the mist and a dim shape behind it. Both are worth stopping for.
Also today, Lamaling Temple, a Nyingma monastery quite different in feel from the Gelug monasteries of central Tibet. Night in Lulang.
Meals: breakfast
Day 3Lulang · Basumtso Lake · back to Bayi
To Basumtso (3,460 m), the finest lake in eastern Tibet: blue-green water coloured by glacial minerals, forested mountains on every side and a small island in the middle with the Tsodzong monastery on it, reached by a short boat ride. Take the morning slowly along the lakeside path.
After lunch, back to Bayi, arriving early in the afternoon with the rest of the day free. Nyingchi hotel.
Meals: breakfast
Day 4Train or drive to Lhasa
The Lhasa–Nyingchi railway, opened in 2021, runs 435 km through 47 tunnels and over 121 bridges where no road could easily go; the midday train takes about three and a half hours and the ride itself, tunnels opening suddenly onto gorges, is worth the day. Those who prefer the road take the expressway along the Yarlung Tsangpo, four and a half to five hours with stops. Arrive in Lhasa in the afternoon. Lhasa hotel.
Meals: breakfast
Day 5Tibet 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 6Potala 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 7Gampala Pass · Yamdrok Lake · Karola Glacier · Gyantse Kumbum · 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 8Tashilhunpo Monastery · drive back to Lhasa
The morning is for 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. Then the group drives back to Lhasa along the Friendship Highway and the Yarlung Tsangpo valley, about four hours, arriving in the late afternoon. Lhasa hotel.
Meals: breakfast
Day 9Departure from Lhasa Gonggar Airport
After breakfast your guide takes you to the airport or railway station. Gonggar Airport is about 65 km from the city, so allow two and a half hours before a flight; your guide confirms the time the evening before.
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
✓ 8 nights: Nyingchi 2, Lulang 1, Lhasa 3, Shigatse 1 (+ Lhasa 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
✓ Pick-up at Nyingchi Airport; the train (or road) from Nyingchi to Lhasa
✓ Welcome dinner with the family visit; drinking water daily
✗ Flights or trains to and from Lhasa
✗ Lunches and dinners not listed
✗ Flight to Nyingchi and onward travel from Lhasa
✗ 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
Why start in Nyingchi instead of Lhasa?
Two reasons. Nyingchi is about 3,000 m, well below Lhasa, so your body gets a gentler introduction and the plateau days later feel easier. And you see the green, forested east before the bare plateau rather than after, which makes the contrast on Day 7 at the Gampala Pass far stronger.
When is the best time for this tour?
The peach blossom of Nyingchi, from the second half of March into early April, is the most famous season — pink valleys under snow peaks — and our 10 April departure is timed for it. Mid-May to June and the autumn give clearer mountain views, including the best chance of Namcha Barwa, and fewer visitors. July and August are green but wet.
Will I see Namcha Barwa?
Honestly, the odds are low: the peak is fully clear on fewer than 15 days a year, with the best chances on autumn mornings. If it appears you will remember it for years; if not, the Lulang valley is still one of the loveliest places in Tibet. No operator can promise the view.
Train or road from Nyingchi to Lhasa?
We recommend the train for most travellers: about three and a half hours, smooth, and the views from the windows between the tunnels are striking. The road takes four and a half to five hours and allows stops. Both are included; tell us your preference when you book.
Which permits do I need?
The Tibet Travel Permit and the Alien's Travel Permit, both included and both arranged by us; Nyingchi and Shigatse need no further permit. Allow at least 15 days.
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.
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.