Central Tibet Tour

Central Tibet tour 9 days consist of the journey to all the most popular travel destinations in central Tibet. Your tour will start from your arrival in Lhasa, immediately you will transfer to Tsetang for the low altitude and the place is better for acclimatization. The first day will be a free day for you.

On the Second Day, you will be visiting Samye the oldest monastery in Tibet and Yungbulakhang in Tsetang. You will then travel to Lhasa for the night. For the next two days, you will be exploring the marvels of Lhasa and Daily life of local Tibetans in Lhasa. you will stay in Lhasa for three days and on the fourth day, you will go ahead of your tour towards Shigatse.

On your way from Lhasa to Shigatse, you will be visiting Beautiful Yamdrok Lake, the monastery of Gyantse and its fort. You might become interested in visiting the handicrafts in Gyantse where Locals makes Tibetan cloth which never grows old. In Shigatse, you will visit the Tashi Lhunpo monastery and the Tibetan Handicraft. After Shigatse, you will be returning to Lhasa.

Destination:- Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Sera Monastery, Drepung monastery, Drak Yerpa, Ganden Monastery, Yamdrok Lake, Gyantse, and Tashi Lhunp0.
Duration:- 9 Days
Difficulty: Medium
Best Time to Travel: April to February

Gallery of Central Tibet tour

Tour Itinerary of Central Tibet tour

Day 1: Arrival in Lhasa and Transfer to Tsedang

Distance: 97 Kilometer. Sleeping Elevation: 3565m.

We will welcome you at the Airport or The Lhasa train station. We will have to traditional Tibetan welcome ceremony by presenting the traditional white scarf called Khata. Then you will take a short journey to Tsedang Prefecture-level city. Tsedang is locate beside the Yarlung river, and the region is known as the source of Tibetan Civilization. We will stay at the four-star Hotel for the night.

Day 2: Tsedang Sightseeing and Drive to Lhasa

Distance: 120 kilometer, Sleeping elevation: 3656m

Today, you will visit the Yumbulhakhang fort. The first fort in Tibetan History. We will also visit the Traduk Temple, the first Buddhist Temple in Tibet. After this, we will drive to the other side of the river to Samye Monastery. After the visit to the Samye Monastery, we will go to Lhasa via new express highways. We will stay for a night in the hotel of your choice.

Day 3: Lhasa guided tour

Visit Jokhang Temple and Sera monastery.

In the morning, after having your breakfast, your guide will meet you at the hotel. Then you will first go to the Jokhang Temple, the holiest temple in Tibetan Buddhism. Since your hotel is in the Tibetan quarter of Lhasa city, you will walk to the Jokhang Temple. After visiting the temple, you can some time to explore the Old Lhasa city on your own for a couple of hours.

The guide will fix you a time and place to visit. In the afternoon, you will see the Sera monastery. This is the most well-preserved monastery in Tibet. The monastery you can sit in the courtyard where monks will be debating on Buddhist philosophy. You can stay there sometimes for a perfect opportunity for many travellers to take a picture of the monks’ debate. You can tell your guide to give you some free times to explore the monastery on your own if you would like to live in peace for sometimes.

Day 4: Lhasa guided tour

Visit Potala Palace, and Drepung Monastery.

First, in the morning, the group will visit Potala Palace. It is the most iconic building in Tibet. It has more than 1000 rooms and towering above the Lhasa city. It is the most iconic Building of Tibetan Architecture. The palace is first to build in the seventh century by the King Songtsen Gampo. Later in the 17th century, the fifth Dalai Lama has rebuilt his resident over the ruins of the old palace. Ever since the palace has served as the winter resident for successive Dalai Lama and Administrative centre for the local Tibetan Government.

In the afternoon we will visit the Drepung Monastery. It is one of the three most significant monasteries in Lhasa and central Tibet. In the early 20th century, it is the world biggest monastic complex. The Kora around the monastery takes about an hour of spectacular views.

Day 5: Day Tour to Drak Yerpa and Ganden Monastery

Visit Drak Yerpa and Ganden Monastery

We will drive east of Lhasa. First, we will visit the Dark Yerpa Hermit. The Dark Hermit is considered the most auspicious of all the hermits in Tibet. All the Tibetan Buddhist masters are said to have meditated here. The three most well know master meditated in the Hermit are Songtsen Gampo, Guru Rinpoche, Atisha, and Tsongkhapa. We still have their meditation caves. You can visit.

If you are practising meditation, We would like to recommend you in meditating in the hermit. This hermit has extraordinary spiritual energy.

In the afternoon, we will drive to Ganden Monastery. One of the three most significant monasteries in Tibet. The Je Tsongkhapa founded this monastery. It is the principal monastery of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The main relic of the monastery is the Tomb Stupa of Je Tsongkhapa.

Day 6: Drive from Lhasa to Gyantse via Yamdrok lake and Carola Pass

Distance: 263km Drive: 6hr.

It is advised to start the journey a little earlier in the morning. So in most of the cases, we leave Lhasa at 7 in the morning after having breakfast at your hotel. By 11:00 Am you will reach the Kampa-la pass (4700 m). The car will stop here for some time of the beautiful view to Yamdrok Lake below the pass and the mighty mount Mount Nojin Kangtsang (7191 meters). After some time at the pass for the picture, we will then drive down to the lake. It is about a 15 minutes drive, and we will descend about 700 meters to the shore. We will stop at the shore, and you will have some time to enjoy the beautiful lake from its shore.

After the lake, we will continue to drive to the Nangartse town for lunch. From Yamdrok lake to Nangartse is 50 km and we will drive along the shore until we divert to the town. If you are travelling during the winter, you can see lots of wild birds on this road. It is advised to bring a binocular if you are the bird lover. Once when we reach the town we will stop here for lunch, and after lunch, you can explore this little Tibetan town for sometimes.

You will then continue to Gyantse town. You will reach the Gyantse town at about 3:00 pm. We will then check in to our hotel for the night and then we will continue to visit the Gyantse monastery. Visiting the monastery would take about one and a half hours. If you still have some energy, we can see the Gyantse fort.

Day 7: Drive from Gyantse to Shigatse via Shula monastery

Distance: 95kms Drive: 2:30hrs

You will start your journey at about 9:00 am. Once when you drive out of the Gyantse town, we will stop at photography spot outside the town. From there you can see the entire town of Gyantse including its monastery, stupa and the fort. It is one of my favourite places in Tibet to take the picture.

From Gyantse, we will first go to Shalu monastery. Many travel and tour operator in Tibet skips in their itinerary. But to me, it is a must place to visit. The painting inside the monastery is very different. Those are the original Newari style paintings.

After Shalu Monastery we will continue to Shigatse. On arrival at Shigatse, we will first visit the Tashi Lhunpo monastery. The monastery was found by the first Dalai Lama and official residence of the Panchen Lama. Then we will drive to the hotel and rest of the day is free for you and the group members. But we will have to go to apply for the permit for Everest basecamp.

Day 8: Shigatse to Lhasa

Distance: 280kms Drive: 4hrs Sleeping Elevation: 3656m

We will travel back to Lhasa, the distance for the return journey is 280 kilometres, and It will take only 6 Hours travelling. We will have enough time to do the last-minute souvenir shopping or walking the pilgrimage circuit around Jokhang Temple one more time.

Day 9: Departure from Tibet

Your tour guide will escort you to the Train station or the Airport as per your departure.

Our Special Arrangement with Central Tibet tour

Village Home-Stay

We offer Homestay in Traditional rural villages for our clients in Tibet. Our village homestay allows you to experience Tibetan Custom, Tradition and the Way of Life in towns, which would not be available by staying in Hotels and Guesthouse. By living with a village family, you will enjoy the beautiful sceneries of the Tibet countryside and better understand the local culture. Most importantly, our host family we very welcoming and friendly. So, come and enjoy our special arrangement with i-Tibet Travel.

Nomad Tent-Stay

In the Tibetan Plateau, Our Tibetan Nomads live with their herd’s harmony with the fertile environment. We can organize the Nomad Tent-stay for all our clients. In this arrangement, travelers can get the first-hand experience of the lifestyle of Tibetan Nomads. You can join them in herding yaks and sheep, Making cheese, yoghurt, Butter and try riding a Yak. By the end of the day, you can relax drinking Yak Butter tea. Enjoy the authentic nomad experience with our specialist at I-Tibet Travel.

Dinner with Tibet Expert

At the end of the tour on the last night in Lhasa, would you like to have dinner with a Tibetan expert and discuss all the questions you might have about Tibet and Tibetan culture? If yes, have us arrange your dinner with our Tibetan expert. Our renowned Tibetan Expert provides an inspirational and enlightening talk to suit your interest. The theme of the talk can be range from Tibetan History, Tibetan Medicine, Astrology, Culture, Architecture, Tibetan Buddhism and festivals. Our arrangement of dining with Tibetan expert can help you learn a lot about Tibetan people and theirs culture.

Tibetan Calligraphy Class

Tibetan traditional Calligraphy is unique and very popular in western for tattoo art. It is not only a visual art form but also a means to convey though of the beauty of the Tibetan scripts and rejuvenate the energy through its holy mantras. While you are in Tibet, we can arrange a session of Tibetan calligraphy class with a Tibetan expert to learn how to write a basic Tibetan mantra of Om Mani Padme Hum. During the class, you will be using traditional Tibetan Bamboo pen, traditional inkpot, and Traditional Tibetan writing board. You can also bring home your piece of art.

Visit Handicraft Center

Many local initiatives are dedicating themselves to the preservation and promotion of Tibetan arts and Crafts. Your trip will be incomplete without visiting one such initiative where you can see the craftsmen working on their art piece. We will visit one such initiative where you can see artist painting on their Thangka, working on pottery wares, stone carving, and wood printing blocks. In our unique arrangement, there will be a local guide from the institution, who can explain in-depth of Tibetan art and their institution.

Tibetan Cooking Class

With a partnership with Tibetan Family Kitchen, the best restaurant in the entire Tibet. We make a special arrangement for organizing the Tibetan cooking Class. In our Tibetan cooking class, the main chef Namdol will take you to the local market to buy ingredients for the food you are going to learn how to make. After the short visit to the market, she will teach you to step by step in how to make a food of your choice. The popular choice is Momos. Momos is a Tibetan meat Dumplings. It is the most famous Tibetan food. If you are a vegetarian, she can teach you how to make veg momos.

Thangka Class

Thangka is one of the most important local Tibetan Artwork and known the world over. We organize the Thangka class for our visitors to a Thangka class. In Our Thangka class arrangement, you will visit the Thangka master, where you will observe Tibetan artisan and their apprentice at work. You will have a Thangka teacher to teach you about the basics of Thangka painting and teaching you how to draw the face or eye of Buddha. This should be quite an exposure and experience.

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