Tibet Travel Informations

Before arriving in Lhasa, all international visitor going to Tibet must have arranged their Tibet travel with a travel agency in Lhasa, including Tibet travel permit. Tibet Permit is often wrongly called Tibet VISA. The Tibet permit is issued by the Tibet Tourism Development bureau in Lhasa. Only a registered local Travel agency can help you apply it on your behalf.

Contact your travel agency for the tour at least six weeks before your arrival in Tibet. For it gives them enough days to help make your custom tour itinerary. Give you all the necessary Tibet travel information and Apply for your travel Permit.

We will apply for your permit in advance. You will have to send us a clear copy of your passport and visa for it.

Additional Tibet travel permits

There are few other additional permits to the primary Tibet travel permit. You don’t need to worry about it at all. It is the responsibility of your travel agency to make it for you. If you are traveling with us, we will send them the list of permits need on the tour contract. If not, we can help you with sending the list. In this way, you can be sure to have all the required documents before leaving Lhasa.

Tibet Tourism Bureau is the sole issuing authority for the Tibet travel permit. So only a local travel agency registered with them can help you apply for the entrance permit.
While Applying for Tibet travel permit, you will need to have followed in your mind.

• Book a tour with the travel agency applying for it on your behalf

  Only a Locally registered Travel agency can apply for a Tibet travel permit. Since all the tours in Tibet must be an organized tour. International visitors have to book a tour with local agencies for them to able to apply for Tibet travel permits on your behalf.

• Send a tour deposit to their bank account.

  Before applying for a Tibet travel permit, you will have to send us a tour deposit. As we have to submit the bank receipt of the tour deposit along with your passport and visa.

• Send your Passport and Visa copies to travel agency in Lhasa

  The traveler will also have to send their passport and Visa copies for the application. Your passport copy is of a valid passport. We will need your Chinese visa if you are coming to Tibet from other parts of China. If you are coming from Nepal, we will only need your passport.

• It takes about seven days to get the permit.

  After a recent change by the Government of Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Now it is faster and easier to get Tibet travel permits. The minimum number of days required for the Tibet travel permit process is seven days. But it is recommended to start making permit a month before your arrival

  Therefore you have enough time for the shipment of the permit and make changes for any reason.

• Additional permits to primary Tibet travel permit.

  There are other additional permits to the Tibet travel permit. Each of these permits requires additional days in the permit process. For example, If you are going on the Mount Kailash tour. There are three other permits. If you are going to Mount Everest tour, there are two additional permits.

We understand it is a little confusing in preparing your Tibet travel. With all the information online yet is so much diverse and different on each website. On our Tibet Travel Guide page, we have broken down all the required 99 Different information into 17 categories. We hope it will give you clear and concise information you will need.

There are two primary ways of getting into Tibet; One via traveling from Nepal and another is by going through other regions of China. Otherwise, there is no other way to reach Tibet. There is no direct international flight to Lhasa beside between Kathmandu and Lhasa. Overland travel is only possible from Nepal and Other regions neighboring with Tibet.

Nepal and Tibet are great complimentary for the travelers visiting the Himalayas for the first time. Therefore, many travel to these two regions on the same holiday. Tibet travel regulation and permit situation are a little different if you travel from Nepal to Tibet.

The traveler must get the Chinese Group Visa from the Chinese Embassy in Nepal. It will take three business days in Nepal to get a group visa. It has to apply through a valid visa agency. They don’t issue it to the individual applicant. All the preexisting valid Chinese visa will get canceled. If you have a multi-year visa and do not wish to get it to cancel. It is recommended to visit Tibet first via other cities in China and go to Nepal next.

Some Important tips

1. Overland travel and flight to Lhasa are the only options to reach Tibet. If you take an overland tour to Tibet, Our tour guide will wait for you at the Sino-Nepal Border in Kyirong with the permits on his hand. He will help you with a custom check.
2. Remember, during the monsoon time. The road on both sides of the border often gets washed away. It is less frequent and faster to fix on the Tibet side. During the wait for Visa in Kathmandu, check with your Visa Agency in Nepal for the latest update.
3. If you take the flight to Lhasa, there is at least one flight a day to Lhasa from Kathmandu. Book your flight ticket in advance. Your guide will wait for you at the Lhasa airport with the permits.
4. Please remember, during the monsoon time, when the weather is not right in Lhasa. The flight often gets routed to Chengdu, and you will transfer to Lhasa the next day.

It is better and more convenient to travel to Tibet Via other parts of China. There is more transportation mode available, and You don’t have to spend some extra days in getting the visa and the Tibet travel permit. There are a regular train and flight available to Lhasa from all the major cities in China.

If you are taking a flight to Lhasa, you will need to get the permit in hand before boarding the flight to Lhasa. For those traveling to Lhasa by train. You will need to take a print out of the permit before going to the train station.

There is a regulation Train to Tibet from eight major cities in China, and these trains travel across all the major Train hubs in China. As Tibet is a popular travel destination for international visitors, it is also a trendy destination for domestic travelers. Therefore it is advisable for all the book the train ticket a month in advance. You can book your train ticket with us.

While boarding the train to Tibet, you will have to show a copy of your permit at the train station. We will send you a copy of your permit on email, and you will have to make a printout. Please make sure you will have access to your email while in China.

There are daily flights to Lhasa from 8 different cities in China and a flight from Kathmandu to Lhasa. But the Kathmandu to Lhasa flight is the only international flight to Lhasa. With additional to all the possibility of transit flights. Tibet is accessible for all the international travelers visiting Tibet on the plane.

While boarding the flight to Lhasa, You will have to show the original copy of your Tibet travel permit at the airport. For this, we will have to send it to your address in China. This address could be your hotels or friends and family member in China. It is of utmost essential to have access to your email or WhatsApp in China.

If you are flying from Kathmandu, remember to bring both copies of your visa, and you will get your Tibet travel permit at the Lhasa airport.

As per Tibet travel regulation, it is mandatory for all local Tibetan Travel agency to buy insurance. This insurance has very limited coverage. Therefore, we highly recommend for all travelers visiting Tibet. Tibet is a different destination. Thought all our tours are lead by the high skilled and experienced tour guide. Due to its high elevation, you still have huge chances of getting sick.

While buying the insurance, check for the one covering Ambulances, or an emergency flight. Since these are essential in case of altitude sickness. Some policies don’t include risky activities like rafting and trekking.

Trip or flight cancellation insurance if also recommend for Tibet. The traveler needs to pick up the permit before flying to Tibet. There is a risk that the agency doesn’t get the permit on time. And also with risk of delaying or losing the permit on the post. In such a case, you will not be allowed to board the flight to Lhasa.

Tibet makes the second biggest province of China. It covers area of 1.25 million square kilometers, Bigger than south Africa. The distance between one area to another is enormous and would take hours to reach.

All the major attractions are not clustered into a region. There are distributed in the entire area of the Tibetan plateau. Hence most tours in Tibet depends on distances. A minimum number of days required for the Mount Kailash tour is 13 days. Also it is eight days for the Mount Everest tour is eight days.

You can learn about all the attractions in Tibet Divided into prefecture-level here in Tibet destination page.

With the exception only in Lhasa, all the travelers have to travel in Tibet by private vehicle. This private vehicle comes with your organize tour, hence will be arrange by the travel agency. It is more like to be from Van to Minibus, depending on the number of the group member.

The road in Tibet has improved a lot in recent years. Therefore we no longer use a four-wheel drive for regular tours.

If you are staying in Lhasa, you can choose to use public transportation like bus, taxi, and use the Chinese Ride Hualing app called didi. But it applies only within the Lhasa city.

As per the Tibet travel regulation. All the tour or traveller traveling in Tibet should have a tour guide assign to them. While you are in Lhasa, the guide will only accompany you during the guided tour to sight visit. Other they will leave you free for the rest of the day.

But when traveling outside the Lhasa city, Your guide will be traveling with you until the end of the tour. But in the evening you are free on your own after reaching the destination.

Your travel agency is the main responsible for assigning a tour guide for you. Many Tibetan tour guide speaks Understandable English, French, Spanish, German, and Japanese. Yet later three are rarer than above two.

Usually, all the travel agencies can help you book a hotel in Tibet for you. Because of our excellent relationship with all the hotels in Tibet. We can reserve your room at the best price. Hence you will only have to let us know the star range of the hotel and your budget. And we can recommend the hotel as per.

If you wish to book a hotel by your self. Than make sure they have a license to host international visitors. It is better for the travel agency should make a booking for you outside the Lhasa city. Because many hotels outside the Lhasa city are not available on the online booking platform.

In Lhasa and Shigatse, You can choose your meals from a wide range of verities. Besides these two cities, prepare for the Chinese and Tibetan meals.

The cost of a meal per person could be around 50 RMB or 7 USD approx.

As you go towards the western Tibet, the meal option is lesser and lesser.

It is not a good idea to arrange for your meal with a travel agency. Instead, it is better to have free options.

You will have to pay entrance fees at most of the travel sites in Tibet. Usually, the entrance fees included in the tour price. But many budget travelers do choose to pay the entrance fees by themselves. It is a good way to decide if you like to visit or not.

But remember, there is some site area where you will drive into. For example Yamdrok Lake and Karola glacier. For these sites, you will have to pay the entrance fees.

When Applying for Tibet Travel Permit at Tibet Tourism Bureau, We have to show signed Tour contact and the bank receipt of your deposit. We will only ask 10% of your total tour price for the deposit. The deposit can be paid on PayPal or Via Bank transfer.

We don’t charge the cancellation fee for all the private tours. But Money transfer fees have to be bored by the traveler in case of cancellation.