Are you ready to undertake a journey of a lifetime to the mystical land of Tibet? Planning a trip to this enchanting destination can indeed be a challenging task, especially with the vast sea of information available on the internet. The World Wide Web serves as a vast, intricate vase filled with travel details on Tibet. It’s easy to get lost in the labyrinth of websites, forums, and blogs that offer varying information, leaving travelers perplexed and often misled.

But fret not! As a local travel agency based in Tibet, we consider it our privilege to offer you valuable insights that come from first-hand experiences. Our mission is to ensure that your trip to Tibet is not just memorable but also smooth and hassle-free. The information we share is current as of today, the 20th of October, 2023, so you can rely on its accuracy.

Before diving into the details of how to reach Tibet, let’s first familiarize ourselves with some critical pieces of information that are essential for planning your extraordinary journey to this mesmerizing region. It’s our commitment to make your Tibet travel experience as seamless and enriching as possible. So, let’s begin this adventure together!

How to Get to Tibet

Independent travel is not allow in Tibet. All the international tourist has to be a part of an organized tour for visiting Tibet. Tour must be organised with a local travel agency based in Lhasa like us.

We will have to organise your Tibet travel permit, Tour guide, and Private vehicle with a driver for your tour. Independent travels are not authorised without these services from a local travel agency.

Read more about it here.

The travel permit is the travel document issued by the Tibet Tourism Development Committee in Lhasa. The committee is formerly called the Tibet Tourism Bureau.

All the legal and registered Local Travel agency in Lhasa can apply for it on your behalf. We are legally registered in 1997, which makes are one of the oldest travel agency in Lhasa. You will need to send us your Chinese Visa and Passport.

The entire process of making a permit will not take more than 15 days. Yet to be safe, You will have to send us all the doc a month before you arrive in Lhasa.

Read more about Travel permits here.

As a traveller, you have all the freedom to choose the perfect itinerary to suit yourself. Tibet is a vast place, and there are many possibilities to make your trip to Tibet great.

All the Tibet tours can be broadly divided into two; Group tours and private tour.

  • A private tour means an organised tour for you and your family/friends group.  
  • Group tours are for those travellers looking for a travel partner to reduce the journey's cost. Here you will share the expense for the Tour Guide, Car and driver. 

You can find all the tour packages options here.

We have now discussed the few necessary Travel regulations and the difference between private tours and group tours in Tibet. We will now talk about the main topic that is how to get to Tibet.

Travelling Tibet is not a one-stop journey. You will either have to travel to Nepal or other parts of China before entering Tibet.

To Tibet from other parts of China

Visiting Tibet from other parts/province of China is more convenient. Here you have more travel option to Lhasa from different regions in China. You can take a flight, train or travel Overland to Lhasa.

A) Document required for travelling to Tibet from China

The document required for visiting Tibet is a little different from that of Nepal. You will submit a Chinese Visa and passport while we apply for your Tibet travel permit.

Generally, a tourist would get the L category of the Chinese Visa. If you have a different kind of Visa, You will need to submit additional proof with your passport and Chinese Visa.

For student visa, you will have to submit a letter from your school in china or an ID issued by your school in China. So is with the business and any other Visa.

B) Flights from other parts of China

Taking a flight to Lhasa from different parts of China is one of the most convenient ways to reach Lhasa. Here you can travel from home to Lhasa with only one connecting flight in big cities in China.

Here, the only hiccup is that you will need the original copy of the Tibet travel permit before getting on the flight to Lhasa.
To address this issue, we can either send the permit to your hotel in China or help send someone to deliver your permit at the Airport in Chengdu or Beijing.

For delivery service, we will have to send us the precise information about your flight schedule and your haul time duration. Or the detail hotel information.

We often recommend travellers to keep the hauling time more than an hour and a half. We also recommend downloading Wechat for easy communications with the delivery person.

Out of all the flights' route to Lhasa, we strongly recommend travellers take Chengdu to Lhasa flight easier serviceable due to location and airport.

C) Train from other parts of China

After completing the Qinghai-Tibetan railway line, Tibet became more accessible to travel via the train journey. Travelling Tibet on the train is very easy and offers a mesmerizing view of the Tibetan plateau along the way.

But the train journey has its challenging.

Availability of the Ticket.

Tibet is also a major travel destination in the domestic Chinese Tourism market. The train is a cheaper alternative, a lot of local Chinese tourists visit Tibet on the train, which makes Train ticket harder to get. So you will have to book your train ticket for at least a month in advance.

You can only buy a train ticket with a local Chinese ID.

Without a Chinese ID card, you can buy a train ticket. We can help you secure the train ticket. Additional to our train ticketing services, you can also try other Chinese train booking services.

You will need a print copy of your Tibet travel permit.

To board the train to Lhasa. You will need to show a copy Tibet travel permit. We will send you a copy of the permit as soon as it is issued. You can make a copy whenever you receive it.

For sending a copy of your permit, You will have to give us your additional email address. Please make sure you will have access to your email in China.
If you are taking the train from Chongqing to Lhasa, you will need the permit's original copy; you will have to send us your hotel address in China.

D) Overland journey from other parts of China

The overland journey to Lhasa from other provinces of China is a significant highlight of Tibet tourism. You can travel from Xingjiang, Sichuan, Yunnan or Qinghai to Tibet.

Out of our experiences, Journey from Kashgar to Lhasa is the most epic. Travelling along the southern silk route, you will get the best of the remotest region of the world.

Travelling to Lhasa from Yunnan or Sichuan is also a great route to exploring Tibet's greenest region. Here you will get to drive along the Yarlung Tsangpo river with the world's deepest canyon.

Travel to Tibet From Nepal

Visiting Tibet from Nepal is a little different as compared to travelling from parts of China.

The primary difference is the Visa and the mode of travel.

If you visit Tibet from Nepal, it is mandatory to get a Chinese Group Visa from the Chinese Embassy in Nepal.

We will have to apply for your Tibet travel permit with only your passport. For the traveller on this route. Tibet Tourism Bureau will issue the Permit without Visa, as Visa comes after the permit.

Right now, the flight and the overland travel route is the only option available to reach Lhasa. you can read latest Tibet Nepal Border Update 2024

A) Chinese Group Visa

For those travellers visiting Tibet from Nepal, you will need to get a Chinese Group Visa from the Chinese Embassy in Nepal. And only a registered agent can help apply it on your behalf. We will arrange for our partner to help you apply for it.

It usually takes three business days to get your Group Visa, and you can visit Tibet on the fourth. So plan your journey as per with consideration of the Chinese National Holidays.

The Chinese Group visa is on separate paper

The Chinese Group Visa is on two pieces of A4 size paper, not on your passport. You will need both when you arrive at the Chinese Border. One paper is for your entry, and another is for your departure. So please do not leave it in Nepal and do not lose it.

We have seen some people leaving it at the hotel in Kathmandu or Kathmandu Airport. If such happens, you will never get entrance into China.

If you already have a Chinese Visa on your passport

Please Remember, Once when the group visa is issued. Pre-existing valid Chinese Visa will automatically get cancelled if you have a valid Chinese Visa for multiple years on your passport. It is not wise to visit Tibet from Nepal.

Instead, we would recommend you began the Tibet Trip from other parts of China, ending in Nepal.

The only international flight to Lhasa so far is from Kathmandu. Daily there is one flight on average.

  • One of the biggest challenges in taking the flight to Lhasa is the Chinese Group Visa. You will have to talk to us about your plan in Details to ensure you have the Visa on hand on the flight date.
  • Another drawback of this flight route is primarily during the Moonsoon season in summer. Your flight is likely to get de routed to Chengdu city for reduced visibility and location of Lhasa Airport.

If this happens, you will get to reach Lhasa on the second day. Which might means you will lose a day or half-day guided tour, which is why it is always wise to keep your visit to Potala palace on the third day so that you will not miss the icon of Tibet.

C) Overland Journey from Nepal

The Trans Himalayan Journey from Nepal is one of the most epic in the world. On this journey, you will be travelling from the lush green of the southern Himalaya to the Martian landscape of the northern side of the Himalaya.

This journey takes you through the land border post on Kyirong town in Tibet. After a night in Kyirong town, you will be crisscrossing over the Himalaya on the Gungthangla pass. Following the footprint of Guru Rinpoche. The 8th-century Indian master responsible for spreading Buddhism in Tibetan Plateau.

As you reach the Tibetan Plateau, you will be received by the beautiful Peikutso lake on the north and Mount Shishapangma on the south.

This journey is especially hard during the monsoon season on Summer days. Due to heavy rain in the valley, the road often gets washed away.

Our client had many incidences to break their journey into many days and usually took an expensive helicopter ride to Kathmandu.

Besides its beautiful landscape, the journey is not advisable during the monsoon season, from mid-June to Mid September.

Conclusion on How to get to Tibet

Besides multiple stops for visiting Tibet. Tibet is a great place to visit. Travelling Tibet can be easier with better communication with your travel agency in Lhasa about everything in detail. We hope this post is of great help in getting this information.

Suppose you have any questions about travelling to Tibet. Please do contact us through info@itibettravel.com.

How to prepare for your tour to Tibet

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