Kathmandu to Lhasa Group Tour

The Kathmandu to Lhasa Group Tour departs from April to November, when Tibet is open to foreign travelers and the Kathmandu–Lhasa flight runs several times a week. April, May, September, and October give the clearest air for the Everest view from the plane and blue-sky days over the Potala. June to August is warmer, but the monsoon on the Nepal side can delay the outbound flight, which is why the tour has no tight connections at either end.

Winter is not offered. Tibet closes to foreign visitors from late February through most of March each year, and from December, the flights thin out and Lhasa nights fall well below freezing. If you want quiet streets, book the first date in April or the last date in November. If you want the Saga Dawa pilgrims filling the Barkhor, aim for the May–June departures and check the lunar date with us.

This is graded 1 (easy), and the grading is honest. The longest walk is about six kilometers on the Potala and Jokhang day, on cobbles and stairs at 3,650 m. The highest point is Drepung at about 3,800 m on the final morning. There is no trekking, no camping, and no day longer than five hours on your feet.

The difficulty is altitude, arriving in one flight from 1,400 m. Most people experience a headache and poor sleep on the first night. The pace is set by the slowest walker: the guide climbs the Potala in stages, and nobody is hurried. If one traveler cannot manage a monastery visit, the guide arranges for them to wait at the vehicle or the hotel while the rest continue, and rejoins them for the next stop.

Fitness needed: the ability to climb 400 stairs slowly with rests. No training plan required. Anyone with heart or lung conditions should ask a doctor before booking.

A shared-group format fixes three things: the dates, the pace, and twin-share rooms. Within that, the Lhasa days are flexible enough that a slower traveler can skip a chapel and rejoin the group in the vehicle.

Vegetarians do well on this tour. Lhasa's Tibetan and Nepali kitchens serve vegetable momos, thenthuk noodle soup, tsampa porridge, and a good line in Sichuan tofu dishes; vegan is manageable if you tell the guide, who orders for the table. Gluten-free is harder because momos, thenthuk, and tingmo are all wheat-based; rice-based Chinese dishes and yak-butter tea fill the gap. Jain meals need a day's notice and are simpler in Kathmandu than in Lhasa.

Mobility: the Potala has no lift, and the 400-plus steps are the only way in. Drepung and Sera involve uneven flagstones. Wheelchair users can see the Jokhang, the Barkhor, and the Potala from the square below, but not the palace interior. For a traveler who needs a private vehicle on call and a hotel with a lift, a private Lhasa trip is a better product than a shared departure.

The itinerary is designed around the fact that you land at 3,650 m. The arrival afternoon is rest only, the first night is dry, and the two sightseeing days build from short walks to the longer Potala climb. Our Lhasa guide carries a pulse oximeter and checks the group at 6 p.m. and before bed on the day of arrival, then each morning thereafter. Anyone reading low or showing worsening headache, nausea, or breathlessness is held back at the hotel; the guide has the authority to do this, and it is not negotiable.

Lhasa has the People's Hospital, and oxygen is sold at pharmacies and most hotels. The fastest descent from Lhasa is the flight back to Kathmandu, which is why your insurance must cover air evacuation and medical care in China; we ask to see the certificate at the briefing.

Drink only bottled or boiled water in Lhasa, and eat where the guide eats. See your doctor four weeks before travel about acetazolamide if you have had altitude trouble before.

Everything in Lhasa is walked clockwise: the Barkhor kora, the prayer-wheel corridors at Drepung, and the circuit around the Jokhang. Walk against the flow, and a pilgrim will politely turn you round. Hats off inside chapels, shoulders and knees covered, and never step over a seated monk or point your feet at an altar.

Photography inside chapels is either forbidden or charged; the guide tells you which at each door. Photograph pilgrims prostrating on the Barkhor from a distance and only with a nod of permission. Do not photograph police posts or checkpoints anywhere in the city.

Politics stays out of conversation with your guide and with the Tibetans you meet. Questions about the Dalai Lama or the situation in Tibet can cost a licensed guide their permit; don't put them in that position. Images of the Dalai Lama are illegal to carry into China.

A group of twelve in a small sweet-tea house takes two tables and orders quickly. Tipping the guide and driver is pooled at the end of the tour, handed over by one traveler on behalf of the group.

Your passport needs to be valid for at least 6 months beyond the tour end date and have 2 blank pages. Nepal issues a tourist visa on arrival at Kathmandu airport; bring a passport photo and cash in US dollars.

Tibet from Nepal uses a different system from mainland China. You do not apply for an individual Chinese visa. Instead, our Kathmandu desk first obtains a Tibet Travel Permit from the Tibet Tourism Bureau, which takes up to 20 working days, so we need a clear passport scan and your details 30 days before departure. The embassy then issues a Tibet group visa on a single sheet listing each traveler; the group must enter and leave Tibet together as listed. The embassy requires the original passport and normally holds it for three working days, which sets the four-working-day passport deadline at our desk. If you hold an existing Chinese visa that is not used for entry from Nepal, tell us, as the embassy can cancel it.

Lhasa-only itineraries do not require an Alien Travel Permit. We arrange every permit.