Kathmandu to Lhasa Overland Group Tour

The Kathmandu to Lhasa Overland Group Tour departs from April to early November, the window when the Gyirong border and the Friendship Highway passes are reliably open and Tibet admits foreign travellers. Tibet closes to foreigners from late February through most of March every year, and from mid-November the Gyirong ridge and Gyatso La can shut for days after snow, so we don't run winter dates.

April, May and October give the clearest Everest views from the Gawula pass and Rongbuk, with cold nights below freezing at base camp. June to early September is warmer and greener along the Trishuli but brings monsoon cloud on the Nepal side and afternoon haze at Everest, so the mountain shows itself less often. The Nepal road to Rasuwagadhi is also at its worst in August after landslides. Saga Dawa, in May or June by the lunar calendar, fills Tashilhunpo and the Barkhor with pilgrims; ask us for the date.

This is graded 2, moderate, and the grade is about altitude and hours in a vehicle, not walking. The longest walking day is the Potala and Barkhor morning at around four kilometres; the base camp viewpoint is a flat 30-minute stroll. The longest driving day is Rongbuk to Shigatse at 340 km and about seven hours.

The real test is sleeping at 4,300 m on the second Tibet night and 4,980 m on the third, having been at 2,700 m two nights before. The reverse tour, which flies into Lhasa and drives down, acclimatises better. On this direction most people get a headache and poor sleep at Tingri and Rongbuk, then recover at Shigatse.

The guide sets the pace, runs oximeter checks at every altitude gain, and can hold a traveller in the vehicle at a monastery or move the group on early if someone is struggling. Descent options are real: Gyirong is a five-hour drive back from Tingri, and Shigatse is lower than everything before it. Fitness needed: 400 stairs slowly at the Potala. Anyone with heart or lung conditions should ask a doctor before booking.

A shared-group format fixes the dates, the vehicle pace and twin-share rooms, and on this route it also fixes two nights in basic guesthouses with shared or outside toilets. There is no upgrade available at Rongbuk. Travellers who cannot manage a night without a private bathroom should look at the reverse direction, where the Everest night can be skipped by staying in Shigatse, or at a private trip.

Vegetarians manage well from Shigatse onward: vegetable momos, thenthuk noodle soup, tsampa and Sichuan tofu dishes are everywhere. Between Gyirong and Rongbuk the choice is thin, mostly noodles, egg-fried rice and instant food, so we ask vegans and anyone gluten-free to carry two days of their own snacks. Jain meals need a day's notice and are only realistic in Kathmandu and Lhasa.

Mobility: the vehicle is a step-in minibus or 4WD with no lift. The Potala's 400 steps are unavoidable, Kumbum is nine storeys of ladders, and the Rongbuk guesthouse has no level access. This tour is not suitable for wheelchair users.

The itinerary climbs fast and we say so. Two nights at 1,400 m, one at 2,700 m, then 4,300 m and 4,980 m on consecutive nights before dropping to 3,840 m and 3,650 m. The Tingri and Rongbuk nights are where altitude sickness shows, and the guide runs pulse-oximeter checks on arrival and before bed at both, then each morning after. A traveller reading low or showing worsening headache, vomiting or breathlessness is not taken higher; the guide has the authority to keep someone in the vehicle, hold them at Tingri or drive them back towards Gyirong, and that decision is final.

The vehicle carries an oxygen cylinder from Gyirong to Lhasa. There is no hospital between Gyirong and Shigatse, and evacuation from Rongbuk means road descent first, so your insurance must cover medical care in China and helicopter or air evacuation to at least 5,300 m; we check the certificate at briefing.

Drink bottled or boiled water only, eat where the guide eats, and see your doctor four weeks before travel about acetazolamide.

Everything sacred on this route is passed clockwise: the Tashilhunpo kora, the Rongbuk chortens, the Barkhor. Hats off inside chapels, shoulders and knees covered, never step over a monk or point your feet at an altar. At the Kumbum in Gyantse the ladders are steep and pilgrims have priority; let them pass.

Photography inside chapels is forbidden or charged; the guide says which at each door. At the border and at the police checkpoints along the highway, cameras stay in bags and nobody photographs uniforms, vehicles or buildings. Photograph pilgrims prostrating from a distance and only after a nod.

Politics stays out of every conversation with the guide, the drivers and Tibetans you meet; a careless question can cost a licensed guide his permit. Images of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan-flag stickers are illegal in China and will be found in the Gyirong bag scan.

In a Tingri or Rongbuk dining room a group of twelve fills the place. Order together, let the guide handle it, and tip the guide and drivers as a pooled group on the last evening in Lhasa.

Your passport needs six months' validity beyond the tour end and two blank pages. Nepal issues a tourist visa on arrival at Kathmandu airport; bring a photo and US dollars.

Entering Tibet from Nepal does not use an individual Chinese visa. 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 desk then adds an Alien Travel Permit for the Shigatse and Everest region. The Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu issues a Tibet group visa on one sheet listing every traveller, and requires the original passport, which it normally holds for three working days. That sets the four-working-day passport deadline at our desk before the border day. The group crosses at Gyirong together as listed on the sheet. An existing Chinese visa is not used for this entry; tell us if you hold one, because the embassy can cancel it.

The tour ends the morning after you land back in Kathmandu, so book international flights from the day after that. We arrange every permit.