Xizang(Tibet) Tours

Tibet is the one destination in China you cannot simply book a flight to. Foreign passport holders need a permit, a licensed guide and an organised group before any ticket is issued. Once that is arranged, the trip itself is straightforward: eight days from Lhasa, and the highest point most travellers reach is 5,200 m at Everest Base Camp.

The permit, in plain terms

The Tibet Travel Permit is issued by the Tibet Tourism Bureau through a licensed local agency, not by an embassy or a visa office. Apply 15 to 20 days ahead with scans of your passport and Chinese visa. The agency sends the original to your hotel in Chengdu, Xining or Chongqing, because you cannot board a flight or train to Lhasa without it. You travel with a guide throughout, and the itinerary is fixed on the permit: changing it means a new permit and a delay of days.

Two further permits exist. The Alien Travel Permit, issued by the Public Security Bureau, covers areas outside Lhasa such as Shigatse and Ngari. The Frontier Pass is needed for Everest Base Camp. Both are arranged inside Tibet by your agency, and both need your passport in hand.

Lhasa, three days

The Potala Palace is thirteen storeys and around a thousand rooms, the winter palace of the Dalai Lamas until 1959. Entry is timed to one hour and released seven days ahead; in peak season it is gone the same morning. The Jokhang, founded in the seventh century, is the most sacred temple in Tibet, and the Barkhor circuit around it fills with pilgrims walking clockwise at dawn. Sera and Drepung monasteries, once home to thousands of monks, deserve an afternoon between them; the philosophical debates at Sera run from about 15:00.

Everest, or Namtso

Altitude

Lhasa sits at 3,650 m, higher than most travellers have ever slept. The first day should be deliberately light: no stairs, no alcohol, an early night. Headache and breathlessness on stairs are normal. Vomiting, confusion or a cough that will not stop are not, and mean descending. Acetazolamide helps if it is started before arrival. The train from Xining takes 21 hours and climbs gradually, which is easier on the body than a two-hour flight from Chengdu.

When to go

April to May and September to October are clearest, with the best Everest views and the fewest road closures. June to August is the rainy season: warm and green, but the mountains are often in cloud and the road to Everest can wash out. November to March is cold and quiet, with some passes and base camps closed. Losar, Tibetan New Year, falls in February or March, when many shops and restaurants shut for a week.

Getting there

Flights reach Lhasa Gonggar (LXA) from Chengdu in two hours, and from Xian, Kunming and Chongqing. The descent between 5,000 m peaks is memorable and the arrival is abrupt. The alternative is the Qinghai-Tibet railway from Xining, 21 hours, with oxygen piped to the cabins and a climb slow enough to help acclimatisation.

What trips people up

• No permit, no boarding. Airlines check at check-in, not on arrival.
• You cannot travel independently, even for a day, even inside Lhasa.
• Once issued, the permit is tied to the itinerary and to the group on it.
• Drones are restricted and need written permission that is rarely granted.
• Cash still matters outside Lhasa, and ATMs are scarce. Bring more yuan than you think you need.

Tibet needs planning time, so start eight to ten weeks before you want to fly. Send us your passport nationality and dates, and we will confirm the permit route before you commit to anything.