7-Day Tibet Discovery Tour by Train

Feel relaxed from the beginning of the journey: your private tour guide, driver and car will meet you at the airport and transfer you directly to your hotel for check-in and rest.

Train to Lhasa: Train tickets to Lhasa are always popular, particularly from June to October. We suggest you choose Xining as the starting city, as there are several trains to Lhasa every day, so there is a higher likelihood to get a ticket.

Ta'er Monastery: Ta'er Monastery is the center of Tibetan Buddhism activity in the northwest of China. It has 4 Buddhist colleges for different major study groups.

Butter sculpture, wall painting and barbola are the three arts of Ta'er Monastery.

Train to Lhasa: The most beautiful scenery is from Golmud to Lhasa, the last 13 hours before arrival in Lhasa.

The train will go across the Tanggula Mountains, and the highest altitude you reach will be 5,072 meters. During the journey people might feel altitude stress.

The trains on Qinghai-Tibet railway have oxygen supplying equipment to ensure the passengers have enough oxygen. People can ask for a free air tube to use the oxygen outlet, which is available for each seat and bunk.

Arrival in Lhasa is in the late afternoon, your tour guide will be already waiting for you. Drive directly to the hotel, have a good rest and continue to get used to the high altitude.

Today's tour will first bring you to the Potala Palace which is the winter palace of the Dalai lama. It was put to use since the 7th Century by the 33rd great king of Tibet. The most valuable collections of Potala Palace are the gilded burial stupas of former Dalai Lamas and meditation Cave of the 33rd great king of Tibet.

Then after lunch, tourists head to Jokhang temple which was founded by the 33rd great king of Tibet in the 7th century. Inside you can see the statue of Buddha Sakyamuni at the age of twelve. Outside, you can see pilgrims making prostrating in front of Jokhang Temple. Around the temple is Barkhor street, where you can do kora (a religious circle of a building or mountain) with pilgrims and locals, and explore the old market.

Besides, We can taste Tibetan tea with locals in tea house; The welcome dinner will also be arranged accordingly;

Optional:
With time permitting, you may go with tour guide to visit Tibetan handicraft art or Tibetan Traditional Medicine center. You can upgrade your service to enjoy Tibetan Culture Show in the evening (fr. 60USD)

Norbulingka:
Norbulingka was the Summer Palace of the Dalai Lamas, and now it is a public park, popular among local people. With a lot of plants and oxygen, Norbulingka is a good place for newcomers.

Sera Monastery:
The highlight of Sera Monastery is the omnks' debate, which is held at 15:00 every day except for Sundays. Beside the debate, sand mandalas is also a special art to see.

Drepung Monastery:
Drepung Monastery is the most important place for Shoton Festival (Tibetan religious festival), which is held at the beginning of August every year.

Yamdrok Lake

This is one of the top four Buddhist holy lakes in Tibet. It is about 150km from Lhasa and takes 2.5 hours by vehicle.

Taking photos with a yak or a Tibetan mastiff by the lake-side costs around RMB20 per person.

Activities

After breakfast, drive about 2 hours to the holy Lake Yamdrok. If weather permits, we will prepare a picnic by the lake-side, with sandwiches, vegetables and fruit.

The lake is decorated by many islands and natural resources. As a major water-bird habitat in Tibet, it is also a great place to see hundreds of swans and gulls in summer.

Your guide and driver will take you to the airport and escort you safely through the check-in procedures and all the way to your gate, so you can rest assured your departure is smooth. We're confident that this trip will be one you'll never forget.