12 Days Tibet Train Tour from Guangzhou

Tour Overview

This 12-day Tibet tour starts from Guangzhou. One can worship holy Potala palace, Jokhang temple– center of Buddhism and the largest Tibetan monasteries – Drepung monastery and watch monk...

Code of Tour: YCT0000003883

Length of Travel: 12 Day

Destinations of Tour: Guangzhou-Lhasa-Namtso Lake-Shigatse-Everest Base Camp-Lhasa

Departure City:

Price of Tour: Request

Type of Tour:

Features of Tour: Nature Culture History Minority Landscape

More Map & Picture

This 12-day Tibet tour starts from Guangzhou. One can worship holy Potala palace, Jokhang temple– center of Buddhism and the largest Tibetan monasteries – Drepung monastery and watch monk debate in Sera monastery. You will arrive in Shigatse– Tibetan religious and political center, via Lhatse and Shegar, and then head to Mount Everest- majestic and highest mountain in the world, and appreciate the scenery of sunset and sunrise of next morning.

Highlights

• Marvel at the turquoise waters of Yamdrok-tso, one of Tibet’s most sacred lakes.
• Go down into the bowels of the Potala, the impressive but spiritless citadel of the Dalai Lamas.
• Join the shuffling, murmuring pilgrims around the shrines of the Jokhang, the spiritual heart of Tibet.
• Follow monks, mendicants and fellow pilgrims around the Barkhor, Lhasa’s fascinating medieval pilgrim circuit.
• Take in a prayer meeting or some monk debating at Sera and Drepung, two of the largest and most intact of Tibet’s great monasteries.
• Train trip experience from Guangzhou to Lhasa.

Brief Itinerary

Day 1 Arrive in Guangzhou
Day 2 Guangzhou to Lhasa by train
Day 3 Sightseeing along the railway and arrive in Lhasa
Day 4 Lhasa Arrival 
Day 5 Lhasa 
Day 6 Lhasa 
Day 7 Lhasa to Namtso Lake
Day 8 Namtso-Dazhuka-Shigatse
Day 9 Shigatse(3900m)- Lhatse-Shegar-Everest Base Camp
Day 10 Everest Base Camp-Shigatse
Day 11 Shigatse(3900m)-Lhasa(3650m)
Day 12 Departure from Lhasa

Google Map

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 Arrive in Guangzhou

Sightseeing and Activities:Arrive in Guangzhou
Accommodation:
Meals:

A private car will take you to your reserved hotel in Guangzhou, and you could have a rest in your hotel or look around in Guangzhou on your own.

Stay overnight in Guangzhou

Day 2 Guangzhou-Lhasa

Sightseeing and Activities:Board the train to Lhasa from Guangzhou
Accommodation:
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After breakfast, you will be transferred to Guangzhou railway station. Train Z264 from Guangzhou to Lhasa departs at 11:42, and your Tibet Travel Permit will need to be checked when you check in.

Stay overnight in the train

Day 3 Sightseeing on the train

Sightseeing and Activities:Sightseeing on the train
Accommodation:
Meals:

Spend the whole day on the train to Lhasa. It is quite a long journey of taking a train from Guangzhou to Lhasa. It will take 52 hours and 41 minutes, three days and two nights in the train.

Stay overnight in the train

Day 4 Lhasa

Sightseeing and Activities:Arrive in Lhasa
Accommodation:
Meals:

Enjoy the most beautiful scenery of Qinghai-Tibet Railway. Spectacular land of snows, boundless desert, vast grassland, grand ice mountains, beautiful lakes that will continually appear and strongly attract your heart. You will arrive in Lhasa at about 16:30. Your tour guide will hold a board with your name to welcome you at the exit of the train station and escort you to your reserved hotel in Lhasa.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

Day 5 Lhasa

Sightseeing and Activities:Potala Palace/Tibet Museum/Jokhang Temple/Barkhor Street
Accommodation:
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In the morning, visit the famous Potala Palace and explore the grandest of this myriad chapel. You will appreciate its audience halls, the jeweled and Golden burial chortens (stupa Tombs) of past Dalai Lamas, and tremendous number of Buddhist frescoes, thangkas, combinations of mandala, etc. Tibet Museum is an important window to introduce the glorious culture of Tibet, and as a free Museum in Lhasa, you should not miss.

In the afternoon, visit the holist temple in Tibet, the Johkang Temple, built during Songtsen Gonpo’s reign by princess Wencheng of Tang Dynasty, 647 A.D, and its famous Barkhor Kora, where you can buy or appreciate traditional Tibetan artifacts, religious implements, antiques, books, Tibetan music instrument, Thangkas, and tradition Tibetan clothes etc. You will have a chance to get close to appreciate how the artists draw Thangkas at the Thangka workroom at Barkhor.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

Day 6 Lhasa

Sightseeing and Activities:Lhasa Sightseeing: Drepung Monastery/Sera Monastery
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In the morning, you are going to visit Drepung Monastery which was one of the “ three greet” Gelug monasteries of Tibet and was founded in 1416 by Jamyang choge, one of the Tsongkhapa’s main disciples. Ganden palace was used as Dalai lama’s palace in the Drepung before moving to the Potala palace.

In the afternoon, Sera Monastery–It was one of the “three great” Gelug monasteries of Tibet and was founded in 1419 by Jamchen chojey, one of the Tsongkhapa’s main disciples. The Most attraction is the Monks debate at around 3:00 – 5:00 in the afternoon.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

Day 7 Lhasa to Namtso Lake (250km, 5 hours )

Sightseeing and Activities:Lhasa to Namtso Lake (250km, 5 hours )
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In the morning, drive from Lhasa to Lake Namtso. On the way, you can see Nyenchen Thanglha( snow mountain ranges )and lots of nomads tent with grazing yak and sheep densely-populated around the mountain side. Namtso Lake is the Heavenly lake which is one of the four holy lakes of Tibet and also the highest salt lake. You can do a very relaxing trekking around the lake side and Tashi Island.

To spend a night at lake shore is fantastic to see the stars.

Stay overnight in Namtso Guest house

Day 8 Namtso-Dazhuka-Shigatse (385km, 8-9hours driving)

Sightseeing and Activities:Namtso to Shigatse via Dazhuka (385km, 8-9hours driving)
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Enjoy the clear morning at the lake shore, and you can trek along the lake shore to Tashi Dor Island to explore the meditation caves. After that, continue to Shigatse, the second biggest city in Tibet, you will go through a long distance of rough road between Yanpanchen and Dazhuka, and finally get to Shigatse in the late afternoon.

Stay overnight in Shigatse

Day 9 Shigatse(3900m)- Lhatse-Shegar-Everest Base Camp(5200m)

Sightseeing and Activities:Shigatse(3900m) to Everest Base Camp(5200m) via Lhatse, Shegar
Accommodation:
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We’ll leave Shigatse after getting your Alien’s travel permit, and then drive to Lhatse. It is a small town where you can take lunch. After that, you will drive to Shegar and if the weather is clear enough then on the way down to shegar you will view the Mt. Everest in the distance.

After 4 to 6 hours then you will arrive at Rongbuk Monastery but on the way, you will pass one of the highest passes in Tibet (pang la pass height 5050m) from that’s pass you will view the whole five highest peaks in the world.

Stay overnight in tent or Guesthouse

Day 10 Everest Base Camp-Shigatse (3900m)

Sightseeing and Activities:Everest Base Camp (5200m) and return to Shigatse (3900m)
Accommodation:
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In the morning, you can see the sunrise appearing on the top of Mt. Everest, and have a full view the magnificent Mt. Everest standing like a snow-capped pyramid in front of you at Rongpuk, which is the vantage point for watching Mt. Everest. Then you, tourists can visit Rongbuk Monastery which is the highest monastery in the world (5000m) and belongs to Nyingma sect. After that drive back to Shigatse.

Stay overnight in Shigatse

Day 11 Shigatse(3900m)-Lhasa(3650m)

Sightseeing and Activities:Shigatse(3900m) to Lhasa(3650m): Tashilunpo monastery
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Today, we will drive back to Lhasa on the friendship Highway. The whole distance is almost 280km and it takes 6 hours along the Yarlung Tsangpo River / Bhamaputra River (the Longest and largest river in Tibet). On the way, we will visit the largest Monastery in west Tibet, the Tashilhunpo Monastery which is one of the six great Gelukpa institutions and was founded in 1447 by a disciple of Tsongkapa, contains the world’s largest gilded copper image (26m high) of future god Jampa.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

Day 12 Departure from Lhasa

Sightseeing and Activities:Departure from Lhasa
Accommodation:
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You will be transferred to Lhasa airport for your flight to next destination.

Recommended Hotels

Quotations

Service Included:

• Tibet travel permit and all other necessary permits to Tibet;
• All entrance ticket fees for all tourist sites listed in the itinerary;
• Personal knowledgeable English-speaking Tibetan local tour guide;
• Personal comfortable, clean and safe vehicle with reliable Tibetan local driver; vehicle ranging from 4WD land cruiser to minibus depending on your group size;
• All lodging listed in the itinerary; it’s your decision about the accommodation class: luxury 5-star international hotel, comfortable 4-star hotel, economic 3-star hotel or budget hostel, guesthouse or tent. Please tell us your accommodation preference when submitting the enquiry; we will arrange the best-value hotels for you.
• Domestic flight/train tickets listed in the itinerary;

Service Excluded:

• International flight to and out of China;
• Chinese visa (Note: we could help you with the Chinese visa application, like providing the invitation letter, presenting the hotel or domestic flight reservation copies, etc that you may need. )
• Domestic flight/train not listed in the itinerary. (We can provide you the domestic flight/train ticket booking service at the BEST discount price; please contact us our travel experts for the details.)
• Meals not specified in the itinerary; usually it costs about USD3-15 per person for one meal in TAR (Tibet Autonomous Region).
• Tips and gratitude to tour guide and driver;
• Personal expenses, like laundry, phone call, snacks, soft drinks (please do the best to avoid the alcoholic beverages during your Tibet trip), optional tour activities, etc.

Travel Tips:

1. Tibet Permits

There are several permits required to visit Tibet. Tibet Entry Permit, issued by Tibet Tourism Bureau, is the most important one which has to be obtained before your trip because you must have it to take your flight/train to Tibet. To get the permit, you have to book a Tibet tour with us, and send us your passport and Chinese visa about 20 days in advance, and then let us apply for the permit (all Tibet permits can only be applied by travel agency). If you travel to other prefectures like Shigatse, Nyingchi, Shannan, etc, you also have to obtain an Alien Travel Permit. If you travel to Mount Everest, you have to obtain a Border Permit. (Tibet Discovery, with office in Lhasa, has always kept up with the latest news on Tibet Permits. Traveling with us, all your permits are guaranteed as long as you are qualified to the requirements.)

2. Available Months to Visit Tibet

Generally speaking, May to early October is the best time to for a Mount Kailash trip. July and August are the peak season and rainy season. It may be too cold to travel in Kailash area from November to March. There is usually heavy snow. The conditions in Namtso Lake and Mount Everest area are quite similar with Kailash. While other places like Lhasa, Gyantse and Shigatse are suitable for travel all year around.

3. High Altitude Sickness

The average altitude of Tibet is about 4000 meters above the sea level (Lhasa: 3700m; EBC: 5200m; Namtso: 4718m). You may suffer a bit from High Altitude Sickness in the beginning days of your Tibet trip if you haven’t had rich high plateau travel experience. But don’t worry too much, the high altitude can be acclimatized usually in 2~3 days. Our suggestion is to take a physical examination and get suggestions from your doctor, and also bring some medicines to prevent from High Altitude Sickness before your trip. While in Tibet, you should keep warm all the time, avoid strenuous activities, drink more water and eat more vegetables and carbohydrates. You’d better not take showers during the first two days after your arrival at Tibet. If you don’t feel well, get help from your tour guide or go to the hospital without any delay.

4. How to Go to Tibet

Basically you have two options – flight and train. Currently, you can take a flight to Lhasa from Beijing(4.5hrs), Xian(3.7hrs), Chengdu(2.5hrs), Chongqing(3hrs), Kuming(3hrs), etc. Among all these cities, Chengdu and Xian have more frequent flights to Lhasa. Kathmandu also has several flights to Lhasa each week.

If you a train travel, you can take a train to from Beijing(40.5hrs), Xian(32hrs), Chengdu(43hrs), Shanghai(47hrs), Chongqing(42hrs), Lanzhou(25hrs), Xining(22hrs), Guangzhou(54hrs).

5. Packing and Wearing Ideas

Firstly you can’t forget your passport and Chinese Visa. A large backpack and a smaller one are recommended (the smaller one can be used for daily activities). Also bring the necessary medicine you need. Other stuffs like sunglasses, snow glasses, hats, lip balm, sun block are recommended. As for wearing, you are suggested to dress in layers (both thin and thick jackets). Down jacket is necessary in Spring and Autumn. A pair of durable and comfortable shoes is necessary.