Tibet for Honeymoon: how to plan a honeymoon tour in Tibet

While there are many places one can hold a honeymoon, there is little doubt that the roof of the world is a wholly unique place to travel for that first romantic break of your married life. Honeymoons are all about the happy couple spending a few weeks alone together, getting to know each other more, and exploring the things you love to do together, as a couple. In Tibet, this can happen more easily, since there is little in the way of the normal world to get in your way.

Traveling to Tibet is like marriage itself - it is a long journey, with plenty to discover along the way, and more to discover when you get there. Tibet is a land of high mountains, glistening lakes, and expansive prairies, which gives a couple a chance to explore new things, while learning more about each other. With the outside world feeling as if it is a million miles away, this high-altitude plateau is the perfect place for some peaceful relaxation, a little adventure, and the most spectacular honeymoon you could wish to have.

What to Know Before Going to Tibet for Honeymoon

Travel Document Needed

There are two routes that you can take to Tibet, from mainland China or from Nepal, and the requirements for visas are different in each place. From China you will need to obtain a Chinese Entry Visa from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in your home country. If you are entering through Nepal, then the rules are different, and the tour operator will be the one to arrange the visa. The visa from Nepal is known as the Chinese Group Visa, and is applied for by the tour operator once you get to Kathmandu.

You will also need the permit to travel into Tibet, which is known as the Tibet Travel Permit and is applied for from the Tibet Tourism Bureau in Lhasa by the tour operator. They will need a photocopy of your current passport, which must have at least six-month’s validity at the time of travel and a copy of your Chinese Entry Visa if your route takes you through mainland China. Once the Tibet Travel Permit is received by them, they will forward it to your hotel in China, or have their representative bring it to you in Nepal.

A sample of Tibet Travel Permit

For Chinese entry, all other permits will be obtained by your tour guide once you reach Lhasa. For entry through Nepal, the tour operator will have their representative meet you in Kathmandu at least five days before your date of departure to Tibet in order to get your passport to apply for the Group Tourist Visa. The additional permits, such as the Alien’s Travel Permit, Frontier Pass, and Military Permit, will be obtained prior to your exit from Nepal, as all permits are needed for entry to Tibet from Kathmandu, even if traveling to Lhasa by flight.

Book Your Tour through a Reliable Tibet Travel Agency

Planning a honeymoon in Tibet does require some specialist help, as independent travel to the region is not allowed. All travel to Tibet must be booked through a registered Tibet tour operator. As the oldest running tour operator in Tibet, we have specialists who can help you with every aspect of your trip, from the planning stages to the tour itself, and the experience to make sure that your Tibet honeymoon is the best it could possibly be.

Customizing a private Tibet tour is the perfect choice for the newlyweds.

Our expert advisors can help you decide where you want to go on your tour, as well as giving you good advice on what options you have for traveling to the region. For honeymoon couples, it is better to book a private tour of the region, rather than a Small Group Tour where you will join other travelers in Tibet. The private tour will not only allow you to have the privacy you deserve on your honeymoon, but will also allow you to choose your own itinerary, and not be restricted to visiting only certain places within the Small Group Tour’s itinerary.

Choose the Best Travel Route to Tibet

For those traveling through Nepal, there are very few direct flights to Kathmandu from outside Asia, and it is best to use a travel agent or the online flight-search websites to get the best deals. For China, there are a number of direct flights from around the world, and organizing a flight to one of the major gateway cities in China can be done easily through a travel agent or online.

There are actually several options for getting to Tibet for the tour. You can fly into Lhasa from any of more than two dozen cities across China or from Kathmandu in Nepal. Alternatively, you can take the train from one of the seven gateway cities in mainland China to get to Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.

Fly from Kathmandu to Lhasa

From Nepal, you can get a flight direct to Lhasa, which is the only international flight that runs to the Tibetan capital. Flights to Lhasa from Kathmandu cost around USD 275 per person, and take around 90 minutes to reach the Lhasa Gonggar International Airport.

Aside from the Chinese Group Visa and Tibet Travel Permit, you will also need other permits, which would normally be arranged once you reach Lhasa when traveling from China.

Take a Romantic Tibet Train from inland Chinese cities

The trains to Tibet leave almost daily from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Lanzhou, and Xining, and can take from 22 hours to 53 hours to get to Lhasa. Guangzhou is the longest route, at 53 hours, and the most expensive, while the shortest route runs from Xining, the capital of Qinghai Province and the start of the famous Qinghai Tibet Railway.

Tibet train routes across China

All trains to Tibet have three classes of tickets - the hard seats, the hard sleeper berths, and the soft sleeper berths. Soft sleeper cabins are the first class option, with four berths per cabin and a lockable door. The hard sleeper berths are not actually hard, but they are open to the train’s corridor, and have only a curtain for privacy with six berths per cabin on three levels.

For honeymoon couples, if you want to have the cabin to yourself, then you can book and pay for all four berths in the Soft Sleeper cabin, which will give you the most privacy for your honeymoon trip to Lhasa by train.

The Best Time for Tibet Honeymoon

The best time to go to Tibet depends on what you want to see and do, and there is really no time, except during late February and march when tourism is temporarily unavailable to overseas tourists in Tibet. Spring and fall are great times to visit, as they have clear skies, almost no rain, and are perfect for trekking, if that is what you are looking for. For a pleasant relaxing honeymoon, what could be better than the brightness of a spring morning on the plateau, or the spectacular colors of the autumn leaves as the fall from the trees to cover the ground in a carpet of red and gold?

Dressed in traditional Tibetan clothes, the newlyweds are touring Lhasa city.

Summer is the rainy season, thanks to the southeast monsoon, although it does not have that much effect on travel across the plateau. Rains usually come in the afternoons and early evenings, and there are some parts of the plateau where it barely rains at all, even in the summer. However, summer is also the peak season for tourism in Tibet, and if you are looking for peace and quiet, this is not the time for you, as the tourist attractions, temples, and monasteries can become crowded with tourists from all over the world.

Top Itineraries for the Honeymoon in Tibet

6-Day Lhasa to Heavenly Namtso Lake Tour

If you are looking for the ultimate experience in central Tibet, then you could do no better than book our 6-day tour of the stunning Tibetan capital and Lake Namtso. Lhasa is the highest capital city in the world, and you will get the opportunity to tour the city and visit some of the most spectacular and spiritual sites in Tibet. From the beauty and enormity of the amazing Potala Palace and the sacred spiritual center of Tibetan Buddhism that is the ancient Jokhang Temple to the outstanding monasteries of Sera and Drepung, Lhasa is the ultimate Tibetan cultural destination.

The couples are strolling along the heavenly Namtso Lake.

Outside Lhasa, many miles to the north in Damxung County, lies one of the Great Three Sacred Lakes of Tibet - Lake Namtso. Known as the “heavenly Lake” in Tibetan, this beautiful body of holy water is the highest saline lake in the world and one of the most beautiful locations on the plateau. Surrounded by the Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains on one side and the vast Changtang Grasslands on the other, this outstanding area of natural beauty will outshine everything else, except your lovely bride. And what better place to take those wedding photos than on the shores of one of the world’s most beautiful lakes.

What’s more, the return journey to Lhasa the following day stops by at the awesome Yangpachen Hot Springs, one of the best geothermal hot springs in Tibet and a great place to soak away the rigors of the trip to Namtso and back.

8-Day Lhasa to Everest Base Camp Tour

For the adventurous honeymoon couple, why not take a longer tour across the Tibetan plateau to visit the ultimate site in Tibet - the famous Everest Base Camp. This 8-day EBC tour takes you first around the stunning sights of Lhasa, before heading out on an amazing road trip across the vast plateau to the foot of the world’s highest mountain.

Show your love at the foot of Mt. Everest. How does that sound?

Along the route, you will get chance to stop at several exciting and awesome sites, including the life-blood of Tibet, Lake Yamdrok; the stunning Gyantse Kumbum, a 32-meter high stupa that is the only one of its kind in Tibet; and the amazing Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, the seat of the Panchen Lama, Tibet’s second highest Buddhist incarnation.

At the base camp, you will get to take your additional wedding photos with the most stunning backdrop in the world, the summit of Mount Everest. And for those traveling from May to October, you will get to stay in the tent hotels at the base camp itself, where you can experience how the Tibetan nomads live, with local Tibetan dishes and the ever-present Tibetan yak butter tea.

Conclusion

For honeymooners, there is no better place to spend your first few weeks of married life together than on the world’s highest plateau. Known as the Roof of the World, this amazing land can not only give you some of the world’s best views and experiences, but it can also show you the true spiritualism of Tibetan Buddhism, and you can see how blessed you are to be able to experience such a stunning land with the one you love.