13-Day Chengdu Lhasa Kathmandu Tour with Tibet Train

Upon arrival in Chengdu airport or railway station, our guide will be meeting you and get you transferred to your hotel in Chengdu. The rest of the day is at leisure.

Optional:
If there is enough time, you can drive to Wenshu Monastery to have wonderful taste of the vegetarian food for dinner. Another alternative is to enjoy the cultural show - Sichuan Opera in the evening. (The cost is on you; we can help you arrange the visit, based on your priorities.)

Stay overnight in Chengdu.

Chengdu is the major overland gateway to Tibet and home to giant pandas. In the morning, we will drive about half an hour to Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center, where you will catch pandas' feeding time, they are at their most active, both Adults and Babies. There's a wealth of information and a panda museum in this 230-hectare park 10 km (6 miles) north of Chengdu. It takes about 2.5 hours to visit this site.

In the afternoon, we will move back to downtown Chengdu to visit Jin Li Street, a vivid replica of the old commercial street of Qin, Han, and Three Kingdom dynasties. You can take a leisurely stroll along the street and buy some souvenirs. After that, we will go to Renmin Park, which is a beautiful city park often filled with locals, and you can enjoy a cup of tea to experience the slow life of Chengdu there.

Stay overnight in Chengdu.

In the morning after breakfast, your guide will bring you to visit the famous  Dujiangyan Scenic Area. It is an UNESCO World Heritage Site, and also a must-see attraction in Sichuan. Here, you are able to see the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, which was built in 256 BC. You will see how it is still working to irrigate Chengdu plain and be amazed by the wisdom of ancient human.

In the evening, you will be transferred to Chengdu Train Station for the overnight train to Lhasa. The train departs from Chengdu North Railway Station. It takes about 1 hour to check in as the train takes about 1000 passengers. Please be sure to arrive at the train station for 1 hour or a half before the train departure. Train Z322 from Chengdu to Lhasa departs at 21:37, and your Tibet Permit will need to be checked when you check in.

Stay overnight in the train.

Optional: If time permits, you may take a stroll around the shopping street - Chunxi Road before board the train to Lhasa. Here, you can browse the shops and malls, even taste the local snacks.

Spend the whole day on the train to Lhasa. It is quite a long journey of taking a train from Chengdu to Lhasa. It will take 41 hours and 31 minutes, two days and two nights in the train. On the first day you will pass through two important provincial capital cities in northwest China, Lanzhou and Xining. Xining is known as the beginning of Qinghai-Tibet Railway. Travelling along the rail line, you could see the scenery of countryside and cities in northwest China.

Stay overnight in the train.

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 09:55. 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.

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, in order to promote the Buddhist religion. Inside you can see the statue of Buddha Sakyamuni at the age of twelve, perhaps the only most venerated object in Tibetan Buddhism. Around the temple is Barkhor Street where you can do kora (a religious circle of a building or mountain) with pilgrims and locals, in the meantime, you can buy souvenirs.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

In the morning, you are going to visit Drepung Monastery which is one of the “great three” Gelug monasteries of Tibet, founded in 1416 by Jamyang choge, one of the Tsongkhapa’s main disciples. Ganden palace used to be Dalai lama’s palace in the Drepung before he moved to the Potala palace.

In the Afternoon, Tourists will visit Sera Monastery which is another one of the “great three” Gelug monasteries of Tibet, founded in 1419 by Jamchen Chojey, one of the Tsongkhapa’s main disciples. The hot attraction is the Monks debate at around 3 - 5 in the afternoon.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

In the morning, drive from Lhasa to Lake Namtso, one of the four holy lakes of Tibet and also the highest saline lake in the world. On the way, you can see snow-capped Nyenchen Thanglha Mountain Ranges and lots of nomads and their tent with grazing yak and sheep densely-populated on the flourishing grassland ( in summer). Besides, you can enjoy the view of Sky-Road Railway with snow mountain background; while standing at the famous Lagenla Pass(5190m), you can view the stunning vista of holy Namtso Lake.

Then we can enjoy our time to do leisurely trek around Tashi Dor Island and along the lakeshore. Drive back to Dumxung or Yampachen. (For environment protection, the Lakeshore guesthouses were close by the government.)

Stay overnight in Dumxung or Yampanchen Town.

Drive to Yampanchen and enjoy the natural hot spring bath in here. (Please prepare your own swimming suit.) The famous Yangpachen lies on the southern slope of the Nyenchen Tangula Mountains and is famous for its geothermal scenery. Every year, Yangpachen Hot Spring emits heat equal to that of 4.7 million tons of standard coal. Lying in a plateau basin, Yangpachen’s geothermal field covers 40 square km. To take advantage of geothermal field, resorts were built in here, giving tourists a chance to enjoy the outdoor natural hot spring spa. After having thoroughly relaxed in the spa, we head back to Lhasa. On the way, we will visit Chimelong Nunnery (Phyirmil Lung Nunnery) and have a far view of a sky burial site nearby.

Stay Overnight in Lhasa.

In the morning, drive from Lhasa to Shigatse .On the way, drive over the Gampala Pass (4,790 m), and you will have a glimpse of Yamdrok-tso (4,400m) .The Lake is surrounded by many snow-capped mountains and in the distance you can have spectacular views of Holy Mount Nyenchen Khangsar (7,191m) the highest mountain near Lhasa.

Later, you will pass and enjoy the Karola Glacier on the roadside. At Manak Dam Lake, you can hang pray flag at Simila Mountain Pass; Then, you will arrive in Gyantse, historically Tibet's third largest city (after Lhasa and Shigatse). In Gyantse, you will visit the famous Pelkor Monastery and Gyantse Kumbum and enjoy the Far view of Gyangtse Fortress.

After one and a half driving, you will finally arrive at Shigatse, which is the second largest city in Tibet. In Shigatse, if time permits, you may have a chance to visit the traditional Barley Mill and view the landscape of Barley Field (in summer).

Stay overnight in Shigatse.

In the morning, your guide will bring you to visit the home of Panchan Lama - Tashilhunpo Monastery. After getting your Alien’s travel permit, you will drive to Lhatse, it is a small town where you can have lunch.

In the afternoon, the car will take you pass the Tsola Pass (4,600m), and Gyatsola Pass (5,248m). Later, we will enter Mt.Everest National Nature Reserve, you can enjoy the panorama of Himalaya at Gawula Pass (5,198m).Then we drive along the New zigzag road to Everest Base Camp(5200m). You can get closer to gaze at the Mt.Everest peak. The sunset of golden Everest peak if time and weather permits at the lodging area.

Stay overnight at Rongbuk monastery guest house.

In the morning, you can appreciate the sunrise of Everest Peak if weather permits at the lodging area and then visit the Rongbuk Monastery - the unique world’s highest monastery. Later, we can visit the Everest Base Camp and take pictures of Mt.Everest at the closes distance in EBC.

After that, we can drive from EBC to Gyirong border. On the way, tourists can enjoy breathtaking vista of Mt.Shishapangma and the Peikutso Lake. After passing the Ghungtang Lhamo (5,236m), we will arrive in Gyirong in the late afternoon.

Stay overnight in Gyirong.

Transfer to the airport or train station. The service ends.

Your tour guide will drop you off at the border bridge and assist you to exit China. You are kindly required to cross the border and move to Nepal on your own.

End tour at Nepalese Border.