
12 Days Chengdu and Tibet Train Tour
(CTT012) Chengdu-Lhasa-Namtso Lake-Shigatse-Everest Base Camp-Lhasa
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Tour Type:
Escorted by private guide and vehicle; leave 365 days a year!
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Trip Level:
Easy - suitable for all levels of fitness, family with kids and senior groups.
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Trip Level Guide:
- Easy - suitable for all level of fitness, family with kids and senior groups.
- Moderate - suitable for ones with average level fitness, family with kids bigger than 12 yrs.
- Moderate to Strenous - suitable for ones physically fit; have experiences of high altitude trek.
- Strenuous: suitable for adventures and individual with physically fit and healthy.
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Season:春
Spring夏
Summer秋
Autumn冬
Winter
Overview
Starting from Chengdu, tourists will first visit Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center to have a close contact with these lovely giant pandas, and then take overnight train to Lhasa. You can enjoy the most beautiful scenery of Qinghai-Tibet Railway along the way. After a two-day sightseeing in Lhasa, you will visit Namtso Lake and Mt. Everest to experience the breathtaking natural landscape of the snowy plateau.
At a Glance
Day 1Arrive in Chengdu
Day 2Visit Chengdu Panda Breeding and Board overnight train to Lhasa
Day 3Sightseeing on the train
Day 4Enjoy beautiful scenery along Qinghai-Tibet Railway, arrive in Lhasa in the afternoon
Day 5Lhasa sightseeing: Potala Palace/Tibet Museum/Jokhang Temple/Barkhor Street
Day 6Lhasa Sightseeing: Drepung Monastery/Sera Monastery
Day 7Lhasa to Namtso Lake (250km, 5 hours )
Day 8Namtso to Shigatse via Dazhuka (385km, 8-9hours driving)
Day 9Shigatse(3900m) to Everest Base Camp(5200m) via Lhatse, Shegar
Day 10Everest Base Camp (5200m) and return to Shigatse (3900m)
Day 11Shigatse(3900m) to Lhasa(3650m): Tashilunpo monastery
Day 12Departure from Lhasa
Day to Day Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive in Chengdu
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 enjoy a short walk at the ancient Jinli Street. Later, 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 evenving. (the cost is on you, based on your personal preference.)
Stay overnight in Chengdu
Day 2: Visit Chengdu Panda Breeding and Board overnight train to Lhasa
In the morning, drive for about half an hour to Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center, the home to giant pandas, 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.
Then, the whole afternoon can be free for you to explore around.
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 in train station 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
Day 3: Sightseeing on the train
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. The last stop for today is Xining, where you will arrive in about 17:00.
Stay overnight in the train
Day 4: Enjoy beautiful scenery along Qinghai-Tibet Railway, arrive in Lhasa in the afternoon
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 14:30. 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: Potala Palace/Tibet Museum/Jokhang Temple/Barkhor Street
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: Drepung Monastery/Sera Monastery
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 )
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 to Shigatse via Dazhuka (385km, 8-9hours driving)
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) to Everest Base Camp(5200m) via Lhatse, Shegar
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 (5200m) and return to Shigatse (3900m)
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, tourists can visit Rongphu 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) to Lhasa(3650m): Tashilunpo monastery
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 Tashilunpo 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
You will be transferred to Lhasa airport for your flight to next destination.
Service Guide
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;
- All meals listed in the above itinerary;
- Tourist accident/casualty insurance;
- First aid kit;
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.
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Most Frequently Asked Questions from our Clients

This tour centers around natural scenery of Qinghai-Tibet railway and Tibet. You will visit two most attractive destinations in Tibet, Namtao lake and Mt. Everest.
Tibetan Travel Guru,Lobsang Tsering
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