Discover Lhasa Tour - 5 days

In the morning you will be transferred to the Tribhuwan international airport to depart on your 1hr and 10 min flight to Lhasa. Upon arrival, you will be greeted by our Tibetan representative and then drive to hotel in Lhasa. It will be two hours scenic drive to your hotel. Check in to hotel and take it easy for rest of the day to acclimatize. Overnight stay in the hotel.

Today after breakfast, visit the Jokhang Temple -Tibet’s holiest temple which contains a jeweled image of the Buddha in the Centre of the Old Lhasa city. This four stored temple is the fusion of Nepali and Tibetan architectural style. After that you have time to walk around the Bakhor Street which is one of the most devotional circuit as well as crowded central market of Lhasa. It is about a kilometer and the devotees make circumambulation of the temple through this street. As a busy public square, the street gives you a closer look at the day to day life of Tibetans. Being “a saint road” in the eyes of Tibetan, you can feel the local spiritual belief by seeing different pilgrims from all over Tibet with different dresses and dialects to pray devoutly along Barkhor Street. Like a miniature of Lhasa, it shows you another aspect of the Tibetan material life. There are an eyeful of fantastic stores and shops along the street to display most characteristic items and commodities, including thangkas, prayer wheels, prayer flags, Tibetan styled clothing, milk tea and more. Barkhor Street is such a great place to buy some souvenirs and suck up the local Tibetan lifestyle. The day will ended with a visit to the Sera Monastery, home to several hundred monks from different part of Tibet. It is one of the biggest monasteries, located in the northern foothills of Lhasa. This magnificent monastery comprises of big halls, colleges and dormitories.  Setting against a backdrop of mountains, it makes for a good photographic experience by climbing the halfway mountain behind. Noted for its debate session, Sera Monastery stored many precious relics, arts, scriptures for monks to learn Buddhist knowledge. The daily Buddhism debating is a truly spiritual “class” to practice and test their mastery of Buddhism. As the top highlight in Sera Monastery, the debate is open to public for tourists to enjoy the charm of Buddhism and find some enlightenment, which can’t be missed out. Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Today after breakfast, we will visit the famous Potala Palace, the masterpiece of Tibetan architecture. As the symbol of Tibet, Potala Palace has many things worth seeing, the architecture of the entire construction, the splendid well-preserved artworks and various kinds of religious treasures and etc. By sightseeing all those highlights, you can trace back to old days and experience the glory of Tibet history.

Though walking through the long steps to reach the place are quite challenging. After the sightseeing of the Potala palace, relax for a while and observe the scenic beauty of Lhasa. In the afternoon, we will visit the Drepung monastery which is 7 km away from the Potala palace. As the largest monastery of Tibet constructed in 1416, there was a totally 10,000 monks once lived here in the peak times, Drepung Monastery plays an important role in Tibet Buddhism. The monastery is especially known as the site of the annual Shoton Festival, during which a giant thangka painting will be unfurled on the hillside. After sightseeing return back to hotel.  Overnight, stay in hotel.

Today after breakfast, drive to Norbulinka palace. Norbulinka, which means “Treasure Park” in the local language, is a palace. It was the summer palace of Dalai Lama till 14th Dalai Lama’s exile. The palace consists of several complexes, and gardens; and is considered the biggest one of its kind in Tibet. Norbulingka expands its scale into over 360,000 square meters and more than 374 rooms, including Dalai Lamas’ palaces for 7th to 14th. Dotted with various kinds of precious flowers and plants, it is the genuine “Plateau Oxygen Bar”. With peaceful atmosphere and tranquility, you will easily get yourself relaxed when walking inside this pure land. After refreshing up yourself with the beautiful gardens and architectural palace of Norbulinka drive to Tibetan Medical centre. Originally built in 1916, Mentsekhang (also called ‘Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute’ at that time) was the place of research for Tibetan medicine and calendar calculations for the former local government. After a large expansion in 1980, it became the center for the treatment, training, research and production of Tibetan medicine. Here you can observe the traditional treatment method and other important surgical condition. After the excursion of the centre, drive back to hotel. Overnight stay in hotel.

Today you will be transferred to Gonggar airport as per your flight to Kathmandu or onward destination. Till your flight schedule you can stroll around the place nearby your hotel and add more memories to your lifetime experience of Lhasa.