Lhasa Tour from Kathmandu

You’re met at Tribhuvan International Airport and driven to your hotel. The rest of the day is yours to recover from the flight and find your feet. If you’re up for it, take a slow wander through Thamel, the warren of narrow lanes packed with cafes, gear shops, and bookstores that most travellers use as a base.

With the Tibet visa application underway, we head out to see the valley. Pashupatinath, the great Shiva temple on the Bagmati, is where you’ll see sadhus and riverside rituals. From there it’s on to Boudhanath, one of the largest stupas anywhere and a centre of Tibetan Buddhist life. We finish in Bhaktapur, a beautifully preserved medieval town whose Durbar Square is crowded with pagoda temples, the five-tiered Nyatapola, and the famous Palace of 55 Windows.

After your biometric appointment for the Tibet visa, the day turns to two more royal squares. Patan Durbar Square is a dense cluster of pagoda temples and courtyards, home to a stone Krishna temple and a small museum of bronze sculpture. Kathmandu Durbar Square, the old seat of the Malla kings, holds palaces and temples built between the 12th and 18th centuries. We end at Swayambhunath, the hilltop stupa with sweeping views over the valley.

Your passport comes back with the Tibet visa today. We use the free time to drive out to Pharping, a quiet old Newari town about 19 kilometres from the city. It’s a place layered with religious history, best known for the cave where Padmasambhava — the master credited with carrying Buddhism into Tibet — is said to have meditated.

A buffer day for last preparations. In the afternoon we sit down together for a briefing to run through the route, introduce your guides, and answer any lingering questions. Otherwise the day is open — a good chance to finish packing or pick up anything you still need from the shops around Thamel.

A short flight carries you over the Himalaya to Lhasa, where you’re met and transferred into the city. The rest of the day is deliberately quiet: at over 3,600 metres, the thin air takes some getting used to, and an easy afternoon makes the next few days far more comfortable.

The day belongs to Lhasa’s landmarks. You climb to the Potala Palace, the towering former residence of the Dalai Lamas, with its halls of murals, chapels, and tombs and long views over the city. Next is the Jokhang Temple, the spiritual centre of Tibetan Buddhism, where pilgrims arrive from across the plateau. The afternoon ends on the Barkhor, the pilgrim circuit and market ringing the temple.

Today we visit two of the great monastic colleges. Drepung, once the largest monastery in the world, was a major seat of learning, while Sera is famous for the lively debates its monks hold in the courtyards each afternoon. With the sightseeing done, you have free time to return to the Barkhor or explore the city at your own pace.

A transfer to the airport for the flight back across the mountains to Kathmandu. Once you’ve landed and settled into your hotel, the trip is rounded off in the evening with a farewell dinner at a traditional Nepali restaurant.