Offbeat Lhasa and Tibet: 7 Days
There’s a second permit nobody mentions until you’re already in Lhasa. The Tibet Travel Permit gets you into the city itself, but the moment your itinerary reaches beyond Lhasa toward Namtso, your guide has to arrange an additional Aliens’ Travel Permit on the ground, after you’ve arrived. Reports on which routes still require this conflict, some describe a 2025 exemption for a few southern routes, others still list it as required everywhere beyond the city, so verify current status with your agency rather than assuming either way. A seven-day trip is exactly long enough to bump into this rule, so budget a little slack. Shorter on time? The 6 day version swaps the Namtso overnight for a same-day Ganden or Yamdrok choice instead.
| Day | Focus | Distance from Lhasa |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrival, and nothing else | In the city |
| 2 | Potala Palace and the old town | In the city |
| 3 | Drepung and Sera Monasteries | In the city |
| 4 | Ganden Monastery | ~90 min, 4,300m |
| 5 | Yamdrok Lake | 3-4 hrs each way, Kamba La ~4,800m |
| 6 | Namtso Lake, overnight | ~4-5 hrs, above 4,700m |
| 7 | Back to Lhasa, departure | In the city |
Book these before you go
- Check Lhasa hotel rates on Agoda for the nights you’re back in the city
- Compare guided Namtso Lake overnight tours since guesthouse beds near the lake are limited
That guide, by the way, stays with you the entire week. Independent foreign travel inside Tibet isn’t allowed, full stop, so every day on this itinerary happens with the same licensed agency and the same assigned guide. Seven days is long enough that this stops feeling like a restriction and starts feeling like having a knowledgeable, occasionally opinionated travel companion who already knows which Potala slot is yours and which teahouse still has locals playing cards over their tea rather than tourists photographing it.
Day 1: Arrival, and Nothing Else
Land at Gonggar Airport, transfer to Lhasa, and rest. At 3,656 metres, altitude sickness (headaches, nausea, disrupted sleep) is a real first-day risk, and a week-long trip is the worst possible time to gamble on ignoring it. Hydrate, skip alcohol, and let a slow evening walk be the extent of your ambition.
Day 2: Potala Palace and the Old Town
Potala Palace tickets are real-name reservations capped around 2,300 a day, arranged by your agency in advance since same-day tickets simply don’t exist. Entry is a strict one to two hour window. Follow it with Jokhang Temple, the spiritual heart of the pilgrimage circuit, genuinely full of devotees rather than staged for cameras, and the Barkhor kora circling it, walked clockwise. Dinner: a family-run Tibetan spot a street back from the square beats anything facing the tourist crowd.
Day 3: Drepung and Sera Monasteries
Morning at Drepung, once the largest monastery in the world, sprawling enough to fill a slow half-day. Afternoon at Sera Monastery for the monk debating courtyard, roughly 3 to 5pm and strongest Monday through Saturday, where young monks clap and gesture through genuine philosophical arguments rather than a performance for visitors.
Day 4: Ganden Monastery
Three full days of acclimatizing gets you to Ganden Monastery at 4,300 metres, about ninety minutes out, with a ridge-top kora overlooking the valley that’s worth the drive alone. Pace yourself; this is noticeably more physical than anything you’ve done in the city so far.
Day 5: Yamdrok Lake
A full-day trip to the turquoise waters of Yamdrok Lake, reached via the Kamba La pass near 4,800 metres, roughly three to four hours each way. It’s one of the best days on this itinerary and one of the more physically demanding, so treat it as the day you don’t also try to squeeze in a monastery visit.
Day 6: Namtso Lake, Properly
This is where the extra day earns its keep. Namtso sits above 4,700 metres, and doing it as a rushed same-day round trip from Lhasa is a long, tiring drive for a short stop at the shore. With seven days available, an overnight near the lake is the better plan, arranged through your guide alongside whatever extra permit paperwork currently applies. Watching sunset and sunrise over the lake from a guesthouse nearby is a genuinely different experience from the same-day version most shorter itineraries settle for.
Day 7: Back to Lhasa, and Departure
Drive back to Lhasa in the morning, leaving buffer time for the road and for weather (mountain routes at this altitude don’t run on a strict schedule). Use the afternoon for last-minute shopping on Barkhor Street before your flight. Build in real slack here; this is not the day to book a tight connection.
A few things worth knowing before you commit to any of this. Western apps, Google, WhatsApp, Instagram, are blocked behind the Great Firewall, so set up and test a VPN before you land. Carry cash: Alipay now supports linking a foreign card, which helps, but plenty of small restaurants, monastery donation boxes, and guesthouses near Namtso are cash-only, no exceptions. And don’t discuss the Dalai Lama, Tibetan independence, or the events of 1959 or 2008 with your guide in public; it’s a genuine risk for the local guides who make this whole trip work.
My honest opinion after a week of this: seven days is the right length to do Namtso overnight instead of as a rushed day trip, and that overnight stay is the single best decision you can make on this itinerary. The train up from Xining, bookable through 12306 , is a beautiful ride if you ever want to add it to a future trip, but flying both directions and spending the extra time at altitude is the smarter call for a week like this one. If Everest Base Camp is calling next, it deserves its own dedicated trip rather than an eighth day bolted onto this one, the altitude jump above 5,200 metres is a different undertaking entirely.
Concrete tip: keep both a digital and a printed copy of your Tibet Travel Permit and whatever additional permit applies to Namtso this season. Checkpoints along the way ask for both, and a dead phone shouldn’t be the reason you’re turned back from a lake you’ve waited a week to see.