In this post, we wrote on how to travel Tibet as the ultimate Tibet travel guide. We hope that reading this page will help make your trip to Tibet easy and convenient.
Independent travel is not allowed for a foreigner. Therefore, You are required to visit a Local Tibet travel company, organize an entire itinerary and guide you to all the different sites. You can roam around freely.
To enter Tibet, you will need two things: a Chinese Visa and Tibet Permit.
VISAs and permit
The first thing you get is a Chinese Visa. You need a Chinese Visa to apply for the Tibet Travel Permit. Some nationalities doest not require the Chinese to Apply for the Tibet permit. Everybody else requires the Chinese Visa for Tibet Permit. If you are from these countries, that does not require a Chinese Visa. You can only send a picture of your passport to the tour company, and then they will apply for your Tibet permit.
As of now, the Chinese Tourist visa is usually not obtainable upon arrival. That means you need to apply a few weeks in advance before you plan to travel to China. Every country has its way of doing this. So please do your research on how to get your Chinese Visa.
But generally speaking, you can just go to a Chinese embassy in your local country. The Chinese embassy may require that you provide your round-trip flight ticket, hotel, and tour information.
Visa invitation from Tibet tourism bureau
Sometime the embassy may ask you for a visa invitation from Tibet Tourism Bureau. We can send it. If you run into issues, find this confusing, you can always talk to your tour company, and they will help sort it out for you.
Applying for Tibet Travel Permit
Once you have a Chinese tourist visa physically on your passport, you can apply for the Tibet permit. You don’t apply that on your own as you did with the Chinese Visa. Instead, we (your tour company) have to apply it for you.
Once you have chosen the travel company, they will organize your trip itinerary, and then they will apply for your Tibet permit at the Tibet tourism bureau in Lhasa. Tibet tourism bureau is the only government department in China that issue this permit. You can’t apply for your Tibet permit abroad or even in other parts of China. You can only apply for it at this office in Lhasa. And only a local travel company has to apply for it on your behalf.
Document required for applying for Tibet Travel Permit
To apply for a Tibet permit, you need to send us a copy of your passport and a copy of your Chinese Visa. Once we have that, then they can apply for your permit. The process of permit usually takes two weeks or 10 to 20 days. But we would give you 30 days just in case something goes wrong or during the holiday time that gets in the way and slow thing down.
How to get Tibet Travel Permit before entering Tibet
The next part is crucial that you understand. Once when we receive your Tibet permit from the Bureau. We will have to physically mail you the original signed and stamped document to your mainland China address.
Once when you pick the city from where you plan to go to Tibet. You can’t change it because that city is going to mention on your Tibet permit. And that’s the only place you can enter Tibet. If you want to change it on the permit, it will take another day to change it.
Airport delivery of your Tibet Permit
If you don’t plan to stay in mainland China, we can arrange an airport delivery. Hence, we will send someone to deliver your permit on arrival at the airport during your connecting flight to Tibet.
It typically takes three days for the original Tibet permit to send to you via post, so keep that in mind. If you need it in a rush, we can do an express delivery and send it to you in 24 hours, but it costs you 50 US Dollars. If you need it to send to you at the airport, that will cost you an additional 58 Dollar.
Once you have the permit, you will show it to airport security before giving you the boarding pass. Then you also have shown it again when you go through airport security into the gate. So don’t put it away yet. Just hold it on until you are literary going into the plane.
Chinese Group Visa
Before we discuss how to get to Tibet, we want to discuss one other option called a Chinese Group visa. This option only applies if you are Traveling from Kathmandu in Nepal to Lhasa in Tibet. If you take this route, then don’t apply for a Chinese Visa from home in advance. Instead, you have to get it from the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu.
They will only accept the Visa application from a registered agent. So you will have to hire an agent to help you with it. Additional, We will have to send a Visa invitation from the Lhasa bureau to the official portal’s embassy. We will send a copy of that invitation only to a registered agent in Nepal. We usually use our trusted long time partner in Nepal.
Please note: There are minimal numbers of four people required to apply for the Chinese Group Visa. You can talk to your travel agency about getting at least four people in the Group Visa.
How to get to Tibet
You think this is plain and simple, and then again, we just spend infinite time talking about Visas. So Yeah, getting to Tibet is easy as it sounds. That can be confusing, so hopefully, we do a good job clearing that up. So there are three main ways of getting to Tibet. Flying, train, and drive.
1) Flying to Tibet
Flying is the easiest and probably the fastest option. There are multiple domestic flights every single day from mainland China. But only one international flight per day from Kathmandu, Nepal. So you can’t flight directly to Tibet from your home country. You can only get to china from mainland china or Nepal.
If you take an international flight from Nepal, that’s when you take the group visa, which we discuss above. That is the name of the Visa. It can apply to solo travellers.
We also recommend the days leading up to Tibet, spending a few days relaxing days because when you fly to Lhasa, you will jump into almost 12000 feet, and it’s going to be shocking to your body with altitude. We are going to get more into altitude sickness later in this post.
Booking flight to Tibet
You cannot book a flight to Tibet through the airline website if you don’t already have your Tibet permit. The reason is when you go to purchase the flight ticket, they will ask you for the Tibet travel permit that you don’t have. So you have the following two options.
The first option is to wait for the permit and book the flight ticket. Or the second option is you can buy ask your travel company to book the flight ticket for you. Usually, they will have a partnership with an airline dealership, and they can book it for you, and then you just reimburse them the money.
2) Train to Tibet
The train journey is usually the more extended option but the most scenic route. You need to know about the train route because you can’t book the train ticket, only a Chinese citizen can book the train so you can ask your tour company to book a train ticket.
The process of getting the Tibet permit for the train is different. Here you can just show the printed copy of it. Your travel agency will send a picture of the permit copy by email. If you are taking the train from Chongqing to Lhasa, it is the same as taking the flight to Lhasa.
Beware that the train is often very long hours upward of 40 some hours and also can be the most expensive option. Make sure you are planning before. Train tickets are likely going to sold-out during the Chinese National Holidays.
3) Driving to Tibet
Whether you are driving in a car or motorcycle, If you want to take this option, you can. But to do this, you have to do the tour where you have to go with a guide, Similar process with the permit with just a bit more paperwork because you now have to include car registration, temporary drivers licenses. Give your self like 30 days.
Where to stay
There are three kinds of accommodation in Tibet. Hotel, Guesthouse, and tent hotel.
Hotels in Tibet
There is a wide range of hotels’ choices in cities like Lhasa, Shigatse, Shanan, and Nyintri. You can choose to stay in five-star hotels like St Regis and Shangrila. Most four-star hotels in Tibet’s are locally Tibetan owned, like Shangbhala in Lhasa. Famous three-star hotels in Lhasa is the yak hotel.
You can also choose to stay in Butuiqu hotel in Tibet like Shambhala hotel, Shambahal palace hotel in Lhasa, and Sakya palace hotel in Shigatse. Most of the boutique hotels are most furnish well with authentic Tibetan furniture and house in old Tibetan buildings.
Guest House and Tent hostel
Further, in the remote places toward western Tibet, There is an option for Guesthouse. In some places, the basic guest house is the only option.
A tent hostel or tent guest house is available at Mount Everest basecamp. At the basecamp, the only accommodation available is the Rongbuk monastery guest house with a decent room.
The tent guest house is a rectangular tent made of Yak wool. In here, there are 5 to 6 bed placed connect vertically. In the middle of the tent, they will be a Tibetan style stove where they will make fire with yak dung to keep you guys warm in the night.
Facilities in accommodations in Tibet
All the hotels have attached bathroom facilities. But are the guesthouses and tent hostel, you will have to use the public toilet.
Hot running water is available thought out the year in most hotels. All the hotels in Tibet use solar energy to heat water. So your hotel running water depends on the sunshine. During cloudy days, you might get lesser hot water. But usually, you will have hot running water in the early evening in worse case scenarios.
So the accommodation is Tibet base on your budget and the place of visit. We usually book hotels, and if travellers have a special request, we can book in those hotels. We are associate with all the hotel lines in Tibet, and we often get better deals than any online hotel booking site.
Getting around
Because you cannot travel independently, you are on tour, and You will be guided around. Your tour company is going to be transporting you everywhere that you need to go. In either a Bus big group tour or Van if you are on the private tour depending on the number of people on tour.
When you are in Lhasa, and you decide to go roaming around the streets. You can go on your own. There is no need to be with the guide or van all the time with you. Public transportation to get around in Lhasa are also accessible.
When to visit
The Best time o visit Tibet depends on your tour and expectation from it. Generally speaking, the high season is from April to October because of its warmer climate. This season also means a lot more tourists and much higher prices. November to February for cold winter climate, there is less tourist and tour is cheaper.
Best time to go to Everest basecamp
You may want to look at the different tour options and talk to us about the best time to visit for that particular tour. For example, It is good to go to Everest basecamp in months like May, June, September, and early October. It’s less windy, and its a high likelihood that you will have a clear blue sky during those months.
If you are going to mount Everest, you want to see the mount and its summit. You don’t want to have it covered in clouds. That why it is a good idea to check out the tour and plan according to the activities you are going to do.
Learn more about holidays times
Also, it is an excellent idea to educated yourself about holiday times. For example, you would not go during the first week of May, the first week of April, Late Jan, early Feb, and the first week of October because these are big Chinese holiday and these it going to be a massive amount of tourist and price are going to be high.
Taking note That Tibet is close in March, so you can’t go to Tibet in March.
Booking a tour
There are two different tour options you can choose to travel to Tibet. Here are the private tour and group tour options. The main difference is, in a group tour, we will meet other travellers. It is a cheaper option, and there are guaranteed tours every single week.
The benefit of a Private tour is you can customize tour trips and itineraries. For example, you add custom experiences such as visiting the Tibetan family home, Handicraft centre, and dinner with a Tibetan expert. The real advantage is that you can customize your tour.
If you have no idea what to see or do, we can help and give you ideas. You can tell us what you want to do, Where you want to go and how many days you have for Tibet.
If you have a specific plan and itinerary in mind, you can express this to us, and then we can put something together for you and then give you a quote for the price.
Food Option
Generally, on tour, what will happen is on every day your tour guide will be with you to help you with what you want to eat and offer you a list of places to eat. There will be a western option and a local food option.
You can prebook the restaurant in advance and customize the tour plan. For the cheapest, you can visit a local Tibetan restaurant where locals eat day to day basis.
It could cost you from 7 to 14 US dollars for lunch and dinner in the bigger cities when you get outside of the cities to remote towns and villages. It could cost you 4 to 9 USD a day for lunch and dinner.
If you want to know the average amount of pocket money, you might want to have extra, and it depends on your spending habits. We would recommend from 7 to 14 USD per day.
Vegetarians
Good news for Vegetarians that Buddhism is strongly practised in Tibet. We prefer to be vegetarian. So there will be loads of options for you to choose from. Don’t worry at all if you are Vegetarians. Even in remote towns and villages, there will be vegetarian food.
Vegans
For vegans, it is going to be challenging to find your food of choice. We would recommend you buying some food from the supermarkets in Lhasa and other big cities. In those cities, they will have supermarkets and malls with lots of imported goods. We would recommend you to sock up as per the tour.
Water
Many travellers don’t have an issue with drinking water directly from the tap water in Tibet. Yet there are some with questions. So don’t risk drinking it. We always provide you with plenty of bottled drinking water throughout the tour. We usually buy water in a bigger bottle, like a 5-litre bottle. You will have to bring your reusable water bottle.
Altitude Sickness
Altitude Sickness is a super important subject to talk about because many tourists suffer from this, and it can be hazardous if not handled properly. What is altitude sickness?
In a nutshell, your blood isn’t getting enough oxygen. So when the blood does not get enough oxygen, this can lead to fatigue, dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea, vomiting, fever, a rapid post, loss of appetite; even in some severe case, you can be spitting out blood.
So we don’t want any of this to happen to you. But likely somebody in your group, if not you, are going to suffer from altitude sickness or at least feel the change in the body due to altitude. It does affect everybody differently.
Everyone will feel the altitude at mount Everest basecamp and Mount Kailash region. You might not get sick, but all will going feel the difference in height.
Acclimatization to High Altitude of Tibet
Acclimatization to high Altitude is a very important section of This Tibet travel Guide.
All the travel agencies are experienced in dealing with such a situation and will help you get over it. The tour itinerary we make are made with it and acclimatization in mind. Our cars will have enough oxygen and can refill it at any time.
We recommend all the traveller to consult their doctors in advance about your Tibet travel plan. In Tibet, we can help you to the hospital 24×7. If required, we will arrange emergency evacuation out of Tibet with extra cost.
The best Tibet Travel Guide and Advice, we can give you is
1) Avoid strenuous work
don’t do anything strenuous in those first few days and early a few days leading up to it. You don’t want to put your body under too much stress. Because when you get to altitude, and you are going to be a lot more tired. For example, a regular thing like walking upstairs will feel a lot more effort than at a lower altitude.
2) Use Oxygen provide by a travel agency if need
Suppose you are flying to Lhasa. When you arrive, it is already right at 12000 feet. So it is already very high, and some people will end up getting the oxygen tank. Any difference in the body you feel in Lhasa is due to altitude maladjustment. We will leave oxygen in your hotel room if you need to use it. Don’t feel bad if this does happen to you, or don’t think like you are super week. It’s normal to be on an oxygen tank in Tibet.
3) Medicine for High Altitude sickness
There are some medications you can take for altitude sickness. We would encourage that. But those medicines are not available in the local market in China. So make sure you bring them in before entering China. We recommend you consult your doctor about it.
4) Prepare your body for High Altitude
We think that people with higher fitness levels and more healthy eating habits might be better able to handle the changing altitude than others better. For those, How are a bit weaker. Our advice may be doing a few smaller hikes or cardio activities, just to get your body use to having less oxygen.
5) Be cautious and listen to your body
Contrary to the above statement. People with higher fitness sometimes are more likely to get the sickness. That is due to denying the body’s changes and continuing to do the same activities as they would be doing in lower elevation. Any changes to the body and any difference you will feel in Tibet is due to the high altitude. These changes are signals from your body that it is trying to adjust to the new environment.
6) Dring lots of water
Water, we can’t stress enough how important it is to drink lots of water. You should be drinking like three to four times more than your regular days. You need to drink like 4 to 6 litres a day, and you need to be having a high-calorie diet. Yes, you are going to be pissing every 4 to 6 minutes. It is a better alternative than getting altitude sickness.
7) Don’t take a shower on the first day in Lhasa
We often ask visitors not to take showers during the first few days as taking a shower dehydrated your body. We find it accurate as in the group, those who took a shower are more likely to get sick. Try to refrain from taking a bath on the first day.
8) Multi-layer Cloth
Try to stay warm, wear multi-layer cloth. Weather changes all the time. It could be super hot in the sun, but at the same time, it will be freezing in the shade. Try not to catch a cold or fever. Once you do, you are likely to get sick on the journey.
9) Don’t drink Alcohol
Refrain from having any brewages with Alcohol content for the first few days upon arrival in Tibet. We also found having Ginger with lemon and honey is good for high altitude.
10) Bring extra batteries
We also feel your electric batteries may often drive up fast at higher altitudes. So you might want to come up with extra batteries and a power bank. If you are on a private tour, you can use the charging outlet in the car. But for the group tour, it is less likely to get an accommodating outlet for all.
What to bring
We will send you a list of things to bring to Tibet, depending on the tour, activities you will be going to Tibet, whether and places. Generally speaking, even in the warmer climate, you should be bringing warm clothes. It would be sunny in the day and freezing at night.
We also recommend bringing a lot of layers because the weather changes a lot. Bring good walk shoes or hiking boots.
It is imperative to bring sunscreen. You will be so high up, and you are exposed to the extreme sun, so it is awful for your skin. Also, bring your sunglasses and a hat. Bring chapstick or lip balm.
Bring any lotion to help keep your nasal area moist. Because of dry air in Tibet, many get a dry nose, and it could bleed or catch a cold for it. As said above, you don’t want to catch a cold in Tibet.
Money in Tibet
Let money talk. In Tibet, we used the Chines RMB or Chinese Yuan. You can bring in a Dollar or traveller cheque and exchange it in the bank of China.
Go to ATM pull out cash. You are less likely to find ATM in smaller towns and villages. If you use WeChat Pay or Alipay, you use these two online payments everywhere in Tibet.
Tipping
Tibetans, in general, are not used to tips. But for your tour guide and the driver. There has the custom of receiving tips at the end of the journey. We usually ask the traveller to tip them voluntarily.
Internet and phone
Wifi in Tibet
During your travel to Tibet. You will not face many issues in getting internet connections. All the majority of hotels, restaurants, and coffee shops have an internet connection. So where ever you go, you will have no issue getting an internet connection. For example, you can get even better and faster internet in the Rongbuk monastery restaurant at the Everest Basecamp. But Internet connection is lesser as you go toward western Tibet in the Mount Kailash region.
Lend Phone with Sim from Us.
We often offer free sim card and free phone during the tour. Of which you can use both the internet and receive all the international calls.
If you are not travelling with us, you can get phone service from mainland china before you come to Tibet. Or you can buy the subscription in Lhasa with the help of your tour guide.
Use personal hotspot from Guide’s Phone.
If you could not buy a sim card, remember there is always free internet at the hotel at the end of the day. For the internet in the car, you can ask the guide to turn on a hotspot from his phone and pay him later for the data usage.
You will either get free sim and phone from us or get free wifi from the guide’s phone.
Blocked Sites
Please remember, most international sites are not accessible in China. Read more about it on the internet.
Travel insurance
All the local Tibetan travel agencies are required to have basic business liability insurance. But it doesn’t cover much. You still want to come to Tibet with your travel insurance with medical coverage and additional coverage for lost or damaged things. We would recommend global nomad insurance.
It is not recommended you risk not buying it, especially when you are travelling to Tibet. Region porn to get sick due to its high elevation. Here you can not plan when something is going to get wrong.
Is it safe to travel to Tibet? Especially as a female traveller.
Yes, it is very safe to travel to Tibet, especially for female travellers, because you will never be alone. You are going on tour. Remember, you are not allowed to travel free in Tibet. You will always be with either your guide or both your guide and driver. Your tour company is liable for you. We have to look after you in Tibet.
If you are in a place like Lhasa, you can go on your own after the guided tour to sites. Lhasa is generally a safe city to walk around.
Language barrier
You are less likely to find difficulties due to language barriers. Most of the time, the tour guide will be with you to help you translate. But when you explore the market in the evening, you can always use translation apps to help you convert from your language to Mandarin. Most people in Tibet speak mandarin.
Drones
Yes, you can use a drone in Tibet. But there are few restricted areas where you can’t use it, especially in cities like Lhasa. The area around the military site. Your tour guide is educated to tell you where you can use and where you can’t.
Also, it is essential to know that you will have to register your drone in China. Otherwise, it wouldn’t take flight. You need to register the drone under your Chinese phone number.
Etiquette and Taboos
It is imperative to know the Etiquette and Taboos as you may not want to be disrespectful to the culture of people you are visiting.
1) Clothing
We are pretty conservative from the western perspective. Basically, you should not wear anything besides long pants and a full shirt, especially when you are visiting monasteries and temples.
2) Taking photographs
You have to pay close attention to where to take a picture and where not. You are not allowed to take picture sensitive parts like security personal, any checkpoints, Military area, etc.
Also, always ask people permission to take their picture. You might sometimes even have to offer them money for tea. But first, ask.
Don’t take photos or videos inside the monasteries. All the guide will tell you beforehand. They are some monastery where you can pay to take the picture. If you take the photo without permission, you might end up losing your device.
Shopping in Tibet
Due to its unique culture, Tibet is a great place to buy a souvenir for your loved one back home to remember your travel. You can choose to buy from simple rosary to more impressive things like carpet.
You can always bargain with the price everywhere in Tibet. Don’t just pay the asking price. Try to bargain to 50% of the asking price.
Suppose you are buying more expensive things like carpet and thangkas. Try first with the guide and then try without the tour later in the evening.
Usually, when you purchase valuable items, the shop pays the commission for the guide. Which you will see the price difference by going there without the tour guide.
Some responsible shops give away a portion of their annual income to help poor people remotely. If you are interested in buying from such an outfit, we can help you guide to their shop.
Conclusion of Tibet Travel Guide
We hope this comprehensive Tibet travel guide gave you all the information you might need to know how to travel to Tibet. This post is base on our knowledge as the tour operator, Our guides experience, travellers question, and many travelogues we have been reading.
You can read more Tibet travel guide from this link or visit our travel agency website: https://itibettravel.com.
If you have any further questions about travelling to Tibet and Tibet travel Guide, please write to us for a free travel consultant to Tibet. You can reach us at [email protected].
