13 Days Beijing Lhasa Kathmandu Tour with Namtso Lake

Beijing - Flight - Lhasa - Namtso - Lhasa - Flight - Kathmandu

From USD p.p

This 13-day tour is a great choice for those hope to visit the essential attractions in the capital city of China, TAR, and Nepal within a tight schedule. You start this tour with 3-day sightseeing in Beijing to Great Wall and Forbidden City, Imperial Ancestral Temple and Beihai Park, and Nanluoguxiang. Then, take a flight to Lhasa to appreciate the legendary Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple, Drepung and Sera Monastery, and the turquoise Namtso Lake surrounded by snow-capped mountains. You can also bath in the Yampachen Hot Spring to fully emerge yourself into Tibetan plateau on the way from Namtso to Lhasa. At last, you will take a flight from Lhasa to Kathmandu, and be escorted to the famous Swayambhunath, Pashupatinath, and Bodhnath and Durbar Square in Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur.

Itinerary Day by Day

Day1 Arrive in Beijing

Welcome to Beijing! Upon your arrival in Beijing, your driver will pick you up and take you to your hotel in Beijing in a private car. Then you could have a rest in your hotel or walk around on your own.

Stay overnight in Beijing.

Day2 Beijing sightseeing: Mutianyu Great Wall

No tour of China would be complete without a visit to the Great Wall, the largest man-made structure on the planet. After breakfast, you will visit Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. Stretching 2,250 meters long and including 22 watchtowers, Mutianyu Great Wall is the longest, fully restored Great Wall section open to tourists.

Stay overnight in Beijing.

Day3 Beijing sightseeing: Forbidden City, Imperial Ancestral Temple, and Beihai Park

Your guided tour starts with a visit to the famous Forbidden City, which used to be the imperial palace from around 1420 to 1912 and now houses the Palace Museum. Then, you will move to the Imperial Ancestral Temple, or Taimiao of Beijing where sacrificial ceremonies were held on the most important festival occasions in honor of the imperial family's ancestors during both the Ming and Qing Dynasties. After that, you will visit Beihai Park, one of the oldest, largest and best-preserved ancient imperial gardens in China. The structures and scenes in the Beihai Park are described as masterpieces of gardening technique that reflects the style and the superb architectural skill and richness of traditional Chinese garden art.

Stay overnight in Beijing.

Day4 Beijing sightseeing: Nanluoguxiang

In the morning, you can explore Nanluoguxiang yourself. Built in the Yuan Dynasty and neighboring many typical narrow streets known as hutong, Nanluoguxiang has become a popular tourist destination with coffee shops, souvenir shops, and some old siheyuan associated with famous historic and literary figures. In the afternoon, you can do some shopping if you like and prepare for the Bejing-Tibet train departing at 20:00 from Beijing West Railway Station.

Stay overnight on the train.

Day5 Fly from Beijing to Lhasa (3650m)

When you arrive in Lhasa, your tour guide will hold a board with your name on it at the exit to welcome you. A private car will take you to the reserved hotel. You may view the Yarlung Tsangpo River/Bhamaputra River (the longest and largest river in Tibet) and Lhasa River on the way from airport to Lhasa. Then, you can take a good rest at hotel to acclimatize to Tibetan plateau environment.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Day6 Lhasa Sightseeing: Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, and Barkhor Street

Today, you’ll pay a visit to the famous Potala Palace, the world culture heritage and the winter palace of Dalai Lama. You can explore its audience halls, the jeweled and golden burial chortens (stupa tombs) of past Dalai Lamas, meditation cave of the 33rd Great King of Tibet, and tremendous number of Buddhist frescoes, thangkas, combinations of mandala, etc.

Then you will head to the holiest temple in Tibet, the Jokhang Temple, built during Songtsen Ganpo's reign by Princess Wencheng of Tang dynasty, 647 A.D. Here you can observe sincere pilgrims making prostration in front of Jokhang Temple. While entering inside the temple, you can see the statue of Buddha Sakyamuni at the age of twelve. On the top of Jokhang Temple, you can enjoy the panorama of old Lhasa City and great vista of Potala Palace.

Then you can do the kora with pilgrims and locals by circling the Barkhor Street around the temple, buy some souvenirs, and taste sweet tea and local snacks in local tea house. Later, you can take your family to explore farm products like yak butter in Tromzikhang, the famous farm produce market.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Day7 Lhasa Sightseeing: Drepung Monastery, Sera Monastery

Today, you will visit two important monasteries in Lhasa, the Drepung and the Sera. Drepung Monastery, the largest monastery in Tibet, was founded by Jamyang Choeje in 1416 and used to be home to more than 10,000 monks. Hiking along the mountain steps, you can see Buddhist painting on the rock face. During Shoton Festival, locals and pilgrims swarm to Drepung Monastery to celebrate the gigantic Thangka Buddha unveiling ceremony on the Gambo Utse Mountain. Then you will stop by the nearby carpet factory to appreciate the Tibetan artisans make traditional carpets with great skills.

After having lunch, you will visit Sera Monastery, which was founded in 1419 by Tsongkapa's disciple Jamchen Choeje. The most interesting thing is to see monks debating in the courtyard at around 3-5 in the afternoon. By yelling at each other, slapping hands and rolling mala, two monks make a pair to debate on philosophical issues. You can also appreciate the delicately-made Mandala, sanding paintings, and massive Buddhist scriptures inside Sera Monastery.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Day8 Lhasa to Namtso Lake

Take the car ride in the morning to Lake Namtso (4718m), one of the three holy lakes in Tibet as well as the world’s highest saline lake. On the way, you can see Nyenchen Tangula Mountain Range, enchanting villages around Lhasa Valley, and lots of nomads with yaks and sheep grazing in the flourishing grassland (in summer). In addition, you can appreciate the view of Qinghai-Tibet Railway with snow mountain background. Driving over Lagenla Pass (5190m), you can far view Namtso Lake shinning under the sun.

Then you can take a leisurely trek around Tashi Island and enjoy the stunning Namtso Lake against the snow-capped Mt. Nyenchen Thanglha. Finally, you will head to Damxung or Yampachen and spend the night there. The lower altitude at Damxung and Yampachen shall bring you a sound sleep.

Stay overnight in Dumxung or Yampachen.

Day9 Journey back to Lhasa

The trip back to Lhasa is relaxing both to body and soul. You will make a stopover at Yampachen, where the famous mineral-rich Yampachen Hot Spring will remove your tiredness and get your refreshed. Having enjoyed the joyful time at the outdoor hot spring, you again hit the road to Lhasa. The final leg of the road trip takes you to visit Chimelong Nunnery (Phyirmil Lung Nunnery) and you may have a far view of a sky burial site nearby.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Cultural Tips: Tibetan Buddhists believe that the corpse is nothing but a discarded shell, and offering their bodies to vultures is an offering of generosity back to the earth that gave them life. The master of the sky burial ceremony will perform rituals over the body, summon vultures by burning incense and tsampa, and dispose of the body into pieces. Sky burial is a private and sacred matter, it is not recommended to go to sky burial sites or take pictures.

Day10 Fly from Lhasa to Kathmandu

Today, your guide will drop you off at Lhasa Gonggar Airport so you can take the flight to Kathmandu. When you arrive at Kathmandu, your Nepali guide will pick you up and take you to your hotel.

Stay overnight in Kathmandu.

Day11 Day tour to Kathmandu City, Swayambhunath, and Patan City

The day starts with a tour of Kathmandu City, and takes in the famous Kathmandu Durbar Square. The most famous square in the city, the Durbar Square is the Royal Palace square in the city, and is surrounded by ancient buildings from the early 16th century. The magnificent architecture, exquisite decorations, and the intensity of historical items gives a great insight into Nepali culture.

You then continue the tour with a visit to the Swayambhunath Pagoda, which is one of the oldest Buddhist sites in Nepal. Swayambhunath is a huge golden stupa festooned with prayer flags that flutter in the breeze, on a hill that overlooks the entire city. Then it is on to Patan City, the second largest city in the Kathmandu Valley area. Patan City has one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Nepal that dates back to the 12th century, and is a great place to explore the Buddhist culture of Nepal.

Stay overnight in Kathmandu.

Day12 Day tour to Pashupatinath, Boudhanath, and Bhaktapur City

You will also get to go further afield in Nepal, to visit the ancient Hindu temple of Pashupatinath, and Boudhanath. Set on the banks of the Baghmati River, Pashupatinath is one of Nepal’s famous UNESCO sites, and the sunset over the temple roofs is spectacular. Boudhanath, located on the ancient trade route, is a place of meditation and part of the spiritual journey around Kathmandu. With one of the largest stupas in the world, it has been the site of many Tibetan prayers over the centuries. 

Bhaktapur Durbar Square is the last place to visit for the day, with its pagoda and shikhara temples strewn around the royal palace. The square really highlights the ancient building arts of Nepal.

Stay overnight in Kathmandu.

Day13 Depart from Kathmandu

Your guide will pick you up from your hotel in a private car, take you to Tribhuvan Airport, and help you with your luggage and checking in for your flight from Nepal.

Service Inclusion

  1. Tibet travel permit and all other necessary permits to Tibet;
  2. All entrance ticket fees for all tourist sites listed in the itinerary;
  3. Personal knowledgeable English-speaking Tibetan local tour guide;
  4. Personal comfortable, clean and safe vehicle with reliable Tibetan local driver; vehicle ranging from 4WD land cruiser to minibus depending on your group size;
  5. 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.
  6. Domestic flight/train tickets listed in the itinerary;
  7. All meals listed in the above itinerary;
  8. Tourist accident/casualty insurance;
  9. First aid kit;

Service Exclusion

  1. International flight to and out of China;
  2. 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. )
  3. 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.)
  4. Meals not specified in the itinerary; usually it costs about USD3-15 per person for one meal in TAR (Tibet Autonomous Region).
  5. Tips and gratitude to tour guide and driver;
  6. 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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13 Days Beijing Lhasa Kathmandu Tour with Namtso Lake

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