Tibet Overland Tour- Highlights
Tibet Overland Tour from Nepal is one of the most fantastic multi day tours ever. Why? There are countless reasons why Tibet from Nepal is one of the most popular overland tour destinations. To put forward a few, elegant natural scenery, timeless cultural exploration, beautiful mountain scenery, historical sites, off-the-beaten-path adventure, spiritual experience and authentic local cuisines makes Tibet Tours a must in 2023.
Tibet remained closed for a long time after the Covid-19 outbreak. From April 2023, Tibet has also been open for visitors from the Nepal side. Since Tibet sits just next to Nepal and shares the border, many tourists fly to Nepal, get their permits, and start the week-long overland tour.
Here we present some significant highlights you’d experience on an eight day Tibet Tour Package from Kathmandu, Nepal.
Upon starting the eight days Tibet Overland Tour from Kathmandu, your eyes feast on the elegant and breathtaking mountain scenery. You'll pass through pristine lakes, alluring valleys, and timeless Tibetan settlements. The drive will leave you in awe as the entire road to the Tibetan border traverses through the Himalayan landscape.
Everest at 8848.86 meters, Cho Oyu at 8,201 meters, and Shishapangma at 8,012 meters are the three 8,000-meter tall mountains you'll see on this tour. And if you want to further customize this tour, from Gyantse, you can even visit Everest Base Camp North and Rongbuk Glacier.
Tibet is deeply rooted in ancient Buddhism. Buddhism here dates back to the 7th century, and still, it remains intact and timeless. Whether it's along the route's monasteries and stupas or insights into Tibetan Buddhism tradition and way of their lives, you'll experience the Buddhism vibes all along.
Also, in Tibet, you can interact with the locals and view their lifestyles closely. For this, your tour guide manages everything in place for different cultural activities and events.
Known for enriched history and affluent historical sites, Tibet Overland Tour takes you to the home of ancient history and sites. Tibet houses the most pristine living palace of the Dalai Lama, the Potala Palace in Lhasa, one of the most prominent and revered UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Jokhang Temple and Sera Monastery are other historical and cultural sites you'll visit on this tour. These places give you a glimpse of ancient Tibet, leave you in awe, and let you reflect on its richness.
Festivals and Rituals in Tibet are among the best in the world. The Tibetan New Year, Lhosar, is a significant celebration in Tibet. And if you time your Tibet Tours on Feb 10, 2024, you'll get to celebrate it with locals. And if you take your family on this tour, the celebration remains a lifelong memory.
Saga Dawa Festival, Shoton Festival, and Butter Lamp Festival are other popular festivals in Tibet. During these, you'll enjoy masked performances, cultural dance, rituals, and spirituality.
You'll get a fantastic opportunity to reflect on your life through the spiritual touch of Tibet. As it's the roof of the world, blessed by ancient Buddhism, the serenity of the landscape provides you with the best time for spiritual growth.
The sacred sites, monasteries, interactions with Buddhist monks, and tranquility lets you connect with your inner self.
Like history and serenity, the Tibetan region is equally famous for its cuisines. Tibet's unique and flavorful dishes never fail to excite your taste delights.
Popular meals like MoMo (steamed dumplings), Thukpa (Tibetan noodles), Thenduk, and other dishes are delights of Tibet.
As the Chinese Visa Application takes a week, submitting your application on Sunday, the first working day in Nepal, is better. Thus, we recommend you fly to Nepal and land in Kathmandu on Saturday.
With this, you can wait for your visa with ease. Moreover, in the meantime, you'll have plenty of time for Kathmandu sightseeing tours and other short-day hikes around the city.
After breakfast, early in the morning, you'll start this tour with a drive from Kathmandu to the Kerung border. You'll drive through Dhunche, Syabrubesi, Timure, Rasuwagadhi, and Kerung.
After reaching the Kerung border, your permits will be checked at the immigration center. After completing the immigration, you'll take another two-hour uphill drive to Kerung.
You'll stop at the hotel in Kerung for overnight accommodation.
On this day, you'll drive to the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, the world's highest plateau. From here, you'll get a conspicuous glimpse of the Tibetan landscape. Also, from here, on a clear weather day, you'll see breathtaking views of Mt. Shishapangma and Cho Oyu.
This 8-hour drive remains attractive, serene, scenic, and awe every day.
Mt. Everest becomes visible from Tingri. With this beautiful glimpse, you'll stay overnight at the hotel in Tingri.
After breakfast, you'll head on the road. After leaving Lhatse, you'll cross the highest pass, Gyatso La, at 5,220 meters. The road remains scenic throughout the day.
You'll also see the west road that reaches Mt. Kailash.
You'll stop at the Yak Hotel in Xigatse for overnight accommodation.
The 4th day on the Tibet Overland Tour remains picturesque as you'll drive through some incredible high Himalayan Pass and beautiful freshwater lakes.
In the morning, you'll do sightseeing around Panchen Lama's Tashilhunpo Monastery. Here you'll observe the rituals, prayers, and other attributes.
From Xigatse, you'll drive to Gyantse and visit famous sites, including Kumbum Stupa & Phalkor Monastery.
From here, you'll drive to Karola (5,010 meters), Kambala (4,749 meters), Yamdrok Tso, and the Tibetan river Brahmaputra (Yarlung Tsangpo).
You'll stay overnight at the hotel in Lhasa.
On this day, you'll tour Lhasa, visiting the most beautiful and serene places.
Potala Palace and Sera Monasteries are the two beautiful places you'll visit today. You'll also visit Barkhor market, Jokhang Temple, and more places.
You'll stay overnight at the hotel in Lhasa.
On this day, after breakfast at the hotel, you'll visit Drepung Monastery. It's also a pristine place for the Dalai Lama. It used to be the palace for the Dalai Lama before shifting to Potala Palace.
On this day, you'll also visit Sera Monastery, one of the "great Gelung monasteries in Tibet". The major attraction of this monastery is the monk's debate session that takes place between 3-5 pm.
Overnight at the hotel in Lhasa.
After visiting Lhasa, you'll prepare for the return to Kathmandu. You'll have two options: a two-day road trip via Xegar, Kerung, to Kathmandu or a direct flight from Lhasa to Kathmandu.
If you take the road trip, you'll return to Xegar and stop for overnight accommodation at the hotel.
On this day, you'll leave Xegar for Kathmandu. Before leaving Tibet, you'll go through some checks at immigration at Kerung. From here, you'll drive back to Kathmandu for 10 hours.
It marks the end of your eight days Overland Tibet Tour Package from Nepal.
If you want to visit Tibet, the overland tour from Kathmandu is the most convenient one for many reasons.
First, it's an overland tour, possibly on a jeep. Instead of flying in and out, the Jeep ride saves you several hundred dollars. Plus, you'll enjoy the mesmerizing mountain scenery, lakes, and high Himalayan passes while on the road.
Another reason is that Kathmandu is near Kerung Border, just 175 km. And reaching there takes at most 8 hours, on a drive.
The visa process for the Tibet Overland Tour from Nepal requires a special permit and a Chinese visa. Every traveler must access a Chinese Visa from the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu. Furthermore, to tour Tibet, you must also access Tibet Travel Permit.
To get the visa and permit, you need special assistance from registered travel agencies in Kathmandu like us, Adventure Nepal Eco Treks. Once you submit adequate documents to us for your Tibet Tour, our correspondence will make arrangements for your visa and permits.
It takes 6-7 days to get your Chinese visa and Tibet Travel Permit from the date of application submission. Plus, it would help if you were in Nepal to apply for this visa and permits, possibly 7-8 days before the tour.
For this tour, an experienced licensed tour guide is a must. Also, a luxury 4*4 private jeeps are a must for the overland expedition. And all these arrangements become convenient once you book this tour with us.
Update for Indian Travelers in 2023 for Tibet Tour
We're sorry to announce that the Chinese Government has banned Indian travelers from getting Chinese Visas and Tibet Travel Permits. This decision is not best for Indian travelers, especially those planning Kailash and Tibet tours in 2023. We hope this decision changes quickly and everyone can travel to beautiful Tibet.
Since it's an overland tour, you'll get private vehicles as transport throughout this tour. We'll enter Tibet from the Kerung border near Rasuwagadhi.
Based on the group size, we'll provide the vehicle accordingly. Guaranteed, you'll get luxurious air-conditioned vehicles like coasters, tourist buses, Hiace, vans, and jeeps.
If you want to return by flight from Lhasa to Kathmandu, we'll arrange that too. However, it would help if you informed us beforehand so we'd give you proper tour pricing and set the flight tickets early.
The Chinese government has updated some changes to the visa applications.
First, at least five pax must be on tour to access the Tibet Travel Permit. As of this, you'll join other groups or depart with your group of at least five.
Second, visa processing takes 5-6 days after submitting the passport. Also, you must be in Nepal to visit the Chinese visa application center and participate in the biometric test.
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