Welcome to the roof of the world! You will be picked up by local tour guide at the airport hall or train station, and then be escorted to your hotel in Lhasa city in a private vehicle. After arrival at your hotel, the rest of the day is free for you to explore the local areas and acclimatize yourself to the air, temperature and high altitude of Lhasa.

High Altitude Acclimation Tips: 1) Go for some leisure walking to acclimate the high altitude but avoid strenuous activity after arrival; 2) you’d better not have bath, in case of catching a cold; 3) Drink more water, and have some fruit; 4) Have a good rest.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

Start today’s Lhasa exploration with an exhilarating visit to the landmark - Potala Palace that is considered as one of the most stunning architectural building in the world. You will climb up the palace along the zigzag stone paths with white-and-red walls to the top of the palace where you can not only appreciate the exotic Tibetan-style architecture, but also get a great view of Lhasa’s urban areas, then walk into the inner space of Potala Palace to explore the stately chapels and learn about the history of the palace. 

Continuing your exploration, you will then get to Jokhang Temple, which is reflected as the spiritual heart of Tibetan Buddhism. Each day, there are thousands of pilgrims coming from different places in Tibet to the temple to worship to the Buddha. This temple is also known as the “house of Buddha” because it keeps the precious Jowo Rinpoche, the life-sized (5 foot/1.5m) image of the Shakyamuni at the age of 12. The last site for today’s exploration is the famous Barkhor Street. It is a circular and wide street encircling the Jokhang Temple. The local people like to walk on the street for several circles usually in the late afternoon as a daily tradition of pilgrimage. The street also has many shops selling a wide variety of traditional Tibetan goods, religious items and handcrafts. 

Tips of Today: 1) there are 1,080 steps up to climb to the top of Potala Palace, so don’t walk in a rush, which may cause high altitude sickness; 2) taking photos is not allowed inside the palace; 3) today you will be mainly outside, please bring some water, a hat, sun cream, and sun glasses with you.

 Stay overnight in Lhasa

In the morning, you are going to visit Drepung monastery which is one of the “great three” Gelug monasteries of Tibet, founded in 1416 by Jamyang choge, one of the Tsongkhapa’s main disciples. You can visit biggest monastery kitchen inside the monastery and enjoy Buddhist Sculpture Carving workshop near Drepung.

In the Afternoon, Tourists will visit Sera Monastery which is another one of the “great three” Gelug monasteries of Tibet. The hot attraction is the Monks debate at around 3 - 5 in the afternoon. In addition, you can tour the Tibetan religious scripture-printing house; inside the monastery, you can see three sand Mandalas and colorful Rock Painting of Buddha.

The Etiquette of Visiting Monastery:1) you shouldn’t wear short and uncover shoulders; 2) taking off your sunglasses and hat before entering the chapels; 3) taking photos is usually not allowed inside the chapels.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

After healthy breakfast at Hotel, you will be pickup by our guide and driver at 8:00 am, then leaving Lhasa to Namtso Holy Lake. While on the way, beautiful Nyenchen Thanglha Snow Mountain will accompany us. Today, we will have chances to escort at the grassland, visit the nomad family and walk into the tent to drink the fresh yak milk, talk with the Tibetan Children, etc. Namtso Lake is the Heavenly lake which is one of the three holy lakes in Tibet and the highest salt lake, as well. You can do a relax trekking around the lakeside and Tashi Island.

The scenery on the lakeshore is splendid, the clear sky is so clean that you will see all the stars twinkling and shinning, so close to you as if you could stretch your hands to pick them down. Namtso Lake is actually the lake in the sky; it is about 5,000 meters high and lies on the highest plateau in the world. We will stay at most well known of these tent hotels, the Namtso Tent Guesthouse:

Stay overnight at Namtso Tent Guest house

Enjoy the clear morning by Namtso Lake, and snap the amazing view of sunrise. You can also have a little hike along the lakeshore to Tashi Dor Island to explore the meditation caves. In the afternoon, we drive back to Lhasa. You can have a comfort stop in Yangpachen for the fabulous views of the grassland and its famous Yangpachen hot spring  (optional) You may enjoy Yangpachen hot spring (Optional, Price $25 not included in package) and have both indoor and outdoor swimming pool filled with hot springs water. Finally, head back to Lhasa.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

The guide will transfer you to the airport or train station and help you get on board.