14 Days Beijing Xi'an Tibet Namtso Everest Tour with Xi'an-Tibet Train

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.

Today, you will be taken on a group tour to the Badaling Great Wall, the total length of this section is 12 kilometers with 43 watchtowers. Then you will visit the Ming Tombs which is composed of thirteen tombs of Ming Dynasty about 50km away from Tiananmen Square. Among all the Ming tombs, Changling Tomb is the largest and best-preserved one with longest history.

Stay overnight in Beijing. 

At first, you will go to Tiananmen Square, the largest city square in the world. Then, you will visit the famous Forbidden City, which used to be the imperial palace from around 1420 to 1912 and now houses the Palace Museum.

In the afternoon, visit the Summer Palace. Summer Palace is the largest and most well-preserved royal park in China, and is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens, and palaces. These beautiful attractions show visitors what life was like for the royal household in ancient China, and how the Chinese emperors managed their empire. In the evening, you will be transferred to the Beijing West Railway Station for the overnight train to Xian

Stay overnight on the train.

Your tour guide will pick you up at Xi'an Railway Station upon your arrival in the morning. Today, you will visit Banpo Museum, the archeological site of Banpo Village, which was built more than 6,000 year ago, will allow you to see how the resident matriarchic tribe used to survive in the Neolithic age. You will also visit the Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses Museum. As one of the world’s eight wonders, the terracotta warriors and horses are the size of a real army, and were buried alongside Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, in a vast underground palace.

Stay overnight in Xi’an.

Today, you will board the Tibet train at Xian Railway Station to experience the highest train ride in the world. The train journey will take you about 32 hours.

Stay overnight on the train.

Today is a full day window sightseeing along Qinghai-Tibet Railway. You can experience the famous sky train and appreciate land of snows, desert, immense grassland, snow-capped mountains, and beautiful lakes along the way.

Upon your arrival in Lhasa, your tour guide will hold a board with your name on it at the exit. A private car will take you to the reserved hotel, and the guide will give a brief introduction of the itinerary as well as dos and don'ts in Tibet. Then, you can take a good rest at hotel to acclimatize to Tibetan plateau environment.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

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 explore farm products like yak butter in Tromzikhang, the famous farm produce market.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

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.

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.

Today, you will go to Shigatse, the second biggest city of Tibet after Lhasa. You will get to Shigatse in the late afternoon.

Stay overnight in Shigatse.

In the morning, you will go to the home of Panchen Lama - Tashilunpo Monastery, and visit the golden statue of Future Buddha and assembly hall there. After getting your Alien’s Travel Permit, you will head for Lhatse and have lunch there.

Afterwards, you will pass Tsola Pass (4,600m) and Gyatsola Pass (5,248m). Shortly after entering Mt. Everest National Nature Reserve, you can appreciate the panoramic view of Himalaya at Gawula Pass (5,180m). Keep marching along the new zigzag road to Everest Base Camp, you can get closer view of Mt. Everest peak. You can also enjoy the sunset of golden Everest peak at the lodging area if time and weather permits.

Stay overnight at tent or Rongbuk Monastery Guesthouse.

In the morning, you can admire the stunning sunrise of Everest peak if weather permits. After having a full view of the magnificent Mt. Everest, you will visit Rongbuk Monastery, the highest monastery in the world as well as the unique Nyingma Sect monastery where nuns and monks live together. And then, take the car ride back to Shigatse.

Stay overnight in Shigatse.

Today, you will set off from Shigatse to Lhasa along the Friendship Highway, the whole ride is 280km and takes about 6 hours. You can admire the Yarlung Tsangpo River/Bhamaputra River (the longest and largest river in Tibet) along the way to Lhasa.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

The driver will pick you up from your hotel, and drop you off at Lhasa Gonggar Airport or Lhasa Railway Station, and assist you to get on board.