15 Days Tibet and Nepal Culture and Scenery Tour

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.

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

Then tourists 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 holiest statue of Buddha. Around the monastery is the famous Barkhor Street, where you can do the kora with pilgrims and locals.

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. Situated at the foot of Gebeiwoze Mountain, it was once home to more than 10,000 monks. Here you can see the biggest monastery kitchen inside and then pay a visit to the Buddhist Sculpture Carving Workshop near Drepung.

After having lunch, you’ll continue to visit the 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 pm in the afternoon. Besides, you can also see the colorful Rock Painting of Buddha and the three sand Mandalas and then visit the Tibetan religious text printing house.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Today, we will drive to Tsedang to visit Samye Monastery. Built in 8 century, it is the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet. Then we drive to Tsedang, the capital of Shannan Prefecture, located in Yarlung Valley.

Stay overnight in Tsedang.

Today, we will enjoy a full day tour in Tsedang, the cradle of Tibetan civilization. After breakfast, we will first visit Yungbulakang Palace, which is the first Palace in Tibet. Since the palace is situated at the top of a hill, you can reach the palace either by walking or a horse ride.

Then, we will visit Tradruk Temple, one of the earliest Buddhist temples in Tibet, to appreciate the valuable Thangka painting that makes of precious pearls.

Stay overnight in Tsedang.

Today, we will drive to Gyantse. On the way, we’ll drive over the Gampala Pass (4,790m) to view Yamdrok Lake and Mt. Nyenchen Khangsar. Besides, you can also appreciate Korola Glacier on the roadside. At Manak Dam Lake, tourists can hang prayer flags at Simila Mountain Pass. Then we’ll go to the heritage town Gyantse, historically Tibet's third largest city after Lhasa and Shigatse.

Stay overnight in Gyantse.

In the Morning, take the car ride to Shigatse. There, you will visit the famous Tashi Lhunpo Monastery where you can worship the well-preserved largest statue of Jampa (Future Buddha) in the world. As the largest monastery of the Gelug Sect in Rear Tibet, Tashilunpo Monastery is the seat of Tibet's second highest incarnation, the Panchen Lama.

After lunch, you will head to Sakya County to visit the famous Sakya Monastery. Founded in 1073, Sakya Monastery was the principal monastery of the Sakya Sect of Tibetan Buddhism and has an invaluable collection of sacred Buddhist scripts.

Stay overnight in Sakya.

Today, you will take the car ride to Gyirong. You can appreciate the beautiful scene of Himalaya and Gangdise Mountain Range along the way.

Stay overnight in Gyirong Town.

Today, our Tibetan guide will drop you off at Gyirong Port, after passing China Customs and walking across the 50-meter-long border bridge, you need to check in Nepal side and get the Nepal Visa upon arrival with 30 USD and one passport-sized photo. Our Nepali guide will wait for you and drop you off at your hotel in Kathmandu.

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.

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. At last, you will take car ride to Nagarkot.

Stay overnight in Nagarkot.

Today, you can appreciate the sunrise and spectacular view of snow-capped mountains. After having breakfast in hotel, you will take car ride from Nagarkot straight to Pokhara. Usually, it takes about 6 hours to arrive at Pokhara.

Located between Kathmandu Valley in the west and Indrawati in the east, Nagarkot, which is about 35km east of Kathmandu City, is the nearest panoramic view point of the Himalayan peaks. The altitude of Nagarkot is from 2229 to 7133 meters above sea level.

Stay overnight in Pokhara.

After breakfast, we will officially enjoy the full-day tour in Pokhara. In the early morning, we are scheduled to visit Sarangkot, on top of which you can enjoy the panoramic sweep of Himalayans peaks.

After than we will drive back to Phewea Lake. Nowhere else can Pokhara’s beauty be better exemplified than the stunning image of Annapurna reflected in crystal-clear Phewea Lake. We can enjoy the boating on the lake and trek up to World Peace Pagoda to enjoy the incredible view of Mount Machapuchare, also known “Fish Tail”.

Stay overnight in Pokhara.

Drive back to Kathmandu after breakfast. Transfer to hotel and stay overnight.

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.