5 Days Lhasa Butter Lantern Festival Tour

When you arrive in Lhasa, the tour guide will pick you up at the airport or the train station. You’ll have nothing to worry.

On the way to the city from the airport, you’re able to see unique Tibetan villages, the world's highest river - the Yarlung Zangbo River and the leather boats on the river. The tour guide will help you check in the hotel and arrange a Tibetan lunch for you. In the comfortable hotel room, you can take a good rest. In the evening, you can stroll through the Potala Palace Square and relax yourself amid the ancient palaces, modern fountains and walking monks. After some leisurely walks, you’d better return to the hotel early,and go to bed early, enabling yourself adapt to the high altitude as soon as possible.

Accommodation: Overnight in Lhasa

In the morning, you’ll visit the world's highest ancient palace-style castle complex-- the Potala Palace. The Potala Palace is built on the Red Hill at an altitude of 3,700 meters. The palace is the largest and most complete ancient palace complex in Tibet, showcasing the wisdom of the ancient Tibetans. Stepping up the 1080 stairs, you can have a bird view of Lhasa. And the guide will accompany you to the palace and interpret its history for you.

In the afternoon, you’ll visit the holy place of Tibetan Buddhist believers-- Jokhang Temple. There’s a saying that "if you didn’t visit the Jokhang Temple, your journey in Lhasa is in vain.” It has a history of more than 1,300 years and is considered as "spiritual heart of the city" and the most sacred in Tibet. After the visit, don't forget to walk around the Jokhang Temple clockwise, a custom praying for health.

You can slow down your pace in Lhasa, strolling through Barkhor Street, selecting souvenirs for your family at the handicraft market and drinking tea in a small tea house. Basking in the warm sunshine, you can empty all your negative emotions. In the evening, you can join in the celebration of the Butter Lantern Festival at Jokhang Temple Square. Outside each window, there’s a lantern. You can enjoy a beautiful night scene.

Accommodation: Overnight in Lhasa

Norbulingka is also known as the Summer Palace. It is full of flowers and pavilions, like a botanical garden. Norbulingka is the main venue for Tibetan opera performances during the Shoton Festival. In the winter, Norbulingka is also a place where Tibetan people gather. It covers a large area, and you can hang out there for a whole morning.

In the afternoon, you will visit another temple in Lhasa--the Ramoche Temple. Ramoche is considered to be the sister temple to the Jokhang which was completed about the same time. It is considered to be the most important temple in the city after the Jokhang Temple.

For the rest of the day, you can hang out in the streets of Lhasa, enjying the sunshine.

Accommodation: Overnight in Lhasa

In the morning, you can stroll along the Lhasa River and usher in a new day with the refreshing air. After breakfast, the tour guide will accompany you to visit the Drepung Monastery, one of the six temples of the Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Every June and July in Tibetan calendar , there is the unfolding giant painting of the Buddha during the opening ceremony of Shoton Festival.

In the afternoon, you can visit the Sera Monastery, one of the six main temples of the Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The monastery was named Sera which means wild rose in the Tibetan language, because the hill behind it was covered with wild roses in bloom when it was built.

You can watch believers debating Buddhist scriptures there, which is well-known throughout China. It usually starts at 15:00 and is free to watch.

Accommodation: Overnight in Lhasa

The tour guide will accompany you to Gongga Airport or the train station along the Lhasa Valley on the last day of the trip.

Accommodation: None