How to Travel to Tibet from Portugal
From Portugal to Tibet, first you need to apply for a tourist visa from the Chinese embassy in your country (if it’s not a “L” tourist visa, you need to provide relevant certificates and ask our professional travel consultant for instructions). With the proper visa and your Tibet Permit, you can fly directly from Lisbon to Beijing or Shanghai and then take a flight or a train to Lhasa. Another option is to fly to Nepal and then go to Tibet from Nepal. In this case, you need to apply for a Chinese group travel visa at the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal. The Tibet permit is also needed. You can also fly directly from Kathmandu to Lhasa or take a van from Kathmandu to Lhasa via the Gyirong port. As an experienced Tibetan travel agency, we are dedicated to provide you with a variety of Tibet trips. Here are the traffic tips from Portugal to Lhasa:
How to travel from Portugal to Tibet?
1. Fly to cities in mainland China first, and then take a plane or a train to Lhasa
2. Fly to Nepal and then take a flight or a bus from Kathmandu to Lhasa.
Way 1 to enter Tibet: Portugal -- Beijing -- Lhasa
So far there is only one shift flies from Lisbon - the capital of Portugal to Beijing. There are several different airlines, so please pick a departure airport which is more convenient for you. If you’re going to fly to Beijing, you can take Air Portugal TP5441. It costs about $650 to $700, and it takes about 13 hours. When arriving in Beijing, you can take either a plane or a train to Tibet:
1. Flight from Beijing to Lhasa
There are three flights from Beijing to Lhasa every day. They all take off from Beijing Capital International Airport T3. Their departure time are 07:35, 08:15 and 14:50. The price of a single trip ticket is $480. Adding the $10 airport construction fee and fuel cost, the total fare is $490. There is barely any discount throughout the year. Please click here for more information on Beijing-Lhasa flights.
2. Train from Beijing to Lhasa
The train from Beijing to Lhasa runs once a day. Train Z21 (20:00-12:40) arrives in 40 hours and 40 minutes. Since the soft sleeper has only one compartment of 36 beds, the train from Beijing to Lhasa during the tourist season is very difficult to book, especially during the busy season. The price of a train soft sleeper from Beijing to Lhasa is around $170. Please click for more Beijing-Lhasa train information.
Way 2 to enter Tibet：Portugal – Turky – Kathmandu -- Lhasa
Flying from Portugal to Kathmandu via Turkey is the closest and least expensive route. Air Turkey TK1756 and TK726 both fly to Kathmandu. A single trip costs about $850 and takes 14 hours. It’s also popular to travel from Nepal to Tibet. There is no train from Kathmandu to Tibet yet though. However，the international tourists can take a van from Kathmandu to Tibet, where is close to the border of China and Nepal. And then fly or take our van to Tibet. Kathmandu is the only city that has the direct international flight to Lhasa, Tibet.
Flight from Kathmandu to Lhasa
Kathmandu is the only city that has the direct international flights to Lhasa. It costs about $275 and the 600-kilometer journey just takes one and a half hours. There are 2 shifts fly from Kathmandu to Lhasa everyday：CA408 (12：10-16：00) and 3U8720（11:30-15:10）.Both the flights can be checked and booked ahead of time online.
The road trip from Kathmandu to Lhasa:
Compared with flying, the road trip from Kathmandu to Lhasa is more favored by many tourists. Our staff will transfer you to Gyirong port (the Sino-Nepalese border). After you pass the customs, our Tibet tour guide will pick you up at the other side of Tibet. As the altitude increases, you will stay in Gyirong County to adapt to the environment, and gradually go east to visit Tinry, Everest Base Camp, Shigatse, and finally to Lhasa. This classic route has many stunning sceneries, Himalayas, magnificent Buddhist temples and sacred mountain lakes, as well as unlimited opportunities to meet local Tibetans to explore their exotic cultures and customs.
Tibet Permit Tips for Portuguese
1. From Mainland China to Lhasa
Foreigners are required to present Tibet Permit and valid passports when boarding a plane or a train. Therefore, Portuguese tourists need to send us the valid passport and visa photocopy 30 days in advance of entering Tibet (if it is not an “L visa”, in addition to providing the passport and visa, a work certificate or invitation letter is also required). Under normal circumstances, the letter of entry can be processed 7-10 days in advance.
If you take the train into Tibet, we will send your scanned Tibet Permit copy to your mailbox. You can print it out and board the train with the photocopy.
If you fly into Tibet, we will send the original Tibet Permit to the domestic city where you are flying from and deliver it to you. The original Tibet Permit is required for flying to Tibet.
2. From Nepal to Tibet
A group tourist visa and a Tibet Permit are required if you are entering Tibet from Nepal. (If you enter Tibet from Nepal, regardless of whether you have applied for a Chinese visa before, it is regarded as invalid. You must apply for a group travel visa – a group visa to enter Tibet from Nepal.) Our travel agency can help you with the required documents.
So if you enter Tibet from Nepal, the foreigner only needs to provide a passport. Our company will help you get ready the Tibet Permit and the tourist invitation letter in advance and send it to our staff in Nepal. Once you arrive in Kathmandu, our staff will help you to get a tourist visa from the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu. Although it is called a "group visa”, you don't need to be a group to get it. The specific process is as follows：
Day 1: Arrival in Kathmandu, our staff collect your passport and help you fill out the application form.
Day 2: The staff will send the original passport and group visa back to you.
Day 3: Go to Tibet with Scanned Tibet Permit photocopy, group visa and original passport.
