Lhasa

Tibet's spiritual and political capital, home to the Potala Palace

Lhasa is Tibet's capital and spiritual centre, sitting at 3,650m in the Kyichu River valley. It is home to the Potala Palace, the Jokhang Temple and the Barkhor pilgrim circuit, the three sites most people picture when they picture Tibet at all, and is the starting point for almost every journey onward across the plateau, whether that is east to Nyingchi, west toward Kailash, or south toward Everest. The Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple together form a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognised for a role in Tibetan Buddhist and political history spanning more than a thousand years. Lhasa is also the largest city on the Tibetan plateau, and the only place in Tibet with reliably well-equipped hospitals should altitude sickness become a concern early in a trip.

Curated Experiences

Journeys designed to show Lhasa at its best.

Points of Interest

3 places

Culture

People & Culture

As Tibet's political and spiritual capital, Lhasa concentrates the culture the rest of the plateau is built around: the Potala Palace, former seat of the Dalai Lamas, and the Jokhang Temple, Tibetan Buddhism's most sacred site, both draw pilgrims from every part of the plateau. The daily kora around Barkhor Street is Lhasa's clearest window into that devotional life, walked by residents as routine, not performance.

Nature

Nature & Wildlife

Lhasa sits in the Lhasa (Kyichu) River valley at 3,650m, ringed by the mountains of the central Tibetan plateau. It's the lowest and most sheltered of Tibet's major settlements, which is part of why it became the capital: milder winters than the open plateau further west, and reliable water from the Kyichu for a city that's supported a large population for over a thousand years.

Activities

Things to Do

Lhasa's three essential sights, Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Street, are within walking distance of each other in the old town, and together need at least two full days. All three feature in every one of HSJ's Tibet tours, including the Everest Base Camp Tibet Tour, the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and the Nepal and Tibet Overland Tour, since Lhasa is the starting point for travel onward across the plateau.