Tibet Discovery Tour

A 7-day Tibet tour from Lhasa usually needs about 5 working days of annual leave from Singapore, because 7 consecutive days span one weekend. Day 1 is your arrival at Lhasa Gonggar Airport with no sightseeing planned, and Day 7 is your departure, so both are travel days. Routes from Singapore connect through Chengdu or Chongqing, so depending on your connection you may need to leave Singapore the day before Day 1, and the itinerary advises allowing a full travel day home. Weather, road closures or permit changes can shift plans, so keep a buffer day before you are due back at work.

Travellers from Singapore reach Lhasa by flying to Lhasa Gonggar Airport with a connection in a Chinese city, usually Chengdu or Chongqing and sometimes Kunming or Xi'an. Flights to and from Lhasa, including from Singapore, are not included in the tour, and schedules change through the year, so HSJ confirms the best routing when you book. Your Tibetan guide meets you at Lhasa Gonggar Airport, or at Lhasa railway station if you arrive by train, for the transfer of about 1 hour into the city, and takes you back on Day 7. Tibet uses Beijing time, the same as Singapore, so there is no jet lag.

HSJ prices this Tibet tour per person in Singapore dollars on a twin-share basis, and the price for each departure is shown in the dates and prices table on this page, with a single supplement for a room of your own. The price covers six hotel nights, the Tibet Travel Permit and Alien's Travel Permit, a licensed English-speaking Tibetan guide, an air-conditioned vehicle with a professional driver, bottled oxygen in every vehicle, Lhasa airport or railway station transfers, daily breakfast from Day 2, welcome and farewell dinners, and entrance fees for the sites on the itinerary. Budget separately for flights to Lhasa, travel insurance, most lunches and dinners, tips, the optional Tibet Museum and monastery photography fees.

The best months for this Tibet tour are April to June and September to October, when the roads over Kamba La and Karo La are open and days in Lhasa are mild. The Singapore June school holidays fall inside that window, which suits families. The year-end holidays from mid-November to December are outside the listed seasons, when nights on the plateau are much colder. Tibet can also close to foreign visitors at short notice, historically around February and March. Dates open for booking appear in the dates table on this page, and other dates can be requested through the enquiry form.

The Lhasa, Gyantse and Shigatse tour needs reasonable general health rather than trekking fitness, because there is no trekking and the walking is short, around monasteries and old towns. The hardest parts are the long outer stairways at the Potala Palace on Day 3 and the longest drive, about 7 hours with stops from Lhasa to Gyantse on Day 4. Active days run 3 to 7 hours. The real challenge is altitude, which age or fitness does not predict, so seniors often manage well but should see a doctor first. Speak to your doctor before booking if you have heart or lung conditions, high blood pressure, are pregnant or have had problems at altitude before.

The highest point of this Tibet tour is Karo La at about 5,010 m, crossed by road on Day 4, with the Kamba La viewpoint above Yamdrok Lake at about 4,790 m on the same day. Nights are spent in Lhasa at about 3,650 m, Gyantse at about 3,980 m and Shigatse at about 3,840 m. The first days in Lhasa are kept gentle to help your body adjust, with a free afternoon on arrival. There is bottled oxygen in every vehicle, and both the Lhasa and Shigatse hotels supply oxygen. Tell your guide early about any headache, nausea or poor sleep.

In Lhasa you stay four nights at the Lagari Hotel Lhasa, a premium 4-star hotel beside the Lhasa River near the Potala Palace, and in Shigatse one night at the 4-star Shigatse Cangyu Yabu Hotel; both supply oxygen. The night in Gyantse is in the best available hotel in town. All rooms are twin sharing unless you take the single supplement. Breakfast is included daily from Day 2, with a welcome dinner on Day 2 and a farewell dinner on Day 6. Lunches and the other dinners are not included, which leaves you free to try Lhasa's teahouses and restaurants.

The monks' debate at Sera Monastery in Lhasa usually runs from about 3pm to 5pm on most days except Sundays, in a shaded courtyard where each monk claps hard to land his point. This tour plans Sera for the afternoon of Day 2, after Drepung Monastery and the Norbulingka in the morning. The schedule can change for festivals and exams, and if the debate is moved your guide adjusts the order of the Lhasa days where possible.

Singapore passport holders on this Tibet tour need the Tibet Travel Permit plus an Alien's Travel Permit for Gyantse and Shigatse, and HSJ arranges both as part of the price. Singaporeans can currently enter mainland China visa-free for up to 30 days, but visa-free entry does not replace the Tibet Travel Permit, which only a licensed agency can arrange. Book at least 30 days before you arrive in Lhasa so there is time for the permits. Take travel insurance that covers high altitude and emergency evacuation, as it is not included. Entry rules can change, so check the latest position before you travel.

Solo travellers can join this Tibet tour as a small-group departure of 2 to 12 travellers, led by a licensed English-speaking Tibetan guide throughout, and the same itinerary can also be booked privately for your own family or friends. Every trip in Tibet must travel with a licensed guide and a registered vehicle and driver, and both are included. The price is per person on a twin-share basis, so a solo traveller who wants a room alone pays the single supplement shown when you enquire. Private dates can be requested through the enquiry form.