How many days in Lhasa? Four, and here's what each covers

Four days is the right number for Lhasa: one to arrive and do nothing, two for the Potala Palace, Jokhang and a monastery, one to leave. Three is the floor and only works if your flights are fixed and you sleep well at altitude. Six or more only makes sense if you are adding a lake or heading on towards Shigatse.

Days	What fits	Who it suits
3	Arrival rest, Jokhang and the Barkhor, Potala Palace, departure	Short trips with a booked flight out
4	The above plus Sera or Drepung monastery, with slack for a bad first night	Most first-time visitors
6	Four days in the city plus a full-day trip to Namtso or Yamdrok Lake	Anyone who wants the plateau, not just the city

What four days look like

Day one is arrival and nothing else. Lhasa sits at 3,650 m, so the altitude is the itinerary: water, no alcohol, slow walking, an early night. Day two is Jokhang Temple and the Barkhor circuit around it, walked clockwise at the pace of the pilgrims. Day three is the Potala Palace, which needs a timed booking and involves a long climb of stairs before you reach the halls. Day four is Sera Monastery for the monks' afternoon debating, or Drepung on the hillside if you have the legs for it.

Potala tickets from 1 May to 31 October cost 200 yuan for Line 1, which goes through the White and Red Palaces, or 100 yuan for Line 2, which skips the Red Palace interior. Book ten days ahead on the official WeChat mini-program or the palace's own account; no other platform sells them. The palace closes on Mondays except public holidays. From 1 November to 30 April the price drops to 100 yuan, opening moves to 9:30 and last entry is 15:20.

Where to sleep

The old town around the Barkhor puts Jokhang, tea houses and the pilgrim circuit on your doorstep, and the Potala is a 20-minute walk or a short taxi away. Agencies usually bundle a hotel into the tour, so check the room and the rate yourself before you accept their quote.

Rates for the same Barkhor guesthouse vary between platforms, so compare all of them before you commit.

The permit sets your dates

None of this is bookable on your own. Every foreign passport holder needs a Tibet Travel Permit, issued only to travellers on an itinerary arranged by a licensed Tibetan operator, with a guide at the sights. The permit carries no official fee, but agencies charge for handling it, commonly quoted at US$30 to US$100. Standard processing runs 8 to 9 working days, and agencies advise sending documents 25 to 30 days out. Since March 2026 the original permit must be shown to board a flight or train to Lhasa, so do not buy transport before it is in hand. Tibet also falls outside China's 240-hour visa-free transit.

Getting there, and adding days

The train from Xining to Lhasa takes between 19 hours 42 minutes and 22 hours 30 minutes, with a hard sleeper at CNY 521. Flying in, Gonggar Airport is about an hour from the city; the railway station is 20 minutes out. Namtso is 230 km north, four to four and a half hours each way, which is why it costs a whole day rather than an afternoon.

Last checked: 2026-11-01