Tibetan Cultural Odyssey Journey with Your Family
Those families looking for a middle-level difficult Tibet tour focused on culture, without sacrificing opportunities to see beautiful scenery, will want to spend most of their time in Lhasa and Tsetang. Escape Lhasa to delve into the history of Yarlung Valley, cradle of Tibetan civilization. Hike through the green bushes in the natural amphitheatre valley, from the newly constructed Chimpu nunnery, your family can start a short hiking through the solitary caves and tiny trail amidst the thorn bushes, then you can interact with devoted Yogis or Meditative Retreats in their caves. Up from the terrace it offers a spectacular view of the Brahmaputra valley below.
Special travel tip: foreign tourists may not be allowed to visit Chimpu Hermitage according to local travel regulations, contact our travel advisor for the possibility to visit Chimpu Hermitage.
Trip outline for Cultural Family Vacation in Tibet
Day 1 Get to Lhasa by train or air. Transfer to downtown hotel and guests rest well for acclimatization. Overnight in Lhasa.
Day 2 Lhasa highlight sightseeing tour: Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Barkhor Bazaar. Overnight in Lhasa.
Day 3 Lhasa highlight sightseeing tour: Tibet Museum, Nobulinka Palace and Sera Monastery. Overnight in Lhasa.
Day 4 Lhasa-Tsetang (Yarlung Valley Center)-Yumbulagang Palace. Overnight in Tsetang.
Day 5 Yarlung Valley tour of Samye Monastery, and Chimpu Hermitage-Tsetang. Overnight in Tsetang.
Day 6 Transfer from Tsetang to airport for final departure.
Tibet Yarlung Cultural Cradle Discovery Trip details
Day 1 Arrival in Lhasa, rest for acclimatization
Once your family arrive at Lhasa Gonggar airport or Liuwu Station, our Tibetan English speaking tour guide and the driver will be waiting for your family. They will transfer you to downtown Lhasa, check into comfortable 3 star hotel, rest for acclimatization. Remember to drink lots of water and avoid much walking.
Day 2 Sightseeing tour in Lhasa: Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and Barkhor streets
Morning visit: The first day sightseeing begins with Lhasa's cardinal landmark- Potala Palace, a structure of massive portions. Its towering image already appears on various occasions, but your first sight of the Potala will still be an awe-inspiring moment. It takes around 2-hours to visit those rooms, halls and chapels.
Afternoon visit Jokhang Temple: about 2km to the east of the Potala is the most revered religious structure in Tibet- Jokhang Temple. Bustling with worshippers and redolent with mystery, the tour in Jokhang is an unrivalled experience. The quadrangle of streets surrounding the Jokhang is the Barkhor -Lhasa's most interesting pilgrimage circuit. This area of the Old Town is both the spiritual heart of Lhasa and the main commercial district for Tibetans.
Day 3 Sightseeing tour in Lhasa (Tibet Museum-Norbulinka Palace+Sera Monastery)
The Tibet Museum is located in the southeast corner of Norbulingka, the Summer Palace of Dalai Lama. With the Minzu Road in between, the two attractions are just 800 m to each other. Norbulinka covers an area of 23,508 square meters (5.8 acres) including the exhibition area of 10,451 square meters (2.6 acres). The museum is equipped with modern facilities to ensure quality service for visitors and safety and efficient administration of the museum itself. Here exhibits are introduced in Tibetan, English, Japanese and Chinese.
Norbulinka-Summer Palace of Dalai Lamas, is situated in the west side of Lhasa at the bank of the Kyichu River about one km southwest of Potala Palace. Norbulingka is a “Treasure Park” and it has an area of about 360,000 square meters with 374 rooms inside is regarded as the biggest man-made garden in Tibet Autonomous Region.
Just at the end of the North Sera Road, 5km north of Jokhang Temple, Sera Monastery may not be as grandiose as Drepung, but is more serene surrounded by many small temples. The 'Buddhism Scriptures Debating' in Sera is very famous.
Please be aware of that above sightseeing programs in Lhasa are flexible except for Potala visit the entry time for which can be known only around half day beforehand.
Expert travel tip: Today, we can visit Drak Yerpa Hermitage instead of Norbulinka and Museum. Just talk with your travel advisor to customize the trip according to your own interests.
Day 4 Lhasa-Tsetang (Yumbulagang Palace-Tramdruk Monastery)-O/n in Guesthouse beside Samye Monastery
Tsetang, in the center of the Yarlung valley between the Himalayan and Gangdise belts, is one of the largest cities in Tibet. Tsetang is 183 km southeast of Lhasa in Nedong County of Lhoka Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region of China (TAR). Tsetang has been the capital of Yarlung since ancient times and it was the seat of the ancient emperors of Tibet thus it played a big role in the history. In the 19th century it is said to have some 1,000 houses, a bazaar, a gompa and a fort. This tells why Tsetang is regarded as the cradle of Tibetan civilization. After applying alien’s travel permit in PSB (Public Security Bureau) in Tsetang, we will ride horse or hike up to visit the oldest Palace-The Yumbulagang Palace (on the roof top of the Palace, we will have stunning view to the farmland in the Yarlung valley. Then we will drive to visit Tramdruk Monastery which takes about 1 hour and 30min, finally we will drive to stay in Samye, guesthouse nearby the Samye Monastery.
Day 5 Samye-Chimpu Hermitage-Yarlung Valley Cultural Discovery tour-Tsetang
Eearly in the morning, your private Tibetan tour guide and driver will take your family to visit Samye monastery where we will spend about 2 hours. Then your family, tour guide and driver will leave for the hiking trip in Chimpu Hermitage. One of the highlights for visiting Tsetang is that tourists can have some unique hiking experience. With a beautiful hiking through the green bushes in the natural amphitheatre valley, from the newly constructed Chimpu nunnery, tourists can start a short hiking through the solitary caves and tiny trail amidst the thorn bushes, then they can interact with devoted Yogis or Meditative Retreats in their caves, up from the terrace it offers a spectacular view of the Brahmaputra valley below. Special travel tip: foreign tourists may not be allowed to visit Chimpu Hermitage according to local travel regulations. This is subject to change. Anyway tourists must obey the local instant rules which is beyond any agents or individuals. In this case, tourists can do the hiking in Hepori Mountain which is close to Samye Monastery.
Day 6 Tsetang-airport for final departure
Your family will have some leisure time before leaving for airport. It is about 100 km from Tsetang to airport and it takes 1 hour and a half to drive to Gonggar Airport.
Service details will be tailor-made according to your family specified requests!