Chengdu Tibet Nepal Overland Tour by Flight

Upon arrival at the airport/railway station, you will find your guide/driver holding your name sign at the exit. Then they will transfer you to your hotel in downtown Chengdu. The rest of the day is your free time.

Stay overnight in Chengdu

You will spend a whole day visiting Chengdu which has a reputation of a land of abundance. In the morning, pay a visit to Chengdu Panda Breeding Center, the home to giant pandas. The Panda Breeding Center is 10km(6 miles) in the north of Chengdu. When you arrive here, you will just catch up with the pandas' feeding time so pandas are at their most active. Then you can visit the panda museum. It takes about 2.5 hours to visit this site. After visiting Panda Breeding Center, we will drive you to Wenshu Monastery, the best-preserved Buddhist temple in Chengdu. It is the home of the Buddhist Association of Sichuan Province and Chengdu City. In Wenshu Monastery, you can visit the cultural relic and taste the delicious vegetarian food for dinner. After dinner, you may enjoy a short walk at the ancient Jinli Street. Then drive to Daci Temple, a tranquil place in Chengdu's bustling downtown areas, a few steps away from the Chunxi Road the largest shopping center in Chengdu. After a whole day's journey, it's highly recommended to have a rest and appreciate the transitional Cultural Show, including the face-changing performance.

Stay overnight in Chengdu

Transfer to the airport for the flight to Lhasa, which takes about 2.5 hours. Upon your arrival at Lhasa Airport, look for your Tibetan guide who will hold your name sign waiting for you at the exit. Then transfer to your hotel in downtown Lhasa. After arriving in Lhasa, please have a good rest and get acclimatized to high altitude.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

In the morning our guide will meet you at the hotel and first take you to visit the famous Potala Palace, the cardinal landmark of Tibet and the masterpiece of Tibetan architecture. It was first built by the 33rd King - Songtsen Gangpo in the 7th century and rebuilt later by the 5th Dalai Lama in the 17th century. Now it's a museum and world heritage site. 

In the afternoon, we will go to visit Jokhang Temple in the center of the Lhasa old town. Jokhang Temple is the most sacred temple in Tibet and it is always bustling with earnest local pilgrims since the early days. After that, you will take a walk around the Barkhor Street - one of the most devotional circuits as well as a crowded central market of Lhasa. Barkhor Street is a very ancient round street surrounding the Jokhang Temple and the locals are always proud of it. As a symbol of Lhasa, it‘s also a must-see place for visitors.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

From Lhasa to Gyantse is about 264km, en route you will pass by Gambala Mountain Pass (4,790m), where's the best place to overlook the Yamdroktso Lake. Later we will pass and enjoy the Karola Glacier, which looks spectacular from the highway. Then visit the main monastery in Gyantse - Pelkor Chode Monastery, famous for its exquisite architecture and intact murals and statues. Finally head to Shigatse via the fertile Nyangchu Valley, a wide agricultural plain where yaks and horses are used by Tibetan farmers to cultivate this land.

Stay overnight in Shigatse

In the morning, you will visit the home of Panchen Lama - Tashilhunpo Monastery, which was founded by the 1st Dalai Lama in 1447, a culturally important monastery in Shigatse. Then you will leave Shigatse for Lhatse for lunch. After a short break, you will continue to Tingri via Tsola Pass (4,600m), and Gyatsola Pass (5,248m). In the late afternoon, you enter Mt. Everest National Nature Reserve, with countless prayer flags flying in the wind. After ascending to Gawula Pass (5,198m), you can enjoy the panorama of the Himalayas. Then you will drive along the zigzag road to Rongbuk Monastery .

You will stay overnight at Everest Base Camp (5,200m). You can see the glorious sunset of Golden Everest Peak if the weather is good.

Stay overnight at EBC

You can get up early and enjoy the sunrise of Everest Peak at the lodging area if the weather is good. After sightseeing, we will drive to Gyirong, the border that connects Tibet & Nepal. On the way, tourists can enjoy the breathtaking vista of Mt. Shishapangma and Peikutso Lake. After passing the Ghungtang Lhamo (5,236m), we will arrive in Gyirong in the late afternoon.

Stay overnight at Gyirong Town

Drive to Gyirong Port in the early morning. You are required to walk on your own to cross the border bridge which is about 50m long. Your Nepali driver will greet you on the other side of the bridge and transfer you to Kathmandu. Although the distance between Gyirong Port and Kathmandu is only over 160 kilometers, due to the poor mountain road conditions, it takes 7~9 hours from Gyirong Port to Kathmandu.

Stay overnight in Kathmandu

Today you will start to explore Kathmandu with our experienced Nepali guide.

Firstly, you will go to Swyambhunath Temple to see the stupa there. Swyambhunath was built 2000 years ago, even older than Kathmandu city! It's one of the World's Cultural Heritages in Nepal. And it's also called "Monkey Temple" as there are hundreds of wild monkeys living around it. The Swyambhunath Stupa is the second largest stupa in Nepal. The Buddha's eyes were painted on the four sides of the stupa, which means Buddha is watching you. The paint makes it so sacred that many pilgrims come to worship.

Then you will go to see the largest stupa in Nepal, as well as in the world. Boudhanath Stupa is located in the eastern of Kathmandu. 90% of Nepalese are Hindu devotees. You can see Lord Shiva everywhere. But here, Boudhanath is a holy place of Tibetan Buddhism as it's located in the main trading pass between Nepal and Tibet. So, every morning, there are many Tibetan Buddhists doing kora here, which is really an impressive scene.

In the end, we are heading to Pashupatinath Temple, the largest Hindu temple in Nepal. The god of destruction - Shiva is enshrined in it. "Pashu" means "all living creatures", and "Patinath" means "the lord". This temple is also known as the "corpse cremation temple" because it's the place where Hindu devotees cremate the dead bodies in public.

Stay overnight in Kathmandu

Today we are going to visit Bhaktapur Durbar Square first. “Durbar” means “Palace” in Nepalese language. There are three famous Durbar Squares in Nepal, one is in Kathmandu, one is in Bhaktapur, and the last is in Patan. After the 6th. The King of the Malla Dynasty died, and all his three sons wanted to be the new king, so they controlled three different places and fought each other. These three Durbar Squares were built during that time. Bhaktapur Durbar Square is bigger than the other two squares. There are many temples, statues and palaces over 500 years of history there, thus it’s called “The Treasure of Medieval Nepalese Art” and “Outdoor Museum” as well.

Nagarkot is 35km northeast of Kathmandu on the northern fringe of the Kathmandu Valley. Nagarkot is famous for its Himalayan views- the Himalayan peaks at sunrise are a magnificent sight to behold. Nagarkot is surrounded by thickly forested hills of pine trees which give you an idyllic scene.

Stay overnight in Nagarkot village

After enjoying the great sunrise of the Himalayas in Nagarkot, today we are going to another Durbar Square - Patan Durbar Square. It’s also one of the world's cultural heritage in Nepal. The biggest difference compared with the other two squares is the Newari classical architecture here.

In the afternoon, we are going to the Patan Museum. It may be the best museum in the South Asian Sub-Continent. It’s a complex of modern and ancient architectural art. The specialty seeing is those bronze statues, which are gods of Hinduism and Buddhism. There are three showrooms of Hindu while 2 of Buddhism.

We will go back to Kathmandu in the late afternoon.

Stay overnight in Kathmandu

Today we will go to visit the last Durbar Square -- the one in Kathmandu.

It seems you witness the history of Nepal when you are in Kathmandu Durbar Square as you can see many ancient buildings, artistic carvings, and mysterious temples. Meanwhile, the whiz of motorcycles, street vendors, walking people, football-playing children, flying pigeons, cows, sheep, dogs, and cats make Kathmandu Durbar Square a big busy market in modern times. You can wander around and enjoy your leisure time with the locals. Oh, don't forget to try the special Nepalese food - Momos, one kind of cheap food with great taste.

Stay overnight in Kathmandu

Guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel according to your flight schedule to transfer you to Kathmandu Airport for your flight home.