1. How you get a Tibet Travel Permit
If you hold a foreign passport, you need a Tibet Travel Permit. Outside Lhasa, some areas also require an Aliens’ Travel Permit. Routes near the border or a military zone need a Military Area Permit as well.
You cannot apply for any of these at a government window. A licensed Tibet operator has to file them. Incomplete files are returned.
Book the itinerary first. The permit lists the exact route. Without a receiving agency, a guide, and a confirmed itinerary, the application cannot be submitted. Once you are in Tibet, you stay with the local guide. Independent travel is not allowed.
Send us, at least 20 days before you enter Tibet:
1、the bio page of your passport
2、your China visa page
3、if you already work or live in China: an employment letter or a residence document
About seven days before entry, the Tibet Tourism Bureau finishes its check. If it clears, the permit is sent to an address inside China. It cannot be mailed overseas.
Lhasa airport and the train station both inspect it. You must have the paper permit in hand before you board.
Around March, permits for foreign visitors are often paused. Other months can tighten with little notice. Send us your dates before you book so we can confirm they are open.
2. How you get in — and out
You reach Lhasa by plane or by train. Morning flights keep to schedule more often. Trains from Xining or Lanzhou let you climb into the altitude gradually.
By air
Afternoon arrivals are more likely to delay in highland winds. Book a morning landing if you can.
Chengdu, Xi’an, Chongqing, Kunming: about 2 hours
Beijing, Shanghai: about 5 hours
By train
Board in Xining or Lanzhou. The scenery is better, the climb is slower, and 3,650 m / 12,000 ft is easier to take than flying straight in.
Xining: about 20 hours
Lanzhou: about 23 hours
The most scenic stretch starts roughly 10 hours before Lhasa
The cars have oxygen; a lower berth sits closer to the outlet
Direct trains from Beijing or Shanghai run over 40 hours. Skip those.
If you are flying in from overseas
Do not go straight onto the plateau after a long-haul flight. Jet lag and thin air stack, and the reaction is worse. Spend two full nights in another Chinese city first. A few hours in transit is fine — but the permit must already be issued. If you connect from an international flight onto the train, we file the ticket paperwork in advance.
The better combo is fly in, train out .Trains leaving Lhasa are easier to book, and you do not spend two nights on the train on arrival day. If you have the time and want the slow climb, reverse it: train in from Xining or Lanzhou, fly out.
3. Altitudes of the main towns and sites
Sleep below 4,100 m / 13,450 ft on night one. Do not put anything above 5,000 m / 16,400 ft on the day you arrive.
