LHASA · DAY TRIPS
Day trips from Lhasa
Lhasa sits at 3,650m on the Tibetan plateau and requires a Tibet Travel Permit (and sometimes additional permits) for foreign visitors. Day trips from the city tend to involve either the nearby monastery circuit or the dramatic high-altitude landscape immediately outside the valley.
Destinations within reach
Ganden Monastery
甘丹寺
- How to get there
- Chartered car with licensed Tibetan guide (required for foreign visitors); organised group tour from Lhasa
- What to see
- Important Gelug school monastery founded by Tsongkhapa in 1409; destroyed during Cultural Revolution and partly rebuilt; mountain ridge at 4,300m with views across the plateau.
- Why go
- A less visited Lhasa monastery with a dramatic setting on a high ridge; the kora (circumambulation path) takes about two hours to walk.
Drepung Monastery
哲蚌寺
- How to get there
- Minibus from Barkhor or taxi; part of the standard Lhasa monastery circuit
- What to see
- Once the world's largest monastery, housing 10,000 monks; the Coqen Assembly Hall; surrounding whitewashed buildings cascade down the hillside.
- Why go
- A striking monastic complex on the edge of Lhasa; best visited early morning when monks are active.
Nam Tso Lake
纳木错
- How to get there
- Organised tour or chartered car; additional permits may be required
- What to see
- Vast turquoise salt lake on the plateau; surrounded by snow peaks; Tashi Dor peninsula with cave hermitages.
- Why go
- One of the most visually overwhelming landscapes on the Tibetan plateau; the altitude and scale together create a distinctive atmosphere.
Samye Monastery
桑耶寺
- How to get there
- Organised tour or chartered car; river ferry crossing at Samye ferry point
- What to see
- Tibet's first monastery (founded 779 AD); mandala-plan architecture representing the Buddhist cosmos; surrounding desert dune landscape.
- Why go
- The most historically significant monastery in Tibet and visually unusual; the ferry crossing adds to the sense of remoteness.
Yamdrok Lake
羊卓雍错
- How to get there
- Organised tour or chartered car; one of the most commonly offered Lhasa day trips
- What to see
- Turquoise sacred lake below the snow-capped Nojin Kangtsang; yak herds on the surrounding grassland.
- Why go
- One of Tibet's three sacred lakes and the most accessible from Lhasa; the view from Gampa-La pass is one of the finest on the plateau.
Shigatse
日喀则
- How to get there
- Organised tour with Tibetan guide; public bus also operates but guided tour is required for foreign visitors
- What to see
- Tashilhunpo Monastery (seat of the Panchen Lama); Shigatse Dzong ruins; second-largest city in Tibet.
- Why go
- Tashilhunpo is one of the most important active monasteries in Tibetan Buddhism; the Maitreya statue inside is 26m tall.
Norbulingka Palace
罗布林卡
- How to get there
- On foot or by cycle-rickshaw from the old city
- What to see
- Summer palace of the Dalai Lamas; Tibetan gardens; multiple palace buildings from different eras; open as a public park.
- Why go
- A pleasant half-day contrast to the monastery circuit; the gardens are where Lhasa residents picnic in summer.
Verified May 2026