13 Days Tibet Nepal Nature Scenery Tour

This is the first day in Tibet. Your guide will greet you at Lhasa Gonggar Airport/Railway Station and transfer you to your hotel. It usually takes around 1 hour to drive from Lhasa Airport to downtown Lhasa and takes about 20 minutes from Lhasa Railway Station. Tourists could have a look at the Yarlung Tsangpo River, the largest and longest river in Tibet on their way to the hotel. After check-in, you can have a good rest first. And if you feel like going out, you can wander around the city. But just remember that don't take too much stuff, try to go with a light pack. Meanwhile, drink some more water, and do not move strenuously. It’s really useful to get acclimatized to the high altitude.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

In the morning, your 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, you 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

In the morning, we will visit Norbulingka, which is a typical Tibetan-style royal garden, the summer resort of the Dalai Lama. There are a lot of towering trees, exotic flowers and plants in the garden, as well as many collections of cultural relics, Buddha statues, pagodas, thangkas, murals, etc. They are all very precious treasures.

In the afternoon, you are heading to Drepung Monastery, which means Monastery of Rice Heap in the Tibetan language. The entire monastery is large in scale and the white buildings cluster and cover the hillsides. Drepung monastery is the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery, also the highest-ranking monastery in the Gelug Sect.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

On the way to Namtso, you will have a far view of the Nyenchen Thanglha Snow Mountain. Enjoy the view of the vast grassland and spectacular natural scenery. You'll arrive at Namtso Lake after passing Nagela Pass (5,150m). Namtso Lake is one of the three most holy lakes in Tibet, also the third-largest salt lake in China and the highest lake in the world. The name Namtso means “lake from heaven” in the Tibetan language. And the gorgeous landscape is really like heaven.

In late afternoon, you will drive back to Lhasa.

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), with countless prayer flags flying in the wind. In the late afternoon, you enter Mt. Everest National Nature Reserve. 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

About 150km southwest of Kathmandu, Chitwan National Park is one of Nepal's popular tourist destinations and also a World Heritage Site. 

There, you'll see an array of wildlife that you will never see in other parts of the world. There, you will see wild Rhinos and tigers as you take a ride on the back of huge lumbering elephants. So, prepare your cameras for pics of the elusive Royal Bengal Tiger and the famous one-horned rhino. After an enjoyable safari adventure, you will stay overnight here.

Stay overnight in Chitwan

After resting overnight and replenishing your strength, you will have another great day of adventure in Chitwan National Park. You will visit the local Tharu villages to come up close to elephants while they bathe, ride an elephant to walk in the jungle and start your jungle safari. Walk through a section of the primitive forest path, and you will see the natural environment of wildlife. If you are audacious enough, you can engage in a guided tour into the jungle. In this jungle, you will see leopards, sloth bears, smooth-coated otters, Bengal foxes, spotted linsangs, striped hyenas, golden jackals, jungle cats, small Indian civets, and many more.

Canoeing on the Rapti River is also a good chance to see various water birds playing on the water, crocodiles from a distance and alligators resting by the lakeside.

In the afternoon, you will go to the gharial breeding center, which is a government-built crocodile breeding program. You can observe the marsh mugger and gharial up close. This project aims to protect endangered species and release them back into the wild. You will again stay overnight here after a hectic day of adventure.

Stay overnight in Chitwan

Drive back to Kathmandu today, which is about 5hrs on the road.

Once back in Kathmandu, you can take a rest at your hotel to regain your strength. You can also spend the rest of the day strolling along with the UNESCO Heritage Sites of the city. You will stay overnight in Kathmandu for tomorrow's departure.

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.