Chengdu Tibet Nepal Bhutan Tour (Overland tour from Lhasa to Kathmandu)

*Please note that travelers need to obtain a China visa in their home country and collect the Tibet Travel Permit. This permit will be provided in hard copy at your hotel in Chengdu.

After your arrival in Chengdu, you will be approached by our representative. He/She will lead you to your hotel from the airport. Chengdu is the capital of the Sichuan Province in Western China. You will have a short briefing and orientation about this whole tour of your hotel. After some rest today you can head out for a short stroll around your hotel. If you have enough spare time today, you can take a short walk exploring the ancient Jinli street. You can try some of the favorite local snacks here. Overnight at a hotel in Chengdu.

Morning drive (~2 hrs) to Leshan Giant Buddha, a 71m tall stone-carved statue built (AD 713–803) to calm turbulent waters. Walk the Nine Bends Plank Road (217 steps) for a closer view. Return to Chengdu and explore lively Jinli Old Street with local snacks, artifacts, and folk shows.

Visit the Chengdu Panda Base to see adorable pandas in their natural habitat, from playful cubs to adults. Explore Wenshu Temple's peaceful paths and nearby Wenshufang Bazaar. Relax in People’s Park with tea, local entertainment, and traditional leisure activities.

We will take you to the Chengdu airport where you will board a flight to Lhasa. You also have an option to take a long train ride there (Chengdu – Lhasa Train: 3070KM – 36 hours), but the flight is suggested for your comfort. After landing, you will head towards the hotel in Lhasa and rest for the day for the high elevation acclimatation. Overnight in Lhasa.

We will begin the Sightseeing tour of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet today. Kick start the day with a warm Tibetan tea in your hotel. Today's tour constitutes of two significant attractions and some brief stopping in the other destinations. We will visit the former ruling seat of the Dalai Lamas of Tibet, the Potala Palace first today. Potala Palace is an architectural masterpiece, and one can explore the vibrant Tibetan Art and culture here. In the palace premises, you can visit the grand chapels, large courtyards, staterooms, and beautiful gardens. The artistic decorations, sculptures, old paintings, murals and other components of the Palace is mesmerizing here as well. We will head next to visit Norbulingka Palace, the Summer Palace of Dalai Lamas. Alongside the architecture, local houses, and small prayer shrines here, the vast Palace gardens are the most known and popular feature of Norbulingka Palace. We will head towards the Museum in Lhasa where one can know a lot about the culture, artwork, and history of this beautiful state of Tibet. Overnight in Lhasa.

We will resume our tour of Lhasa by visiting some of the other best attractions in and around the city. After our breakfast here, we will head towards the majestic Drepung monastery. It is one of the largest monasteries in Tibet with more than 10,000 monks studied here in the past times. The courtyards, shrines and some of the best architecture makes this monastery a must visit place in Lhasa. After some time here, we will head towards the Sera monastery within a short driving distance from here. Both these monasteries are two of the three major Gelug sect monastery in Tibet. The designs, Murals, and architecture of these monasteries alongside the breathtaking view of the landscape from here is a fantastic combination. From here we will then visit the UNESCO world heritage site, Jokhang Temple. Besides the famous Barkhor Street, this temple is the most significant shrine of Tibetan people. Here, you can have a better view of the local culture, tradition, and everyday lifestyle. You can try some Tibetan delicacies and return to your hotel.

After breakfast, we will prepare and start our overland tour from Lhasa to Kathmandu. We will drive to Shigatse via Gyantse tour today. The road trip from Lhasa quickly joins the friendship highway and towards the Khamba La pass at 4794 meters. For the first part of the drive, you can savor the breathtaking views of Yamdrok-Tso Lake and Nazin Kang Sa Mountain (7252 m). Heading towards Gyantse, you can also enjoy the sightings of snow-capped mountains and massive glaciers from the road. We will pass small Tibetan settlements where we can try some snacks before reaching the town of Gyantse. This historically significant town is in a beautiful valley and was one of the major cities where multiple trading routes were mixed. Our stay here will be brief, and we will visit some of the dzong ad monasteries in the stop. Our journey continues for about a couple of hours from Gyantse and ends today at Shigatse. The second-largest city in Tibet, Shigatse is beautiful and full of life. We will visit the Tashilupo monastery which is the seat of Panchen lamas of Tibet and one of the largest functioning monasteries here. Overnight at a hotel in Shigatse.

The drive of today to the famous Rongbuk Monastery from Shigatse is packed with wonderful views of the landscape and natural scenery. The road is smooth, and we will be passing the highest point of the tour, the Gyatchu La pass at 5,220 m today. We will first cross Lhatse and drive through a pass nearby. Moving on from small stops where we will have our lunch, we will pass by Tingri village. Another two to three hours of the relaxed drive, followed by small patches of settlements, will take us to Rongbuk monastery (5000 m). The north face of Everest is a sight to relish here in Rongbuk. Rongbuk monastery is also the starting point to hike to the northern Everest Base Camp. Witness a beautiful sunset over Mt. Everest (8848 m). Overnight in Rongbuk

We will wake up with the monks in Rongbuk and start our drive to the China-Nepal border at Kerung/Gyirong. With a beautiful view of the sunrise and the Everest, we will start the journey early. For the first portion of the drive, we will do high passes with views of steep hills and snow-covered mountains. We will cross the Lalung La (5,124 m) and Tong La (5,120 m) and the views of Mt. Cho Oyu, Everest and Sishapangma are pristine in a clear sky from the passes. We will drop some altitude, and the landscape also begins to change as we get nearer to Kerung/Gyirong. We will stay on the Chinese side for the day. Overnight at a hotel in Kerung/Gyirong.

After bidding farewell to your Tibetan guide and driver, we will start our journey to the Nepal's Capital city (Kathmandu) from Kerung today. The drive is thrilling beside the green hills and Trishuli River straight from the mountains. We will stop in the intermediate hill settlements to have our lunch in the way. The windy roads will lead you to the valley, and you'll head straight to to your hotel here. Overnight at a hotel in Kathmandu.

Today will be a complete heritage tour of the Kathmandu valley commencing from the famous Kathmandu Durbar square in a walkable distance from your hotel. We can witness a lot about the medieval history, culture, and architecture of the Kathmandu valley here. The shrines and monuments of the square hold many different story and religious importance too. Here, we will also visit the Temple of the living goddess Kumari in our visit. Next, we will head towards the Temple of Swyambhunath or also popular as 'The Monkey Temple.' We will hike a while to reach the beautiful dome at the top from where the view of Kathmandu valley is exquisite. From here we will head towards the Hindu Shrine Pashupatinath with a short drive. In the banks of the holy Bagmati River, we can explore more than 500 small and big shrines, Shiva Lingams, and Temples. We will head towards the Boudhanath stupa next from here. The vast white dome is the biggest stupa of Nepal, and one can experience the influence of Tibetan art on the premises. We will drive back to our hotel in Thamel and rest for the day there. Overnight at Kathmandu.

Our tour of today constitutes of visiting some of the best places in Bhaktapur city, one of the three major cities of the Kathmandu Valley. Bhaktapur is well known for the best-preserved culture and traditional lifestyle in the valley. We will visit the Bhaktapur Durbar Square first here. The fifty-five windows palace, Pottery square, Nyatapola temple complex, and the Bhaktapur museum are some of the major attractions here. We will head towards another cultural treat of Changunarayan temple next from Bhaktapur. Changunarayan holds some of the significant inscriptions and sculptures aging back to the 3rd century. The carvings in the roofs, windows, and idols are the finest of the local artists from that period. The main temple is devoted to the Hindu god Vishnu. We can also try some local cuisine here before continuing our way to Nagarkot. After sunset views from Nagarkot, drive back to Kathmandu. Overnight in Kathmandu.

We will have a majestic sunrise view with the hills and Himalayas from Nagarkot village today. After some time here we will head towards the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) and fly to the Paro airport in Bhutan. After arriving at Paro, our representative from Asiaexperiences will approach you and transfer you to your hotel in Thimphu. The guide will provide you a brief introduction about this tour on the way to Thimphu.

Halfway to the Paro-Thimphu highway, visit the 16^th-century old Tachogang Lhakhang temple by traversing an old bridge. From the bridge, enjoy the scenic views of the villages. Tachogang temple means the hill of the excellent horse. Continue to drive to Thimphu. After reaching the hotel, you can rest for a while and head for a walk around it. You can also attend the evening markets here today. Overnight at Thimphu.

We will spend our day visiting the major attractions in and around the capital Thimphu. After our breakfast, we will visit the King's Memorial Chorten made in the memory of King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck (1928-1972 AD). After some time here, we will visit the mini zoo and take a glance at beautiful animals alongside the national animal of Bhutan 'Takin'. We will visit the nunnery temple and the traditional medicine institute of Thimphu. We will continue our Thimphu sightseeing tour after lunch visiting the painting schools and traditional paper factory here. Next, we will visit Tashichho Dzong. This old fortress holds a great significance in the history of Bhutan. We will also visit Bhutan Postal Museum, Folk Heritage Museum and end our tour with a visit to the Great Buddha Dordenma statue which is the largest statue of Bhutan. We will return to our hotel and rest. If you have made the Trip overlapping weekends in Bhutan, you will have an opportunity to attend the weekend markets and experience the local trade and lifestyle here. Overnight at Thimphu.

We will drive to Punakha after breakfast today. In the way, we will stop at the Dochula Pass at 3,100 meters. From this pass, we can enjoy a fantastic view of the Himalayan range centered by Gangkhar Puensum (7,570 m: highest in Bhutan). The Druk Wangyal Chortens lies in the pass which was made in honor of war soldiers of Bhutan. From here we will make brief stops at the temple of divine madman, and the temple of fertility before reaching Punakha. We will visit the famous Punakha Dzong here in the banks of Pho Chu and Mo Chu rivers and spend some time in this magnificent Dzong. We will also cross the oldest Punakha Suspension Bridge which connects three villages to witness the wonderful surrounding views. We will then return to Thimphu besides the hills and rice fields and rest for the day. Overnight at Thimphu.

We will take a short drive to Paro after breakfast and start our walk to the Tiger's Lair, Taktsang Monastery. The main highlight of Bhutan, this monastery is a beautiful place to be with magnificent landscape views of the surrounding regions. Located at a sharp face of a high hill, the hike to it is certainly not easy. However, with our experienced guides, you will be assured the safest route to it. Many legends are granted at this monastery with some claiming that one the great Guru Rinpoche meditated in the caves of this monastery. After spending some time here, we will return to Paro and have lunch.

Next, visit the beautiful Paro Dzong and National Museum of Bhutan. End your trip by visiting Kyichu Lhakhang. You can see the oldest Jowo temple which was built to stop female giants from preventing the spreading of Buddhism across Tibet. Overnight at Paro.

This wonderful vacation of these wondrous nations of the Himalayas ends with a high note today with a departure flight providing the view of Himalayas to your next destination. With a heart full of great stories, treasured moments, and unique experiences that you have collected throughout the tour, this vacation will be the next chapter to your travel diaries. Our team of Asia experience will be in touch for your invaluable feedback and suggestions. We will drive you to the airport for your return flight from the hotel.