Best of Beijing and Lhasa

Day 1: Arrival in Beijing
Ni Hao! welcome to Beijing, the iconic city and capital of China! You will be met by our local tour guide at the arrival hall of Beijing Airport and transferred to your downtown hotel by a private comfortable vehicle. The rest of the day is spent at leisure. If you want to explore nearby areas, feel free to get some practical suggestions from your guide. Overnight at Jianguo Qianmen Hotel.

Day 2: Beijing
After breakfast, you will be picked up at your hotel for a full day exploring Beijing. You will start to explore the historical face of Beijing with a brief visit to Tiananmen Square which is now the largest city plaza in the world. Stepping into Tiananmen, you will see one of the world’s 5 most important palaces – Forbidden City, a huge palace complex of more than 9,000 rooms where 24 emperors of Ming and Qing Dynasties used to live in. After lunch, you will drive about 40 minutes to the outskirts of Beijing to visit the Summer Palace, the largest and best-preserved royal garden in China. Stroll around ancient pavilions, mansions, temples, bridges, and corridors. In the evening transfer back to Jianguo Qianmen Hotel for overnight.

Day 3: Beijing
Today you will get to experience one of the Seven Wonders of the World, The Great Wall!
After breakfast, you will depart to Mutianyu, a less crowded yet well-preserved segment of the Great Wall built in the Ming Dynasty. It will more than live up to all of your expectations! You’ll take a cable car to ascend the Great Wall, then hike the most beautiful and interesting part of Mutianyu. It's a wonderful experience to climb up its rising towers to enjoy scenic views and take brag-worthy photos of the wall wriggling along mountain ridges. After the exciting time, descend Mutianyu Great Wall by cable car or you can hike down which takes approximately 40 mins. After lunch, you will continue your trip to Sacred Way, a 7-kilometer-long passage leading to the Imperial Tombs of 13 Emperors of the Ming Dynasty. Take a walk through the largest archway in China and Great Palace Gate and you’ll see the magnificent stone guard of 12 sets of mythical animals and 12 officials. Then drive back to Beijing city for overnight at Jianguo Qianmen Hotel.

Day 4: Beijing - Lhasa
After breakfast, you will be picked up from your hotel and be transferred to the airport for your flight. Upon arrival in Lhasa, you will be picked up by your guide and transferred to Four Points by Sheraton Lhasa for dinner and overnight. Together with your guide you will head to a local tea shop to enjoy Tibetan tea. The rest of the day is spent at leisure so you can acclimatize. We recommend you going for a leisure walk which can help you acclimatize, drink more water and take enough rest.

Day 5: Lhasa
After breakfast, you will spend a full day explore Lhasa city and the Tibetan culture. You will start with a visit to Norbulingka, which used to be the former summer palace of the Dalai Lamas in ancient times and is not a public park. Afterward, you will visit Drepung Monastery, which has always been one of the most important Buddhist monasteries in Tibet. In the afternoon, you will be taken to another famous monastery in Lhasa - Sera Monastery. It is famous for the spectacular "Buddhism Debating", where monks gather in a courtyard and debate on the Buddhist doctrines. After enjoying the "Buddhism Debating", you will be transferred back to Lhasa where you will be taken to a local art class where you will learn to paint like a buddhist. You will get to understand more about the Thanka painting and will even paint some Thanka for youself. Overnight at Four Points by Sheraton Lhasa.

Day 6: Lhasa
After an early breakfast, you will head out to explore the famous Potala Palace, which is the home to the successive Dalai Lama as well as a great masterpiece of Tibetan architecture. The whole palace is divided into the White Palace - living quarters and office to deal with political and Buddhist affairs for Dalai Lamas, and the Red Palace where houses several stupas of previous Dalai Lamas, many historical relics, and precious arts. After the Potala Palace visit, you will go to enjoy a leisure stroll in Zongjiao Lukang Park, a lovely park with pleasant scenery built around the lake behind Potala Palace. In the afternoon you will head to Jokhang Temple which is considered the spiritual center of Lhasa and the most revered religious structure of Tibet. Afterward, you will explore the famous Barkhor Street. It is a circular and wide street encircling the Jokhang Temple. The local people like to walk on the street for several circles usually in the late afternoon as a daily tradition of pilgrimage. The street also has many shops selling a wide variety of traditional Tibetan goods, religious items, and handcrafts. In the evening you will be transferred back to Four Points by Sheraton Lhasa for overnight.

Day 7: Lhasa - Beijing
We will take you back to the airport for your flight back to Beijing, where you will wave goodbye to incredible Tibet. In Beijing, you will connect your international departure flight or we can transfer you to the city for overnight.

Kindly note: there is also a possibility to take a train to Lhasa instead of a plane, which will help you to acclimatize. However the train journey from Beijing is 40 hrs, so keep in mind you would need an extra travel day.