Discover Tibet (Self-Launched Edition): Beijing to Kathmandu Overland

Land in Beijing and check into a hostel in the Dongcheng district (walkable to Tiananmen and the hutongs). Use the afternoon to sort the admin that makes independent Tibet travel possible: your licensed Tibetan agency (booked 4-6 weeks ahead) will need passport scans and your Chinese visa; today is the day to confirm everything's submitted and collect printed permit paperwork. Eat dumplings in a hutong noodle shop and get an early night ahead of the long train south.

🚌Airport Express train + metro into the city (~£5), walkable after that

🛏Hostel dorm or private twin in Dongcheng, Beijing (~£18-25)

• →Hostel check-in and permit paperwork confirmation with Tibetan agency
• →Evening hutong walk and dumplings near Nanluoguxiang

Take the morning high-speed train from Beijing West to Lanzhou (roughly 7-9 hours, second class ~£65-80 direct with 12306/Trip.com) watching the landscape flatten and then rise toward the Loess Plateau. From Lanzhou's south bus station, catch the afternoon/evening bus to Xiahe (~4 hours, ~£10-13) — a Tibetan town in Gansu's Gannan prefecture and a perfect cultural warm-up before the plateau. Book a simple family-run guesthouse near Labrang Monastery.

🚌HSR Beijing West–Lanzhou second class ~£70; Lanzhou–Xiahe bus ~£12; book via Trip.com or 12306 app

🛏Tibetan family guesthouse in Xiahe (~£14-20)

• →Self-booked high-speed train Beijing–Lanzhou
• →Public bus Lanzhou–Xiahe
• →Evening walk past Labrang Monastery's prayer wheel circuit

Buy the monastery's own entry ticket at the gate (~£4-5) and join one of the scheduled monk-guided tours through the chapels — no group booking needed, you just turn up. In the afternoon, wander the kora (pilgrim circuit) around the monastery with locals spinning wheels, then explore Xiahe's covered market streets for yak butter tea, tsampa and nomad-made felt goods. This is a proper solo-traveller day: cheap, slow and endlessly photogenic.

🚌All on foot

🛏Tibetan family guesthouse in Xiahe (~£14-20)

• →Labrang Monastery self-guided visit + monk-led chapel tour
• →Kora walk with pilgrims
• →Xiahe market wander (tsampa, butter tea, felt stalls)

Share a taxi or hire a local driver for the morning loop out to the Ganjia Grassland (~£30-40 per car split between 2-3 travellers) and stop at Wutun Monastery near Tongren, where artist-monks paint thangka in their workshops and will happily show you their work. Afterwards, take the bus from Tongren/Xiahe to Xining (public bus, ~3-4 hours, ~£10). Xining sits at 2,275m — a good acclimatisation step before Lhasa.

🚌Shared car ~£15pp; Xiahe/Tongren–Xining bus ~£10

🛏Budget hotel or hostel near Xining railway station (~£16-22)

• →Shared car to Ganjia Grassland
• →Wutun Monastery thangka workshops
• →Public bus to Xining

Morning at Kumbum Monastery (Ta'er Si), 25km outside Xining and one of Tibet's six great monasteries — local bus from Xining's Xinning Square (~£1 each way) plus entry ~£8. Back in the city, look around Dongguan Mosque (free, non-Muslims welcome outside prayer times) and Mo Jia Jie street food quarter for hand-pulled noodles and lamb skewers. Then board the evening Z-series Sky Train from Xining to Lhasa — soft sleeper is the sensible buy for altitude comfort (~£130-160 one way via Trip.com, book well ahead; the oxygen-enriched carriages ascend the Tanggula Pass overnight).

🚌Local bus to Kumbum ~£2 return; Sky Train soft sleeper ~£140 — book 30-60 days ahead, they sell out

🛏Overnight on the Xining–Lhasa train (soft sleeper, ~£140)

• →Kumbum Monastery
• →Dongguan Mosque and Mo Jia Jie food street
• →Overnight Sky Train to Lhasa (soft sleeper)

Spend the day watching the plateau scroll past: Tanggula Pass, nomad tents, antelope, the Lhasa River. Chat to Tibetan passengers in your carriage — you'll pick up more Tsampa tips than any guide handout. Arrive Lhasa in the evening (2-day journey); your permit-listed Tibetan guide meets you at the station and checks you in. Go straight to bed, drink 2-3 litres of water, and don't exert yourself — tomorrow is acclimatisation, not sightseeing.

🚌Pre-arranged Lhasa station pickup (included in the permit agency's package)

🛏Guesthouse or budget hotel in Barkhor district, Lhasa (~£20-28)

• →Plateau rail journey through the Tibetan highlands
• →Arrival brief and acclimatisation in Lhasa

Easy day by design. Walk the Barkhor circuit with pilgrims at opening (free), then pay ~£10 for Jokhang Temple entry (guide optional; audio/video fee extra). Late afternoon, head west to Sera Monastery for the famous 3-5pm monk debates in the garden courtyard — free with a small entry ticket (~£5). Skip Potala until tomorrow so your body has another night at altitude. Eat in Barkhor-side Tibetan canteens: momos, thukpa, yak sizzler (~£5-7 a meal).

🚌Taxis around Lhasa ~£1-2 a hop

🛏Guesthouse or budget hotel in Barkhor district, Lhasa (~£20-28)

• →Barkhor kora with pilgrims
• →Jokhang Temple entry
• →Sera Monastery monk debates

Potala Palace tickets must be reserved with your permit and passport — your agency books the timed slot (entry ~£22, no photos inside, allow 2 hours for the steps at altitude). Follow with a quiet visit to Pawang Monastery, then take a half-day Tibetan cooking class booked via Airbnb Experiences or a Lhasa hostel (~£25-35) including a market shop and momo/tsampa prep. Sunset from the Chagpori viewpoint or the main square's west side gives you the classic lit-up Potala shot.

🚌Taxis ~£3 total

🛏Guesthouse or budget hotel in Barkhor district, Lhasa (~£20-28)

• →Potala Palace (timed entry)
• →Pawang Monastery
• →Tibetan cooking class with market shop
• →Potala sunset viewpoint

This is where you join your permit tour's Land Cruiser leg (most independent travellers join a 6-8 day Tibet loop group with 3-4 others at £650-950pp for car, driver, Tibetan guide, permits and simple guesthouse stays). Drive over Khamba La Pass, skirt the turquoise Yamdrok Tso, cross Karo La beneath a glacier, and stop in Gyantse to visit Pelkhor Choede and climb the Kumbum Pagoda's 100+ chapels (~£10).

🚌Shared Land Cruiser (permit tour leg, part of £650-950pp package)

🛏Simple guesthouse in Gyantse (~£18-25)

• →Khamba La and Karo La pass drives
• →Yamdrok Tso lake shore stop
• →Pelkhor Choede Monastery and Kumbum Pagoda

Short drive to Shigatse, Tibet's second city. Spend the afternoon at Tashilumpo Monastery — buy the entry ticket (~£10) and if you're feeling acclimatised, walk the kora around the monastery hill with pilgrims (roughly 1-1.5 hours, no rush). Wander the local market for cheap produce and dried yak. This is the flattest, easiest day of the plateau leg — use it to rest.

🚌Shared Land Cruiser (permit tour leg)

🛏Budget hotel in Shigatse (~£20-26)

• →Tashilumpo Monastery visit
• →Monastery kora walk
• →Shigatse local market

Drive across the plateau to Sakya, home to one of Tibet's most distinctive monasteries — its grey-walled, striped complex is unlike anything else on the route (~£10 entry). Quiet afternoon, cold nights; bring a merino base layer and a warm hat even in summer. Guesthouses here are basic but clean — check hot water before paying.

🚌Shared Land Cruiser (permit tour leg)

🛏Basic guesthouse in Sakya (~£16-22)

• →Sakya Monastery visit
• →Village wander

The big one. Climb to Pang La viewpoint (~5,200m) for the full Himalayan panorama — Everest, Makalu, Lhotse and Cho-Oyu — then descend to Rongphu Monastery, the highest monastery in the world, and the tented/EBC-side accommodation at 5,000m. Permit and national park entry are handled inside your tour package (~£30 extra for the Everest region permit is usually included). Expect -5 to -15°C at night, no heating, shared basic toilets: bring a sleeping bag liner, wipes and hand sanitiser. Sunset and sunrise over Everest are the whole point.

🚌Shared Land Cruiser (permit tour leg)

🛏Rongphu guesthouse/tented camp, basic shared facilities (~£18-25)

• →Pang La viewpoint
• →Rongphu Monastery
• →Everest Base Camp viewpoint at sunset (weather permitting)

Long driving day west along the Friendship Highway — watch for Shishapangma (the only 8,000er entirely in Tibet), the milky-blue Lake Pelkutso, and wildlife: kiang, Tibetan gazelle, marmots and the occasional wolf. Your driver will stop at checkpoint after checkpoint (passport checks, slow speeds, so budget the time). Arrive Kyirong valley, the last Tibetan town before Nepal, at a lower, warmer altitude — a relief after Rongphu.

🚌Shared Land Cruiser (permit tour leg)

🛏Guesthouse in Kyirong (~£16-22)

• →Friendship Highway drive
• →Shishapangma and Pelkutso viewpoints
• →Wildlife spotting stops

Your tour package ends at the Tibet-Nepal border — clear Chinese immigration at Kyirong, walk the Friendship Bridge, then Nepali immigration at Rasuwagadhi. From there, take the shared jeep/local bus down to Syabrubesi (~£3-5), then the public bus to Kathmandu (7-9 hours, ~£6-9) or a shared jeep to Dhunche and onward. Alternatively a private jeep from the border to Kathmandu runs ~£90 per vehicle split between passengers. Land in Thamel, get a guesthouse (~£10-15) and eat dal bhat.

🚌Border crossing on foot; shared jeep ~£4; public bus to Kathmandu ~£8

🛏Thamel guesthouse, Kathmandu (~£10-16)

• →Border crossing at Friendship Bridge / Rasuwagadhi
• →Shared jeep and local bus to Kathmandu

Spend your last day independently in Kathmandu: kora around Boudhanath stupa with the Tibetans in exile (~£3 entry), climb the 365 steps to Swayambhunath (~£2), and browse the bookshops and thangka studios of Thamel. Optional extras if you have time: a mountain flight (~£150, book with Buddha Air/Himalaya Airlines direct) or a bungy/rafting day — but honestly, after two weeks at altitude, a rooftop momo lunch and a beer is the correct call. Fly home or continue into Nepal's trekking routes.

🚌Taxis around Kathmandu ~£2-4 a trip; airport taxi ~£5

🛏Thamel guesthouse, Kathmandu (~£10-16)

• →Boudhanath stupa kora
• →Swayambhunath temple
• →Thamel browsing and departure