6 Days in Lhasa: First-Timer Plan

Six days lets you do Lhasa itself at an unhurried pace, no day trips, no rushing, just the full monastery circuit plus two separate old-town days instead of one. This extends our 5-day plan ; once you actually want to leave the city, Ganden Monastery and Yamdrok Lake are covered on our Lhasa and Tibet gateway guide instead.

Book these before you go

Day Focus
Day 1 Arrival, rest, confirm the Potala reservation
Day 2 Jokhang Temple, Barkhor kora
Day 3 Potala Palace, Sera Monastery’s monk debates
Day 4 Drepung Monastery, Norbulingka
Day 5 Ani Tsankhung Nunnery, Tibet Museum
Day 6 Second old-town day: dawn Jokhang, markets, workshops

Day 1: Arrival, and treating rest as the actual plan

Land at Lhasa Gonggar, transfer roughly an hour into the city, check in, and stop there for the day. At 3,656 meters, day one is about hydration and doing nothing strenuous, not sightseeing. Let your guide lock in the Potala Palace reservation for later in the week, since it’s real-name and timed, never available at the gate. A short walk along the Barkhor’s edge in the evening and an early dinner of momos and thukpa closes the day out.

Day 2: Jokhang Temple and the Barkhor kora

Morning at Jokhang Temple watching pilgrims prostrate outside before heading in, no photos of the statues or chapels, then the full Barkhor kora clockwise around it. Late in the day, find a sweet tea house and sit with a thermos of sweet milk tea among locals playing cards, a completely different drink from the salty butter tea and one of the best hours on this whole trip.

Day 3: Potala Palace and Sera’s debating monks

Morning at the Potala Palace , thirteen stories of the former Dalai Lama’s residence, roughly CNY 200 in peak season and half that in winter, timed to about an hour so keep moving. Afternoon is Sera Monastery , where young monks debate philosophy in a gravel courtyard most days from three to five, clapping sharply to punctuate each point. Unlike most of the trip so far, this one isn’t staged for an audience, it happens the same regardless.

Day 4: Drepung Monastery and Norbulingka

Morning at Drepung , once the largest monastery in the world, a hillside complex worth two to three unhurried hours. Afternoon at Norbulingka , the former summer palace, gardens and ponds at a slower pace than anywhere else so far.

Day 5: Ani Tsankhung Nunnery and the Tibet Museum

A genuinely slower day after four fuller ones. Ani Tsankhung Nunnery, tucked into the old town, is a small, calm community of chanting nuns and a real contrast to the bigger monasteries. Spend the afternoon at the Tibet Museum for context on everything you’ve seen so far, or keep wandering if the museum doesn’t pull you in, both are fine choices at this point in the trip.

Day 6: A second old-town day, properly this time

By your sixth day, you’ve earned the right to stop checklist-sightseeing. Go back to the Barkhor at dawn, before the tour groups, and watch the kora at its most local: pilgrims, prayer wheels, and almost no other visitors. Spend the rest of the morning actually shopping, turquoise, coral, yak wool, thangka paintings, rather than glancing at stalls on the way somewhere else, and duck into a workshop if you find one doing traditional carpet weaving or thangka painting demonstrations. Close your final evening with a proper sit-down dinner back in the old town before an early departure the next morning.

Things worth knowing

A Tibet Travel Permit and an accompanying guide are mandatory for every foreign passport apart from Hong Kong and Macau, arranged through a licensed agency well before you book flights. Carry cash, since Alipay and WeChat dominate and foreign cards rarely work outside the biggest hotels, and set up a VPN before you land. Pack proper layers, the temperature drop between midday sun and evening is sharper here than it looks from the forecast.

Want the full week? Our 7-day itinerary adds one more unhurried old-town day before departure.