A short flight to Tibet give you a panorama of the snowy Himalayan ranges or the days of train ride over high plateau by crossing the mighty Thangu la ranges get you to Lhasa with beautiful sceneries along the route. Upon your arrival at Gonggar airport or Lhasa Train Station, you will be greeted by our Tibetan guide and driver and transfer to your hotel in Lhasa city, from the airport to Lhasa it is about 65km and it takes an hour through the recently built highway, from the train station it is only 15km and it takes about half hour, check in the hotel and take it easy for the rest of the day to acclimatize and alleviate the jet lag. You will experience some mild symptoms of altitude sickness that includes light-headedness, disorientation, headache etc. Drink plenty of water and take enough rest.

Today is your first day on the high plateau and some of you may have little headache which is very common, so drinking enough water and mild activity on the first few days is recommendable. In the morning our guide will meet you at the hotel lobby and take an easy visit to Jokhang Temple in the centre of the Old Lhasa city. Jokhang temple is one of the most scared temples in all over Tibet and is always bustling with local pilgrims since from early days. The holiest shrine is Statue of Shakyamuni Buddha in the central chapel. After that you have time to walk around the Bakhor Street which is one of the most devotional circuit as well as crowded central market of Lhasa, will take a stroll in the pilgrimage path of Barkhor that surrounds the Jokhang Temple. Barkhor area is truly Tibetan flavour, with Tibetan shops lining up on the either sides of the street and that the streets packed with Tibetan devotees with their prayer wheels spinning or beads counting with utterance of sacred mantra and some in prostration.
From here, we head to Norbulingkha Garden to see the summer palaces of the Dalai Lama. Of all the palaces, current Dalai Lama, the 14th’s palace is the major attraction. We visit his private chambers, audience hall and the golden throne along with wall paintings of current Dalai lama family and Lord Buddha life history. We conclude the first day with a visit to Sera Monastery is one of Lhasa's two great Gelugpa institutions, second only to Drepung. Founded in the early 15th century by Sakya Yeshe-a disciple of Tsongkhapa, Sera Monastery was once home to more than 5000 monks. The monk population is now limited to 500 or so. As the chapels start closing at 3 p.m., we first explore the various chapels of the monastery and then attend the debating ceremony of the monks which takes place between 3 pm and 5 pm. If you are not interested seeing chapels, you can take hike on the pilgrimage path of the monastery which takes less than an hour. 

Today we will visit the world famous Potala Palace, the cardinal landmark of Tibet and the masterpiece of Tibetan architecture, it was first built by 33^rd King Songtsen Gangpo in 7^th century and later in 17^th century rebuilt by 5^th Dalai Lama, since then it was home to the successive Dalai Lamas and his government. Walking though the long steps are quite challenging but it is worthwhile to leave your foot steps in this palace which listed in the world heritage in 1994. Situated atop Marpo Ri, 130m high hill, with a commanding view of all Lhasa, Potala Palace is one of the great wonders of world architecture. The complex has two palaces-White Palace and the main Red Palace. The White Palace houses the throne rooms of the 13th and 14th Dalai Lamas, a reception hall, meditation room and the bedroom of Dalai Lamas. The Red Palace has various chapels and the tombs of Dalai Lamas. And in the afternoon, we will visit the Drepung monastery which lies 8km from city centre, Drepung Monastery-the largest, richest and the most powerful of the three major Yellow Sect monasteries of Tibet, once the world's largest monastery that housed for more than 10,000 monks; it was resident of the Dalai Lama prior to Potala Palace. Drepung commanded the administration of Tibet before establishment of Potala Palace. Drepung Monastery offer lots of things to see by walking through numbers of narrow and twisted lane through the monk’s apartments is thrilling and of course the main assembly hall and kitchen is something not to miss. 

The hermitage lies 30km from Lhasa city, is one of the holiest cave retreats in Ü-Central Tibet. The site is very peaceful, offers stunning views and provides the experience of rural Tibet, away from the crowds of Lhasa. We visit the Lhalungpuk cave where the monk Lhalung meditated after assassinating Lang Dharma, the anti Buddhist king, Dawa Puk Cave, where Guru Rinpoche meditated 7 years, Chogyal Puk where King Songtsen Gampo meditated and several including Drubthub-phuk where Atisha (Jowe-je) meditated. It takes about 15-20mins to descend back where we meet our vehicle and we drive to Ganden Monastery-the first of the Gelugpa monasteries to be built around Lhasa city. We will spend the rest of that day exploring and hiking kora of Ganden (Pilgrim’s circumambulation path hiking). Ganden Kora-the traditional pilgrimage path begins at the south west corner of Ganden. A large rocky cleft draped with prayer flags marks the start of this scenic circuit, which takes at least one hour to complete with rewarding view of Kyichu Valley beneath. Return back to your hotel and balance of day to pursue your own interest.

Trip ends here by bidding farewell to your guide and driver who will see you off to Lhasa airport or train station and depart to your next destination.