Lhasa Travel Guide: Potala Palace and Tibet Permit
Updated
Lhasa sits at 3,650 metres on the Tibetan plateau, and your first day here is for doing nothing: walk slowly, drink water, and sit in a sweet-tea house off the Barkhor.
A short story about Lhasa in Mandarin, with English alongside. The beginner version needs no Chinese. Jump to the storyDo foreigners need a permit to visit Lhasa?
Yes, and you cannot travel in Tibet on your own. A licensed Tibetan travel agency arranges the Tibet Travel Permit, a guide for your whole stay, and a car and driver for anything outside Lhasa. You show the permit to board the plane or train. Flights need the original, which the agency posts to your hotel.
Agencies want a passport scan 15 to 20 days ahead, longer in July and August. Everest Base Camp and other places beyond Lhasa need further permits, which the agency adds. Four days in Lhasa with a small group start around US$500, flights extra.
Tibet has usually closed to foreigners for some weeks around February and March; in 2026 it stayed open. Rules change at short notice, so check with the agency before you book flights.
A short history of Lhasa
King Songtsen Gampo built the Jokhang in the 600s for a statue brought by his Nepalese queen, Bhrikuti. His Chinese queen, Wencheng, brought the Jowo, kept first at Ramoche Temple and later moved to the Jokhang. It is the statue pilgrims queue for. The Barkhor grew up along the kora, the clockwise walk around the temple.
The Fifth Dalai Lama began the Potala in 1645, and Lhasa was the seat of Tibetan government until 1959. The palace is now a museum, UNESCO-listed since 1994.
The Potala Palace
布达拉宫 Bùdálā Gōng
Thirteen storeys, 117 metres high and a thousand rooms, on Red Hill in the middle of the city. The Dalai Lamas lived and governed in the White Palace; the Red Palace holds chapels and tombs.
The route inside is fixed: up the stone stairs, through the chapels past the gilded tombs, down the other side. The climb is the hard part, so stop when you need to.
How to visit the Potala Palace
- 1
Let the agency book it
Foreigners can’t buy tickets; the system needs a Chinese account. Your agency books a timed slot on your passport, days ahead from May to October, when tickets sell out.
- 2
Give yourself a day
Don’t visit on the day you arrive. The Potala’s stairs are much easier on day two or three.
- 3
Turn up at your slot
Your guide goes in with you. Bring your passport and arrive an hour early for security. You get about an hour inside, and the slot is fixed.
- 4
Climb slowly, then come back at dusk
Take the stairs in stages. Come back at dusk to the square opposite, when the floodlights come on and pilgrims prostrate.
No photos inside. Bags are checked and lighters taken. Bring sunglasses; the light is fierce.
Things to do in Lhasa beyond the Potala
The Jokhang and the Barkhor are the old town. The rest is a short taxi ride.
The Jokhang and the Barkhor 大昭寺 · 八廓街
Dàzhāo Sì · Bākuò Jiē
Built in the 640s, the Jokhang is the holiest temple in Tibet. The Barkhor is the kilometre of streets around it. From before dawn people walk it clockwise, spinning prayer wheels, some prostrating every few steps. Walk it with them, early. Later it turns into a market street.
Sera Monastery 色拉寺
Sèlā Sì
One of the three great monasteries of the Gelug school, the Dalai Lama’s branch, founded in 1419 on the city’s northern edge. Most afternoons from about 3 pm, except Sundays, monks debate in a courtyard: one stands, asks and claps at the one sitting, who must answer. Visitors watch from the edge.
Norbulingka 罗布林卡
Luóbùlínkǎ
The Dalai Lamas’ summer palace west of the Potala, begun in the 1750s: pavilions, ponds and trees. The quietest place in the city for a rest day.
What to eat in Lhasa
Butter tea 酥油茶
sūyóuchá
Strong tea churned with yak butter and salt. Rich, and better on the second cup. Teahouses serve it by the flask.
Sweet tea 甜茶
tiánchá
Milky, sugary black tea by the glass in the old town’s sweet-tea houses. Leave small change on the table; the server tops you up and takes from it. Big ones like Guangming, near the Jokhang, pour butter tea too.
Tsampa and momos 糌粑 · 藏包
zānba · zàngbāo
Tsampa, the Tibetan staple, is roasted barley flour kneaded with butter tea. Momos are steamed dumplings, usually yak. Any Tibetan restaurant on the Barkhor serves both.
Plan your trip to Lhasa
Best time to visit Lhasa
- JanMixed
- FebAvoid
- MarAvoid
- AprMixed
- MayBest
- JunBest
- JulMixed
- AugMixed
- SepBest
- OctBest
- NovMixed
- DecMixed
May to October has warm days and cold nights; July and August bring most of the rain, mostly at night, the biggest crowds, and the Shoton festival at Drepung Monastery. Winter is cold and very clear, and Potala tickets are half price from November to April. Tibet has usually closed to foreigners for some weeks in February and March, and Golden Week (1–7 October) is best avoided.
Getting to Lhasa
- Gonggar Airport by car1 h
- Chengdu by air2 h
- Xining by train20 h
- Beijing by train40 h
Gonggar airport is about 60 km southwest of the city. Your agency usually meets you, and an airport bus runs to near the Potala. Lhasa Station is south of the river, about 20 minutes by taxi from the centre.
Getting around Lhasa
Walk the old town. City taxis usually charge about 10 yuan, and Didi works. The agency’s car covers anything outside Lhasa.
Alipay and WeChat Pay with a foreign card work in most shops; keep small notes for sweet tea. Signs are in Tibetan and Chinese, and English menus are rare, so ask your guide.
Where to stay in Lhasa
The old town around the Barkhor: the dawn kora and the teahouses are on your doorstep, and nothing needs a car. Bigger, newer hotels are on the streets west towards the Potala.
Lhasa in three days
- Day 1. Rest. Walk the Barkhor slowly in the afternoon, then a sweet-tea house.
- Day 2. The Potala at your slot, then the Jokhang and the Barkhor kora.
- Day 3. Norbulingka in the morning, Sera for the debates at 3 pm (not on a Sunday).
Questions about visiting Lhasa
How bad is the altitude in Lhasa?
Lhasa is at 3,650 metres, with about two thirds of the oxygen at sea level. Most people get a headache and short breath for a day or two. Rest, drink water, skip alcohol, climb nothing on day one.
Should I take altitude medicine for Lhasa?
Some travellers take acetazolamide (Diamox), starting the day before they arrive. It needs a prescription and doesn’t suit everyone, so ask your doctor. Pharmacies and hotels sell oxygen in cans.
Can you walk around Lhasa without your guide?
Usually yes for the Barkhor, restaurants and teahouses. The Potala, the big temples and monasteries, and anywhere outside Lhasa need your guide.
Train or plane to Lhasa?
The two-hour flight from Chengdu lifts you to 3,650 metres at once. The train from Xining climbs over about 20 hours, though it crosses a 5,000-metre pass.
Can you visit Everest Base Camp from Lhasa?
Yes, on an agency tour with extra permits, usually eight days: two or three in Lhasa first, then about 700 km each way by road.
Chinese you’ll see in Lhasa
Signs here are in Tibetan and Chinese; these are the Chinese ones you’ll meet most.
- 拉萨Lāsà
- Lhasa
- 布达拉宫Bùdálā Gōng
- the Potala Palace
- 大昭寺Dàzhāo Sì
- the Jokhang Temple
- 八廓街Bākuò Jiē
- the Barkhor
- 寺sì
- temple, monastery
- 海拔hǎibá
- altitude
- 转经zhuànjīng
- to walk the kora, circling a holy place
- 酥油茶sūyóuchá
- butter tea
- 氧气yǎngqì
- oxygen; sold in cans here
- 入藏函rùzàng hán
- the Tibet Travel Permit
Want more? Browse Chinese vocabulary by level.
Hear Lhasa in Mandarin
Arriving short of breath, climbing the Potala one flight at a time, and the Barkhor with the pilgrims at dawn.
The story is Lhasa: 3,650 Metres, and the Body Decides. Every level has a transcript, pinyin and English.
