Tibet Overland Journeys

Flying into Lhasa takes two hours and skips the best part of the country. Coming in by road takes days, and it is those days that turn a holiday into a journey: the climb out of the Chinese cities, the grasslands of the Qinghai plateau, the first sight of the Nyenchen Tanglha range, and the moment the road finally drops into the Lhasa valley. This page is about the roads, the seasons and the paperwork, written from our own driving experience.

The five roads into Tibet

Every overland approach follows one of a handful of corridors, and they are not interchangeable. Which one suits you depends on how much time you have, how well you handle altitude, and whether you want the fastest crossing or the most scenic one.

Qinghai–Tibet Highway (G109). The classic. From Xining across the Qinghai plateau and through Golmud, past Qinghai Lake and over the Kunlun pass, to Lhasa in four to six days. The gentlest gradient of them all, and the corridor the railway shadows — which makes it the most comfortable way to gain altitude on the way in. It is also the oldest of the five: this is the corridor Huc and Gabet’s caravan followed out of Qinghai in 1845, on the journey we retrace in In the Footsteps of Huc & Gabet.

Sichuan–Tibet Highway, southern line (G318). The one everybody photographs: Kangding, the grasslands of Litang, the deep gorges of the eastern ranges, and the long climb onto the plateau. Rough underfoot, spectacular throughout, and the fastest way to see what Kham actually looks like.

Sichuan–Tibet Highway, northern line (G317). Quieter, higher and more remote than the G318, running through the monastery country of Dege and the grasslands of northern Kham. Fewer travellers, longer days, better monasteries.

Yunnan–Tibet Highway (G214). Up from Shangri-La and Deqin, past the Meili Snow Mountains, to join the G318 near Markam. The most dramatic start of any approach, and the one that adds the most altitude gain in the shortest distance.

From Nepal — the Friendship Highway. Kathmandu to Lhasa across the Gyirong border, with Everest’s north face, Peiku Tso, Saga and Shigatse along the way. The classic Nepal–Tibet road, and still the finest way to combine the two countries in one journey.

Why take days to do what a plane does in hours

Altitude, and the way it changes what you see. Arriving by air puts you at 3,650 m by mid-afternoon; arriving by road puts you there after several days of gradual gain, which is why guests who drive in rarely spend their first days in Lhasa with a headache. There is also the plainer fact that the plateau is the destination. The Tanggula grasslands, the salt lakes, the nomad camps and the truck convoys grinding over 5,000 m passes are none of them visible from a window at 11,000 m.

Driving yourself, or being driven

Foreign visitors cannot drive in Tibet on an ordinary licence, and this is the most misunderstood point about overland travel here. A private journey comes with a licensed local driver and vehicle; that is the standard arrangement and the comfortable one. For guests who genuinely want their hands on the wheel — self-drive convoys, motorcycle groups — there is a separate and more demanding framework. See overland and self-drive journeys for how that works in practice.

Permits, and how they work on the road

Overland travel needs the same paperwork as any other foreign visit — the Tibet Travel Permit and the Alien’s Travel Permit, both arranged through us before you arrive — plus, on some roads, border defence permits for the districts you cross. Because the route determines the permits, the route has to be settled before the paperwork goes in, which is why overland journeys are planned further ahead than a flight-and-Lhasa trip. We confirm the exact permits for your dates when you book.

When the roads are open

April to October is the overland season. July and August bring the rains, which means washouts and landslides on the Sichuan and Yunnan lines in particular; the Qinghai road stays open but the high passes can be slow. Winter closes the Sichuan and Yunnan approaches for long stretches and the border posts on the Friendship Highway, while the G109 runs year-round with snow delays. Cross-border traffic is seasonal, and some crossings open only five days a week.

Overland journeys we run

Crossings we run regularly

These follow the roads described above. Every one is private and can be reversed, shortened or combined with the Nepal side.

Nepal into Tibet

7 Days Overland Tour from Kathmandu to Lhasa

Seven days from Kathmandu across the Gyirong border to Lhasa — the Friendship Highway, with Everest’s north face on the way.

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Tibet into Nepal

9 Days Lhasa to Kathmandu Overland Tour via Everest

The same corridor in the other direction, with Everest and Shigatse built into the crossing.

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The Qinghai corridor

11 Days Overland Tour Following the Train Running Route from Xining to Lhasa

Eleven days following the railway line on the ground from Xining to Lhasa — Qinghai Lake, Golmud and the Kunlun pass, done properly.

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The G318 from Sichuan

Amazing G318: 10 Days Sichuan Tibet Epic Overland Tour in Small Group

Ten days on the southern Sichuan–Tibet highway, from the Chengdu basin up onto the plateau and across to Lhasa.

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Built to order

The longer readings of the plateau — Silk Road and Gansu approaches, or the eastern Tibetan country on the way in — are drafted with you rather than sold from a shelf.

Silk Road to Tibet overland

China & Tibet · private · 14–20 days

The desert corridor first, then the Qinghai plateau and the long descent into the Lhasa valley — the widest reading of the overland idea.

Xi'an · Gansu corridor · Qinghai · Golmud · Lhasa

Ask about this journey

Drive or ride it yourself

Tibet · private · 10–18 days

Self-drive convoys and motorcycle groups, run inside a declared vehicle permission with a guide and a support vehicle.

Lhasa · plateau highways · Everest · Lhasa

See how self-drive works

More on the plateau routes

• Plateau to Silk Road — Hoh Xil & Dunhuang