Tibet Travel - How to Get to Tibet?
The high altitude, rugged topography and harsh natural environment made Tibet almost inaccessible to the outside world for centuries. Nowadays, air, rail and road transportation services have been greatly improved and you can visit Tibet by air, rail or highway.
Flight or Train Travel to Tibet?
The popularity of train travel to Tibet has resulted in the huge demand for Tibet train tickets among visitors. It's very difficult for individual travelers to get a ticket on their own. Reliable travel agencies cannot even guarantee successful booking of the tickets. That's why many travel agencies would recommend you fly into Tibet and return by a train.
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Why train? |
Why not train? |
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Fares are cheaper than flying. |
It's quite a long journey and will make you feel tired. |
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It is an once-in-a-lifetime experience, for you will have the perfect chance to travel on the highest plateau of the world and appreciate some of the best plateau scenery in the world. |
Train tickets to Lhasa are very difficult to get. |
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It is better for visitors to acclimatize a bit the high altitude. |
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Why flight? |
Why not flight? |
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It is much faster and you can save much time. |
It is much more expensive. |
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It is easy to get the flight ticket |
Read more about Tibet air travel and Tibet train travel.
Suggestions and Tips:
1. The most captivating scenery along the way is from Xining to Lhasa. If time permits, you can take a flight to Xining, stay overnight there to acclimatize a bit high altitude, and then take a train to Lhasa. In this way, you can not only avoid the over 40 hours train ride from other cities to Lhasa, but also have the chance to see the Qinghai Lake and the Taer Temple in Xining and experience the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
2. If you are planning to see the beautiful scenery between Xining and Lhasa, maybe you should check the specific Tibet train schedule to ensure you travel this section during daytime.
3. Considering that it seems to be easier to get train tickets out of Lhasa, flying to Lhasa and taking the train out can be a good choice.
Overland to Lhsa, Tibet
Among the five highways, only Qinghai-Tibet Highway and Sino-Nepal Friendship Highway are open to foreigners at present.
Read more about overland to Tibet.
Tibet Travel Documents
Air Travel to Tibet
Train Travel to Tibet
High Altitude Travel Tips