Permits for
travelling to Tibet

Who needs a permit and who does not

A special permit is required to enter the Tibet Autonomous Region, including Lhasa.

It is not required for Tibetan areas outside the autonomous region: Xiahe and Labrang in Gansu, the Qinghai plateau, and the Tibetan parts of Sichuan and Yunnan. These you can visit on an ordinary tourist visa.

The distinction matters: many travellers assume that any trip to Tibetan culture needs a permit, and that is simply not true.

How the permit is arranged

The permit is applied for on your behalf by the Chinese agency, and to do so it needs:

• A valid Chinese visa (or residence permit).
• Scanned passports for every member of the group.
• A fixed itinerary: dates, cities, hotels and guide.
• Confirmed inbound and outbound flights or trains for the region.
• Recommended lead time: at least 15 days before arrival, and considerably more in high season.

Additional permits

Some areas require extra permits, arranged separately and usually taking longer:

• Border zones (Ngari, and parts of Nyingchi).
• Everest Base Camp.
• Temporary closures for works or for dates in the Tibetan calendar.

If the permit is refused or delayed

It happens, particularly around certain dates in the Tibetan calendar and during periods of visitor caps. That is why we design Tibet trips with margin and with a plan B: if the permit does not come through in time, we can rebuild the itinerary across the plateau (Qinghai, Gannan, Sichuan) without losing the trip.