Frequently Asked Questions

If you travel in Amdo and Kham you do not need a tour guide. However, if you do not speak Tibetan or Chinese, you may find it a bit difficult to communicate, get around, or discover the best local spots without one! If you travel to Lhasa or anywhere else inside the Tibetan Autonomous Region, you are required to have both a tour guide and a hired car. While you are free to wander around Lhasa on your own if you please, you will definitely need to bring your guide with you if you visit the Potala Palace, Drepung Monastery, or Sera Monastery. Your travel agency will be fined if you go to these places without a tour guide, so please act responsibly. If you travel outside of Lhasa, your tour guide must accompany you in the land cruiser. There are frequent road checks that will check to make sure you are following the rules.

All foreigners entering the Tibetan Autonomous Region require a Tibet Travel Permit issued from the Tibet Tourism Bureau in Lhasa. You cannot apply for one directly; you must go through a travel agency to obtain one. The permit takes approximately 5-10 days to process. We’ll need a scanned color copy of your passport and Chinese visa to process the permit. For more info, please go to our page on Tibet Travel Info.

Peak season is April-October, though you can visit any time of year. In the summer, the weather is warm, the trees are green, and the flowers are blooming. It is best to trek in the spring, summer, or fall, and there are numerous festivals during these seasons.Tibet is also great during the winter. In the winter, Tibetans from all over the plateau flock to Lhasa to go on pilgrimage. There are very few tourists and great off-season deals on hotel and ticket prices. Though Lhasa is cold (-10C to 10C/14F-50F), it is certainly not frigid. If you can, try to go during Losar, the Tibetan New Year (usually held in February). It’s one of the best festivals all year. Amdo and Kham are colorful places to visit in the winter, though it is cold and snowy. Still, for those interested in reaping all the advantages of the low-season, they are excellent destinations. During the Tibetan New Year Losar Festival, which lasts two weeks, it is possible to drive from town to town, celebrating with the people from each village. (We think this is one of our best trips.) Heavy snow makes it difficult to travel to Ngari in the winter, though it is still possible. If you plan to visit Mt. Kailash, Mt. Amyne Machen, Kawa Karpo, or Namtso Lake, definitely go in the summer, when the passes are not blocked by snow.

The best way to experience Tibet is to go there! Lhasa is a great place to visit historic sites and get a glimpse of modern Tibetan life, while Amdo and Kham are the best places to see traditional nomadic culture. For an authentic, fulfilling visit to Tibet, you must have a native Tibetan guide. Many of the Chinese guides are relocated from other areas of China and don’t have a real understanding of the people or culture of Tibet that make it so amazing.SnowLion Tours is a Tibetan-owned and run business. We are fully committed to providing our customers with highly-qualified Tibetan guides, drivers, porters, and cooks. We believe it’s the best way to share our culture with you.

Tibet is a plateau region located in central Asia. The Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR), or Xizang, is a southwestern province of China. Other Tibetan ethnic and cultural areas, such as Amdo and Kham, are located in the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan.

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If you stay in Lhasa, you must make your reservations through the travel agency that arranges your Tibet Travel Permit. The Lonely Planet guidebook is a good resource to consult for places to stay in Lhasa, Amdo, and Kham. In Lhasa, a double room with bathroom goes for 350-400RMB in the high season and 250-300 RMB in the low season. A bed in a dorm-style room will go for 10 RMB to 100 RMB. Though, foreigners are not allowed to stay most of the youth hostel or guesthouses in Lhasa and other Tibetan regions. You do not need to reserve hotel rooms outside of Lhasa. You can book a room upon your arrival, though there is a chance that they’ll have no vacancies. Your travel agency can help contact hotels beforehand to reserve rooms for you if need be. And it’s best to book your hostel or hotel room beforehand if you’re traveling to Xining or Chengdu!