4-Day Lhasa to Everest Base Camp Express
Lhasa · Yamdrok Lake · Gyantse · Shigatse · Everest Base Camp · Shigatse · Lhasa
The Route
Straight to the mountain, nothing else
This is the short version of the Everest run, and it is honest about what it skips. There is no Potala day, no Jokhang, no Barkhor — it is built for travellers who have already spent time in Lhasa, or who came to Tibet for one reason only: to stand at the foot of the north face of Everest.
Day one takes the classic overland road out of the valley: the Kamba La at 4,790m, turquoise Yamdrok Lake below it, the Karola Glacier hanging over the roadside, and the Kumbum stupa at Gyantse before you drop into Shigatse for the night. Day two is Tashilhunpo Monastery, then the long climb west over the Gyatso La at 5,248m and through the Gawu La into the Everest reserve, arriving at base camp for sunset. Day three you wake for sunrise at Rongbuk, the highest monastery on earth, and turn back. Day four returns to Lhasa along the Yarlung Tsangpo.
It moves fast and it gains height fast, which is why it runs privately: your guide can read how you are doing and adjust. If you have not been above 3,500m before, take the 8-day itinerary instead and let the altitude settle first — our acclimatisation plan explains why.
Trip Highlights
- ◆Everest Base Camp and a night at 5,200m in four days flat
- ◆Sunrise on the north face from Rongbuk, the highest monastery in the world
- ◆The full Friendship Highway run — Kamba La, Yamdrok, the Karola Glacier, Simi La
- ◆The Pelkor Chode monastery and the Nepali-style Gyantse Kumbum
- ◆Tashilhunpo, seat of the Panchen Lamas, and the world's largest Maitreya statue
- ◆Private guide and vehicle, any departure date, oxygen on board throughout
Day-by-Day Itinerary
Lhasa to Shigatse over the Kamba La
Out of the Lhasa valley and up onto the Kamba La at 4,790m, where Yamdrok Lake opens below in a colour that photographs badly and looks impossible in person; on a clear day Nyenchen Khangsar stands up at 7,191m behind it. The road runs the length of the lakeshore, past the Karola Glacier — the ice tongue comes almost to the tarmac — and over the Simi La, where you can hang prayer flags. At Gyantse, the Pelkor Chode monastery and its Kumbum, a nine-tier stupa of a hundred-odd chapels you can climb. Then barley fields all the way into Shigatse.
Meals: Breakfast·Overnight: Shigatse
Tashilhunpo, then the high passes to Everest
Tashilhunpo first thing — the seat of the Panchen Lamas, a monastery the size of a hill town, holding the largest gilded Maitreya statue in the world. Then the long westward drive: your Alien's Travel Permit is stamped in Shigatse, lunch at Lhatse, and the road climbs over the Tsola and the Gyatso La at 5,248m. You enter the Qomolangma reserve and cross the Gawu La at 5,198m, where five of the highest peaks on earth line up along the horizon. From there the switchbacks drop you at base camp at 5,200m in time for the last light on the summit.
Meals: Breakfast·Overnight: Everest Base Camp (tent or Rongbuk guesthouse)
Everest sunrise, Rongbuk, return to Shigatse
Up in the dark and out into the cold for sunrise: the single moment the summit turns from grey to rose is the reason people come this far. Afterwards, Rongbuk Monastery at 5,000m — monks and nuns living together at an altitude where most visitors can barely think straight — then back down through the reserve and over the passes to the warmth and thicker air of Shigatse.
Meals: Breakfast·Overnight: Shigatse
Shigatse to Lhasa along the Yarlung Tsangpo
The fast way home — about 280km and five to six hours on the highway that follows the Yarlung Tsangpo, the river that becomes the Brahmaputra. You are back in Lhasa in the afternoon with the rest of the day free, and we can drop you at the airport or station instead if you are flying out the same evening.
Meals: Breakfast·Overnight: Lhasa
What's Included
- ✓Tibet Travel Permit, Alien's Travel Permit and all required local permits
- ✓Licensed English-speaking Tibetan guide throughout
- ✓Private vehicle and driver — 4WD or minibus by party size — with oxygen on board
- ✓2 nights' hotel in Shigatse plus a heated tent or Rongbuk guesthouse room at Everest
- ✓All entrance fees for the sites listed, including the Qomolangma reserve fee
- ✓Travel accident insurance and a first-aid kit
Not Included
- —International and domestic flights or trains to and from Lhasa (we book these on request)
- —Chinese visa (we can provide the documents you need to apply)
- —Lunches and dinners, and the final night's hotel in Lhasa if you need one
- —Single-room supplement (price on request)
- —Tips for your guide and driver
- —Costs arising from force majeure — weather, road or permit closures
Accommodation
Comfortable 3- or 4-star hotels in Shigatse (the Gesar VIP or similar), and at Everest either a heated tent at base camp or a room in the Rongbuk Monastery guesthouse, depending on the season and what is open. Base-camp nights are basic by design: shared bathrooms, a stove, and a view no hotel can match.
Departures & Pricing
| Season | Per person |
|---|---|
| Winter (Dec–Mar) | $750 |
| Shoulder (Apr, Nov) | $830 |
| Peak (May–Oct) | $920 |
| Golden Week | $990 |
per person, twin-share, based on two travellers. Fixed small-group departures run on set dates — tell us your month and we'll confirm the next available group.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is fast. You go from 3,650m to 5,200m inside 48 hours, which is more than the textbooks recommend. It works well for travellers who have already spent three or four days in Lhasa or elsewhere on the plateau, and poorly for anyone arriving straight off a flight from sea level. If this is your first time at altitude, take the 8-day version.
Gallery
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