
challenging
7–8 days
Moderate fitness suffices for long driving days and short walks at altitude; cardiovascular conditioning helps with breathing and stamina.
Drive the highway between Kathmandu and Lhasa on a high-altitude, culture-rich overland journey that reaches Everest’s north base camp. The 7-night route mixes high passes, sacred lakes, and classic Tibetan monasteries with practical guidance for coping with altitude and long drives.
The road unwinds out of Kathmandu before dawn: prayer flags flapping against the iron-blue of Himalayan sky, terraced fields receding into a thin haze. For eight days you trade the rattle of Nepalese highways for Tibet’s high plateau—an open, wind-carved country where the road itself feels like an expedition. By day three you’ll stand at Rongbuk’s approach, the north face of Everest filling the horizon like a weathered wall of light and shadow, while monasteries and yak-dotted plains scroll by like chapters in a very old book.

Submit passport details and visa information early—Tibet permits are mandatory and take time to process.
Spend your first full day taking it easy, hydrate often, and avoid alcohol to reduce altitude sickness risk.
Temperatures swing dramatically between sunlit days and frigid nights—pack a warm midlayer and windproof shell.
ATMs are scarce outside Lhasa and Shigatse; carry Chinese yuan for remote stops and tipping.
This route follows historic trade corridors between Nepal and Tibet; towns like Gyantse were important centers for salt and barley exchange and Buddhist scholarship.
The plateau ecosystem is fragile—minimize waste, avoid single-use plastics, and respect local grazing lands and sacred sites.
Insulation for nights and high passes where temperatures drop sharply.
winter specific
Support and grip for short walks around monasteries and on rocky viewpoint trails.
High-altitude dehydration is real—carry water and sip frequently.
summer specific
Intense UV at altitude can burn quickly, even on cloudy days.
summer specific