Tibet with older children: 9 days, no high passes

Tibet is not a destination for young children, and we will say so before you ask. Lhasa is at about 11,995 feet (3,656 m) and the risks of altitude are the same for a child as for an adult, with one important difference: a young child is much less able to describe a headache accurately, to tell you the difference between tired and unwell, or to report that something has changed. That reporting is the main early warning system at altitude, and it is what makes very young travellers harder to keep safe here.

So we build Tibet for families with children of roughly twelve and up, and even then we build it differently: no high passes, a long stay at one elevation, a drop to a lower valley in the middle rather than a climb, and rest days that are genuinely rest days. If your children are younger than that, tell us and we will suggest somewhere else in the region rather than sell you this.

For a family that fits, it is an exceptional trip. Older children take to Tibet in a way that surprises parents: the monasteries are busy, physical, noisy places rather than quiet museums, the debating courtyard at Sera is genuine theatre, and the landscape is on a scale nothing at home prepares them for.

Who it suits: families with children roughly twelve and older, and no significant heart or lung conditions in the party.

Your specialist: Asaf Zamshtein, who runs our China desk, with your named Tibet specialist and our licensed Lhasa partner team.

A note on who is on the ground. Our own offices are in Japan, Vietnam, India and the Philippines. Tibet is not one of them and could not be, because only a locally licensed operator can hold the permits. Your guide and driver are Tibetan, from a Lhasa partner we have used for years.

Day by day

Day 1: Arrive Lhasa. Met at the airport, an hour into the city, and nothing else. Everyone drinks water, eats something and goes to bed early. No walk, no first look at the old town, no exceptions.

Day 2: Rest, and a very short walk. A late start. One hour on the Barkhor, the pilgrimage circuit around the Jokhang, walking clockwise at the pace of the pilgrims, then a sweet tea house. Back to the hotel by lunch. Afternoon in the hotel: cards, books, sleep.

This day looks like nothing and it is doing the most important work of the trip.

Day 3: Jokhang, and the Sera debates. The Jokhang in the morning, which is a working temple full of pilgrims rather than a monument, and better for it. Short.

Afternoon at Sera monastery for the debating courtyard, where monks argue formal philosophy with a clapping gesture that lands on every point. It is loud, physical and entirely unlike any idea a teenager has of a monastery, and it is the thing they will describe when they get home. Most afternoons other than Sunday.

Day 4: The Potala, then free. The Potala Palace, ticketed and timed and capped, with about an hour inside and several hundred steps to reach it. On day four rather than day two, deliberately.

Afternoon free. A thangka painting studio, where the children can try the brushwork, is the option most families take.

Day 5: Down to the Yarlung valley. Drive south-east to Tsedang, about three hours, and this is the direction we go instead of over a pass: the valley sits at around 11,650 feet (3,550 m), slightly lower than Lhasa, and the road stays low the whole way.

Afternoon at Yumbulagang, a small fortress-temple on a ridge said to be the oldest building in Tibet, with a short climb and a big view over the barley fields.

Day 6: Samye. The first Buddhist monastery built in Tibet, laid out as a model of the Buddhist universe with a great temple in the middle and chapels at the compass points. It is a good place to explain the whole of Tibetan Buddhism in an hour, which is exactly what our guides do here.

Afternoon by the river. Sand dunes, water and nothing scheduled.

Day 7: Back to Lhasa. Return drive, about three hours, arriving for lunch. Afternoon at Drepung monastery, taking the vehicle high and walking down, or the market and a cooking session making momos, which is the most popular option with children of any age.

Day 8: A day out, or a day off. Two versions and we ask which you are. Ganden monastery, an hour and a half out of the city on a ridge with a walking circuit around it, which is the best short walk near Lhasa. Or a genuinely empty day in the city, with a picnic on the river.

Day 9: Departure. Transfer to the airport, about an hour.

What is included

All permits obtained and delivered before travel, accommodation with breakfast in two hotels with rooms that fit a family rather than a rollaway bed in a double, a licensed English-speaking Tibetan guide chosen for working well with teenagers and a private vehicle with driver throughout, all entries including the timed Potala ticket, bottled oxygen in the vehicle, a written descent plan for every night, a momo cooking session, a VPN and the Chinese payment apps set up before you fly, a day-by-day document with the elevation of every night and realistic timings, and a WhatsApp group with your consultant and our Lhasa team, with WeChat alongside as a local fallback.

What we would change, and when

• Children under twelve? We would suggest a different destination, and we would rather do that than take the booking. Nepal, Bhutan or Yunnan give you the Himalaya at elevations that are far more forgiving.
• A teenager who wants Everest? We understand the appeal and we would still say no on a first trip. The base camp road sleeps at around 16,500 feet (5,000 m) in an unheated guesthouse, and it is the wrong place to discover how a young traveller responds to altitude.
• Eleven days? Add two nights in Gyantse and Shigatse, which brings in one pass at about 15,700 feet (4,790 m). Reasonable for a fit sixteen year old who has handled Lhasa well.
• A family member with asthma or a heart condition? Tell us at the first email and speak to your own doctor before booking. It may still be workable and it changes what we build.

Honest notes

Everyone will feel something in the first two days: headache, poor sleep, no appetite. Say so out loud as a family, several times a day, and make it normal to report it. Confusion, an unsteady walk, or breathlessness while sitting still means descending immediately, at any hour, and our guide will act on it without waiting to be asked.

There is not much here that is designed for children. No theme parks, no aquariums, no beach. What there is instead is a place completely unlike anywhere they have been, and older children generally find that more interesting than anything designed for them.

Days are shorter than they look. We schedule one thing in the morning and one thing after four, with the middle of the day free, because that is what works at this altitude for everyone.

Food is limited. Lhasa has good Sichuan, Nepali and Tibetan restaurants and a narrow range beyond that, and picky eaters should expect a repetitive week. We tell you which restaurants have the safest options.

Built by Asaf Zamshtein, who runs our China desk, and checked with our licensed Lhasa partner before it goes out.

Related

• Tibet: the complete guide
• Classic Tibet in 8 days
• Monasteries and the Tibetan table in 10 days