Permit Without Tour

Any foreign travelers who plan to travel to Tibet should obtain a Tibet Entry Permit which can only be applied by the Tibet travel agencies. Unfortunately, due to governmental regulations, we are not allowed to help with a Tibet Travel Permit for independent travelers anymore.

Since the strict regulations of Tibet tourism release in 2008, all foreign travelers traveling to Tibet should book Tibet tour services. An experienced tour guide, a car and a pre-arranged itinerary should be involved in the whole tour in Tibet. When applying for the Tibet Travel Permit from the Tourism Bureau of TAR, the Tibet travel agencies have to submit their elaborate tour schedule for approval including your guide, driver, vehicle, accommodation, itinerary, etc. Once the permit is issued, tourists are not able to change their trip schedule and travel itinerary at all.

Travelers, especially backpackers who long to travel to Tibet have to pay a lot for renting a car and hiring a tour guide for the whole tour but with limited flexibility. Therefore, it is necessary to book a Tibet Tour with an organized Tibet Travel Agency. If you wanna obtain the Tibet Permit without a tour, we have no choice but to say “no” to your inquiry. However, we have found some solutions to increase flexibility and reduce your cost as much as possible.

1. To increase flexibility

In order to increase the flexibility of your Tibet tour, you are suggested to apply for more destinations and a longer time than planned which makes it possible for you to extend or shorten your trip in Tibet flexibly within the validity of your permit.

2. To reduce the cost

As a professional Tibet travel operator based in Lhasa, Great Tibet Tour has designed some Tibet group tours to help tourists get down the expenses. We also can design tailor-made Private tours to suit your needs.

If you book a group tour with us, you can travel to Tibet at a cheaper price. Meanwhile, you should share the Tibetan guide and vehicles with others and the itinerary and hotels are fixed. There is no need to worry about our service because the group size is 12 persons at maximum, but mostly 4-8 persons which makes it possible for the tour guide to take care of every tourist. Our popular Tibet tour packages such as Lhasa to Everest Base Camp or Kathmandu to Lhasa Overland Tour are budget tours for tourists.

The Private Tour we offer to you is a little bit higher than the group tour. However, when choosing a private tour, you can have a private Tibetan guide and vehicle. Moreover, you are able to have a flexible itinerary that is fully customized, and a flexible hotel to meet your standard. The private tour is specially designed for you according to your demands and will not recruit other visitors to join in.

3. To obtain more free time

You can spend 1-2 free days shopping, resting, or doing other things you are interested in with the accompany of a tour guide.

4. Various kinds of permits

There are three kinds of Tibet Travel Permit.

• If you just want sightseeing around Lhasa, a Tibet Entry Permit will meet your requirements;
• If you want to explore places outside Lhasa such as Mount Everest, you need to obtain both the Tibet Entry Permit and Alien Travel Permit;
• If you want to travel to backend areas such as Mt Kailash, you need to get an extra Military Permit.

For more details, please feel free to contact our travel consultant and we can arrange your permits accordingly.