How to Get the Train Tickets to Tibet?

Generally, the period between May and October is the high season of Tibet tour. How to get the train tickets to Tibet has been a large concern for tourists planning to join the Tibet train tours. Actually, there is extremely large demand of Tibet train tickets between July and September. As a professional Tibet tour operator, Tibet Tour would like to provide tips regarding how to get the train tickets for tourists' reference.

Lhasa is the collection and distribution center no matter you are planning to visit which region in Tibet. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the only railway to Tibet so far. It starts at Xining City in Qinghai Province and ends at Lhasa currently. It is reported that the extended section of Qinghai-Tibet Railway – Lhasa-Shigatse Railway is under construction. There are 22 trains running between Lhasa and a series of domestic cities, including Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Lanzhou, Beijing, Shanghai and Xining.

How to Get the Train Tickets to Tibet – Online/Telephone Booking

Originally, tourists planning to join the Tibet train tours could only purchase the Tibet train tickets at the wickets or book the tickets through a Tibet tour operator. With the development of science, the online booking service is opened to meet the demand of tourists. Generally, tourists could book the Tibet train tickets online about 12 days in advance. While booking the train tickets online, domestic tourists are required to provide the ID card while foreign tourists are required to provide the passport. Besides, tourists could also book the train tickets to Lhasa by telephone in advance and withdraw the ticket from the wicket before your departure time.

How to Get the Train Tickets to Tibet – Take a Transfer at XiAn/Xining

The direct trains to Lhasa are opened in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Chongqing. The trains to Tibet departure from Beijing and Shanghai are available every day while the trains to Tibet from Chongqing, Chnegdu and Guangzhou are available on every other day. Some tourists would like to take a transfer via Xining or XiAn when they find it is difficult to get the Tibet train tickets from these bigger cities. That means the train journey to Tibet might be composed of two sections and tourists have to book two tickets in advance.

While a lot of tourists prefer to book all the tickets in advance, the others would like to get the train ticket to Xining first and then buy the ticket to Lhasa at the wicket in Xining. There are more than 10 trains heading to Lhasa via Xining and the number of trains would even be more in the peak season of Tibet tour. But the demand of train tickets would always surpass the supply in July and August every year. For tourists who cant get the train tickets between Xining and Lhasa, there are two choices – take the long-distance bus or by air. It takes about 31 hours to take the bus to Lhasa from Xining through the Qinghai-Tibet Highway. And it takes less than 2.5 hours to get to Lhasa Gonggar Airport from Xining Caojiabao Airport.