Tips for Visiting Potala Palace

Tips for Visiting Potala Palace – Transportation

Potala Palace is located in the downtown of Lhasa City with convenient transportation. Tibet Tour would always arrange our tourists with a private vehicle according to your group size. Our driver would sent you to the entrance and wait for you at the exit of Potala Palace while our local Tibetan guide leading you to explore the charm of the splendid ancient palace. For self-help tourists, it would be very convenient to take a taxi to Potala Palace from your hotel.

Tips for Visiting Potala Palace – Delicious Food

There are only few restaurants around Potala Palace. Some of the tourists are pretty interested in the life and catering of the devout pilgrims here for pilgrimage. It would be a good choice to go to the back foot of Potala Palace where you could experience the catering of the pilgrims after your visiting. The sidewalk snack booths here provide the most common and local Tibetan food, such as the Tibetan style bean jelly, Tibetan style noodles and Tibetan style sweet tea.

Tips for Visiting Potala Palace – Entrance Ticket

The price of the entrance ticket of Potala Palace is 200 RMB in the peak season and 100 RMB in the low season. Besides, there is strict restriction on the number of visitors for the protection of Potala Palace. Tourists are required to book the entrance ticket one day in advance and purchase the ticket with your reservation list on the second day during the peak season.

Tips for Visiting Potala Palace – Taboos

Tourists making a visit to Potala Palace are required to respect all the traditions and taboos of Tibetan Buddhism. You must take off your cap and sunglasses and you can't step on the threshold. All the tourists are required to finish the visiting in one hour which means you have no time to extra stop. Photographing is prohibited in Potala Palace. Tourists could only take some photos of the outlook of Potala Palace before entering.

The golden roofs on the top of Potala Palace are not opened to tourists since 2006. The halls opening to tourists are pretty changeable due to sporadic maintenance and repair. But the most important halls would be opened to tourists all around the year. Tourists might have some windfall if you visit Potala Palace on the important festivals, such as the Shoton Festival and the Tibetan New Year.

Other Tips for Visiting Potala Palace

There is no public toilet opened to tourists in Potala Palace.

Tourists planning to pay a visit to Potala Palace are highly advised to wear a pair of flat shoes for there are many steps in Potala Palace. In addition, the light in Potala Palace is pretty somber for the preservation and protection of the precious historical and cultural relics in Potala Palace.

Some of the palaces in Potala Palace are pretty gloomy and cold. Tourists making a Tibet tour are highly advised to prepare a warm coat before entering into Potala Palace.

The best point to take a panorama of Potala Palace is the hill across the street. That hill would be opened to tourists between 6:30 and 18:00 in summer.