Updated 24 October 2026 · Altitude Planning Tool
Tibet is not a single altitude — it is a sequence of them. A gentle Lhasa week and an Everest or Kailash route are entirely different physiological propositions. This tool shows you the day-by-day elevation profile of each classic route, where the risk thresholds sit, and how Lhasa compares with the high cities and peaks you may already know.
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Choose a route below. The chart shows the sleeping altitude for each day, the highest point crossed during the day, and the 3,000 m / 4,000 m / 5,000 m thresholds that matter for acclimatisation.
Lhasa Essentials — 4 days
Putting Tibet in Perspective
“3,650 metres” is an abstract number until you compare it with places you know. The chart below places Tibetan destinations alongside well-known high cities, famous global cities and major peaks. Choose a filter to narrow the list.
What Actually Happens
It is about how quickly your body can adapt to lower oxygen pressure. Understanding the mechanism makes the practical rules feel less arbitrary — and makes it easier to judge when a symptom is serious.
At 3,650 m, the air pressure is roughly 65% of sea-level pressure. Each breath still contains the same percentage of oxygen, but the partial pressure of oxygen is lower, so less oxygen reaches your blood with each breath. At 5,200 m, it is closer to 50%. At 5,630 m on Dolma La, it is around 48%.
This is why altitude sickness can affect fit and unfit people alike. Your baseline cardiovascular fitness helps, but it does not change the physics of oxygen pressure.
Within hours, your breathing rate increases and your kidneys begin to excrete bicarbonate to acidify the blood, which helps you breathe more efficiently. Over several days, your body produces more red blood cells and capillaries. None of this happens overnight. The first 24–48 hours at a new altitude are when your compensation is weakest.
Mild acute mountain sickness (AMS) — headache, fatigue, poor appetite, mild nausea — is common and usually settles with rest and hydration. The danger signs are breathlessness at rest, confusion, coughing, and inability to walk in a straight line. These suggest high-altitude pulmonary or cerebral oedema, which require immediate descent. Do not wait to see if they improve.
The Practical Rules
These are the instructions we give in writing to every client, not generic internet advice. They are conservative because the consequences of ignoring them are disproportionately large.
Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers to the questions that come up most often before a first Tibet trip.
Lhasa sits at roughly 3,650 metres (11,975 ft). That is almost identical to La Paz, Bolivia (about 3,640 m), and slightly higher than Cusco, Peru (about 3,400 m). For comparison, Mexico City is about 2,240 m, Bogotá about 2,625 m, and Quito about 2,850 m.
Lhasa is one of the highest capital-region cities in the world, and the altitude is felt immediately on arrival because the airport is at 3,570 m and the city itself is at 3,650 m. There is no gradual drive from sea level.
The Tibet-side Everest Base Camp is at 5,200 metres (17,060 ft). The nearby Rongbuk Monastery is at about 5,100 m, and the Gyawu La Pass on the approach is at 5,210 m.
Most travellers sleep at tent camps or guesthouses near Rongbuk, not at the actual base camp itself. Oxygen is usually available, and the night is cold — often well below freezing even in summer.
For the classic Lhasa–Everest route, the highest point is usually the Gyawu La Pass at around 5,210 m, followed by Everest Base Camp at 5,200 m.
For the Mount Kailash kora, the highest point is Dolma La Pass at 5,630 m — the highest most travellers will ever stand under their own power. For comparison, Mont Blanc is 4,810 m, Kilimanjaro 5,895 m, and Aconcagua 6,962 m.
The widely used rule above 3,000 m is to keep the altitude at which you sleep from rising more than about 300–500 m per day, and to include a rest day every 1,000 m of ascent.
In practice, most Tibet itineraries are more conservative than that because the road journey from Lhasa to Everest or Kailash naturally involves long drives at moderate altitude before the high passes. The key is not to rush the first two days in Lhasa.
Hot water increases blood circulation and can raise oxygen demand at a moment when your body is already working hard to adapt to lower oxygen levels. Many travellers also catch a chill after a shower, and a cold at altitude can quickly worsen into something more serious.
The advice is not superstition — it is repeated by Tibetan hospitals and government health guidance. A warm shower on day two or three, once you have settled, is usually fine.
Not routinely. Most hotels in Lhasa have oxygen on hand if needed, and many Everest tour vehicles carry oxygen. But routine oxygen at night is not necessary for most healthy travellers and can mask the normal acclimatisation process.
If you feel breathless at rest, have a persistent headache that does not respond to paracetamol, or feel confused, use oxygen and seek medical advice. The decision should be based on symptoms, not on altitude alone.
Planning a Route?
The charts above show the altitude sequence. What they cannot show is how your specific itinerary, season and health history interact with it. That is a conversation worth having before you book flights.
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