The Potala Palace in Morning Sunlight

Getty Images/Flickr RF

Potala Palace

Top choice in Lhasa


The magnificent Potala Palace, once the seat of the Tibetan government and the winter residence of the Dalai Lamas, is Lhasa's cardinal landmark. Your first sight of its towering, fortress-like walls is a moment you'll remember for years. An architectural wonder even by modern standards, the palace rises 13 storeys from 130m-high Marpo Ri (Red Hill) and contains more than 1000 rooms. Pilgrims and tourists alike shuffle open-mouthed through the three storeys, past the dozens of magnificent chapels, golden stupas and prayer halls.

The first recorded use of the site was in the 7th century AD, when King Songtsen Gampo built a palace here. Construction of the present structure began during the reign of the fifth Dalai Lama in 1645 and took divisions of labourers and artisans more than 50 years to complete. It is impressive enough to have caused Chinese premier Zhou Enlai to send his own troops to protect it from the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution.

The layout of the Potala Palace includes the rooftop White Palace (the eastern part of the building), used for the living quarters of the Dalai Lama, and the central Red Palace, used for religious functions. The most stunning chapels of the Red Palace house the jewel-bedecked golden chörten (Tibetan stupa) tombs of several previous Dalai Lamas. The apartments of the 13th and 14th Dalai Lamas, in the White Palace, offer a more personal insight into palace life.

Tickets for the Potala are limited and your guide will need to book a time slot several days in advance. Arrive at the palace an hour or so before your allotted time. After a security check (no water or lighters allowed), follow the other visitors to the stairs up into the palace. Halfway up you'll pass the ticket booth, where you'll buy your ticket. Note that if you arrive later than the time on your voucher (or if you forget your voucher) you can be refused a ticket. Photography isn't allowed inside the chapels.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Lhasa attractions

1. Red Palace

0.01 MILES

You start the tour of the main Potala building from the top and descend through the bowels of the building to exit on the ground floor. The gilded buddhas…

2. White Palace

0.05 MILES

On the roof of the Potala, the private quarters of the 13th and 14th Dalai Lamas are to the right. The Dalai Lamas would have watched festival dances…

3. Deyang Shar

0.06 MILES

Entry to the Potala is up two steep access ramps that will soon leave you wheezing in the oxygen-depleted air. The stairs lead past the ticket office to…

4. Shöl

0.12 MILES

Nestled at the southern foot of Marpo Ri (Shöl literally means ‘at the base’), the former village of Shöl was once Lhasa’s red-light district, as well as…

5. Treasures of the Potala Exhibition

0.13 MILES

This recently improved exhibition hall in the Potala complex is worth a quick visit for the stunning 15th-century lotus-shaped Vajradhara mandala (just…

6. Lukhang Temple

0.17 MILES

The Lukhang is a little-visited temple on a charming island in a lake, behind the Potala in the pleasant Dzongyab Lukhang Park. The Lukhang is celebrated…

7. Phurbu Chok Hermitage Mani Lhakhang

0.19 MILES

Pilgrims walking the Potala kora keep the huge prayer wheel spinning constantly in this charming chapel on the eastern side of the Potala. A stall across…

8. Sha Rigsum Lhakhang

0.19 MILES

The northeastern corner of the Potala kora is home to this small prayer hall, humming with the murmurs of chanting nuns.

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "china/tibet/lhasa/attractions/potala-palace/a/poi-sig/435266/356124",
      "destination": "Lhasa",
      "continent": "Asia",
      "country": "China",
      "region": "Tibet",
      "city": "Lhasa",
      "position": "superzone"
    }