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Lhasa · China

Car hire and driving in Lhasa

Driving distances to the cities around, the rules that change at the border, and where to compare rental prices.

OverviewFlightsHotelsTrainsBusesCar rentalTours

In China traffic drives on the right. Picking up at LXA means 43 km (27 mi) into the centre before the trip starts. The emergency number is http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q25648823 / http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q25648851 / http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q2807090.

Drives from Lhasa

Car rental from Lhasa: distances and estimated journey times
RouteCountryDistanceEstimated time
Lhasa to LhokaChina79 km (49 mi)about 1 h 13 min
Lhasa to NyingchiChina315 km (195 mi)about 4 h 48 min
Lhasa to YushuChina674 km (418 mi)about 10 h 16 min
Lhasa to Shangri-LaChina863 km (536 mi)about 13 h 10 min
Lhasa to LushuiChina874 km (543 mi)about 13 h 20 min
Lhasa to TengyueChina896 km (557 mi)about 13 h 40 min
Lhasa to MengmaoChina919 km (571 mi)about 14 h 1 min
Lhasa to Longling CountyChina938 km (583 mi)about 14 h 19 min
Lhasa to BaoshanChina942 km (585 mi)about 14 h 22 min
Lhasa to LijiangChina945 km (587 mi)about 14 h 25 min
Lhasa to DaliChina1,005 km (624 mi)about 15 h 19 min
Lhasa to XiangchengChina1,042 km (647 mi)about 15 h 53 min
Lhasa to ChongqingChina1,493 km (928 mi)about 22 h 46 min
Lhasa to ChengduChina1,251 km (777 mi)about 19 h 5 min
Lhasa to Xi’anChina1,756 km (1,091 mi)about 26 h 46 min
Lhasa to WuzhongChina1,672 km (1,039 mi)about 25 h 29 min
Lhasa to KunmingChina1,256 km (780 mi)about 19 h 9 min
Lhasa to GuiyangChina1,568 km (974 mi)about 23 h 54 min
Lhasa to LanzhouChina1,385 km (861 mi)about 21 h 7 min
Lhasa to YinchuanChina1,704 km (1,059 mi)about 25 h 59 min

Distances are straight-line; road and rail routes run about 15–25% longer. Times are estimates from distance and typical speeds, not timetables.

Where to compare car hire

ExpediaCar hire from the major suppliers, and the one to look at if the flight or hotel is already booked there. Part of Expedia Group.Check car hire on Expedia (opens www.expedia.com in a new tab)
DiscoverCarsCompares local and international suppliers. Read the counter reviews before you pick.Check rental cars on DiscoverCars (opens www.discovercars.com in a new tab)
Rentalcars.comBooking.com's car arm, with wide airport coverage worldwide.Compare suppliers on Rentalcars.com (opens www.rentalcars.com in a new tab)
Every link above leaves this site.

We take no bookings for these providers and hold no reservation with them. The provider you choose handles payment, confirmation, changes and refunds. How that works.

Common questions

Which side of the road do they drive on in Lhasa?

The right, as everywhere in China.

How are the journey times on this page worked out?

From straight-line distance and typical speeds for each mode, so they are estimates for planning, not timetables. Road and rail routes run 15–25% longer than the straight line.

Where these facts come from

  • GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, elevation, time zone, postal codes
  • Wikidata (CC0): area, sister cities, visitor numbers, heritage listings, stations and ports
  • OurAirports (public domain): airports, runways
  • Natural Earth (public domain): map outlines

Data compiled 13 September 2026. Hotel figures are from our booking partner’s catalogue on that date. Journey times on this page are estimates from distance, not timetables; check the operator before you rely on one.