Lhasa's history is stacked in layers: Yarlung dynasty temples from the 640s, Gelugpa monastic universities from 1409, Qing amban residences, and a 2006 railway. Three days of tombs, chapels, treaty pillars and old-quarter mansions.
Founded c.641 by Princess Wencheng to house the Jowo Sakyamuni she brought from Chang'an; the statues were later swapped with Jokhang's. Now Lhasa's Upper Tantric College. Open 09:00–18:00, entry ¥20.
A stone stele at Jokhang's southwest corner inscribed in Tibetan and Chinese with the 821–823 CE peace treaty between Tibet's Tsenpo Ralpachen and Tang Emperor Muzong, fixing borders 'until Tibet and China are one'. Free.
Site of the Chakpori medical college founded 1696 by regent Desi Sangye Gyatso, Tibet's premier institution of Sowa Rigpa medicine, shelled to rubble in the March 1959 uprising. Rock carvings and thousands of mani stones remain.
Tucked behind Jokhang on the Barkhor circuit, this small courtyard monastery traces to the 9th-century reign of Ralpachen and was home to the scribes who worked on Tibetan grammar and translation. Rebuilt in the 1980s.
Opened 1999, rebuilt and reopened 2022 next to Norbulingka. Halls cover Neolithic Chamdo Karuo finds, Yarlung dynasty seals, Qing-era golden urns and Ming imperial edicts to Tibetan lamas. Free with passport, 09:30–17:00, closed Mondays.
A 37m abstract concrete stele on Potala Square, unveiled May 2002 to mark the 1951 Seventeen Point Agreement. Its shape references Mount Qomolangma; the plaza hosts the annual 23 May commemorations.
Begun 1755 under the seventh Dalai Lama; the Takten Migyur Potrang (New Summer Palace, 1954–56) holds the fourteenth Dalai Lama's Art Deco furniture, radio and murals, and the room he left on the night of 17 March 1959. Entry ¥60.
Terminus of the Qinghai–Tibet Railway, opened 1 July 2006 after crossing 550km of permafrost and the 5,072m Tanggula Pass — the single biggest change to Tibetan demography and trade since 1951. Granite form echoes a Tibetan fortress.
Founded 1416 by Jamyang Choje, once the world's largest monastery with 10,000 monks and the seat of the Dalai Lamas at Ganden Podrang before the Potala. Four colleges, the Coqen Hall and Nechung oracle shrine below. Entry ¥60.
The old quarter's warren of two-storey stone-and-timber courtyard houses, some 300 years old. This chapel honours the 15th-century engineer-saint who built Tibet's iron chain bridges and founded Ache Lhamo opera. Free.
Founded 1419 by Sakya Yeshe, a disciple of Tsongkhapa; three colleges trained the Gelug scholastic elite. Monks debate aloud in the courtyard from about 15:00 on weekdays. Entry ¥50, hermitages on the hill above are free.
Shide was a royal-era temple later tied to the regent Reting Rinpoche, ruined after 1959; nearby Yabshi Phunkhang is the restored aristocratic mansion of the eleventh Dalai Lama's family, now a teahouse and guesthouse.