Ride to the Roof of the World: Mount Everest and Beyond

Everest Base Camp comes overland, through a town literally named after the fictional paradise from Lost Horizon – twenty nights from the banks of the Mekong to the roof of the world.

From£10,995pp

Duration20 days

StyleAdventure

Best suited toExperienced riders

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An independent Stradora pick. Details from the operator's published information, last checked 28 Oct 2026. Stradora DiscoveryChosen independently by our editors because we think it's worth the drive. We're not partnered with this operator: dates, prices and booking are handled by them, and we last checked their published details on 28 Oct 2026.

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20 nights through China

Twenty nights and four countries, from the Mekong in northern Thailand through Laos, into Yunnan and across Tibet to Everest base camp and Lhasa. There is nothing else like it in the operator’s range. Fly in and hire a bike from the local partner.

Thailand starts it on the river, then Laos and the crossing into China. Yunnan follows through rainforest and high passes to Erhai lake and the walled old city of Dali, which dates in its present form from the Ming dynasty, then Lijiang, where eight-hundred-year-old bridges cross a network of waterways below Yulong Snow Mountain.

The Tiger Leaping Gorge comes next, where the Yangtze runs through a cleft between two ranges with something like three kilometres of mountain standing above the water, which makes it among the deepest gorges on earth. Shangri-La follows, a Tibetan town that took the name in 2001 from the fictional valley in Lost Horizon and has leaned into the association ever since.

Tibet takes the rest of the route, across the mountain ranges towards Everest base camp on the northern side, which is reachable by road rather than on foot and sits above 5,000 metres. Lhasa closes it with two full rest days and the Potala Palace, winter residence of the Dalai Lamas for three centuries and the centre of Tibetan Buddhism for far longer. The bike hire, hotels, breakfasts and the dinners listed are included, with fuel, flights and other meals separate. The price is quoted per person. Permits, altitude and distance together make this an expedition rather than a tour.

Style

Adventure, Expedition, Guided

Duration

Grand tour (16+ nights)

Region

Asia

Vehicle provision

Vehicle provided

Departures

September

Starts/ends

Thailand → Lhasa, China