In this study, the influences of La₂O₃ added on the phase, morphology and reduction process of tungsten oxide prepared by solution combustion synthesis (SCS) were investigated for the first time. And tungsten nanopowders with different La₂O₃ doping amount (0.5∼5.0 wt%) were successfully prepared by SCS and followed hydrogen reduction. The results showed that with the increase of La₂O₃ addition, the product synthesized by SCS changed from needle-like W₁₈O₄₉ to irregularly granulated H_0.53WO₃ and the complete reduction temperature also increased form 700 ℃ to 850 ℃. The densification behavior of as-prepared W nanopowders revealed that the densification inhibitory effect of La₂O₃ was enhanced as the La₂O₃ addition increased. Nevertheless, due to the optimal size and distribution of La₂O₃ particles, the sample with 2.0 wt% La₂O₃ addition has a smallest grain size of 0.47 μm and a highest microhardness value of 739.3 Hv_0.2, which are the best compared with the literature.