Luxury holidays in Mongolia
Sleep under the stars at a Gobi ger camp and cross the open steppe by day. Send us your dates and we book drivers who know the tracks, plus every camp.
It comes off your final price, and is refunded in full if you don't go ahead.
Mongolia
12 days · 11 nights
Ulaanbaatar → Olgii → Ulaanbaatar → Gobi Desert
You start in Ulaanbaatar, then fly west to Olgii in the Altai Mountains to meet a Kazakh family and spend two days at the Golden Eagle Festival. Back in the capital you visit Gandan monastery, then fly to the Gobi for three nights of canyons, camel rides and the Flaming Cliffs.
Mongolia
10 days · 9 nights
Ulaanbaatar → Gobi Desert → Ulaanbaatar
You begin in Ulaanbaatar with its museums and Gandan monastery, then fly to the Gobi for three nights among dunes, canyons and the Flaming Cliffs. Back in the capital, you spend two days at the Naadam Festival with its opening ceremony, archery, wrestling and horse racing.
Step out of your ger in the Gobi at first light and there is nothing between you and the horizon but dunes, gravel plains and a few grazing camels. It is the space that stays with you. A comfortable desert camp gives you a proper bed, hot showers and dinner by the stove, and your guide drives you out to the Flaming Cliffs, where dinosaur eggs were found in the 1920s.
Ulaanbaatar is the gateway, a fast-changing capital with a fine museum of Mongolian history and monasteries still in daily use. In the far west, Olgii and the Altai Mountains are home to Kazakh eagle hunters, who train golden eagles to hunt in winter. Time a summer trip for Naadam in July and you will see the horse races and wrestling the whole country turns out for.
Guided days take in working monasteries and the dinosaur cliffs of the Gobi.
Walk the grounds of Gandan, one of the few monasteries to survive the purges of the 1930s, as monks gather for prayers.
Watch Naadam, when the country turns out for horse racing, wrestling and archery.
Watch young performers keep Mongolia's music alive, from throat singing to the horse-head fiddle and traditional dance.
See the sandstone cliffs of Bayanzag glow red at sunset, where some of the world's first dinosaur eggs were found.
Walk into the Yol Valley in the Gobi Altai, a narrow green gorge where ice can linger into summer and lammergeiers circle above.
Drive by 4x4 to a lookout on an old volcanic outcrop for a gourmet picnic with wine and views across the desert.
The desert suits a first visit, while the far west brings eagle hunters and high peaks.
The capital, with Gandan Monastery and the National Museum, and the open steppe beginning just beyond the edge of the city.
The singing sand dunes of Khongoryn Els, the red Flaming Cliffs and wide gravel plains, explored by four wheel drive.
The far western province of the Kazakh eagle hunters, set below the snowy peaks of the Altai mountains.
The warm months bring green grass and Naadam, while winter suits only the hardiest travellers.
Deep winter, with temperatures far below freezing across the country.
Still extremely cold, with Lunar New Year celebrated at home with family.
Cold and windy, with the steppe still brown and frozen.
The thaw begins, but dust storms are common in the Gobi.
Warming up, with cold nights and wind on the open steppe.
Green steppe, long days and comfortable desert temperatures.
Peak summer, with the Naadam festival of wrestling, archery and horse racing.
Warm days with some rain on the steppe, ideal for the Gobi and the Altai.
Clear autumn days and cool nights, with quieter ger camps.
The Golden Eagle Festival in Olgii early in the month, cold elsewhere.
Winter returns, with snow and freezing nights.
Bitterly cold across the country, outside the travel season.
Most travellers connect through Seoul or Beijing. Your travel expert finds the best connection from your home airport.
Beijing is a short flight away, so the Great Wall and the Gobi fit neatly into one trip.
The Great Wall, the Terracotta Army and Shanghai's skyline.
Tell us when you want to go, for how long and who is travelling. Your travel expert replies in writing with a trip shaped around you.
