Beauty of Mongolia Tour (11 days)
What to expect
Beauty of Mongolia Tour
For most of the people who visit Mongolia, the thing that brings them to our country is the unbridled beauty.
Beauty in the Gobi
This popular tour takes you to the amazing and mysterious Gobi Desert, one of the most incredible parts of Mongolia
Unmatched and Incredible Scenery
From lovely, lush greenery to cerulean lakes and rivers, beautiful scenery is everywhere you look. Don’t forget your camera.
View Flora and Fauna
On our journey, keep a look out for the local wildlife and the beautiful plants and trees. You never know what you’ll see.
- Discover more, Drive less
- Domestic flights included
- Visits to beautiful Terelj, Kharkhorin, and Gobi-Mongolian top attractions
- A lifetime opportunity to ride a two-humped Bactrian camel in their homeland
- Explore nomadic lifestyle, culture, and tradition
- Professional team and high-quality services
- Relax the nights in comfortable and finest tourist camps and enjoy the delicious meals
- I have discovered Mongolia! The brand t-shirt is yours!
- A chance to see how the real Mongolian authentic Barbecue is made the traditional way!
- Std twin room at 4* hotel
- Shared accommodation at Ger camp
- Private transfers
- English speaking guide
- All meals as listed
- All entrance fee
- Horse, camel ride, boat cruise
- Internal air tickets - free luggage allowance is 15 kg
- Mongolian barbecue
- Letter of Invitation
- Personal expenses
- Optional activities
- Camera fee for museum & monastery
- Travel Insurance www.WorldNomads.com
- Single supplement
Overview
Why do people travel to Mongolia from such far-flung countries? 60% of our clients replied with one voice: "beautiful scenery". Our country is one of the biggest in the world, from East to West 1500 miles and 80% of this is untouched by humans. So travelers dream of discovering a new wildland and fascinating nature.
If you want to explore exotic and untouched places, one of the best ways is our “Beauty of Mongolia Tour”. This trip allows you to visit a wide assortment of beautiful and wonderful places in Mongolia, including sand dunes in the Gobi Desert, vast steppe & mountains, freshwater lakes and rivers, ancient monasteries, and temples.
Thinking of experiencing the Naadam Festival but also wish to have the Beauty of Mongolia Tour? Well, don’t worry because we offer the tour you are looking for. Discover magnificent Mongolia and experience the beautiful Naadam Festival at once by having the Beauty of Mongolia Tour and Local Naadam Festival (July 05 – 17) with us
The price per person will depend on the size of the group as shown below.
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I had a trip in Mongolia with a group of friends, organized by Discover Mongolia Travel. Everything was well organized and we were able to get a real taste of Mongolian nature and way of life. Our guide Oyuna was really excellent - sharing a lot of facts about Mongolia and the places we have visited and always very patient and flexible as our group at times didn't stick very closely to the schedule.
The drivers were always smiling and very good at what they were supposed to do - get us safe in all destinations from the trip. Which is not an easy task on the gravel roads.
Thanks again to our guide Oyuna and our drivers.
I definitely recommend doing your Mongolia trip with these guys!
I did the Discover Mongolia 11-day tour that goes to Karakorum, the big beautiful dues in the Gobi and dozen places in between. We had lunch with a nomad family in a ger (yurt) in the middle of nowhere, stayed in wood-heated gers each night. Togos Togosoo was a warm and wonderful guide and just a beautiful spirit, and Mr. Nandi was a great driver, really watched out for us in a million ways and was a fun and steady presence. They both were fun and great at their jobs. It wasn't all 5-star accomodations (thought the last night in UB was a great room and great meal), but that wasn't what I was looking for, and everything was perfectly good. We were the last trip of the season, so it was getting a bit chilly, but something quite beautiful about hunkering under down comforters and thick camel-hair blankets after a day hiking or riding horses or two-humped camels. Saw some wild sheep, a fox, wild horses, and great birds of prey. I gave it five stars but I'll leave a sixth here for Togosoo.
Overall Great Experience: My 83-year-old father had hinted for several years that he'd like to visit Mongolia. He's traveled around the globe, but very much wanted to see what life is like across the vast, sparsely populated steppes and desert areas of Mongolia. He and I shared a father-son journey that I will cherish in memory for the rest of my life.
We took the 11-day Beauty of Mongolia trip from August 25 to September 4, 2019. This was the perfect length for us, although it left us wanting to see more of the country.
The star of the journey was the country and its welcoming people. But a key to any trip is the spirit within the group. My father and I were joined by just one other traveler. (Our new friend Ben from the Seattle area is a wonderful travel companion who had done his historical research before the trip and proved to be both a good teacher and an eager learner. I will remember warmly our nightly discussions over a Mongolian beer or two.) We were led by our guide Uka and driver Dambaa. Both were beyond wonderful. Uka kept us on schedule, well fed, and happy. Even though it was her last trip of the season, she showed the enthusiasm and cheerfulness of someone leading a group for the first time. Dambaa is a marvel. His driving skills are incredible. (Given the absence of roads through much of the country, this is critically important.) He took great care of his van, always keeping it both maintained and clean. But Dambaa is more than just a driver. He is also something of an assistant guide, participating in all the group's activities. He shows a playful, youthful enthusiasm tempered just enough by the wisdom and resourcefulness needed to safely navigate Mongolia's countryside.
(Oyuna and Bodi were our guide and driver during the tour's last day, which was in Ulaanbaatar. They also were great, although we had much less time to get to know one another.)
The joy of some trips is evident from a highlights list of activities or visited sites. For me, at least, the joy of visiting Mongolia is not found on any such list (although I loved visiting a nomadic family and some other activities). Rather, the joy came from taking in the landscape and from the interactions with the Mongolian people as we moved through our itinerary. The overall experience was so much more than any activities list could ever capture.
Don't Let Any Pre-Trip Communication Frustrations Deter You: As my dad and I researched travel firms, I began exchanging emails with Discover Mongolia. I always got responses to my questions. However, sometimes those responses were slow in coming and sometimes they were incomplete. If you read the reviews here, you'll see that some others (but not all) have had a similar experience. You'll also see, though, that nearly everyone posting here has rated the trip itself very highly. My advice is that you ought not let any communication frustrations deter you. If our experience was typical (and from the reviews here, it seems to have been), you'll be very, very happy with the trip itself.
Advice Based On An End-Of-Trip Glitch: Discover Mongolia arranged a driver to pick us up at 4:00 am to take us to the airport for our trip home. That driver did not show up. We had to scramble to get the hotel staff (half-asleep at that hour) to get a taxi for us. We made it to the airport and Discover Mongolia paid the fare. But we ought not have had to scramble. For those with an early flight out of Ulaanbaatar, my advice is that you have a telephone number for someone at Discover Mongolia who can help if you find yourself, as we did, stranded without a driver.
(I'd offer practical trip-planning advice, but anything I'd write (e.g., dress in layers because temperatures range from quite cold to quite warm) already is well covered in other reviews.)
Bottom Line Advice: Go to Mongolia. Take it all in. And give serious consideration to using Discover Mongolia.
Itinerary
Upon arrival in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, you'll be greeted at the airport and escorted to 4* hotel.
Take a city tour to Gandan Monastery where you will see a huge gold plated Buddha, the symbol of Mongolian national pride and cultural revival. And there are other highlights - Sukhbaatar Square and National Museum of Mongolia where you will see artifacts from Mongolia and Central Asia from the Stone Age to present time.
Excursion to Zaisan Hill Memorial to get your bearings with a panoramic view of the whole city.
Overnight in the hotel. (L+D)
Take a tour of the Chinggis Khaan Statue, the biggest equestrian statue in the world - 40 meters tall stainless steel statue symbolically pointed east towards his birthplace, on the bank of the Tuul River at Tsonjin Boldog.
Drive to Terelj national park to visit the Temple of Ariyapala and enjoy a stunning view. Explore the famous Turtle Rock and the extraordinary frock formations on horseback riding.
Overnight in tourist camp. (B+L+D)
(Distance approx 100 km, 2-3 hours drive on dirt/paved road)
Drive to the west side of UB. Hustai national park is rich with wildlife and historical monuments. Ungut monuments - famous for its large number of man-like figures, sepultures and rectangular tombs which dates back to the 6-8 th century AD.
But the most important highlight of the day is Takhi, The Przewalski horses. Takhi is the only true wild horse that once nearly went extinct in the wild. If you have a chance, you can see other wildlife such as wolves, marmots and deers. Enjoy short hiking over the mountains and photograph the charming landscape and wildlife.
Visit Hustai NP’s information center and souvenir shop.
Overnight in tourist camp. (B+L+D)
(Distance approx 200 km, 3-4 hours drive on dirt/paved road)
After breakfast, drive to Tarna Mountain.
We will take you away from the tourist area to a real nomadic grassland. Visit a local horse breeder family and live like a Mongolian Nomad for a day! Get involved in their daily life, take a class on milking livestocks and play ankle bone games. In the evening, cook a traditional Mongolian barbecue under the instruction of the hostess.
This is a real experience and will be an unforgettable highlight of this tour.
Overnight in the nomadic family. (B+L+D)
(Distance approx 250 km, 4-5 hours drive on dirt/paved road)
Continue driving to the west, to the Orkhon valley, a World Cultural Heritage Site.
Kharkhorin was the capital of the Great Mongolian Empire, dates back to the 13th century. Now, the ruin lies low confronting against time and hiding Chinggis khan’s secrets beneath its name – “black soil”. Visit Kharkhorin museum and see the artifacts collected from the ruins.
Next place Magnificent Erdene Zuu - the oldest monastery in Mongolia and the artwork of the Mongol architects – is located near the ruins.
Overnight in tourist camp. (B+L+D)
(Distance approx 100 km, 2-3 hours drive on dirt/paved road)
Sharp turn to the south. Drive to Ongi Temple ruins which had about a thousand lamas before the communists' destruction in 1937. The temple was founded by a lama named Bari Yonzon and located on a small but panoramic cliff on a bank of Ongi river. On the way, experience how big and vast the Mongolian steppe is.
Secret of Ongi, a high end tourist camp will provide you perfect service before a long drive through Gobi.
Overnight in the tourist camp. (B+L+D)
(Distance 220 km, 4-5 hours drive on dirt road)
Continue the tour deep into the Gobi. Drive to the Bayanzag, also known as the Flaming Cliffs, where the first dinosaur eggs were discovered in 1922 by Roy Chapman Andrews. In this huge paleontological site, you will have a chance to walk on the ground where the Dinosaurs once roamed 60 million years ago.
On this day, you will discover not only dinosaur’s but ancient human’s remains too. Khavtsgait petroglyphs and saxual forest are good additions to this trip.
Photo shooting of the flaming cliffs and watching a documentary about this wonderful place is suggested in the evening.
Overnight in tourist camp. (B+L+D)
(Distance approx 180 km, 3-4 hours drive on dirt road)
Drive to the “Khongoryn els” - the biggest sand dune in Mongolia, reaching a height of 200 meters in some areas.
Explore the dune area on the camelback. The two-humped Bactrian camels are very comfortable to ride as they walk slowly and gently. You will be well supported by their soft, fluffy humps when you ride them. Our camel guide will lead you safely through the sand dunes to explore the Uujim valley on the camelback.
Plus, you will have an opportunity to visit a camel herdsman family to experience their lifestyle, culture and traditions.
Similar to other deserts, the chance of rain/cloud is slim. So that there is a chance to gaze at the billions of stars in the evening. Discuss with your guide about timing when you climb over dunes.
Overnight in tourist camp. (B+L+D)
(Distance approx 160 km, 3-4 hours drive on dirt road)
Drive to Yolyn Am, or Lammergeier Valley, beautiful and high elevated gorges forming incredible canyons. Gorges are so high thus sunlight never reaches the floor and winter’s snow can be kept good even in summer time.
These areas are situated in the Gobi Gurvan Saikhan /Three Beauties of the Gobi/ National park, the most easterly points of the Altai Mountains.
Overnight in tourist camp. (B+L+D)
(Distance approx 200 km, 4-5 hours drive on dirt/paved road)
Today is your chance to do some shopping for souvenirs and cashmere in Ulaanbaatar. Later in the evening, you will attend a live Mongolian traditional music and dance performance. A perfect ending for a perfect journey.
Overnight in the hotel. (B+L+D)
(Distance approx 60 km, about an hour drive on dirt/paved road)
After breakfast, you will be transferred from your hotel to the airport. (B)
B - Breakfast L - Lunch D - Dinner
Good to know
- The best time to make this trip
May to September is the best season, with the peak season in July for the Naadam Festival. July and August are also the wettest months of the year but be assured, our climate is such that you will still have many sunny days at this time. The best time to visit the Gobi is June or September.
- Accommodation:
We believe that comfortable, welcoming accommodation is vital to the enjoyment of your trip. You will be staying in a standard 3-4 star hotel in Ulaanbaatar and a tourist ger camp (traditional dwelling) with currency (220V), shower and other useful services (2 to 4 people per ger) in the countryside. All accommodation offered by Discover Mongolia is personally checked by our staff to ensure high standards.
- Meals:
In Ulaanbaatar, you will be dining at fine European and Asian cuisine restaurants. Mutton, beef, rice, and noodles form the basis of the Mongolian diet, so your meals will be based around this. However, the trail rations may include vegetables, eggs, peanut butter, cheese and sometimes yak! On some days there will be lunchboxes from tourist camps. It is good food and our experience has been that guests are happy with this arrangement. Please let us know in advance if you are a vegetarian. Alcohol is not provided on the trip but tourists are free to bring their own.
- Transport:
Discover Mongolia use the highest level, latest model, air-conditioned private vans or 4WD vehicles for the maximum comfort on your touring days. A day's drive in the countryside will be approx 200-250km.
- Personal things to bring with you:
Warm thin layers of clothing are the best such as bring a waterproof jacket, and a hat and headscarf to protect you from the sun and winds. Don't forget insect repellent, sun cream, lip-gloss, water purifying tablets and first aid kit (medicine for headache, cold, diarrhea, runny nose; bandages; any medicine prescribed for you ). All your camera equipment.
