• email info@viewmongolia.com
  • phone +976 70117770
  • WhatsApp: +976 90099908
Quick E-mail

Mongolia Naadam Festival Tour 2024

Group Tour Price $1745

Great Naadam & Gobi Desert Tour 11 days

  • Duration: 10 nights/11 days
  • Tour grade: Soft
  • Group size: 1 to 15 PAX
  • Available: 1 to 12 July, 11 to 21 July

Great Naadam & Gobi Desert Tour 11 days

Naadam Festival is the highlight of Mongolian festivals and the most renowned national holiday. There is plenty to feast your eyes and fascinate you, including traditional wrestling, archery, open field horse races of different age categories, and the magnificent opening ceremony. Except for the Naadam events, the people are attractive, feasting proudly wearing beautiful traditional dresses. Combining the Naadam Festival with a visit to the vast expanses of the Gobi desert and central Mongolia will be the best experience one can have within one tour. The Gobi Desert is the most famous destination in Mongolia, where 70-80% of travelers travel. In the Gobi Desert, you will hike through the colorful mud cliffs and lush green valleys of a mountain, climb Khongor dunes, visit the camel herder family to ride two-humped camels, visit the former dinosaur excavation site Flaming Cliffs, and explore the ruins of an ancient monastery. The Gobi Desert scenery is awe-inspiring with constantly changing landscapes, beautiful natural scenery which you may not expect in the semi-desert, stargazing each night, 360° views of grassy and gravel steppes edge with the horizon, and stunning sunrise and sunset. For the enjoyment and comfort of our clients, we always choose the best ger camp accommodation in the best locations. In central Mongolia, you will visit the ancient monastery Erdenezuu in the Orkhon River Valley. Mongolian tour is incomplete without a nomadic experience and horse riding. You will stop by the horse-herding family and sample a traditional meal for lunch.

Itinerary

July 11, Day 1: Participate in the Naadam Festival

Your guide and driver meet you at your accommodation and drive to the Naadam Festival stadium. The national holiday Naadam is not only famous among Mongolians but famous around the world. Many tourists, guests, and journalists come to Mongolia to take part. The Naadam Festival starts with a transferring ceremony of the nine white banners from the Government House to the Naadam Stadium, followed by a horse parade. Next, the magnificent opening ceremony starts at 11:10 AM, after the presidential speech at 11 AM. Traditional wrestling, archery and horse racing are main highlights. Moreover, you will see anklebone shooting and Naadam trade, starting from Naadam's main dish Huushuur to traditional Mongolian beverage Airag, souvenirs, traditional clothes and much more.

Accommodation: 3* hotel
Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Mongolia Naadam Festival

July 12, Day 2: The festival continues, see horse race

In the morning, drive to the horse racing area, 30 km west of Ulaanbaatar. The horses race on the open steppes by age categories (6 age categories): from two-year-old horses to full-grown stallions. The racing distance depends on the horses’ age. For example, two-year-old horses race 15 km, while full-grown horses race 30km in the open field. Today, you can 4 years old horse race or 2 years old horse race.

Accommodation: 3* hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Mongolia race jockey

July 13, Day 3: Tour to Baga Gazariin Chuluu

Start the tour to Baga Gazariin Chuluu, a zone of granite stone mountains; the highest peak is 1700 m above sea level. It has been keeping some historical remains, such as the ruin of a monastery, ancient tombs, and rock inscriptions. Challenge your imagination by seeing the unique features of the granite formations in Baga Gazariin Chuluu, discover the old monastery ruin, and enjoy the emptiness and calmness of the Gobi Desert.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Gobi desert travel

July 14, Day 4: Tsagaan Suvarga colorful mud cliffs

Tsagaan Suvarga means "White Stupa.” It is one of the most famous highlights in the Gobi Desert. Tsagaan Suvarga is a spectacular natural formation of colorful, massive mud cliffs that look like stupas. Hiking through the cliffs offers the chance to take amazing photographs.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Mongolian Gobi desert

July 15, Day 5: Gobi Gurban Saikhan Mountain National Park and hiking in Eagle Valley

The Gobi Gurban Saikhan means "Three beautiful mountains in the Gobi.” The Gobi Gurban Saikhan Mountain is a beautiful national park, rich in wildlife and scenic places. Among them, Yoliin Am/Eagle Valley is accessible by car. After our vehicle brings us to a designated parking area, we will walk through the gorgeous valley into the depths of a sheer rock canyon, which accepts no sunlight. Therefore, it has ice until the end of June. The hiking continues for 2.5 to 3 hours into the valley and back to the vehicle. Bearded eagles, elusive wild sheep, and ibexes are indigenous to the valley.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Eagle valley

July 16, Day 6: Khongor Sand Dunes, camel riding

Our journey will continue to Khongor, the tallest dunes. After reaching the dunes, you’ll go hiking along the green river shore, climb dunes, visit a nomad family, and ride a two-humped camel. If you can climb one of the tallest dunes, don't forget to spread the sand northwards against the wind to find out why locals call the dunes "Singing Sand.” The views are fantastic from the top of the dunes.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Best Naadam festival tour

July 17, Day 7: Flaming Cliffs

Tour to Flaming Cliffs, an area of red cliffs formed through the erosion of sand and rock over many thousands of years. It is also a site of several successful dinosaur excavations. Among them, a discovery that dinosaurs lay eggs after finding a dinosaur nest made the area the world known. Arrive at the ger camp by lunchtime. Free afternoon to relax and hide from the afternoon sun. You will spend the evening exploring the cliffs in search of dinosaur fossils you may find and photograph the cliffs in the evening sun.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Mongolian desert

July 18, Day 8: Drive to Ongi Monastery on the open steppes

First, you visit the Gobi tree grove Bayanzag, which means “rich in saxaul trees.” This tree only grows in the Central Asian Gobi. Next, drive through slate mountains and on 80 km Ongi steppes heading to Ongi, one of the biggest seven monasteries in Mongolia. There were two separate monasteries consisting of more than 30 temples on the shores of the Ongi River surrounded by the Gobi Desert mountains; however, the temples were destroyed during the socialist purge of the 1930s. Now the ruins of the monasteries cover an expanse area. Visit a new active temple and a ger museum, explore the monastery ruins and climb a nearby mountain to have panoramic views of the surrounding areas.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Secret of ongi ger

July 19, Day 9: Kharkhorin, ancient Monastery Erdenezuu

This day’s tour takes place in the transition zone from the Gobi desert to the mountain steppes. Kharkhorin, formerly known as Kharakhorum, was the capital of Chinggis Khaan's Great Mongol Empire in the 13th century. After the move of the Mongolian capital to Beijing, and the fall of the Empire, Karakorum was abandoned and then destroyed by Min soldiers in 1388. Today, in the vast valley of the Orkhon River, the awe-inspiring ancient monastery Erdenezuu coexists with Kharkhorin town. See some valuable religious artifacts in the monastery museum, view its stunning architecture, and visit the Kharakhorum Museum display remnants of the ancient city.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Kharkhorin Erdenezuu monastery

July 20, Day 10: Visit nomads, horse riding and return to Ulaanbaatar

Today is the last day you spend in the beautiful countryside of Mongolia. Leave the ger camp early. On our way to Ulaanbaatar, we will visit a horse-herding nomad family and ride horses. Arrive in Ulaanbaatar, and transfer to the hotel.

Accommodation: 3* hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Best Gobi desert tour

July 21, Day 11: Transfer to the airport/railway station

The driver transfers you to the airport/railway station.

Meals: Breakfast

Tour Price

Tour price per person
  • 2 PAX
    2470$
  • 3 PAX
    1927$
  • 4 PAX
    1850$
  • Group Tour
    1745$
    (Single supplement 480$)
Discounts:
  • For children of a family trip
  • One free space for every 16 pax
  • Rebooking discount
  • Low season discount:
    5-10%
    (May, September)
  • Please contact us for more trip details.
The tour includes:
  • 3 nights in 3* hotel
  • 7 nights in ger camps
  • 2 days permission and ticket fare of Naadam
  • Van transfer
  • Departure transfer
  • English speaking guide
  • Horse, camel riding
  • Daily bottled water
  • Meals according to the itinerary
  • Entry Fees
The tour excludes:
  • Items for personal use
  • International travel
  • Alcoholic drinks and beverages
  • Travel insurance
  • Visa fee
  • Optional activities and additional services
  • Single supplements
  • Gratuity for the guide and driver

Background

Is the Great Naadam and Gobi Desert Tour suitable for you?

Great Naadam and Gobi Desert Tour includes overnight stays in ger camps in the countryside and a hotel in Ulaanbaatar. The tour does not include any challenging physical activities. Traveling in Mongolia always requires long driving through changing landscapes and steppes with scenic views. Even though we planned the trip to have as little driving as possible. The approximate daily driving will be 3.5-6 hours. The itinerary includes some light activities, such as 1-3 hours of soft hiking and horse and camel riding with the help of local wranglers. The most challenging experience is climbing the Khongor dunes, which is not mandatory. You can enjoy the sand dunes and Gobi Desert view while climbing one of the lower sand hills.

Meals

Tour meals are included as indicated in the itinerary. In the countryside, ger camps serve occasional European but mainly Mongolian meals. Meat is the main ingredient for meals and is served for lunch and dinner with vegetables, salads, and soups. There will be more meat in traditional Mongolian meals. A typical breakfast is tea or coffee, bread, jam, butter, eggs, and sausage. There are some cookies, cheese, cereals, pancakes, and more at some ger camps for breakfast. For lunch, meals include salads, Mongolian soups, main course (pasta, rice, vegetables, beef/mutton/chicken/fish near lakes/rivers), dessert, and tea. Ger camps serve salads, the main course, a dessert, and tea for dinner. With nomads, you will try authentic Mongolian meals. Different types of meals offered simultaneously are not customary in Mongolian tradition. If you are a vegetarian or have other dietary restrictions, please inform us in advance, and we will make arrangements accordingly. We will supply two 0.5L bottles of water a day. Providing one large bottle (1.5 liters) of water instead of 2 small water bottles is available upon request. More information on Mongolia meals

Accommodation

We developed the tour to let you stay at cozy and beautiful accommodation gers of the ger camps for 8 nights and 2 nights stay in a centrally located hotel in Ulaanbaatar. Please get more detailed information about the Ger camps

Guides

The majority of our company's guides are English speaking. German, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese-speaking guides are available upon request. All of our guides are friendly and helpful. The majority of them were born and raised in the Mongolian countryside. Therefore, they have good knowledge about every aspect of Mongolia. During horse and camel riding, local equestrians will support you.

Transportation

Regarding land transport, most of our tours were designed for four-wheel drive Japanese off-road vehicles driven by experienced, friendly, and knowledgeable mechanic drivers. You may check the travel vehicle details at Mongolia transportation.

Weather in July

July is the hottest month of the year. In particular, the Gobi Desert is the warmest region in Mongolia. The annual temperature is usually 2 -10°C higher than in other parts of Mongolia. The average day temperature is +28°C, the hottest is +39°C, and the night temperature could drop to +12°C, although some nights could be sultriness. July receives a relatively higher prescription than other months. The temperature could drop to +12°C if it rains. The rain period starts from the beginning of July when observing the annual average, but not constant. The rain could be a short-term shower or drizzling rain. For your pre-departure preparation, you may check the packing list of the discovery tours.

Rewiews

Mongolia naadam festival review
Dr. Deborah Mills
Travelers from Australia
I looked at lots of companies when planning the trip and settled on ViewMongolia.com because of the Trip advisor reviews, and the efficiency of Boggie. I like supporting local companies plus it seemed more economical than the big tour companies, but it never felt like a cheap trip – quite the contrary. I strongly commend the super efficiency of Ms Boggie answering my queries in the planning phase - about diet issues, standard of car, length of drives, special requirements for itinerary, visas, money presents for nomad children etc. It is a leap of faith to read reviews on Trip Advisor, pay your money, get off a plane UlaanBaatar (UB) and hope someone is there to meet us. Our driver Chuka was indeed there, with his welcoming