In addition to its stunning scenery, central Mongolia is extremely rich in cultural remains from all historical periods. During the central Mongolia tour, you will travel the semi-desert, visit the central Mongolian mountain steppes and part of northern Mongolian forested mountains with crystal clear water rivers, freshwater lakes, flower carpeted lands and basalt covered valleys. For you, every day will be interesting and surprising. The landscape is ever-changing and reveals beauty in different ways every day. Another highlight of the tour is visiting as many nomad families as you wish to observe first-hand the uniqueness of traditional nomadic life and feel the heartwarming hospitality of your hosts, who are not informed in advance but always welcome visitors warmly. There are abundance of potential nomad hosts as this part of Mongolia is more populated by nomad families than the other areas. A nomadic family stay is included to make your Mongolian holiday more authentic and experiential.
Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive in Ulaanbaatar, city tour
Meet at the airport and transfer to a hotel. After being refreshed, taken on a short city sightseeing tour if the time permits. First, you will visit Gandantegchilen Monastery. The monastery is a favored place for both locals and foreigners due to its interesting religious artifacts and peacefulness. A 26 m gilded statue of a Buddha is another thing of interest. Next, visit Central Square and the National Museum of Mongolia. Have a welcome dinner in a Mongolian restaurant.
Accommodation: 3* hotel
Meals: Lunch, Dinner
Day 2: Leave Ulaanbaatar, start the countryside tour to Elsentasarkhai, experience nomad life, Mongolian barbecue, horse and camel riding
Elsentasarhai is a unique place representing features of the Gobi desert, mountain steppes and grasslands in a single area. Arrive in Elsentasarkhai by lunch time and visit a nomad family. After the nomadic lunch, you will ride horses over the steppes with the help of a local equestrian. Also ride two-humped camels. Spend the day learning and experiencing first-hand about the nomadic life. In the evening, try authentic Mongolian barbecue cooked with hot stones.
Accommodation: Extra ger of nomads
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 3: Visit Erdenezuu Monastery and see remains of ancient capital Karakorun
Kharkhorin, formerly known as the Karakorum, was once the capital of Genghis 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 the modern town Kharkhorin. Visit an active temple of the monastery and temple museums. Next, visit the Kharkhorum Museum displays some items from the ancient city Karakorum. The journey continues along the Orkhon River Valley and arrives at a ger camp located among mountains.
Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 4: Hiking to Tovhon Monastery, drive to Tsenkher Hot Spa,
Our today’s adventure will continue to Tsenher Hot Spa through eye capturing valleys of wooded mountains. On our way, you will view some ancient tombs date back to The Bronze Age and visit Tovhon Monastery. This small monastery was built on 2312 m rocky top of Shiveet Ulaan Mountain. Reaching the monastery will require 3 hours soft hiking up and down the mountain, but not steep. The vista is incredible from the mountaintop. The journey continues, driving through a lush green valley filled with nomads and their countless animals, mainly yaks. Arrive at Tsenkher Hot Spa and be refreshed while bathing in the outdoor hot spa.
Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 5: Drive to and discover Khorgo Terhiin Tsagaan National Park
Khorgo Terkhiin Tsagaan Lake National Park is one of the most beautiful national parks with its extinct volcanoes, freshwater lakes, fast current rivers, and forested mountains. The Khorgo volcano became extinct 6000-8000 years ago. It is considered the last of Mongolian over 300 volcanoes to become extinct. The Khorgo is not the only volcano in the area, there are several more, but it is the biggest one. Terkhiin Tsagaan, a freshwater lake was formed after lava flow from the volcanoes blocked the North and South Terkh Rivers. The areas surrounding the volcanoes are covered with thick basalt. Climb the Khorgo volcano and hike along its crater edges with views of surrounding basalt-covered lands, sights of the Terkhiin Tsagaan Lake and the Suman River in the distance, and nearby town. You also explore the Yellow Dog’s Cave and Ice Cave.
Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 6: See deer stones, visit an interesting local market of Tsetserleg and drive to Ugii Lake
The journey will continue to sacred Ugii Lake. On the way, stop at the deep lava canyon of the Culuut River and see deer stones. Some 600 deer stones have been found in Central Asia, 500 of them found in the territory of Mongolia. Deer stones are the first monuments of humans; the earliest of them belong to the 13th to the 9th century BC, while most of them date to The Bronze Age. On restored, standing stones, pictures including the sun, the moon, belts, knives, and jumping deer were carved fantastically.
Next, visit the local market of Tsettserleg, a central town in Arkhangai province. Arrive at Ugii Lake late afternoon. Enjoy your leisure time at the picturesque lake.
Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 7: Return to Ulaanbaatar
Today is the last day to be in the beautiful countryside of Mongolia. Leave Ugii Lake early in the morning, and arrive in Ulaanbaatar after 5.5 hours of driving. Free time for shopping and optional activities.
Accommodation: 3* Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Day 8: Transfer to the airport/railway station.
We will transfer you to the airport/railway station.
Meals: Breakfast
Background
Is Central Mongolian Highlights Tour suitable for you?
This is a regular tour to explore the most exciting attractions and scenic places of central Mongolia and southern part of northern Mongolia. We developed this itinerary jam-packed with more outdoor activities and attractions to let you experience and discover much of our beautiful and unique culture country in a relatively short period. You will do day by day scenic driving between the attractions. Luckily, infrastructure developed more in central Mongolia. More than two-thirds of this tour's driving takes place on the paved roads, which help us to have more activities and spend more time at the attractions rather than spending most of your time driving on the bumpy roads. Approximate day driving will be 2-6 hours. During the tour, you will stay in ger camps in the countryside and a 3* hotel in Ulaanbaatar. A nomad family stay is a part of the program. The tour does not include any demanding physical activities, but some soft hiking of 2-3 hours and an extinct volcano climb which is not exhausting and could be optional for some travelers. The tour takes place in areas elevated 1400 m to 1600 m above the sea level on average and around 2000 m at Khorgo Terkhiin Tsagaan area. The itinerary includes some horse riding with supports of your guide and local guides.
Meals
Tour meals are included according to the itinerary. In the countryside, ger camps serve both European and Mongolian meals. Meat is the main ingredient for meals and is served for lunch and dinner along 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 of the ger camps for breakfast. For lunch, meals include salads, Mongolian soups, the main course (pasta, rice, vegetables, beef/mutton/chicken/fish near lakes/rivers), dessert, and tea.
Salads, the main course, a dessert, and tea will be served 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 bottles is available upon request. More information on
Mongolia meals
Accommodation
Mongolian tourism depends highly on the season. The seasonal accommodation ger camps are fully open between 15 May and 20 September. During other months, the ger camps are partially open and closed in winter. For an cultural experience, we included one day nomad family stay. In Ulaanbaatar, you will stay in a centrally located 3* hotel. For more detailed information about the main accommodation ger camp, please visit Mongolia Ger camps, Mongolia nomad family stay, and Mongolia hotels
Guides
The majority of our company's guides are English speaking. We also have guides who speak German, French, Spanish, and Japanese. They are all friendly and helpful, and most of them were born and raised in the Mongolian countryside. Therefore, they have good knowledge about every aspect of Mongolia and have at least three years or more years of guiding experience. During the camel riding, a local guide will support you.
Transportation
Most of our tours were designed with four wheels driving Japanese vans driven by experienced, friendly and good mechanic-drivers. You may check the travel vehicle details at Mongolia transportation
When to take Central Mongolian Highlights Tour?
The most suitable time to travel along this itinerary is between 15 May and 15 September. During this period, the weather will be warm and enjoyable. However, you should not expect warm weather either you travel in summer because vast Mongolian territory differentiates in altitude and earth surface. Overall, Mongolia is elevated at least 700 m above the surrounding Siberian plateau and Chinese territory. Therefore, the weather is extreme and fluctuatable hourly, daytime, and night. Receiving snowfalls is occasional in May, the end of August and in September. Rain falls turn into snowfalls in high elevated areas either in the summer months of June, July, and August. Average monthly temperatures are +20°C, highest 28°C daytime in May, in the first half of June, last half of August and September. On average, +25°C, highest +35 to +39°C daytime in June, July, and August. The temperature drops 10-20°C in the evening and at night. The tour is available on offseason and in winter, accommodating in local hotels and staying with nomad families.
For your pre-departure preparation and an idea to prepare for this tour, you may check, Mongolian weather, and DISCOVERY tour packing list.
To plan your dream holiday or customize the tour exclusively for you, Central Mongolia, Northern Mongolia, and Ulaanbaatar attractions.
