Itinerary

Day 1: Arrive in Ulaanbaatar, city tour

Your guide and driver greet your family at the airport and transfer you to a hotel. After some relaxing time, participate in a short city sightseeing tour if time permits. First, you will visit Gandantegchilen Monastery. The monastery attracts 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 Mongolian Dinosaur Museum and Central Square.

Accommodation: 3* hotel
Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Day 2: Fly to the Gobi, hiking in Eagle Valley

Catch a morning flight to the Gobi Desert. Upon arrival, drive to and check in at a ger camp. After lunch, you will travel to the Gobi Gurban Saikhan Mountain National Park. The Gobi Gurban Saikhan means "Three beautiful mountains in the Gobi." The national park is one of biggest and most unique national parks in Mongolia. Also, the end of the Altai mountain range. There are many scenic places in the national park. Among them, Yoliin Am/Eagle Valley is accessible by car. After the vehicle parks, you will walk through the beautiful valley into the depths of the sheer rock canyon. The bottom of the canyon does not accept sunlight. Therefore, it has ice until the end of June. People always feel excited when they see a lush green valley in the Gobi Desert. Bearded eagles, shy wild sheep, and ibexes are indigenous to the valley. The hiking continues for about 3 hours on the two ways.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 3: The tallest sand dunes Khongor and two-humped camel riding

You will continue to Khongor, the tallest sand dunes. Arrive at a ger camp in the vicinity of the sand dunes and refresh from the driving. In the afternoon, when the sun goes down, you will drive short to the sand dunes and climb the sand dunes as high as you can. If you climb one of the high sand dunes, try to hear sand singing by dis-positioning the sand downwards against the wind. Visit a camel herding family and enjoy gentle walking of the two-humped Bactrian camels.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 4: Flaming Cliffs, the former dinosaur excavation site

Tour Flaming Cliffs (former dinosaur excavation site). Flaming Cliff is 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 by lunchtime. Spend the afternoon playing on open steppes. Late afternoon, we will drive to the Flaming Cliffs and hike among the cliffs in search of fossils we may find.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 5: Ruins of Ongi Monastery

On our way, we stop at Bayanzag, a saxual tree grove. The saxual tree is unique as it grows only in the central Asian desert. Saxual tree has long roots, which help the trees last green even in the dry summer of the Gobi Desert. To travel to Ongi monastery, first, you will drive through slate stone mountains, and next on the vast open Ongi steppes with occasional views of camel herds will be seen in spectacular shapes in the mirages. There are ruins of two separate monasteries on the north and south side of the Ongi River. Ongi Monastery was founded in 1760. It had 30 temples inhabited by 1000 lamas/monks. During communist purges in the 1930s, the monasteries were destroyed. The monastery-ruin evolves vast areas now. Explore the monastery ruins, and visit an active temple and a Ger museum.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 6: Orkhon River Canyon and the Orkhon Valley

Your journey takes place in the transition zone from the Gobi Desert to the mountain steppes. Today, your family will travel with a picnic lunch. Arrive at the Orkhon River canyon late afternoon. Explore ancient rock drawings on a lava canyon of the Orkhon River, tombs, and ancient burial mounds along the valley.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 7: Drive to Tsenkher hot spa

Continue the adventure by driving over mountain passes, crossing streams, and traversing through lush green valleys filled with nomads and their countless animals, including yaks. Arrive at the hot spa ger camp and be refreshed from the adventures and activities, bathing in a hot spa pool.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 8: Erdenezuu Monastery in Kharakhorin

In the Orkhon river valley, the beautiful monastery Erdenezuu coexists with Kharkhorin town. The monastery was built on the ruins of the ancient Mongolian capital Kharakhorum (13th century) using old materials from the destroyed city without using a single nail for the construction. Kharakhorum was one of the stops of the famous "Silk Road." Erdenezuu is the first and the largest monastery in Mongolia, keeping religious masterpieces of the 17th-20th centuries. See some valuable religious items in the temple museum and view its stunning architecture. Next, visit the Kharkhorum Museum and drive up a hill to see one of the Turtle statues, which marked the ancient city Kharkhorum boundary. See the whole monastery and the Orkhon River from the hilltop.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 9: Visit nomads and horse riding at Elsentasarkhai

Today, we will have a relaxing morning and drive short to Elsentasarkhai, the most northern age of the Gobi Desert. Elsentasarkhai is a spectacular area of mountain steppes, sand dunes, grasslands, and rocky mountains. After lunch, visit a nomad family and ride horses.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 10: Return to Ulaanbaatar

Today is the last day your family spends in the beautiful countryside of Mongolia. Arrive in Ulaanbaatar after 4.5 - 5 hours and have a free afternoon to discover the city on your own.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 11: Departure

The driver transfers you to the airport and end of the tour.

Meals: Breakfast

Tour Price

Background

This is a regular, off-road discovery tour to explore fascinating attractions and scenic places of the Gobi Desert and central Mongolia. We suggest this tour for families with kids over three years. Families with small kids are always welcome, and we happily customize the itinerary or tailor one for your family. This family tour covers much of the Gobi Desert and central Mongolia. Traveling through the vast-open Mongolian territory always requires long driving, which may not suit toddlers. The itinerary includes a one-way flight to the Gobi Desert, which saves more than 650 km of driving or 2-3 days. The daily driving distance is a minimum of 80 km and a maximum of 270 km. The average driving distance is 170 km, which takes 3.5 to 4.5 hours. You will spend approximately 2-6 hours in a car a day. Local equestrians will help with camel and horse riding. We recommend you follow your guide’s guidance well when riding horses and camels. There will be some optional hiking of approximately 1.5 to 3 hours. When traveling to Mongolia, people are usually concerned about meals. Most of our clients evaluated Mongolian meals better than their expectations, while few said the meaty meals, dairy products, and common vegetables are not satisfying. Therefore, informing us about your and your kid's meal preferences will be helpful. The ger camps where you stay overnights serve European and Mongolian meals. Fruits are not abundant in rural areas. Therefore, you can take some provisions such as fruits, snacks, chocolates, or sweets from Ulaanbaatar. Long nonexistent road rides may cause motion sickness. We suggest you bring the pills if you think it is required.

Breakfast -9, Lunch-10, Dinner -9 included. In the countryside, ger camps both European and 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 of the ger camps for breakfast. Ger camps serve salads, Mongolian soups, the main course (pasta, rice, vegetables, beef/mutton/chicken/fish near lakes/rivers), dessert and tea for lunch. Salads, the main course, a dessert, and tea will be served for dinner. 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

You will stay at a ger camp for 8 days and 2 days in a centrally located 3* hotel.

The majority of our company's guides are English speaking. We also have German, French, Spanish, and Japanese. They are all 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. Local guides will help you when riding horses, camels, and yaks.

A jeep will serve for a family group of 3. If the family members are more than people, Japanese and Korean vans serve. Experienced, friendly, and good mechanic drivers drive the vehicles.

The most suitable time to travel along this itinerary is between 15 May and 20 September. During this period, the weather will be warm and enjoyable. Mongolia is elevated at least 700 m above the surrounding Siberian plateau and Chinese territory. Therefore, Mongolian weather is extreme, and Mongolian temperature fluctuates a lot in a day, regionally, monthly, and depending on the elevation. Receiving snowfalls is occasional in May, at the end of August, and in September. Rainfalls turn into snowfalls in high-elevated areas in the warmest months of June, July, and August. Average monthly temperatures are +20°C, highest +28°C the daytime in May, in the first half of June, last half of August, and in 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 during the off-tourist season if you do not mind the cold weather. For your pre-departure preparation and an idea to prepare for this changeable weather condition, the discovery tour packing list will help you.

To plan your dream holiday or customize the tour exclusively for you, please check the attractions and destinations of Mongolia.

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