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MongoliaHandbook

The complete English guide to Mongolia: travel, history and culture

About Mongolia
    History of Mongolia
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          Snow-capped Tavan Bogd peaks above the Potanin glacier, with a camel caravan crossing the valley

          Mongolia Without Fences.Discover the land of the eternal blue sky.

          Journeys across Mongolia shaped around you: your pace, your route, your sense of wonder. Gobi dunes, Altai glaciers and nomad gers, all in one handbook.

          Build my trip now

          Photo: Altaihunters · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

          Your journey

          Discover Our Most
          Popular Places

          Altai Tavan Bogd

          Altai Tavan Bogd

          1,923 km

          Mongolia's highest peak Khüiten (4,374 m) and the Potanin glacier.

          Western MongoliaSummer
          Explore
          Terkhiin Tsagaan Lake & Khorgo

          Terkhiin Tsagaan Lake & Khorgo

          656 km

          A freshwater lake beside an extinct volcano.

          Khangai & CentralSummer · Autumn
          Explore
          Khongoryn Els

          Khongoryn Els

          838 km

          The 'singing sands': one of Mongolia's largest dune fields, with ridges said to reach 300 m.

          GobiSpring · Summer · Autumn
          Explore
          Lake Khövsgöl

          Lake Khövsgöl

          832 km

          The 'blue pearl of Mongolia', holding almost 70% of Mongolia's fresh water.

          Khangai & CentralSummer · Winter · Autumn
          Explore
          Yolyn Am

          Yolyn Am

          624 km

          An ice-filled gorge in the heart of the Gobi; the ice survives into midsummer.

          GobiSummer · Spring · Autumn
          Explore
          Bayanzag (Flaming Cliffs)

          Bayanzag (Flaming Cliffs)

          667 km

          The red cliffs where dinosaur eggs were first discovered.

          GobiSummer · Autumn · Spring
          Explore
          Tsagaan Suvarga

          Tsagaan Suvarga

          445 km

          A 60 m wall of multicoloured clay, once a sea floor.

          GobiSummer · Autumn · Spring
          Explore
          Kharkhorin & Erdene Zuu

          Kharkhorin & Erdene Zuu

          359 km

          Mongolia's oldest surviving Buddhist monastery, built on the ruins of the imperial capital Karakorum.

          Khangai & CentralAll year
          Explore
          Khögnö Khan & Elsen Tasarkhai

          Khögnö Khan & Elsen Tasarkhai

          284 km

          Gobi, steppe and mountain in one place; the closest dunes to the capital.

          Khangai & CentralSummer · Autumn · Spring
          Explore
          Orkhon Valley & Ulaan Tsutgalan

          Orkhon Valley & Ulaan Tsutgalan

          453 km

          A 20 m waterfall, nomad summer camps and Tövkhön monastery.

          Khangai & CentralSummer · Autumn
          Explore
          Waves breaking on the shore of Uvs Lake

          Uvs Lake

          1,393 km

          Mongolia's largest lake, a UNESCO biosphere reserve.

          Western MongoliaSummer · Autumn
          Explore
          Khyargas Lake & Khetsüü Khad

          Khyargas Lake & Khetsüü Khad

          1,225 km

          A sea-like lake in the desert, with a cliff colony of cormorants.

          Western MongoliaSummer
          Explore
          Stone monument to Chinggis Khaan in Dadal soum

          Deluun Boldog

          592 km

          The birthplace of Chinggis Khaan: Dadal soum in the Onon valley.

          Eastern MongoliaSummer · Autumn
          Explore
          Menen Steppe

          Menen Steppe

          944 km

          One of the largest untouched steppes on earth, home to gazelle herds.

          Eastern MongoliaSummer · Autumn
          Explore
          Buir Lake

          Buir Lake

          1,069 km

          A fish-rich lake on the Chinese border, near the Khalkhin Gol memorials.

          Eastern MongoliaSummer
          Explore
          Gorkhi-Terelj

          Gorkhi-Terelj

          62 km

          Rocks, forests and ger camps 1.5 hours from the capital.

          CentralAll year
          Explore
          Takhi (Przewalski's horses) grazing in Khustai National Park

          Khustai National Park

          96 km

          Steppe and birch-covered hills west of Ulaanbaatar where wild takhi horses were returned to Mongolia.

          CentralSpring · Summer · Autumn
          Explore
          Amarbayasgalant Monastery in the green Iven valley

          Amarbayasgalant Monastery

          319 km

          An 18th-century Qing-era monastery built for Zanabazar in the remote Iven valley of Selenge.

          CentralSpring · Summer · Autumn
          Explore
          Grassy shore of Ögii Lake under a stormy sky

          Ögii Lake

          325 km

          A shallow steppe lake in eastern Arkhangai, protected as a Ramsar wetland and known for its waterbirds.

          Khangai & CentralSpring · Summer · Autumn
          Explore
          Ger camp in the green valley near Tsenkher Hot Springs

          Tsenkher Hot Springs

          467 km

          Mongolia's second-hottest spring, piped into ger camp pools in a forested valley south of Tsetserleg.

          Khangai & CentralAll year
          Explore
          Ruins of Ongi Monastery above the Ongi River

          Ongi Monastery

          528 km

          Ruins of two large monasteries facing each other across the Ongi River in the dry Dundgovi steppe.

          GobiSpring · Summer · Autumn
          Explore
          Weathered granite outcrops of Baga Gazriin Chuluu

          Baga Gazriin Chuluu

          277 km

          A maze of weathered granite outcrops rising from the steppe of northern Dundgovi, with monastery ruins and a spring.

          GobiSpring · Summer · Autumn
          Explore
          Red sandstone pillar at Khermen Tsav in the early light

          Khermen Tsav

          1,029 km

          A remote maze of red cliffs and gullies in the western Gobi, and a major dinosaur fossil locality.

          GobiSpring · Autumn
          Explore
          Volcanic cones of the Dariganga plateau seen from Shiliin Bogd

          Shiliin Bogd & Dariganga

          750 km

          A sacred extinct volcano near the Chinese border, climbed at sunrise, amid the lakes and cones of Dariganga.

          Eastern MongoliaSpring · Summer · Autumn
          Explore
          Khar Us Lake with the snow-capped Altai behind

          Khar Us Nuur National Park

          1,472 km

          A vast, shallow freshwater lake and reed-fringed delta east of Khovd, protected for its migratory birds.

          Western MongoliaSpring · Summer · Autumn
          Explore
          Snow-capped Tsambagarav above a meadow of yellow flowers

          Tsambagarav Uul National Park

          1,490 km

          A glaciated, snow-capped massif of over 4,000 m on the Khovd and Bayan-Ölgii border, with snow leopards.

          Western MongoliaSummer · Autumn
          Explore
          Rebuilt main temple of Manzushir Monastery below the forest of Bogd Khan Uul

          Manzushir Monastery

          51 km

          Ruins of an 18th-century monastery in the forest on the south side of Bogd Khan Uul, near Zuunmod.

          CentralAll year
          Explore
          Darkhad Valley grassland below the mountains

          Darkhad Valley & Tsagaannuur

          972 km

          A remote valley of lakes and taiga in northern Khövsgöl, home to the Dukha reindeer herders.

          Khangai & CentralSummer · Autumn
          Explore
          View more places

          Khongoryn Els

          About Mongolia

          Mongolia is more than a destination, it is a way of travelling. From Altai glaciers to the Gobi and the felt gers of herders, every guide here brings you closer to its nature, culture and people.

          Journeys made personal: travel at your own pace, meet herder families and reach places beyond the usual routes, with a local guide and driver.

          How to book a tour
          Kazakh eagle hunter in a fox-fur hat holding a golden eagle in western MongoliaMade for youPhoto: Altaihunters · CC BY-SA 3.0

          80+

          Handbook guides

          Carefully written guides on Mongolia's places, culture, food and practical travel, each with a credited photo.

          • Places20
          • Culture15
          • Trip planning25
          4,374 mHighest peak, Khüiten
          21Provinces to explore
          28+Curated places
          4 SeasonsWorth exploring
          The handbook

          Everything you need to know about Mongolia

          Start with About Mongolia
          White felt gers on a vast green steppe under a clear blue sky, with horses grazing nearbyAbout MongoliaKey facts, the capital, the economy, the land and its wildlife: the essential background before you go.5 guidesThe white stupa-lined walls and temples of Erdene Zuu Monastery at KharkhorinHistory of MongoliaFrom the Xiongnu to the Mongol Empire and the modern democracy.5 guidesSükhbaatar Square and the high-rise skyline of central UlaanbaatarPlacesWhere to go, what to do and how to get there: regions, Ulaanbaatar, activities and experiences.20 guidesWrestlers and riders in traditional deel at a Naadam festival on the steppeCultureCustoms, religion, the ger, people, values and traditional arts.15 guidesKhorkhog mutton served with blackened hot stones and vegetablesFood & DrinkCeremonial dishes, dairy, seasonal eating and where to eat.5 guidesMongolian wrestlers in zodog and shuudag grappling on the Naadam fieldFestivalsNaadam, Tsagaan Sar, the Golden Eagle Festival and the rest of the festival year.5 guidesA camel caravan crossing the sand dunes of Khongoryn Els in the GobiPlan Your TripWhen to go, visas, flights, money, health, connectivity, travel maps and an itinerary builder.25 guides
          Food, customs, festivals

          More than places

          FoodCultureFestivals

          Khorkhog

          Mutton cooked with red-hot stones in a sealed pot, the summer camp feast.

          Ceremonial dishes

          Entering a ger

          The threshold, left and right, the pillars: a ger is a small world with its own rules.

          Ger etiquette

          National Naadam

          Wrestling, horses, archery across the country; biggest in the capital.

          11 to 13 July (public holidays 10 to 15 July)

          Tsagaan Sar

          Greetings, uuts and buuz: the nomads' new year.

          First day of the lunar new year (late January to early March)
          History

          The story of the Mongolian state as a scroll journey

          Scroll through 2,200 years