Cornelius Amann
October 06, 2026
5/5
Mongolia: the Gobi, Karakorum and Terelj
13 days from Ulaanbaatar: Terelj and the Chinggis Khaan statue, a flight to the Gobi for Yolyn Am, the Khongor dunes and the Flaming Cliffs, then Ongi, Karakorum and the wild horses of Khustai.
13 days · Round trip from Ulaanbaatar · up to 12 guests
Khongoryn Els, the singing dunes of the South Gobi Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Khongoryn_Els_05.jpg)
The facts
At a glance
- Length
- 13 days, 12 nights
- Start and end
- Round trip from Ulaanbaatar
- Group size
- 7 to 12 guests
- Longest drive
- 5.5 h on day 8
- Activity level
Moderate
Walking is easy to moderate: about 4 to 5 km in and out of the Yolyn Am gorge, above 2,000 m; an hour's climb up soft sand on the Khongor dunes, which you can skip; a couple of hours on grassy hills at Khustai. The real effort is the vehicle: three days of five to six hours on rough Gobi tracks and roads (days 4, 6 and 8), broken by stops every hour or so. Every other day has under five hours in the vehicle, and several have almost none.
- Meals included
- 12 breakfasts, 11 lunches, 10 dinners
- Room of your own
- + CAD 1,200 (estimated price)
- Season
- June to September
Highlights
Why this trip
- Fly to the Gobi instead of two days on the road, then walk into Yolyn Am in the quiet late afternoon
- Two nights at the Khongor dunes: a camel-herding family, a camel ride and a sunset climb to the crest
- The Flaming Cliffs at sunset, where the first dinosaur eggs known to science were found, and again at dawn if you like
- The ruined monasteries of Ongi beside the river, and Shankh Monastery on the road north
- Erdene Zuu at opening and the Karakorum Museum, in the UNESCO-listed Orkhon valley
- Two nights at Khustai to watch the takhi, the wild horses, at dusk and at dawn
- The Chinggis Khaan statue, Turtle Rock and a horse ride in Terelj on day 2
- An evening of throat singing and the horse-head fiddle on the last night, included
What makes this trip different
Short drives, all published
Every drive is listed day by day. The longest is 5.5 h, on day 8.
Free time is part of the plan
Free time and choices are marked on the days they fall.
Solo without the penalty
A room of your own is + CAD 1,200 (estimated price).
Day by day
Itinerary
The longest drive is 5.5 h, on day 8.
Tap any stop on the map to open that dayClick any stop on the map to open that day
Arrive in Ulaanbaatar
Chinggis Khaan International Airport to your hotel in Ulaanbaatar
- Welcome dinner
- Stay in Ulaanbaatar
- Drive about 1 h
Fly into Chinggis Khaan International Airport (UBN), which opened in 2021 in a valley about 50 km south of the city, where a driver meets you for the hour or so into Ulaanbaatar. Almost half of Mongolia's people live in the capital, spread along the Tuul River valley at about 1,350 m, with Soviet-era blocks, glass towers, Buddhist temples and districts of gers climbing the hills at its edges. If you land early, walk to Sukhbaatar Square, the wide square in front of Government Palace with its seated statue of Chinggis Khaan, a few minutes from the hotel.
Evening
In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing: how the ger camps work, what to pack in a soft bag for the Gobi flight, and which days are long in the vehicle. Then we sit down to a welcome dinner of Mongolian food, buuz dumplings, khuushuur and grilled meat, with vegetarian dishes on request.
Included
- Pick-up at Chinggis Khaan International Airport (UBN)
- Welcome briefing with your guide
- Welcome dinner
Free time: Free until the evening briefing
Activity: Plan to land by about 4 pm to join the briefing; later arrivals are met and briefed the next morning.
The Chinggis Khaan statue and Terelj
Ulaanbaatar to Tsonjin Boldog, then Gorkhi-Terelj National Park and back
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Ulaanbaatar
- Drive about 3.5 h
We leave at 8:30 to clear the city traffic and drive about an hour east to Tsonjin Boldog, where a stainless-steel Chinggis Khaan sits on a horse 40 m tall above the open steppe. Stairs inside take you up through the horse and out onto its head, and the grassland runs out to the horizon in every direction. From there it is about an hour north into Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, a valley of larch forest and granite outcrops along the Terelj River.
Afternoon
We stop at Turtle Rock, a boulder that looks like its name, then have lunch at a ger camp, a first look at how the camps work. In the afternoon walk up the stepped path to the Aryabal Meditation Temple for the view across the valley, or ride for an hour with local herders on their stocky Mongolian horses.
Evening
We are back in Ulaanbaatar by about 5 pm, and the evening is free to eat where you like.
Included
- The Chinggis Khaan Equestrian Statue at Tsonjin Boldog, with the walk up to the horse's head
- Gorkhi-Terelj National Park entry and Turtle Rock
- Lunch at a ger camp in Terelj
- The walk to the Aryabal Meditation Temple, or in its place an hour's horse ride with local herders
Easier option: Skip the climb to Aryabal and stay at the ger camp with tea, or walk the level valley floor.
More active option: Ride for about an hour with local herders in place of the temple walk; included, no riding experience needed.
Free time: Evening free in Ulaanbaatar; dinner on your own
Activity: The path up to Aryabal is steep in places, with steps.
Fly to the Gobi, walk into Yolyn Am
Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad by air, then Yolyn Am in Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Yolyn Am
- Drive about 1.5 h
Morning
After breakfast we drive to the airport for the flight south to Dalanzadgad, the capital of the South Gobi, about an hour and a half in the air. Flying saves the two days of driving across the Middle Gobi that most trips spend in the vehicle.
Afternoon
Our 4x4s and drivers, sent down from Ulaanbaatar ahead of us, meet the plane, and we drive about an hour west to our ger camp at the foot of the Gurvan Saikhan mountains, the Three Beauties, for lunch and a rest. In the late afternoon, when the day visitors have gone and the heat is easing, we stop at the small natural history museum at the park gate, then walk into Yolyn Am, a gorge that narrows between steep rock walls with a stream along its floor. In the past ice lasted here well into summer; in recent warm years it has often melted by early summer.
Evening
Look for ibex on the slopes and bearded vultures overhead, then dinner at camp under a very big sky.
Included
- Flight from Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad (DLZ)
- Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park entry and the natural history museum at the park gate
- Late-afternoon walk into the Yolyn Am gorge with your guide
- Lunch and dinner at the ger camp
Easier option: Rest at camp after the flight and skip the gorge, or walk only the first part of the valley, which is wide and level, and wait by the stream.
More active option: Carry on past the narrows to where the gorge opens out again, about an hour more on the same stony path.
Activity: The drive figure covers Dalanzadgad to camp and the gorge; the morning transfer to the Ulaanbaatar airport is about an hour more. About 4 to 5 km on foot in and out of the gorge, on a stony path above 2,000 m. Domestic flights allow less baggage, usually about 15 kg in the hold; leave the rest at the Ulaanbaatar hotel.
West to the Khongor dunes
Yolyn Am to Khongoryn Els along the Gurvan Saikhan range
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Khongoryn Els
- Drive about 5 h
Today is one of the three long days of the trip, and we say so plainly: about 190 km and five hours of driving, much of it on desert tracks.
Evening
There is no shorter way to the dunes and no scheduled flight closer to them, and stopping halfway would mean a night in a place with nothing to see, so we break the day up instead. We leave at 8:30 after breakfast and follow the line of the mountains west across gravel plains, past herders' gers, camel herds and the odd lone well, with a stop every hour or so to stretch, take photos and swap seats. Lunch is a hot meal on the way, at a camp where one fits the route or set up by our crew with tables and chairs, never a box in the vehicle. By mid-afternoon the dunes rise ahead, a pale wall of sand along the foot of the mountains. We settle into our ger camp for two nights, and the evening is free to watch the light leave the sand.
Included
- Drive west along the Gurvan Saikhan range with stops for photos
- Hot lunch on the way
- Dinner at the ger camp by the dunes
Easier option: There is no shorter way on this day. Take a front seat if you get car sick, stay in the vehicle at any stop you like, and rest at camp on arrival.
Free time: Late afternoon and evening free at camp
Activity: A long day on rough tracks, with no more than four guests per 4x4. Tell your guide if you get car sick, and we put you in a front seat.
A day at the singing dunes
Khongoryn Els, from a herding family to the crest at sunset
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Khongoryn Els
- Drive about 1 h
No long drive today. Khongoryn Els runs for about 100 km along the foot of the mountains and rises to around 300 m at its highest, and when the wind is right the sand slides with a low hum that gives the dunes their local name, the singing sands.
Morning
In the cool of the morning we visit a camel-herding family nearby to see how they live: the ger, the milking, the Bactrian camels that still carry a family's home when it moves to new pasture. Then you ride a camel for about an hour along the foot of the dunes with a herder leading. The middle of the day is free at camp, when the sun is strongest: read, sleep or drink salty milk tea in the shade.
Afternoon
In the late afternoon we drive a few minutes to the highest part of the dunes and climb.
Evening
It takes about an hour in soft sand, slow and steep near the top, and from the crest at sunset you see the sand sea on one side and the plain on the other.
Included
- Visit to a camel-herding family
- Camel ride of about an hour along the dunes
- Sunset climb of Khongoryn Els with your guide
- All meals at the ger camp
Easier option: Stay at the foot of the dunes for sunset, or climb only part of the way to the first ridge.
More active option: Climb to the highest crest and walk along the ridge before sliding down the steep face.
Free time: Middle of the day free at camp
Activity: The climb is about an hour in soft sand, steep near the crest. Bring sunglasses and a buff against blowing sand.
Across the Gobi to the Flaming Cliffs
Khongoryn Els to Bayanzag (the Flaming Cliffs)
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Bayanzag
- Drive about 5 h
The second long day: about 180 km and five hours of driving, mostly on desert tracks, north-east across the Gobi.
Evening
As on day 4, the alternative would be a night in between with nothing to see, so we leave at 8:30 and break the drive with a stop every hour or so and a hot lunch on the way. We reach our ger camp near Bayanzag in the afternoon, with time to rest before the light softens. Then we walk the rim of the Flaming Cliffs, red and orange sandstone that glows in the low sun. In 1922 and 1923 expeditions from the American Museum of Natural History, led by Roy Chapman Andrews, found here the first dinosaur eggs recognised by science, along with Protoceratops and the first Velociraptor. Your guide shows you where the finds were made, and fragments of fossil bone still turn up in the sand. We stay until the sun goes down, then drive back to camp for dinner.
Included
- Drive across the Gobi with stops for photos
- Hot lunch on the way
- The Flaming Cliffs at Bayanzag from late afternoon to sunset, with your guide
- Dinner at the ger camp
Easier option: There is no shorter way on this day. Take a front seat if you get car sick, stay in the vehicle at any stop you like, and rest at camp on arrival.
Activity: About 1 to 2 km on the cliff rim, on crumbly ground; stay back from the edges. Fossils must be left where they lie: removing them is illegal.
Saxaul forest, then north to Ongi
Bayanzag to the Ongi River and the ruins of Ongiin Khiid
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Ongi
- Drive about 4 h
Morning
For anyone who wants it, a dawn walk back to the cliffs while they are empty and the colour comes back with the first sun. Sunrise is between about 5:30 and 6:30 depending on the month, so this is the one early start of the trip, and it is optional. After breakfast we stop at the saxaul forest near Bayanzag, a stand of twisted, drought-hardy trees that hold the sand together, then drive north for about four hours across the edge of the Gobi to the Ongi River.
Afternoon
Lunch is at our ger camp by the river. In the afternoon we walk the ruins of Ongiin Khiid, two monasteries on either bank that were among the largest in Mongolia until they were destroyed in the purges of the late 1930s, when monks were killed and temples pulled down across the country. Since 1990 a small community of monks has come back and rebuilt a temple among the ruins.
Evening
A small museum tells the story, and the riverbank is good for an evening walk.
Included
- Optional dawn walk at the Flaming Cliffs
- The saxaul forest near Bayanzag
- The ruins of Ongiin Khiid and the site museum, with your guide
- Lunch and dinner at the ger camp
Easier option: Sleep in instead of the dawn walk and join the group at breakfast.
More active option: Join the dawn walk at the cliffs before breakfast.
Free time: Evening free by the river
Activity: The ruins are spread over rough, stony ground; about 2 km on foot in all.
Arvaikheer, Shankh and on to Karakorum
Ongi to Arvaikheer, then Shankh Monastery and Kharkhorin
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Kharkhorin
- Drive about 5.5 h
Evening
The longest day, and the reason for the night at Ongi: about 300 km and five and a half hours of driving to reach Karakorum. There is no shorter way out of the Gobi to the Orkhon valley, and this route puts the rough part first and the paved road last. We leave at 8 am on tracks north to Arvaikheer, the capital of Ovorkhangai province, and stop there around midday for a sit-down lunch in town. From Arvaikheer the road is paved. An hour or so on we stop at Shankh Monastery, one of the oldest in Mongolia, founded in the 17th century and linked with Zanabazar, the first head of Mongolian Buddhism and its greatest sculptor; it was closed under communism and is active again. The land turns green as we drop into the Orkhon valley, and we reach our ger camp near Kharkhorin, the town beside the old capital, in the late afternoon. Dinner is at camp, and the evening is free.
Included
- Sit-down lunch in Arvaikheer
- Shankh Monastery with your guide
- Dinner at the ger camp near Kharkhorin
Easier option: There is no shorter way on this day. Take a front seat if you get car sick, stay in the vehicle at any stop you like, and rest at camp on arrival.
Free time: Evening free at camp
Activity: The longest drive of the trip, about half on tracks; we stop every hour or so.
Karakorum and Erdene Zuu
Kharkhorin: Erdene Zuu, the Karakorum Museum and the hill above the valley
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Kharkhorin
- Drive about 30 min
We are at Erdene Zuu when it opens, before the day visitors arrive from Ulaanbaatar. Founded in 1585 partly from the stones of Karakorum, it was the first great Buddhist monastery in Mongolia, and its long white wall is lined with stupas, 108 by tradition. Most of its temples were destroyed in the late 1930s; a few survived as a museum, and it has been a working monastery again since 1990. With a local guide we walk the temples and, if they are sitting, listen to the monks chant. Then the Karakorum Museum, where a scale model shows the capital that Chinggis Khaan founded and his son Ogedei walled in the 1230s, and the stone turtle that once marked its edge.
Afternoon
Lunch is in town. The afternoon is free: rest at camp or ride with a local herding family. Late in the day we drive up to the hill above town, where a monument to the empires of Mongolia looks over the Orkhon valley, a UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape since 2004.
Included
- Erdene Zuu Monastery at opening, with a local guide
- The Karakorum Museum
- The stone turtle of Karakorum
- Sit-down lunch in Kharkhorin
- The empires monument on the hill above town, late in the day
- Horse ride with a local herding family (afternoon option)
Easier option: Rest at camp in the afternoon.
More active option: Ride for an hour or two with a local herding family in the Orkhon valley; included.
Free time: Afternoon free
Activity: Cover shoulders and knees in the temples, and walk clockwise around them.
Mongol Els and on to Khustai
Kharkhorin to Elsen Tasarkhai, then Khustai National Park
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Khustai National Park
- Drive about 4.5 h
Morning
We leave Kharkhorin after breakfast on the paved road east towards Ulaanbaatar, about 285 km and four and a half hours of driving, with the last few kilometres on a dirt road into the park. That runs slightly over our four-hour cap, so we break it near halfway at Elsen Tasarkhai, where a strip of sand dunes, the Mongol Els, runs across the green steppe below Khogno Khan mountain.
Afternoon
Walk out onto the sand, then lunch at a camp nearby. We reach Khustai National Park in the middle of the afternoon and settle into our ger camp for two nights. Khustai is where the takhi, or Przewalski's horse, often called the last wild horse, came home: it died out in the wild in the 1960s, and from 1992 horses bred in European zoos were flown here and released. Today they live in family groups across the park's hills.
Evening
In the evening, when they come down to graze and drink, a park guide takes us out to find them.
Included
- A walk on the Elsen Tasarkhai dunes
- Lunch on the way
- Khustai National Park entry
- Evening takhi viewing with a park guide
- Dinner at the ger camp
Activity: Takhi are wild and keep their distance; we watch from the track with binoculars, and sightings are likely but not certain.
Wild horses at Khustai
Khustai National Park, dawn to dusk
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Khustai National Park
- Drive about 1 h
A slow day in one place.
Morning
Early risers can go out with the park guide at first light, when the takhi are still low in the valleys and marmots sit up outside their burrows; everyone else joins after breakfast. At the visitor centre we learn how the return of the horses has worked: animals bred in zoos, flown in, kept in large enclosures to get used to the land, then let go to form their own family groups. Then we walk in the hills with the park guide, an easy loop of a couple of hours over grass and rock with wide views, looking for horses, red deer and birds of prey.
Afternoon
Lunch is at camp, and the afternoon is free: sleep, read, or sit outside the ger and watch the light move across the steppe.
Evening
In the late afternoon we drive out once more to watch the horses come down to water before dinner, our last night in a ger.
Included
- Dawn takhi viewing with the park guide (optional to join)
- The Khustai visitor centre
- Guided hill walk of about two hours
- Late-afternoon takhi viewing
- All meals at the ger camp
Easier option: Watch from the vehicle and the viewpoints instead of the hill walk.
More active option: A longer ridge walk of three to four hours with the park guide.
Free time: Afternoon free at camp
Back to Ulaanbaatar: Gandan and a last evening
Khustai National Park to Ulaanbaatar
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Ulaanbaatar
- Drive about 2 h
Morning
We leave Khustai after breakfast and drive about two hours east to Ulaanbaatar, a little over 100 km, back to the hotel where you left your extra luggage.
Afternoon
After lunch we visit Gandan, the largest working monastery in Mongolia, where you can turn the prayer wheels in the courtyard and see the tall gilded statue of Migjid Janraisig in the main temple. Then the Chinggis Khaan National Museum, opened in 2022, which follows the Mongol states from the Xiongnu to the 20th century over several floors; your guide picks out the pieces that connect with what you saw at Karakorum and Ongi. The late afternoon is free for the cashmere shops or a rest.
Evening
In the evening we go to a concert of Mongolian music and dance, with khoomii throat singing, contortion and the horse-head fiddle, then sit down to a farewell dinner together.
Included
- Lunch in Ulaanbaatar
- Gandan Monastery with your guide
- The Chinggis Khaan National Museum
- An evening concert of Mongolian music, dance and throat singing
- Farewell dinner
Free time: Late afternoon free in Ulaanbaatar
Depart from Ulaanbaatar
Your hotel in Ulaanbaatar to Chinggis Khaan International Airport
- Breakfast
- Drive about 1 h
Morning
Breakfast at the hotel, then the trip ends. Chinggis Khaan International Airport is about 50 km south of the city, an hour's drive and more at rush hour, and we time your transfer to fit your flight: plan to leave the hotel about three hours before an international departure. With a later flight the morning is yours. Walk to the Choijin Lama Temple Museum, a group of early 20th century temples now hemmed in by office towers, or climb the steps of Zaisan Hill for a view over the whole city and the Tuul River below it. The State Department Store and the shops around Sukhbaatar Square are the last chance for cashmere, felt slippers and other things to take home. If you would like more time in Mongolia, ask us about extra nights in Ulaanbaatar or Terelj before you fly. Your guide says goodbye at breakfast and checks that every transfer is booked.
Included
- Drop-off at Chinggis Khaan International Airport (UBN)
Free time: Free until your airport transfer
Activity: Any flight time works; the transfer is about an hour.
- Ulaanbaatar2 nights
- Yolyn Am1 night
- Khongoryn Els2 nights
- Bayanzag1 night
- Ongi1 night
- Kharkhorin2 nights
- Khustai National Park2 nights
- Ulaanbaatar1 night
- Overnight stop
- Day trip
- By boat or train
Wildlife and weather: June to September is the season. Gobi afternoons can pass 35 C in July, and by September nights in the desert and at Khustai can drop close to freezing. July and August bring most of the year's rain to the steppe, mostly in short showers, and wind and dust are possible in the Gobi, most often early in the season. The takhi at Khustai are seen on most visits at dusk and dawn, but no sighting is certain.
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Before you book
Right for you?
Good for you if you want
- Travellers who want the Gobi, Karakorum and the steppe in one trip without two days of driving to reach the desert
- Travellers happy in a ger camp for nine nights if they know what the bathrooms are like
- Photographers who want dunes, cliffs and wild horses at the right hour
- Solo travellers who want a fair single price and a small group
Not for you if you want
- Anyone who cannot sit five to six hours on rough tracks on three days of the trip
- Travellers who need hotel comforts every night, steady power or Wi-Fi
- Step-free access: sand, stony paths and steps throughout
- A festival trip: Naadam and the eagle festival are separate departures
Book flights after we confirm your seat.
12 nights
Where you'll stay
Your hotels are named in your trip confirmation.
- Ulaanbaatar2 nights
- Yolyn Am1 night
- Khongoryn Els2 nights
- Bayanzag1 night
- Ongi1 night
- Kharkhorin2 nights
- Khustai National Park2 nights
- Ulaanbaatar1 night
One price
What's in the price
Included
Accommodation
- 12 nights: 3 in Ulaanbaatar (2 at the start, 1 at the end), 1 at a ger camp near Yolyn Am, 2 by Khongoryn Els, 1 near Bayanzag, 1 by the Ongi River, 2 near Kharkhorin and 2 in Khustai National Park
- A central Ulaanbaatar hotel of a 3-star-plus standard, within walking distance of Sukhbaatar Square, the same one at the start and end so you can leave luggage
- Ger camps with real beds and a stove, with a private bathroom in the ger wherever the camp has them (at Ongi and Khustai bathrooms may be shared); we name each when we confirm your dates
- Rooms and gers shared, or your own for a supplement
Transport
- Pick-up and drop-off at Chinggis Khaan International Airport (UBN)
- The flight from Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad (DLZ), with checked baggage
- Our own 4x4 vehicles and local drivers from Dalanzadgad back to Ulaanbaatar, no more than four guests per vehicle
- A private vehicle and driver in Ulaanbaatar and on the Terelj day
Your guide
- A See Sight Tours guide with the group from day 1 to day 13, including on the flight
- A local guide at Erdene Zuu and a park guide at Khustai
Activities
- Tsonjin Boldog: the Chinggis Khaan Equestrian Statue and the walk up to the horse's head
- Gorkhi-Terelj National Park: Turtle Rock, the Aryabal Meditation Temple walk or an hour's horse ride
- Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park: entry, the park museum and Yolyn Am
- Khongoryn Els: a camel-herding family, a camel ride and the sunset dune climb
- Bayanzag: the Flaming Cliffs at sunset, a dawn walk and the saxaul forest
- Ongi: the ruins of Ongiin Khiid and the site museum
- Shankh Monastery
- Kharkhorin: Erdene Zuu, the Karakorum Museum, the stone turtle, the empires monument and a horse ride
- Elsen Tasarkhai: a walk on the Mongol Els dunes
- Khustai National Park: entry, the visitor centre, three takhi viewing outings and a guided hill walk
- Ulaanbaatar: Gandan Monastery, the Chinggis Khaan National Museum and an evening concert of music, dance and throat singing
- All entry and camera fees for included visits
Meals
- 12 breakfasts
- 11 lunches, a hot sit-down meal on every driving day
- 11 dinners: a welcome dinner, nine at the ger camps and a farewell dinner
Not included
- International flights to and from Ulaanbaatar
- Visa, if your passport needs one
- Travel insurance, which should include medical evacuation
- Dinner on day 2 and lunch on day 13
- Drinks
- Tips for your guide, drivers and camp staff
- Excess baggage on the domestic flight
- Naadam festival tickets
- Personal expenses
Extras
- Room of your own
- CAD 1,200 (estimated price)
When you can go
Dates and prices
Pick your start date when you request to book. We check that date and confirm it in your quote.
Prefer to travel without a group or guide? Ask us about arranging hotels, transport and city tours for you to travel independently.
Before you book
Booking terms
Nothing is charged now. Full terms and the cancellation schedule come with your quote, before you accept.
Business addresses
See Sight Tours Trips (USA): 3172 N Rainbow Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89108, United StatesSee Sight Tours Trips (Canada): 5305 50 Avenue, #1091, Red Deer, AB T4N 4B6, Canada+1-888-961-6584Guest reviews
What guests say
Reviews from guests on our day tours.
Jane
October 06, 2026
5/5
Susan
October 06, 2026
5/5
Tom L
October 05, 2026
5/5
MandL83
October 05, 2026
5/5
Darren O
October 05, 2026
5/5
Good to know
Questions
Prices in these answers apply from Jan 1, 2027. Black Friday offer: 8% off the small-group price for requests received by Dec 1, 2026. From CAD 5,510 per person. Dec 2 to Dec 31: from CAD 5,750. From Jan 1, 2027: from CAD 5,990.
What does the price include?
Twelve nights in a central Ulaanbaatar hotel and ger camps, 12 breakfasts, 11 lunches and 11 dinners, airport transfers, the flight to the Gobi, our own 4x4s and drivers with no more than four guests per vehicle, your See Sight Tours guide throughout, and every visit in the day plan, including the concert, camel and horse rides and all entry fees.
How big is the group?
The small-group trip runs with 7 to 12 guests, travelling in 4x4s of no more than four guests each, so everyone has a window seat on the long Gobi days and the whole group fits around one table at the camps.
Who leads the trip?
A See Sight Tours guide travels with the group from arrival to departure, including on the flight to the Gobi. Experienced local drivers handle the 4x4s, a local guide joins us at Erdene Zuu, and a park guide leads the takhi outings and the hill walk at Khustai.
How long are the drives in Mongolia?
Three days are long: days 4 and 6 are about five hours on Gobi tracks, and day 8 about five and a half, half on tracks. Each has a stop every hour or so and a hot lunch. Day 10 is about four and a half hours on paved road, broken at the Elsen Tasarkhai dunes; the rest are short.
What are the ger camps like? Is there a private bathroom?
Tourist gers have real beds, a stove the staff light on cold nights and space for two or three. We choose camps with a private bathroom in the ger wherever they exist; at Ongi and Khustai the bathrooms may be in a shared block, and we tell you which when we name the camps. Power is limited at some camps.
Why fly to the Gobi instead of driving?
Driving from Ulaanbaatar to the South Gobi takes most trips two full days. The flight to Dalanzadgad takes about an hour and a half, so those two days go to the dunes, the cliffs and two nights at Khongor instead. Our 4x4s drive down ahead and meet the plane.
How fit do I need to be?
Moderate. The walks are short: about 4 to 5 km at Yolyn Am, an hour up soft sand on the Khongor dunes and a couple of hours on grassy hills at Khustai, each with an easier option. The bigger effort is sitting through three long days on rough tracks.
I am travelling solo. What will it cost?
Solo travellers pay the same trip price plus a single supplement of CAD 1,200 for a room and ger of their own, shown up front with no surprise at checkout. If you would rather share, ask when you book. Solo guests get the same gers, seats and tables as everyone else.
When is the best time to go to Mongolia?
June to September, when the ger camps are open and the steppe is green. July is the warmest, with hot Gobi afternoons, and Naadam fills Ulaanbaatar from 11 to 13 July. September is cooler and quieter, with cold nights. Outside these months most Gobi camps close.
Do I need a visa for Mongolia?
US citizens do not need a visa for stays of up to 90 days. UK, Australian and most EU passports are on a visa-free list for up to 30 days that currently runs to 1 January 2027, so check the current list. We confirm the rules for your passport, including Canadian, when you book.
How does booking work?
Choose a start date and request to book. We confirm your place within 24 hours, and no payment is taken until we do. Prices are per person sharing, with taxes; the small group starts from CAD 5,990 and the private trip from CAD 10,780.
Can we travel privately or on our own dates?
Yes. The private style is for your party only, on a date you choose, with your own guide, 4x4s and drivers. If you would rather travel independently on your own dates, ask us from the dates section and we will quote a comparable route.
See Sight Tours has been providing travel services across North America since 2006. Operating in 20 cities across Canada and the USA, the company specializes in small group tours that offer personalized, high-quality experiences for travelers.
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