Cornelius Amann
October 06, 2026
5/5
Mongolia: Naadam, the Gobi and Karakorum
14 days from Ulaanbaatar timed to the Naadam festival: the opening ceremony and the horse races, a night in Terelj, a flight to the Gobi for Yolyn Am, the Khongor dunes and the Flaming Cliffs, then Ongi, Karakorum and the wild horses of Khustai.
14 days · Round trip from Ulaanbaatar · up to 12 guests
A child jockey at the Naadam horse races near Ulaanbaatar Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Naadam_2023_-_Horse_racing_09.jpg)
The facts
At a glance
- Length
- 14 days, 13 nights
- Start and end
- Round trip from Ulaanbaatar
- Group size
- 7 to 12 guests
- Longest drive
- 5.5 h on day 10
- Activity level
Moderate
Two long festival days on your feet in the city: queues, stands and walking the festival grounds, 5 to 8 km in all, in July sun at about 1,350 m, with the option of an early return to the hotel. In the countryside the 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, and short walks at the cliffs, ruins and Khustai. The real effort is the vehicle: three days of five to six hours on rough Gobi tracks and roads (days 6, 8 and 10), broken by stops every hour or so.
- Meals included
- 13 breakfasts, 12 lunches, 10 dinners
- Room of your own
- + CAD 1,300 (estimated price)
- Season
- Naadam departure
Highlights
Why this trip
- Reserved seats at the National Sports Stadium for the Naadam opening ceremony on 11 July
- The horse races at Khui Doloon Khudag, child jockeys racing across the open steppe to the finish line
- Wrestling, archery and knuckle-bone shooting on the festival grounds, with a festival lunch included
- A night in Terelj after the races, then a flight to the Gobi instead of two days on the road
- Two nights at the Khongor dunes: a camel-herding family, a camel ride and a sunset climb
- The Flaming Cliffs at sunset, where the first dinosaur eggs known to science were found
- Erdene Zuu at opening and two nights in the UNESCO-listed Orkhon valley at Karakorum
- The takhi, the wild horses of Khustai, at dusk and again at dawn
What makes this trip different
Short drives, all published
Every drive is listed day by day. The longest is 5.5 h, on day 10.
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 1,300 (estimated price).
Day by day
Itinerary
The longest drive is 5.5 h, on day 10.
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), about 50 km south of the city, where a driver meets you for the hour or so into Ulaanbaatar. You arrive two days before the festival opens, and the capital is getting ready: flags go up on the avenues, families arrive from the provinces, and wrestlers and archers are in town for the last practice. The city spreads along the Tuul River valley at about 1,350 m, with Soviet-era blocks, glass towers, temples and districts of gers climbing the hills at its edges. If you land early, walk to Sukhbaatar Square, a few minutes from the hotel, where the seated statue of Chinggis Khaan looks out from Government Palace.
Evening
In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing on the festival days, the meeting points in the crowds, what to pack in a soft bag for the Gobi flight and which days are long in the vehicle. Then a welcome dinner of 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.
Gandan, the National Museum and a concert
Ulaanbaatar: Gandan Monastery, the National Museum of Mongolia and an evening concert
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Ulaanbaatar
- Drive about 30 min
A city day to understand what the festival celebrates before it starts.
Morning
We begin at Gandan, the largest working monastery in Mongolia, in the morning when the monks are at prayer; turn the prayer wheels in the courtyard and see the tall gilded statue of Migjid Janraisig in the main temple. Then the National Museum of Mongolia, a short drive away, which follows the country from its rock art and Bronze Age deer stones through the Mongol empire to the deel robes, saddles and wrestling costumes of the 20th century. Your guide explains the three manly games, wrestling, horse racing and archery, and how a wrestler earns his title, so tomorrow makes sense.
Afternoon
Lunch is at a restaurant in the centre. The afternoon is free: rest before the festival, browse the cashmere shops, or watch the crowds gather at Sukhbaatar Square.
Evening
In the evening we go to a concert of Mongolian music and dance, with khoomii throat singing, contortion and the horse-head fiddle. Dinner is on your own.
Included
- Gandan Monastery with your guide, at morning prayers
- The National Museum of Mongolia
- Lunch in the city centre
- An evening concert of Mongolian music, dance and throat singing
Easier option: Go back to the hotel after lunch and rest before the concert.
More active option: Walk with your guide in the afternoon to the Choijin Lama Temple Museum and the square.
Free time: Afternoon free; dinner on your own
Activity: Cover shoulders and knees at Gandan, and walk clockwise around the temples.
Naadam: the opening ceremony
Ulaanbaatar: the National Sports Stadium and the festival grounds
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Ulaanbaatar
- Drive about 30 min
The first day of Naadam, a festival on the UNESCO list of intangible heritage. We leave the hotel early with your guide to clear the security queues and take our reserved seats in the National Sports Stadium before the ceremony begins. The opening is a big, loud spectacle: the state banners carried in by mounted guards, parades of riders and athletes in deel robes, music, dance and scenes from Mongolian history. When it ends, the first rounds of wrestling begin on the grass, hundreds of men in boots, briefs and open jackets, grappling in pairs until one touches the ground.
Afternoon
Lunch is at the festival grounds. In the afternoon walk next door to the archery ground, where men and women shoot at small targets of leather cylinders tens of metres away, and to the tents where players flick sheep knuckle bones at a target. Stalls sell khuushuur and airag, fermented mare's milk.
Evening
The evening is free: Sukhbaatar Square usually has concerts and celebrations late into the night.
Included
- Reserved seat ticket for the Naadam opening ceremony at the National Sports Stadium
- The opening rounds of wrestling
- Archery and knuckle-bone shooting on the festival grounds with your guide
- Lunch at the festival
Easier option: Return to the hotel with the van after the ceremony and the first wrestling, about midday.
More active option: Stay on the grounds with your guide into the late afternoon for the later wrestling rounds.
Free time: Evening free for the celebrations in the city; dinner on your own
Activity: A long day on your feet in the sun, with security checks and stadium steps. Bring a hat, sunscreen, water and a rain jacket; bags may be searched.
The Naadam horse races, then Terelj
Ulaanbaatar to Khui Doloon Khudag, then Gorkhi-Terelj National Park
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Gorkhi-Terelj National Park
- Drive about 3.5 h
Morning
We leave at 7:30, the one early start of the trip, because the races start in the morning and the road west of the city fills quickly. About 40 km out, at Khui Doloon Khudag, the festival horse races run across open steppe rather than round a track, over distances of roughly 10 to 30 km depending on the age of the horses, and the jockeys are children, some only a few years old. Thousands of people camp along the finish, many on horseback. We watch from the finish line as the leaders appear as dust on the horizon, and the winning horses are blessed and their sweat is said to bring luck.
Afternoon
Lunch is khuushuur, fried mutton pastries, from the stalls, the classic festival meal. Early in the afternoon we drive back through the city and on to Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, a valley of larch forest and granite outcrops. We stop at Turtle Rock, then walk the stepped path up to the Aryabal Meditation Temple in the late light.
Evening
Dinner and the night are at a ger camp, quiet after two days of crowds.
Included
- The Naadam horse races at Khui Doloon Khudag with your guide
- Khuushuur lunch at the races
- Gorkhi-Terelj National Park entry and Turtle Rock
- The walk to the Aryabal Meditation Temple
- Dinner at the ger camp in Terelj
Easier option: Stay at the ger camp with tea instead of the climb to Aryabal.
More active option: Walk on from Aryabal along the valley before dinner with your guide.
Free time: Evening free at the ger camp
Activity: The race ground is open grass with no seating; you stand at the finish for an hour or two. Festival traffic can add time to the drive. The path up to Aryabal is steep in places, with steps.
Fly to the Gobi, walk into Yolyn Am
Terelj to Ulaanbaatar airport, fly to Dalanzadgad, then Yolyn Am
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Yolyn Am
- Drive about 3.5 h
Morning
Early risers can ride for an hour with local herders on their stocky Mongolian horses before breakfast; everyone else sleeps in. At about 9:30 we leave Terelj for the two-hour drive to Chinggis Khaan International Airport and 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. 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.
Afternoon
In the late afternoon, when the day visitors have gone and the heat is easing, we stop at the small museum at the park gate, then walk into Yolyn Am, a gorge that narrows between steep rock walls with a stream along its floor.
Evening
Look for ibex on the slopes and bearded vultures overhead, then dinner at camp under a very big sky.
Included
- Early horse ride with local herders in Terelj (optional to join)
- Flight from Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad (DLZ)
- Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park entry and the museum at the park gate
- Late-afternoon walk into the Yolyn Am gorge with your guide
- Lunch on the way and dinner at the ger camp
Easier option: Rest at camp after the flight and skip the gorge, or walk only the wide, level first part of the valley.
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: If the flight time leaves too little light, we walk the gorge at 8 the next morning instead. 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.
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 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. In July the family may have their own small Naadam memories to share, from the local festivals held across the country. 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.
Evening
In the late afternoon we drive a few minutes to the highest part of the dunes and climb, 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 6, 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 the 1920s 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 returns with the first sun; in July sunrise is early, so this is optional and the rest of the group sleeps in. 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, Erdene Zuu and the Orkhon valley
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. 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 across the valley. 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. 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. At the visitor centre we hear how the project worked.
Evening
In the evening, when the horses 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 and the visitor centre
- Evening takhi viewing with a park guide
- Dinner at the ger camp
Easier option: Watch the takhi from the vehicle instead of walking out to the viewpoint.
More active option: Walk the last stretch to the viewpoint over the hill with the park guide.
Activity: Takhi are wild and keep their distance; we watch with binoculars, and sightings are likely but not certain.
Dawn at Khustai, back to Ulaanbaatar
Khustai National Park to Ulaanbaatar
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Ulaanbaatar
- Drive about 2 h
Morning
Early risers 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 for a short walk on the hills near camp. Then we drive about two hours east to Ulaanbaatar, a little over 100 km, back to the hotel where you left your extra luggage.
Afternoon
Lunch is in the city. The afternoon is free, and the city is calm again after the festival: visit the Choijin Lama Temple Museum, a group of early 20th century temples now hemmed in by office towers, climb the steps of Zaisan Hill for a view over the Tuul valley, or shop for cashmere and felt at the State Department Store.
Evening
In the evening we sit down together for a farewell dinner, and your guide goes over the transfers for the next day.
Included
- Dawn takhi viewing with the park guide (optional to join)
- Short hill walk at Khustai
- Lunch in Ulaanbaatar
- Farewell dinner
Easier option: Sleep in at Khustai and join the group at breakfast.
More active option: Join the dawn outing with the park guide.
Free time: 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. July is the busiest month for flights out of Ulaanbaatar, so book your onward flight early. With a later flight the morning is yours for a last walk around Sukhbaatar Square, a visit to the Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts, or the market stalls for felt slippers and cashmere to take home. If you would like more time in Mongolia, ask us about extra nights in Ulaanbaatar or Terelj before you fly; hotels book up in festival week, so we arrange them when you book the trip. 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.
- Ulaanbaatar3 nights
- Gorkhi-Terelj National Park1 night
- Yolyn Am1 night
- Khongoryn Els2 nights
- Bayanzag1 night
- Ongi1 night
- Kharkhorin2 nights
- Khustai National Park1 night
- Ulaanbaatar1 night
- Overnight stop
- Day trip
- By boat or train
Wildlife and weather: July is Mongolia's warmest month: Ulaanbaatar afternoons are often in the mid to high 20s C, and the Gobi can pass 35 C, while desert nights still turn cool. July also brings much of the year's rain to the steppe, mostly in short afternoon showers, so the hills are green but tracks can be muddy and the festival stands are open to sun and rain. The takhi at Khustai are seen on most visits at dusk and dawn, but no sighting is certain.
Want this plan in your inbox?
Get the day-by-day itinerary by email, or ask us anything about this trip. A trip planner replies the same or next business day.
Before you book
Right for you?
Good for you if you want
- Travellers who want to see Naadam with a seat in the stadium and a guide who explains it, then the real countryside after
- Travellers who want the Gobi without two days of driving to reach it
- Photographers who want the races, the dunes, the cliffs and the wild horses at the right hour
- Solo travellers who want a fair single price and a small group to stay with in the crowds
Not for you if you want
- Anyone who dislikes crowds, queues and security checks on the festival days
- 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
- Travellers who need flexible dates: the festival fixes them
- Step-free access: stadium steps, sand, stony paths and steps throughout
Book flights after we confirm your seat.
13 nights
Where you'll stay
Your hotels are named in your trip confirmation.
- Ulaanbaatar3 nights
- Gorkhi-Terelj National Park1 night
- Yolyn Am1 night
- Khongoryn Els2 nights
- Bayanzag1 night
- Ongi1 night
- Kharkhorin2 nights
- Khustai National Park1 night
- Ulaanbaatar1 night
One price
What's in the price
Included
Accommodation
- 13 nights: 4 in Ulaanbaatar (3 at the start, 1 at the end), 1 at a ger camp in Gorkhi-Terelj, 1 near Yolyn Am, 2 by Khongoryn Els, 1 near Bayanzag, 1 by the Ongi River, 2 near Kharkhorin and 1 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)
- A private van and driver in Ulaanbaatar on the festival days, to the horse races and to Terelj
- 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
Your guide
- A See Sight Tours guide with the group from day 1 to day 14, including at the festival and on the flight
- A local guide at Erdene Zuu and a park guide at Khustai
Activities
- Ulaanbaatar: reserved seat ticket for the Naadam opening ceremony at the National Sports Stadium, the wrestling, archery and knuckle-bone shooting grounds with your guide
- Khui Doloon Khudag: the Naadam horse races
- Ulaanbaatar: Gandan Monastery, the National Museum of Mongolia and an evening concert of music, dance and throat singing
- Gorkhi-Terelj National Park: Turtle Rock, the Aryabal Meditation Temple walk and an early 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 and two takhi viewing outings
- All entry and camera fees for included visits
Meals
- 13 breakfasts
- 12 lunches, including a festival lunch on day 3, khuushuur at the races and 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
- Dinners on days 2 and 3, and lunch on day 14
- Drinks
- Tips for your guide, drivers and camp staff
- Excess baggage on the domestic flight
- Naadam closing ceremony and other festival events outside the day plan
- Extra hotel nights before or after the trip
- Personal expenses
Extras
- Room of your own
- CAD 1,300 (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
What does the price include?
Thirteen nights in a central Ulaanbaatar hotel and ger camps, 13 breakfasts, 12 lunches and 11 dinners, a reserved seat for the Naadam opening ceremony, the horse races, the flight to the Gobi, our own 4x4s with no more than four guests each, your See Sight Tours guide throughout, and every visit in the day plan, including the concert, camel and horse rides and all entry fees.
When is Naadam and which days are we at the festival?
Naadam runs 11 to 13 July each year. The trip starts two days before, so day 3 is the opening ceremony in the National Sports Stadium on 11 July and day 4 is the horse races at Khui Doloon Khudag. We confirm the exact programme when the year's schedule is published in spring.
Are Naadam opening ceremony tickets included?
Yes. We reserve a seat for each guest in the National Sports Stadium for the opening ceremony and the first wrestling rounds, and you keep the ticket. Seats for foreign visitors sell out early, which is one reason to book this trip well ahead. The archery, knuckle-bone shooting and horse races need no seat ticket.
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. A small group is much easier to keep together in festival crowds, and everyone has a window seat on the long Gobi days.
Who leads the trip?
A See Sight Tours guide travels with the group from arrival to departure, including through the festival days and 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 at Khustai.
How fit do I need to be?
Moderate. The festival days mean several hours on your feet in the sun, with stadium steps and queues, and you can return to the hotel early. In the countryside the walks are short, with easier options, and the bigger effort is three long days on rough Gobi tracks.
I am travelling solo. What will it cost?
Solo travellers pay the same trip price plus a single supplement of CAD 1,300 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.
What is the weather like in Mongolia in July?
Warm and changeable. Ulaanbaatar afternoons are often in the mid to high 20s C and the Gobi can pass 35 C, while nights in the desert turn cool. July brings much of the year's rain in short showers, so pack a rain jacket for the open stadium as well as a sun hat.
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?
Request to book the Naadam departure. 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 6,530 and the private trip from CAD 11,755. Hotels in festival week fill early, so book well ahead.
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, around the festival or outside it. If you would rather travel independently on your own dates, ask us and we will quote a comparable route; outside July, see our classic Gobi and Karakorum trip.
Is this the same trip as your classic Gobi tour?
The Gobi and Karakorum days follow the same route as our 13-day classic trip. This one adds two festival days in Ulaanbaatar, the horse races and a night in Terelj, and spends one night at Khustai instead of two. It runs only in Naadam week.
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.
Book your Tour
Get in Touch
- Toll Free1-888-961-6584
- Local1-289-271-9767
© 2026 See Sight Tours. All rights reserved.