Discover Mongolia: Self-Launched Steppe & Gobi Adventure

Fly into Chinggis Khaan International Airport and transfer into the city by taxi or shared shuttle (approx £5–8). Check into a central hostel or guesthouse in the city. Spend the afternoon getting your bearings — wander Sukhbaatar Square, the State Department Store and the surrounding streets. In the evening, head to one of the city's many local restaurants for a bowl of tsuivan (noodles with meat) or buuz (steamed dumplings) and toast the start of your adventure. Use this evening to connect with other travellers looking to share jeep costs for the road ahead — hostel noticeboards and Facebook groups like 'Mongolia Jeep Sharing' are invaluable.

🚌Airport taxi or shuttle to city centre (~£5–8). Walk or take city bus once in UB.

🛏Ulaanbaatar guesthouse or hostel dorm — e.g. Khongor Guesthouse or Golden Gobi Guesthouse (~£12–18/night)

• →Explore Sukhbaatar Square and the surrounding city centre
• →Browse the State Department Store for supplies
• →Post on hostel noticeboards or Mongolia jeep-sharing Facebook groups to find travel companions
• →Dinner at a local Mongolian restaurant — try buuz or tsuivan

Start the morning with a visit to Gandan Monastery, the largest functioning Buddhist monastery in Mongolia and free to enter the grounds (inner temple has a small entry fee ~£1). Watch monks at morning prayers and marvel at the 20m Migjid Janraisig statue. Afterwards, depart with your hired driver/jeep east towards Terelj National Park (approx 2.5 hrs). In the afternoon, hike up to the Aryabala Meditation Temple for sweeping views over the valley. Tonight you sleep in your first traditional ger — book directly with a ger camp at the park entrance or in advance online. Meals are typically included at ger camps; confirm when booking.

🚌Pre-hired 4WD jeep with driver — share costs across 4–5 travellers. Day's driving ~2.5 hrs.

🛏Ger camp in Terelj National Park — book direct or via guesthouse in UB (~£15–20pp/night, meals often included)

• →Visit Gandan Monastery and the 20m Migjid Janraisig statue (~£1 inner temple entry)
• →Drive to Terelj National Park (2.5 hrs by hired jeep)
• →Hike to the Aryabala Meditation Temple
• →Settle into your first traditional ger camp

Today is a long drive day (6–7 hrs total) heading west. En route, detour to Khustain Nuruu National Park to track the takhi (Przewalski's horse) — the only truly wild horse species in the world, successfully reintroduced here. Pay the park entry fee at the gate (~£5) and take a self-guided walk through the steppe using the information centre maps. Keep eyes peeled for the stocky, dun-coloured horses on the hillsides. Continue south-west to the Mongol Els (Little Gobi Desert) and settle into a ger camp amid the dunes for the night.

🚌Full day by hired 4WD jeep (~6–7 hrs driving including stops).

🛏Ger camp at Mongol Els / Hoyor Zagal area — book direct (~£15–20pp/night, meals included)

• →Khustain Nuruu National Park entry and self-guided takhi (Przewalski's horse) tracking hike (~£5 entry)
• →Visit the park information centre
• →Arrive at Mongol Els dune landscape
• →Sunset walk among the dunes

Drive to Khogno Khan Mountain, an isolated granite massif rich in birdlife — spot steppe eagles and vultures circling overhead. A small monastery sits at the foot of the rocks; explore freely. Continue to Karakorum, the 13th-century capital of the Mongol Empire. Visit Erdene Zuu Monastery (entry ~£3), Mongolia's oldest surviving monastery, whose walls are lined with 108 white stupas. Spend an hour at the Karakorum Museum (entry ~£2) to understand the Silk Road history of this extraordinary site. Stay overnight at a ger camp near Karakorum.

🚌Hired 4WD jeep (~1.5 hrs from Mongol Els area to Karakorum).

🛏Ger camp near Karakorum — book direct (~£15–20pp/night, meals included)

• →Explore Khogno Khan Mountain and its small monastery
• →Visit Erdene Zuu Monastery (entry ~£3)
• →Tour the Karakorum Museum (~£2 entry)
• →Walk the ruins area of ancient Karakorum

Head south along the northern fringe of the Gobi. Stop at Shankh Monastery, one of Mongolia's oldest active monasteries, once associated with the revered Buddhist scholar Zanabazar. Arrive in Arvaikheer, the provincial capital of Ovorkhangai, in the afternoon. Visit the local museum (~£1–2 entry) to see ancient stone figures and Turkic inscriptions, then browse the local market for snacks and supplies. Tonight you stay in a local hotel — a rare taste of Mongolian provincial town life.

🚌Hired 4WD jeep (~3 hrs).

🛏Local hotel in Arvaikheer — basic but comfortable (~£12–18pp/night)

• →Visit Shankh Monastery (free entry, donations welcome)
• →Arvaikheer local museum (~£1–2 entry)
• →Browse the local market for supplies and snacks
• →Explore Arvaikheer town on foot

Today is the longest and most remote drive of the entire trip — around 5–6 hours of driving, with paved roads giving way to gravel plains and dry riverbeds. This is where the adventure truly begins. The sheer scale and silence of the southern Mongolian wilderness are humbling. Keep an eye on the horizon for the towering Ikh Bogd Mountain, the highest peak of the Gobi Altai range. Arrive at a remote ger camp by evening. Stock up on water and snacks before leaving Arvaikheer as facilities en route are essentially non-existent.

🚌Hired 4WD jeep (~5–6 hrs off-road driving). Fuel up in Arvaikheer — driver will manage logistics.

🛏Remote ger camp in Bayan Gobi region (~£15–20pp/night, meals included)

• →Full-day drive through increasingly remote Gobi landscapes
• →Spot Ikh Bogd Mountain on the horizon
• →Roadside stops to photograph the vast gravel steppe
• →Stargazing from the ger camp (zero light pollution)

Continue through dramatic Gobi scenery, crossing a high desert pass with sweeping views over rocky plains. Visit the White Cave (Tsagaan Agui), a site of archaeological importance with pale quartz rock formations. Stop for a picnic lunch near Arts Bogd Mountain — your driver will know the best viewpoints. As the afternoon unfolds, the Khongoriin Els dunes gradually appear on the horizon, their ridges rising dramatically from the flat desert floor. Arrive at your ger camp near the dunes in the late afternoon.

🚌Hired 4WD jeep (~5–6 hrs including stops).

🛏Ger camp near Khongoriin Els (~£15–20pp/night, meals included)

• →Cross a high desert mountain pass
• →Visit the White Cave (Tsagaan Agui)
• →Picnic lunch near Arts Bogd Mountain
• →First views of the Khongoriin Els (Singing Dunes)

A full day exploring the Khongoriin Els — the largest dune system in Mongolia, stretching 200km across the South Gobi. Climb the dunes in the cooler morning hours (bring plenty of water and sun protection) and listen for the low resonant hum created by the wind moving across the sand. In the afternoon, arrange a visit to a local Bactrian camel-herding family through your ger camp host — this can typically be organised directly and costs around £5–10pp as a contribution to the family. Learn about nomadic desert life and the role of the double-humped camel. Camel rides can often be arranged for an extra fee (~£5–10).

🚌Short drive from ger camp (~30 mins). Walking for most of the day.

🛏Same ger camp near Khongoriin Els (~£15–20pp/night, meals included)

• →Climb the Khongoriin Els (Singing Dunes) — up to 300m high
• →Listen for the 'singing' sound created by shifting sand
• →Visit a Bactrian camel-herding family (~£5–10pp contribution)
• →Optional camel ride (~£5–10)

Drive through Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park (Three Beauties of the Gobi) to Yolyn Am — also called Vulture's Mouth — a dramatic narrow canyon so deep that ice can persist on the canyon floor well into summer. Pay the national park entry fee at the gate (~£5). Visit the small museum near the canyon entrance, then walk independently into the gorge. Keep eyes open for ibex scrambling the cliff faces, lammergeiers (bearded vultures) riding thermals overhead, and argali sheep on the upper slopes. The walk is around 4–6km return and takes 2–3 hours at a leisurely pace.

🚌Hired 4WD jeep (~4 hrs from Khongoriin Els).

🛏Ger camp near Yolyn Am / Dalanzadgad area (~£15–20pp/night, meals included)

• →Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park entry (~£5)
• →Visit the park museum near Yolyn Am
• →Hike into Yolyn Am (Vulture's Mouth) canyon — 4–6km return
• →Wildlife spotting: ibex, lammergeiers, argali sheep

Drive approximately 70km to Bayanzag — the famous Flaming Cliffs, named for their deep red-orange sandstone that blazes in the late afternoon sun. This is one of the world's most important palaeontological sites: American explorer Roy Chapman Andrews discovered the first known dinosaur eggs here in the 1920s. Walk freely across the clifftop and surrounding area — fossil fragments can still occasionally be spotted on the surface (do not remove them; it's illegal and ecologically damaging). The site is open and free to walk. Return to camp for a relaxed evening.

🚌Hired 4WD jeep (~3 hrs return driving).

🛏Same ger camp near Yolyn Am / Dalanzadgad (~£15–20pp/night, meals included)

• →Hike the Bayanzag (Flaming Cliffs) — free entry
• →Spot exposed fossil fragments in the sandstone
• →Photography — best light in late afternoon when cliffs glow red-orange
• →Relaxed camp evening under the Gobi stars

Begin the long return journey north towards Ulaanbaatar. Today's overnight stop is Baga Gazryn Chuluu, a striking landscape of weathered granite outcrops rising dramatically from the flat steppe — a sacred site associated with Buddhist pilgrimage and local legend. Visit the ruins of Lovonchombo Monastery hidden among the rocks, and seek out the natural spring (believed locally to have healing properties) nearby. The evening light on the granite is spectacular. This is your final night in a traditional ger camp — savour it.

🚌Hired 4WD jeep (~6–7 hrs driving).

🛏Ger camp at Baga Gazryn Chuluu (~£15–20pp/night, meals included)

• →Drive north through steppe landscapes (~6–7 hrs)
• →Explore Baga Gazryn Chuluu granite formations
• →Visit Lovonchombo Monastery ruins
• →Find the natural healing spring
• →Final ger camp evening — sunset photography

Head back to Ulaanbaatar, stopping en route at the colossal Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue Complex at Tsonjin Boldog — a 40-metre stainless steel statue of Genghis Khan on horseback, visible from miles away. Entry (~£8pp) includes a lift up into the horse's head for panoramic steppe views, plus access to the museum at the base. Continue the remaining drive into Ulaanbaatar (~1 hr) and check back into your city hostel or guesthouse. Celebrate your Mongolian adventure with a proper dinner out — try the Modern Nomads restaurant or Little India for a change of scene.

🚌Hired 4WD jeep back to UB. Statue is approx 54km east of the city — stop en route.

🛏Hostel or guesthouse in Ulaanbaatar (~£12–18pp/night)

• →Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue Complex (~£8pp entry)
• →Lift to the horse's head for panoramic views
• →Museum at the statue base
• →Return to Ulaanbaatar
• →Celebration dinner in the city

Your self-launched Mongolian adventure ends today. If time allows before your flight, explore the National Museum of Mongolia (entry ~£3) for a brilliant overview of Mongolian history from prehistoric times to the present, or revisit the Gandan Monastery area. The Narantuul Market (Black Market) is worth a browse for last-minute souvenirs — cashmere scarves, felt crafts and hand-painted wooden boxes. Transfer to the airport by taxi (~£8–12). Safe travels!

🚌City taxi to Chinggis Khaan International Airport (~£8–12).

🛏None (departure day)

• →National Museum of Mongolia (~£3 entry)
• →Narantuul Market for souvenirs — cashmere, felt crafts
• →Final stroll around Sukhbaatar Square
• →Airport transfer by taxi (~£8–12)