Mongolia Explorer — Self-Launched

Land at Chinggis Khaan International Airport and take the cheap public bus #7 or a shared taxi into the centre (avoid the £30+ private transfer). Check into a guesthouse or budget hotel near Sukhbaatar Square. Spend the afternoon on a free self-guided walk: Sukhbaatar Square with the Government Palace and the Chinggis Khan seated statue, the Beatles Statue, and a wander through the State Department Store (Ih Delguur) for a SIM card, cash exchange and supplies. Entry to the National Museum of Mongolia costs a few pounds and is worth 1–2 hours for context before the trip. Eat at a local khuushuur (fried dumpling) spot or a Korean-Mongolian canteen.

🚌Public bus #7 from airport (~£1) or shared taxi (~£5)

🛏Budget guesthouse or 3* city hotel near the centre (£20–30 double)

• →Self-guided Sukhbaatar Square & Government Palace walk
• →National Museum of Mongolia (£3–4 entry)
• →State Department Store for SIM card and cash
• →Beatles Statue photo stop

Hustai is ~100km west of UB and doable as an independent day trip: take a marshrutka/local bus towards Kharkhorin road junction or share a taxi to the park gate, then arrange a park ranger 4WD safari on arrival (rangers at the visitor centre can take you out, ~£25–35 per person shared). You're looking for takhi (Przewalski's wild horses) in the steppe plus marmots and raptors. Far cheaper and easier: book a seat on a 2-day Hustai overnight at a ger camp through a UB guesthouse. Sleep in a simple ger camp or camp near the park.

🚌Shared taxi/marshrutka to Hustai + local ranger 4WD (~£20–30 shared)

🛏Budget ger camp near Hustai (£18–25 per person, or camp)

• →Park visitor centre
• →Ranger-led 4WD wildlife safari for Przewalski's horses
• →Steppe walk and sunset

Head west along the Kharkhorin road (~4 hours). Independent travellers usually do this as a hop-off on a shared 4WD/minibus heading to Kharkhorin — ask your guesthouse to pair you with others going the same way, or negotiate a shared seat with a driver at the Dragon or Bayanzurkh bus stands. At Khogno Khan, walk into the mountain's red granite formations, visit the small Buddhist temple (Erdene Khamba) and the dried crystalline lake bed. Many herder families here welcome a paid visit — a small gift of tea or a £5–10 donation for visiting is normal. Overnight at a ger camp at the mountain's foot.

🚌Shared minibus/4WD seat from Hustai/UB (~£15–20 shared)

🛏Simple ger camp at Khogno Khan (£18–25 per person)

• →Khogno Khan mountain walk
• →Erdene Khamba Buddhist temple
• →Visit a local herding family (paid, arranged locally)

Continue to Kharkhorin, the site of the old Mongol capital Karakorum. Erdene Zuu Monastery is walkable from town and entry is a few pounds; the walls of 108 stupas and the temple halls with monks chanting are the highlight. Pair it with the small Karakorum Museum (good for the imperial history), wander the town centre and its local market for airag and dairy snacks. Public buses run Kharkhorin–UB on a set morning schedule, so this is the easiest leg to do independently. Overnight in a guesthouse or ger camp in town.

🚌Shared 4WD/minibus from Khogno Khan (~£10–15)

🛏Karakorum guesthouse or budget ger camp (£15–22 per person)

• →Erdene Zuu Monastery
• →Karakorum Museum
• →Town market wander

From Kharkhorin, take a shared 4WD to the Orkhon Valley (~2 hours on rough tracks; join whatever vehicle your camp can arrange — the valley is remote and there is no bus). Hike up to Tovkhon Monastery, the hillside meditation retreat where monks still live; the walk is steep, ~45–60 min each way. If you're fit and respectful, follow the monks' cliffside trails to the meditation caves. Drive on to the Orkhon waterfall and stay at an eco camp. Share airag (fermented mare's milk) with a nearby herder family if invited.

🚌Shared 4WD from Kharkhorin (~£15–20 shared)

🛏Eco ger camp in Orkhon Valley (£18–25 per person)

• →Hike to Tovkhon Monastery and meet monks
• →Meditation cave cliff walk
• →Orkhon Valley waterfall

Book a half-day horse ride through your camp (herder horses are hired by the hour, ~£8–15), riding across the valley meadows — or hike if you'd rather. In the afternoon, arrange with your camp to spend time with a herding family to help raise a ger frame, learn milking and see milk processing into cream, yoghurt and aaruul (dried curd). This is a paid family visit, usually £10–20 including tea. Second night in the valley.

🚌On foot / on horseback

🛏Same eco ger camp (£18–25 per person)

• →Horseback ride in Orkhon Valley
• →Ger-building demo with a herder family
• →Milking and dairy-processing lesson

This is the big transfer day (~7 hours) — realistically only done inside a shared 4WD/minibus group heading into the Gobi. Book the whole Gobi leg (days 7–12) as a seat on a small-group Gobi tour departing UB (most UB guesthouses and operators sell these from ~£300–450 per person for 6 days, meals included) — it's the cheapest and safest way to cover this stretch. Stop at the Ongi Temple (Ongi Lamasery) ruins spread over two hills, plus its small museum, and camp nearby. Bring snacks and water for the drive.

🚌Seat on a shared Gobi minibus/4WD (~£40–55 per day inclusive of vehicle, driver, fuel; shared 4–6 people)

🛏Ger camp at Ongi (£18–25 per person, usually included in small-group Gobi tours)

• →Ongi Temple ruins and museum
• →Saikhan Ovoo stop

Four hours through the Gobi to Bayanzag, where Roy Chapman Andrews' team found the first dinosaur eggs in the 1920s. Walk the red-orange badlands in the late afternoon, staying for the sunset that gives the cliffs their name, and scan the ground for fossil fragments (look, don't take). Overnight at a Gobi ger camp nearby. This is the day to be up early for photography.

🚌Shared Gobi tour vehicle (~£40–55 per day shared)

🛏Gobi ger camp (£18–25 per person)

• →Flaming Cliffs walk
• →Sunset viewing at Bayanzag

Drive west to the Khongoryn Els — the 'Singing Sands' — a 100km stretch of dunes up to 300m high. Hike up the dune ridge for the view (hard work on sand, allow an hour), or hire a camel from a local herder family for a ride along the valley floor (~£8–15). Visit a nomadic family en route for tea. Overnight at a ger camp at the dune's base, where the dunes glow at sunset.

🚌Shared Gobi tour vehicle (~£40–55 per day shared)

🛏Ger camp at Khongor (£18–25 per person)

• →Hike Khongor Sand Dunes
• →Camel ride with local herder
• →Nomadic family visit

Head to the Gurvansaikhan mountains and Yol Valley, a deep gorge that stays icy well into summer. Walk 3–4 hours through the valley past the ice field, looking for lammergeiers and ibex on the cliffs. Entry to the national park is a small fee. Overnight at a ger camp at the valley mouth.

🚌Shared Gobi tour vehicle (~£40–55 per day shared)

🛏Ger camp at Yol Valley (£18–25 per person)

• →3–4 hour Yol Valley hike
• →Gurvansaikhan mountain scenery

Stop at the Gobi Museum of Nature and History (small, good dinosaur and Gobi ecology exhibits), then drive to the White Stupa Cliffs — a 30m-high wall of chalky, wind-carved cliffs glowing white and pink. Walk the rim and the valley floor in the afternoon. Camp nearby and catch the cliff colours at dusk.

🚌Shared Gobi tour vehicle (~£40–55 per day shared)

🛏White Stupa ger camp (£18–25 per person)

• →Gobi Museum of Nature and History
• →White Stupa Cliffs walk

Five-hour drive north-east across the Gobi to Baga Gazriin Chuluu, a granite outcrop rising out of the steppe. Afternoon walk among the boulders to the temple ruins (a small 19th-century monastery site hidden in the rocks) and visit a herder family for milky tea. This is your last night in a ger — make the most of the silence and the stars.

🚌Shared Gobi tour vehicle (~£40–55 per day shared)

🛏Ger camp at Baga Gazriin Chuluu (£18–25 per person)

• →Baga Gazriin Chuluu granite walk
• →Temple ruins
• →Herder family tea visit

Return to the city (the small-group Gobi tour usually drops you back in UB). If time allows, take local bus or a shared taxi out to the Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue complex at Tsonjin Boldog (~£10–12 entry, ~£10 return transport shared) and climb inside the horse's mane for the steppe view. Back in UB, shower, then a farewell dinner at a proper Mongolian restaurant — khorkhog or buuz — around Sukhbaatar Square.

🚌Return to UB by tour vehicle + shared taxi to the statue (~£10)

🛏Budget guesthouse or 3* hotel in UB (£20–30 double)

• →Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue complex
• →Farewell dinner in UB

Breakfast and last-minute shopping at the State Department Store or the Narantuul market for cashmere and felt. Take public bus #7 or a shared taxi to the airport for your onward flight. Buffer at least 3 hours — UB traffic can be brutal.

🚌Public bus #7 to airport (~£1)

🛏None

• →Narantuul market shopping
• →Airport transfer