Discover Mongolia – Naadam Festival (Self-Launched)

Fly into Chinggis Khaan International Airport and take a shared taxi or marshrutka into the centre (about £5-8) rather than a pre-booked transfer. Check into a hostel or budget guesthouse near Sukhbaatar Square, then walk the square, the National Museum of Mongolia (£3-4) and the State Department Store for supplies. Spend the evening at a guesthouse-run orientation or just compare Gobi group-tour quotes with the operators clustered around the Peace Avenue area — most run fixed weekly departures, so book your 4WD loop tonight if you haven't already.

🚌Shared airport taxi/marshrutka (£5-8); city walking or buses (30p per ride)

🛏Budget guesthouse or hostel dorm near Sukhbaatar Square (approx £10-16)

• →Sukhbaatar Square
• →National Museum of Mongolia
• →State Department Store
• →Book Gobi 4WD group departure

Join a day tour or shared minibus out of the city to the 40m Genghis Khan equestrian statue at Tsonjin Boldog (£5 entry plus shared transport, roughly £15-25 total). Continue into Terelj National Park (park entry about £2) and walk the stepped path up to Aryabal Temple for panoramic valley views. Rather than riding back to town, stay the night at a family-run tourist ger camp in the valley (approx £15-20 with breakfast and dinner) — this is your first ger night and costs a fraction of a tour-operator camp.

🚌Shared minibus/tour vehicle from Ulaanbaatar (1.5 hrs)

🛏Family-run tourist ger camp, Terelj (approx £15-20 half board)

• →Genghis Khan Statue complex
• →Terelj National Park
• →Aryabal Temple hike
• →First ger camp night

Return to Ulaanbaatar early and collect your Naadam tickets. Grandstand seats at the Central Stadium run roughly £20-35 for the opening ceremony, with cheaper standing/ground access around £5-10; buy direct from the Naadam organising committee or at the stadium box office. Watch the opening ceremony parade, then spend the afternoon at the wrestling, archery and knuckle-bone flicking grounds, grazing on khuushuur and fermented mare's milk from the food stands. Stay in the city for two nights so you don't waste travel time.

🚌Shared minibus back to Ulaanbaatar (1.5 hrs); city buses/taxis to stadium

🛏Budget guesthouse or hostel dorm, Ulaanbaatar (approx £10-16)

• →Naadam opening ceremony
• →Wrestling and archery grounds
• →Knuckle-bone flicking
• →Festival food stalls

Travel out to the horse-racing steppe (khui doloon khudag) by shared taxi to watch the child jockeys race across open grassland — a genuinely spectacular and free-to-watch spectacle. Return to the stadium in the afternoon for the wrestling finals and the closing celebrations, and mingle with Mongolian families in their finest dels. If you have energy left, book a seat at the National Academic Drama Theatre song-and-dance show in the evening (about £8-10).

🚌Shared taxi to racecourse (£3-5 return); city transport

🛏Budget guesthouse or hostel dorm, Ulaanbaatar (approx £10-16)

• →Naadam horse racing
• →Wrestling finals
• →National song and dance performance (optional)

Head west to Khustain Nuruu National Park (about 2 hrs) with a shared 4WD or as the first leg of your Gobi loop. Pay park entry (about £5), visit the takhi reintroduction Project Information Centre, and hike the steppe trails to spot Przewalski's horses — a local ranger guide costs £8-12 if you want one. Continue west toward the Little Gobi dunes and overnight at a simple ger camp on the steppe.

🚌Shared 4WD or minibus westward (4.5-5 hrs driving total)

🛏Simple ger camp on the steppe near Mongol Els (approx £15-20)

• →Khustain Nuruu National Park
• →Takhi wild horse viewing
• →Project Information Centre
• →Little Gobi dunes

Drive on to Karakorum, the 13th-century Mongol capital (1.5 hrs). Buy entry to Erdene Zuu Monastery (about £4-5) — the surviving wall with 108 stupas and several temples — and add the modern Karakorum Museum (about £4) for the imperial history context. Overnight in one of the small guesthouses or ger camps in Kharkhorin town rather than an operator camp, and eat at a local guanz (canteen) for £3-5 a meal.

🚌Shared 4WD/minibus Karakorum (1.5 hrs)

🛏Guesthouse or small ger camp, Kharkhorin (approx £12-18)

• →Erdene Zuu Monastery
• →Karakorum Museum
• →Kharkhorin town walk

Continue along the paved road to Arvaikheer, capital of Ovorkhangai Aimag, on the northern edge of the Gobi (about 3 hrs). Stop en route at Shankh Monastery, once home to the theologian Zanabazar — entry a few pounds. Arrive mid-afternoon and visit the local museum's nature collections, stone figures and Turkic inscriptions, then browse the aimag market for a genuine local experience. Stay in a simple hotel or guesthouse.

🚌Shared 4WD/minibus (3 hrs)

🛏Simple hotel or guesthouse, Arvaikheer (approx £12-18)

• →Shankh Monastery
• →Arvaikheer local museum
• →Aimag market

The long haul off the tourist route — roughly 5-6 hrs of driving (up to 9 hrs with stops) as the pavement disappears and you head into the wilder Gobi. Ikh Bogd, the highest peak in the Gobi Altai, should dominate the horizon. This is a day that really rewards being on a shared 4WD group departure rather than trying to self-drive; sit back, take the photo stops, and arrive at a remote wilderness ger camp for the night.

🚌Shared 4WD, unpaved roads (5-6 hrs driving)

🛏Remote ger camp, Bayan Gobi (approx £15-20)

• →Ikh Bogd mountain views
• →Off-road Gobi crossing
• →Steppe and desert scenery

Cross a desert pass to the quartz-rich White Cave, then roll through classic Gobi scenery — flat stony plains, small rocky outcrops and sand patches across the Khatan Suudal Steppe, with Arts Bogd mountain to the north. Pack a picnic lunch for the road. Arrive at the Khongoriin Els dunes late afternoon and settle into a dune-side ger camp in time for sunset.

🚌Shared 4WD (1-2 hrs driving plus stops)

🛏Ger camp near Khongoriin Els dunes (approx £15-20)

• →White Cave
• →Khatan Suudal Steppe
• →Picnic lunch on the steppe
• →Dune sunset

Full day at Khongoriin Els, the 200km-long dunes that rise up to 300m and hum on windy days. Climb a dune ridge barefoot for the sound and the views, then arrange a short camel ride with a local herding family (about £8-12) — the South Gobi has around 100,000 camels and visiting a breeding family gives a genuine glimpse of nomadic life. Walk out to the dunes at dusk before returning to camp.

🚌Walking from camp; local camel hire

🛏Ger camp near Khongoriin Els dunes (approx £15-20)

• →Khongoriin Els singing dunes
• →Camel ride with herding family
• →Nomadic herder visit
• →Dune walking

Drive through Gobi Gurvansaikhan (Three Beauties of the Gobi) National Park — rocky and sandy plains, cliffs, ravines, salt pans and oases. Pay park entry (about £5) and hike into Yolyn Am, the Vulture's Mouth canyon, so deep and narrow that winter ice can linger on the valley floor in midsummer. Visit the small park museum for context on khulan, ibex, argali and snow leopards, then overnight at a nearby ger camp.

🚌Shared 4WD (4-5 hrs driving)

🛏Ger camp near Yolyn Am (approx £15-20)

• →Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park
• →Yolyn Am canyon hike
• →Park museum
• →Wildlife spotting

A relaxed morning at camp, then a 70km drive to Bayanzag — the Flaming Cliffs, whose red and ochre sands glow in low light. Take a short self-guided hike among the formations; this is where Roy Chapman Andrews' 1920s expeditions found the first dinosaur eggs, and you can still spot fossil fragments if you look carefully. Return to camp for dinner. Local guides at the site charge around £5 if you want the geology explained.

🚌Shared 4WD (3.5-4 hrs driving return)

🛏Ger camp near Bayanzag (approx £15-20)

• →Bayanzag Flaming Cliffs hike
• →Dinosaur fossil site
• →Desert photography

Long drive back toward the capital (6-7 hrs), breaking the journey at the dramatic granite outcrops of Baga Gazryn Chuluu rising from the open steppe. Explore the ruins of Lovonchombo Monastery and find the natural spring believed to have eye-healing properties. This is your final ger night, so make the most of a campfire and a clear Gobi sky.

🚌Shared 4WD (6-7 hrs driving)

🛏Ger camp, Baga Gazryn Chuluu (approx £15-20)

• →Baga Gazryn Chuluu rock formations
• →Lovonchombo Monastery ruins
• →Natural spring
• →Final ger camp night

Complete the drive back to Ulaanbaatar (4-5 hrs). Visit Gandan Monastery, the largest working lamasery in Mongolia, to see monks praying and the 20m gold-and-bronze Migjid Janraisig statue (entry about £3). The rest of the day is free for last-minute souvenir shopping at the State Department Store or Narantuul market, and an optional song-and-dance performance at the National Academic Drama Theatre (about £8-10).

🚌Shared 4WD back to the city (4-5 hrs)

🛏Budget guesthouse or hostel dorm, Ulaanbaatar (approx £10-16)

• →Gandan Monastery
• →Migjid Janraisig statue
• →Narantuul market shopping
• →Optional theatre performance

Trip ends after breakfast. Take a shared taxi or airport bus to Chinggis Khaan International Airport (about £5-8) — allow plenty of buffer, especially in Naadam week when city traffic is heavy. If your flight is later, drop your bags at the guesthouse and squeeze in one more museum or a farewell bowl of buuz.

🚌Shared taxi/airport bus (£5-8)

🛏None (checkout)

• →Airport transfer
• →Optional last-minute sightseeing