The Questions
Travellers Ask

Mongolian tourism is about nature, nomadic life and the places in between, so the main season runs from May to October — including the short spring and early autumn either side of summer.

That is the safest part of the year for weather: sunny days across the whole country and enough rainfall to keep the steppe lush and green. September is the quiet favourite — enjoyable, colourful, neither hot nor cold, and the month when nomads have the widest variety of dairy products and are busy preparing for winter.

July for the Naadam Festival, August for Danshig Naadam, and September for the outdoor celebrations — Wonder of Airag, foal stamping and the Aduuchin horse-training competition.

The first weekend of October is the Golden Eagle Festival in Bayan-Ulgii, western Mongolia. February is Lunar New Year and deep winter; March brings the camel and ice festivals. June to August is the season for northern Mongolia, Khuvsgul Lake and the reindeer people, and April and September are the best months for nomadic life.

Extreme continental: hot summers and very cold winters. The country sits at the heart of continental Asia, far from seas and oceans and in the lee of surrounding high mountains, which makes the climate very dry.

Cloud cover decreases from north to south, and in the far south annual sunshine reaches 3,200 hours — hence the Land of Blue Sky. Rainfall exceeds 500mm a year in the mountains, 200–300mm in the steppe and under 150mm in the Gobi. January is the coldest month, averaging −35°C.

We normally include three meals a day — breakfast, lunch and dinner — for the whole trip, choosing restaurants on our own experience, customer feedback, location and food.

In Ulaanbaatar you can expect good variety and international food; breakfast is served western-style at your hotel. For city lunches and dinners we mostly use Modern Nomads, bd's Mongolia Barbeque and Altai Barbeque. In tourist ger camps we always take breakfast and dinner, and on longer trips sometimes a packed lunch, carried in proper containers so nothing spills or spoils. Camps serve both Mongolian and international food, usually with a choice of main dish.

Yes — we can provide vegan and vegetarian food on request, and there are a few restaurants in Ulaanbaatar serving halal food. On tour we can arrange halal meals with notice.

Whatever the requirement, religious or medical, tell us in advance so we can brief the restaurants and camps before you arrive.

Traditional accommodation with full service facilities, used mostly outside the city. A ger is a round structure of lattices, poles and a peaked roof, covered with canvas and felt and tightened with ropes.

Camps are equipped with solar power supplying 220V, and include showers, bathrooms and the basic necessities. Every camp we use is verified by Sunpath.

A nomadic ger camp is a traditional ger pitched next to a herding family in the countryside, also running on solar power at 220V.

Staying there is the closest you get to nomadic life — but the facilities are more limited than at a tourist ger camp. Some travellers mix the two across a trip; tell us which you'd prefer.

We camp on some trips, in places with no ger camps or local hotels. You get high-quality two- or three-person tents, mattresses and the necessary equipment. There are no formal toilets or showers — a sheltered hole and a sheltered shower, plus water we provide for washing up.

On camping days we usually send vehicle support with an expedition chef for group tours, and always for groups over six. For fewer than five travellers your guide and driver cook — all our guides have basic cooks' training. Where there's no vehicle support we carry dried and canned food; fresh fruit and vegetables rarely survive past the first couple of days.

Mongolia's rating system approves 2- to 5-star hotels to receive foreign guests. Depending on the tour we use 3- to 5-star hotels in cities and the best tourist ger camps in the countryside, chosen on research, our own experience and client feedback.

Check-in is usually from 14:00 and check-out by 12:00 noon. Early check-in depends on the room being free that morning, so tell us in advance; late check-out may cost extra.

Local fire codes cap Mongolian hotel rooms at three people, so a family of four gets two rooms on a double-occupancy basis. We request adjoining rooms, though availability for those is limited in Mongolia, and otherwise put you next door to each other.

Currency exchange, a business centre with internet and fax, postal service, gym, sauna and massage, and international direct dialling in the room. Housekeeping usually has hair dryers, irons, converters and adaptors, subject to supply. Some 4- and 5-star hotels have swimming pools.

Most starting-point hotels will also store excess luggage free of charge if you're coming back through.

Internet is available at almost all hotels on our itineraries, mostly free Wi-Fi. Outside the city some tourist ger camps offer access, free or for a small charge, so bringing your own laptop is fine.

Mongolia runs on 220V/50Hz, so bring a converter for 110V appliances. Four- and five-star hotels usually have adapters, but we'd still pack your own — and if you forget, your guide or the hotel staff can find one almost anywhere.

Warm, thin, layered clothes for the season, a waterproof jacket, hiking boots, sandals, a hat and a headscarf.

Also worth bringing: camera gear, something to listen to or watch on long drives, insect repellent, sun cream, lip balm, a first aid kit and general medicine for headaches, colds and digestive upsets, plus any prescription medicine you take.

Our tours are built around learning, discovery and meeting people, and every one of them includes a visit to a nomadic family. If you'd like to bring something, pocket knives, flashlights, sweets, small toys, colouring books and pencils all go down well.

But whatever you choose, the person receiving it will be happy.

Mongolian and western cuisine are both available throughout the country, and our guides travel with you the whole way. If you need special meals for religious or medical reasons, tell us in advance so we can arrange food ahead of time.

In five-star hotels, most staff dealing with guests speak English very well. In the three- and four-star hotels we contract with, English is not a barrier for simple conversation — ask at the front desk and they'll be glad to help.