Khovsgol Ice Festival | Small Group Winter Tour | 14 Days | Feb 20th 2027 | Guaranteed Departure

We love a road trip at Eternal Landscapes, and this is one of our favourites: a winter journey through northern Mongolia. Experience the vastness of the country as you travel from Ulaanbaatar to the remote taiga, home to the Tsaatan reindeer herders, and back again via sacred Khövsgöl Lake, which you explore by horse-drawn sleigh before celebrating at the Khovsgol Ice Festival, a community gathering that celebrates winter life on and around the lake.

Along the way, the route threads together Mongolia’s varied landscapes, from open steppe to forested taiga, and ways of life, from small towns to rural communities in between. It is a journey that shows how people and landscapes remain closely connected.

It is also a journey shaped by the road itself: tea breaks, changing weather, conversations in warm gers, and the steady rhythm of travelling slowly through a region shaped by winter, as well as by the landscapes you spend time in and the people you meet along the way.

You’ll find the key locations below. For the full day-by-day flow (and the why behind it), please email us. We share the detailed itinerary by email so we can explain the pacing, driving days, and options in context. We also keep a few moments back as a quiet surprise.

• A local introduction to Ulaanbaatar
• Overnight train to Erdenet
• Khovsgol's provincial capital of Mörön with its rough around the edges vibe.
• The vastness of the Darkhad Depression including Ulaan Uul, the East Taiga and the Jargant / Jargalant River
• The winter beauty of frozen Khövsgöl Nuur
• The small rural community of Khatgal
• The mighty Selenge River
• The Uran Togoo volcanic landscapes
• Sacred Amarbayasgalant Monastery
• Ulaanbaatar's Spring Eagle Festival (complimentary)
• Chinggis Khaan Statue & Terelj National Park (complimentary)

• US$ 3,655 pp

During this journey, you’ll experience a variety of accommodation styles, each offering insight into daily life in Mongolia and shaped by the season and setting:

We don't offer single supplements on our small-group trips. However, when staying in a hotel, you are welcome to pay the hotel directly for a private room if one is available.

Winterised Mongolian Gers

Throughout the trip, you’ll stay in winterised gers hosted by local families. These traditional felt dwellings have been insulated and prepared for winter, with heating provided by a central stove. Each ger accommodates 3–4 people, but you’ll always have your own bed and personal space.

A sleeping bag is required at the family accommodation: We provide a free rental service but our bags are not temperate rated.

Showers

Running water is rare in rural Mongolia, so showers are limited. On this itinerary we use town shower houses—simple cubicles with plenty of hot water, which many travellers describe as a highlight! You will need to bring a towel.

We also provide bowls and soap powder for hand-washing clothes if needed. Just to be clear: there are no washing machines.

Toilets

Think: a loo with a view!

Mongolia has very few public toilets, so on drives it’s a case of finding a private spot in nature (your trip assistant will give what we call “the toilet talk”).

At host family homes, expect Asian-style squat or long-drop toilets.If squatting isn’t second nature, you may want to practice before travelling—several of our guests recommend it.

These toilets aren’t designed to shock you; they’re simply part of everyday rural life. We provide toilet paper (though not the aloe vera variety!).

Simple Guesthouse

A simple but welcoming wooden cabin in a rural community, rooms will have between 2-4 beds.

Ortz | Tepees

The Tsaatan live in canvas tents called ortz. As. a group, you may sleep in a separate ortz provided by the family or you may sleep in the family home. If you sleep in an ortz, be prepared to sleep on the floor on your Thermorest. There won’t be showers and the toilets will be outside Asian-style long drops or just a hole in the ground.

 Handbuilt Family Log Cabin 

In Khatgal, you’ll stay in Bambakh’s family home, a cosy, handbuilt log cabin also heated with a central stove. Sleeping arrangements are simple and culturally authentic—as is common in Mongolian households, most people sleep on the floor, and you’ll likely be provided with a floor mat (but pack a Thermorest as well!). 

Facilities: Similar to the ger stays, showers are at the local public shower house, and toilets are basic outdoor latrines.

 Overnight Train (UB to Erdenet) 

You’ll travel in a four-bed sleeper compartment on the overnight train from Ulaanbaatar to Erdenet. Clean bedding is provided by the carriage attendant, and each carriage has one toilet, which is kept clean and regularly maintained.

Mongolian Style Hotel

You’ll also spend a few nights in a simple Mongolian-style hotel, typically in a warm, twin-share room. Rooms are en-suite, though please note that hot water for the shower cannot always be guaranteed.

Ulaanbaatar

Accommodation in Ulaanbaatar is not included although we provide recommendations and can help with booking.

Meals

Each EL team travels with a simple mobile kitchen, and most meals outside Ulaanbaatar are either prepared by your trip assistant or eaten in local restaurants along the way. We also stop at guanz — local roadside cafés — and, where appropriate, share meals with the families we stay with.

We deliberately don't expect rural families to provide meals for our guests. Access to shops and fresh supplies can be limited, and dietary requirements have become increasingly varied. Preparing much of the food ourselves gives our host families less work and gives us more flexibility over what we can provide.

Our trip assistants are not trained chefs, but they cook for their own families and know how to keep you well fed on the road. Food is simple, filling and based around ingredients we can realistically buy as we travel. We grocery shop every few days in towns along the route, which helps us keep supplies fresh while also giving you a glimpse into everyday life in Mongolia.

Fresh fruit and vegetables can be limited outside Ulaanbaatar and larger towns, particularly in more remote areas and depending on the season. If five portions of fruit and vegetables every day are essential to you, rural Mongolia may be challenging.

We can usually accommodate vegetarians and a range of dietary requirements, including vegan, gluten-free and lactose-free diets, but please speak with us before booking. Choice can be limited and meals may become repetitive — there may be rather more boiled rice than you are used to! We would much rather explain the realities beforehand than promise a level of variety that isn't always possible once you are on the road.

In Ulaanbaatar, meals are generally not included unless specifically shown in the itinerary. On this journey, the included UB meal is lunch during your Intro to Ulaanbaatar day.

Vegetarian Options in Mongolia

Drinks & Drinking Water

We provide drinking water throughout the journey, collected from the water stations found in towns along our route. Rather than routinely buying single-use bottles, each team carries larger reusable water containers.

We recommend bringing a filtered reusable water bottle. We can provide a 15% discount, with details sent when you book and linked below. Alternatively, bring a standard reusable bottle and some Aqua Tablets for additional water purification.

If you would prefer bottled water, you can buy it yourself in shops along the way.

As well as drinking water, we provide tea and coffee with meals and at various times throughout the day.

Soft drinks such as juice and fizzy drinks are not included but are widely available. Alcohol is also excluded apart from the welcome drink during your Intro to Ulaanbaatar day. Beer, vodka and other drinks can be bought in shops and supermarkets along the route, although the choice becomes more limited in rural areas. Your team makes regular shopping stops during the journey.

Why We Ask Travellers to Bring a Reusable Water Bottle to Mongolia

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Transport

Our driving team is made up of experienced Mongolian men we know personally and have worked with for many years. Their English is limited, but their driving knowledge is exceptional — from navigating rough terrain to mongolchlokh, improvising the Mongolian way when a tyre bursts or a vehicle breaks down.

And breakdowns can happen. Mongolia is hard on vehicles, particularly away from paved roads. What matters to us is having drivers who know their vehicles, understand the terrain and can usually deal with problems as they arise.

Each driver owns his own vehicle. Depending on the journey, this may include a UAZ Furgon 4×4 van, Hyundai Starex or Mitsubishi Delica. Because the vehicles are individually owned, interiors and seating layouts vary, including forward- and rear-facing seats. Vehicles are fitted with either lap belts or standard seat belts.

If you are expecting a luxury or high-end 4×4, that is not our style of travel. We choose our drivers first for their experience, reliability and knowledge, and then for the vehicle they own. Using driver-owned vehicles also helps provide long-term work and income for experienced local drivers and their families.

We contribute towards vehicle maintenance, and the vehicles used for our journeys undergo the required annual inspections and licensing for tourism use in Mongolia.

Learn more about our drivers and their tour vehicles here.

Travel Times

Road travel is a central part of experiencing Mongolia. It is a vast country, and getting from one place to another is very much part of the journey.

The daily travel times shown in the itinerary are estimates rather than promises. We deliberately allow generous timings because road surfaces, weather, traffic, river levels and occasional vehicle issues can all affect progress.

Average speeds are usually around 30–65 km/h, depending on conditions. On unpaved routes, the road may vary from relatively smooth gravel to corrugated tracks, rocky sections, mud, sand or uneven ground, sometimes all within the same day.

You really do need to be comfortable with road travel to enjoy this style of journey.

Transportation to and from the airport or train station: on arrival and departure days

We believe the value of tourism is not only how much money stays in Mongolia, but how widely it is shared. We do not just want more tourism money to remain in Mongolia. We want it to reach more Mongolian people in ways that genuinely benefit them.

This journey directly supports

6 EL team members
Including your main driver and female trip assistant team, our small office team of two women, and the local team supporting your arrival and time in Ulaanbaatar, including our airport and city driver and our city trip assistant.

3 local families
Part of our long-term local community partnerships, through homestays, family-run accommodation and activities hosted by the families themselves.

31 locally supported meals
Prepared by our team using food bought from local shops and markets, or eaten in independent local restaurants. 

1 community projects / NGOs
Part of our long-term partnerships and intentionally built into our itineraries, with support coming through direct payments from EL as well as planned activities, visits and entrance fees.

5 cultural or protected sites
Supported through entrance fees paid directly to monasteries, museums, national parks and locally managed places.

Tourism money rarely stops with the first person who receives it

Our drivers buy fuel and maintain their own vehicles. Our team buys food from markets

Our drivers buy fuel and maintain their own vehicles. Our team buys food from markets and shops. Families purchase livestock fodder, school supplies and household goods. Community projects and NGOs use the income they receive to support their own work and the communities around them.

We cannot accurately claim to measure every tugrik as it circulates through Mongolia, but we can show you who your journey pays directly. And not everyone your journey supports is visible to you.

We work directly wherever we can. Many of the families, community organisations and small businesses involved in this journey are people we know personally and have worked with over many years, rather than suppliers booked through layers of intermediaries.

A Few Examples

Throughout the examples below, we use three simple markers to show how each person, family or organisation connects with your journey.

DIRECT
EL works directly with the person, family or organisation, without unnecessary layers of intermediaries.

LOCAL
A Mongolian-owned or Mongolian-led business, family, organisation or service.

LONG-TERM
An established EL relationship built over time, rather than a one-off supplier.

A few examples from this journey

Bambakh Family · Khövsgol
DIRECT · LOCAL · LONG-TERM

Part of one of our long-term local community partnerships. Your stay, meals and activities contribute directly to their household income.

Your EL driver
DIRECT · LOCAL · LONG-TERM

Our drivers are part of our long-term team and own their own vehicles. This means transport income supports the driver directly, while also circulating through fuel stations, mechanics and local suppliers.

Our Ulaanbaatar team
DIRECT · LOCAL · LONG-TERM

Your journey supports not only the team members travelling with you, but also our small office team, city and airport drivers and Ulaanbaatar trip assistants working behind the scenes.

Uuliin Nuur
DIRECT · LOCAL · LONG-TERM

A Mongolian-led community project included deliberately within our itineraries. Your visit supports the project through direct payments from EL and through the activities connected with your journey.

Local meals and food purchasing
DIRECT · LOCAL

Rather than relying entirely on inclusive ger-camp catering, some meals are prepared by our team using food bought from local shops and markets, while others are eaten in independent local restaurants. This helps spread tourism spending more widely through the local economy.

Protected and cultural sites
DIRECT · LOCAL

Entrance fees are paid directly to the national parks, monasteries, museums and cultural sites included in your journey.

We do not just want more tourism money to stay in Mongolia. We want it to reach more Mongolian people.