Essence Of Mongolia | Small Group Tour | 14 Days | Various 2027 Departures

Mongolia’s Gobi and central heartland are often defined by a handful of familiar images: the sand dunes, the Flaming Cliffs, the open steppe and the wide blue sky. These places are remarkable, but they do not tell the whole story of how this region is lived on the ground.

Our Essence of Mongolia journey has grown out of many years of travelling these roads, returning to the same families and learning how different places fit together. It is designed for travellers who want a thoughtful first experience of Mongolia without rushing from highlight to highlight. Combining Ulaanbaatar, the Gobi and the central heartland, it gives you a sense of the country’s contrasts: city and steppe, desert and river valley, ancient sites and modern everyday life.

We believe Mongolia is better experienced slowly. Rather than moving on every morning, several parts of the journey include a second day in the same place. These slower days are deliberate. They give you time to walk, spend longer with the people you are staying alongside, explore the surrounding area, watch the light and weather change, or simply enjoy not having to pack up and get back on the road.

This is still very much a road trip, shaped by Mongolia’s distances and constantly changing landscapes, but the route has been designed to create a balance between movement and pause.

Along the way, you’ll stay at small, family-run ger camps and homestays connected to our long-standing local partnerships, including families whose lives and livelihoods are closely tied to the places you travel through. Because these relationships have developed over many years, your time with them is not treated as a staged encounter but as part of the wider journey through contemporary rural Mongolia.

There is also space for the small, unscripted parts of travelling here: stopping in a provincial town, wandering through a market, sitting with a view, watching livestock return in the evening or simply experiencing the scale and quiet of the land.

Essence of Mongolia is not about ticking off major sights or chasing social-media moments. It is about travelling at a considered pace through regions that work naturally together, with enough time to notice the landscapes, communities and everyday rhythms that shape Mongolia today.

• Sunday 23 May–Saturday 5 June 2027: US$ 4,160 - US$ 3,360 pp depending on final group size (2-6)
• Sunday 15 August – Saturday 28 August 2027: US$ 4,380 pp - US$ 3,540 pp depending on final group size (2-6)
• Sunday 5 September – Saturday 18 September 2027: US$ 4,160 - US$ 3,360 pp depending on final group size (2-6)

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:

Mongolian Family Ger Camps

Throughout the experience you’ll stay in a traditional Mongolian gers provided by our partnering families. Each family typically sets up 4–5 guest gers, thoughtfully adapted for the season. While the setup is simple and typically shared with 2-3 group members, you’ll always have your own bed and a comfortable personal space.

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

acilities:

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!).

Ulaanbaatar

Accommodation in Ulaanbaatar on Day One and Nine are 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

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