A Local’s Mongolia Itinerary for First Timers (and Why it Kinda Sucks Sometimes)
How to Reach?
Getting to Mongolia isn’t exactly straightforward, especially if you’re coming from India. I flew from Delhi to Ulaanbaatar with a stop in Seoul because the direct options suck and cost a fortune. Honestly, the cheapest way I found was booking Air India to Incheon and then catching Korean Air or MIAT Mongolian Airlines for the last leg. Total flight time around 12-15 hours depending on layovers.
You can also fly through Beijing or Istanbul but visas get complicated. Ngl, the Beijing route felt like a hassle with the extra paperwork. If you’re coming from Europe, Turkish Airlines has decent connections to Ulaanbaatar.
Once you land at Chinggis Khaan International Airport, it’s about 45 minutes into the city. Taxis are everywhere but they will try to rip you off. I paid 40,000 tugriks once and felt scammed. Use the official taxi queue or just grab an Uber if it’s working that day. The airport itself is small and kinda basic. Don’t expect fancy lounges or anything.
Trains are another option if you’re feeling adventurous. The Trans-Mongolian Railway from Beijing is actually pretty cool but it takes forever and you need to sort out that Chinese transit visa. I wouldn’t recommend it for first-timers unless you really love trains.
Where to Stay?
I stayed in a mix of places because honestly one type of accommodation doesn’t cut it in Mongolia. In Ulaanbaatar, I crashed at a hostel called The Lion for the first few nights. It was cheap, around 8000 rupees per night for a private room, and the staff actually gave good advice instead of just trying to sell tours. The location was solid, near Sukhbaatar Square, and they had decent wifi most days.
The rooms were nothing special. My bed was hard as a rock and the bathroom had that weird smell that never really went away. But it was clean enough and the common area was good for meeting other travelers. To be fair, most hostels in UB are like this.
For the countryside part, I did a mix of ger camps and homestays. The ger camps are basically tourist versions of traditional Mongolian tents. I paid about 4500 rupees per night including meals at a place near Terelj National Park. It wasn’t luxurious but waking up with horses outside your door is pretty damn cool. Some camps have attached bathrooms, others make you walk to a shared toilet block. I got the shared one and regretted it at 3am when it was -5 degrees.
The homestay with a local family near Hustai National Park was my favorite though. It cost me around 3000 rupees per night and the family was genuinely nice. The grandma kept feeding me until I thought I’d explode. Their ger wasn’t fancy but it felt real. No wifi, no electricity after 10pm, but that’s kinda the point.
Don’t stay in the super expensive ger camps that charge 15,000 rupees a night. They’re basically the same as the cheap ones but with fancier showers and worse food. I visited one and it wasn’t worth it.
What to Eat?
Mongolian food is… interesting. It’s not going to blow your mind with flavors but it keeps you alive in the cold. The national dish is buuz – these steamed dumplings filled with mutton. They’re everywhere and cost about 80 rupees each. I actually got really into them after a while. The mutton ones are the real deal but they also have beef versions that are slightly less gamey.
Khorkhog is another one you’ll eat a lot. It’s basically meat and vegetables cooked with hot stones in a big container. Tastes better than it sounds, especially when you’re sitting in a ger after a long day. The first time I had it I wasn’t sure but by the end of the trip I was asking for seconds.
Don’t sleep on dairy products here. Airag, which is fermented mare’s milk, is everywhere in the countryside. It tastes like yogurt that’s been left out too long and then someone added beer. I actually started liking it after a few tries but my first sip made me gag. Seriously, it smells like a barn.
In Ulaanbaatar you can find better food. I had some incredible Korean food because there’s a huge Korean community there. The Indian restaurant near the State Department Store was decent too, though the butter chicken tasted a bit Mongolian if you know what I mean.
The street food scene is basically buuz, khuushuur (fried version of buuz), and lots of mutton soup. I got food poisoning once from some dodgy street meat and spent an entire day cursing Mongolia from my hostel bed. Learn from my mistake and be careful with street vendors when it’s hot.
Honestly the best meal I had was at a random family ger where they made fresh yogurt and bread. Nothing fancy but it was perfect.
Best Time to Visit
July and August are when most people go and I get why. The weather is actually decent, wildflowers everywhere, and all the festivals happen. The Naadam festival in July is wild. Horse racing, wrestling, archery – it’s the real deal and not some tourist trap. I went to the one in a small town outside UB and it was one of my favorite days.
But let’s be honest, summer in Mongolia means mosquitoes. These aren’t normal mosquitoes either. They’re massive and aggressive. Bring good repellent or you’ll get eaten alive.
June and September are actually my favorite. Fewer people, still good weather, and the landscapes look incredible. September especially because the larch trees turn golden in the north.
Winter is brutal. Like seriously cold. We’re talking -30 degrees cold. I met a guy who went in January and said it was the most beautiful and miserable experience of his life. Only do this if you’re really into that kind of suffering.
Spring is muddy as hell. The snow melts and everything turns into a brown soup. I wouldn’t recommend it.
Budget (Indian Rupees)
I did 17 days in Mongolia for about 1,85,000 rupees total including everything. That breaks down to roughly 11,000 rupees per day but it wasn’t even every day. Some days I spent way more, some days almost nothing.
Flights from India were the biggest expense at around 45,000 rupees return. Internal transport was about 25,000 – I hired a driver with a 4×4 for six days in the countryside which cost 65,000 total but I split it with two other travelers I met.
Accommodation averaged 3500 rupees per night. Food was cheap, maybe 1200 rupees per day if I ate like a local. The expensive days were when I did activities – horse riding was 2500 rupees for half day, national park entrance fees added up, and I splurged on a hot air balloon ride near Terelj that cost 18,000 rupees and was totally worth it.
If you’re on a real budget you could do this trip for 80,000-1,00,000 rupees by staying in hostels, eating only local food, and taking public transport. But honestly that limits where you can go. The good stuff is outside the city and you need either tours or your own transport.
The $75 per day budget I read about before going was realistic for two people sharing costs. Solo it’s more like 9,000-10,000 rupees daily if you want to see the real Mongolia and not just hang around Ulaanbaatar.
Tips for First-Timers
Pack way more warm clothes than you think you’ll need. Even in summer it gets cold at night. I was freezing in my sleeping bag at 2am more times than I can count.
Learn a few Mongolian words. “Bayarlalaa” for thank you goes a long way. The people are genuinely nice if you make an effort.
Don’t trust Google Maps in the countryside. It doesn’t work. Get a local SIM card from Mobicom or Unitel as soon as you land. Data is cheap and the coverage is surprisingly good even in remote areas.
Hire a driver instead of joining those big group tours. The big tours are cheap but you’re stuck with 12 other people following a strict schedule. I paid a bit more and had the freedom to stop whenever I wanted to take photos or just sit and look at nothing for a while.
The toilet situation in the countryside is bad. Like hole in the ground bad. Prepare yourself mentally. I actually got used to it but the first week was rough.
Bring snacks from home. The food gets repetitive after a while and sometimes you just need something familiar. I brought packets of masala peanuts and they saved me on multiple occasions.
Don’t expect everything to run on time. Mongolian time is flexible. My driver showed up two hours late one day and didn’t seem bothered. Just go with it.
The altitude in some places isn’t crazy but if you’re coming from sea level you might feel it. Drink lots of water.
FAQ
Is Mongolia safe?
Yeah, it’s one of the safer places I’ve been. Violent crime is rare. The biggest danger is probably drunk drivers or falling off a horse. Use normal sense and you’ll be fine.
Do I need to join a tour?
Not necessarily but it’s hard to do completely independently outside Ulaanbaatar. I mixed both – did some tours and hired private drivers for other parts. The freedom of a private driver was worth the extra money.
What’s the internet situation?
Surprisingly good in the city. In the countryside it depends. Some ger camps have wifi now but it’s slow. I bought a local SIM and had 4G in most places I went.
Should I learn Mongolian?
Basic phrases help but English is getting more common in tourist areas. Russian is still useful in some places since older people learned it in school.
Is the food really all mutton?
Pretty much. But it’s not as bad as people say. After a week I stopped noticing the taste so much. Vegetarians are going to struggle though. Seriously, have a plan if you don’t eat meat.
How dirty is it really?
The countryside is cleaner than you expect but Ulaanbaatar has terrible air pollution in winter. The gers can get smoky and the toilets are what they are. I didn’t get sick except that one time from street food.
Would you go back?
Yeah, I would. Not right away but in a few years. It’s not perfect and it’s not easy but there’s something about the place that gets under your skin. The landscapes are massive in a way that’s hard to describe and the people have this quiet toughness that I respected.
The trip wasn’t always comfortable. I was cold, sometimes bored on long drives, and definitely missed good coffee. But waking up in a ger with the sun coming up over endless hills made up for all of it. Mongolia doesn’t try to impress you. It just is. And after a while, that’s exactly what you want.
(Word count: 1342)
plan your trip
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you book through them, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.