Large backpacks and bags

Large backpacks and bags are always better than hard suitcase to be left in the luggage compartment, yurt and load it to cars multiple times. You need another small bag to accompany more often and to store your valuables like your wallet and travel documents.

Electronics

Camera, and camera accessories

Abundant wildlife, different landscapes and nomad indigenous people are such scenic that you definitely want to take your camera. Take a few spare memory cards and charger. Mongolia is on 220V power and uses European-style 2-pin plugs. Good batteries are hard to find in the countryside.

Led Head torch

Head torch is handy at nights when reading and going to toilet as electricity is unreliable in the countryside except in town, where coverage is still somewhat unpredictable.

Clothes

Warm coat/jacket and layers

Although June to September is summer in Mongolia, the weather is unpredictable, and nights have been known to dip below freezing even in the summer in some regions. Therefore, multiple layers are always recommended: remember, you can always take layers off or put them back on. raincoat and ponchos are not only a must for occasional rainy weather, but they can be good insulators when placed outside your sleeping bag. Take waterproof shell layer to protect from the wind and the rain.

Bring swimsuit for hot spa, enough spare pair of socks, sunglasses, scarf, hat for protecting your face and gloves for warmth.

Trekking shoes 

All terrains from Gobi Desert to the Altai Mountain are wild and contain their own difficulties, wildlife and plant life. Trekking shoes make the daily trekking easy.

Rubber slippers

Rubber slippers are useful for using shower in most Ger camps.

Swimsuit

If you are going to bathe in Tsenkher hot spring, make sure to bring your swimsuit.

Standard toiletries

Bring soap, shampoo, sun cream, skin creams, toothbrush, toothpaste, perfumes, avoid bulky aerosol cans: use roll-on deodorant, and get shaving cream in a hard stick or a tube. Take plenty of razor blades. Wet wipes/dry wipes– can be bought in Mongolian cities.

Other items

Travel Medicines

It is recommended to bring your own medications based on you traveling experiences and personal knowledge of your current health. Travel kit can have disinfectant; bandages, and sterile gloves, syringes, anti-diarrheal, a few band-aids, some antibiotic, a few aspirin or paracetamol at hand, for headaches and hangovers; paracetamol is also handy for lowering your temperature if you’re experiencing a low fever.

Allergy safety and hand sanitizer. Good insect repellent is essential in Mongolia -mosquitoes and sand flies can be annoying.

Money exchange – Cash

You can exchange currency at any closest bank to you in Ulaanbaatar city. Also you can cash up with your debit card on Mongolian Togrogs at ATMS. ATMs are in Ulaanbaatar and most province capitals these days. Make sure to check the current exchange rate before you go in. It is always better to have cash on tour for buying alcohol drinks, snacks and souvenirs.

Items for Yurt visits

It is always great to have a gift to exchange for any hospitality received when staying in nomad’s yurt. They appreciate handy stuff like headlamp, AA batteries, notepads, pencils, sewing kit and soap.

You can a take photo of them with permission and send them once you get home through Man of Millennium Address .

Tourist Ger Camp

Standard Ger Camps are an alternative type of hotel***. They serve customers with gers instead of hotel rooms and are always located near the main attractions. The standard ger doesn’t have a private bathroom but usually accommodates 2 to 4 single beds. Additionally, it features a traditional stove, a simple table, and occasionally cupboards and washstands. Modern toilet and hot shower facilities are in a separate building. Also, in a separate building, you will find a restaurant or dining room. Sometimes, there might be a bar or recreation room as well.
Some of the ger camps offer Ensuite Gers. Ensuite Ger which has a private bathroom attached to the Ger. If you’re interested in staying overnight in an Ensuite Ger, please let us know, and we will be delighted to arrange it for you for an additional fee.

Mongolia travel advice

Mongolia Weather | Mongolia Climate

Mongolia’s climate can be described as a highly continental dominied climate with warm summers and long, dry and very cold winters. Known as “the land of blue sky”, Mongolia is a very sunny country and has usually about 250 sunny days a year.

Summer from mid-May to mid-September is usually warm with average temperature of 18 to 26 C. There are short rains in July and early August. On some days the temperature may go above 30 C which can be felt hard, especially in the South Gobi region. Almost 70% of precipitation falls in the summer, but this does not mean rainy days.

Rains rarely last for more than 2-3 days. Most of the rains occur in mid- July and early August and wise herders prefer to move away from rivers and put up their dwellings on hills to avoid sudden floods. The highest temperatures are in the Gobi Desert region with 30 Celsius lasting for more than 40 days. On some days it can be 40 Celsius.

When to go

The best time to visit Mongolia is during the Mongolian summer, from the mid of June till last week of August.
This is the safest time of the year to travel to Mongolia in terms of weather, sunny days throughout Mongolia and sufficient rainfall to make the steppes lush and green.

June and September are both very pleasant times to visit Mongolia. September, autumn is enjoyable, colorful, not hot, and not cold. Nomads have plenty of dairy products and are busy processing milk and preparing for winter. Beautiful countryside of Mongolia is even more beautiful and picturesque with the autumn colors.

Months to Best:

> July is the best time to see the Mongolia Naadam Festival.
> The best season for Gobi Desert tour: from June to September and October is shoulder season.
> July to August is the best season to travel to Northern Mongolia and Khuvsgul Lake tour and September is shoulder season.
> First of October is the chance to see the Golden Eagle Festival in Altai, Western Mongolia.

> February is the best time to experience Mongolia winter season. Read Mongolia travel tips

Mongolia Safety 

Mongolia is one of the safest countries in the world. The policemen are quite friendly to the tourists. As a visitor you are unlikely to experience any serious problems. However, like anywhere else there are a few things that visitors should be aware of, things that will need extra care and attention.

Foreign visitors are targets for a very small minority of thieves. Theft is seldom violent. Pick pocketing and bag slitting is most common in crowded places such as the black market, on buses or at tourist attractions such as Gandan Monastery and shopping places. Mongolia travel advice.

Vaccines and Medicines

Check the vaccines and medicines list and visit your doctor (ideally, 4-6 weeks) before your trip to get vaccines or medicines you may need.
In generally, No special vaccinations are required for travel to Mongolia unless the traveler is coming from a yellow fever infected area. In general, it is advisable to follow the advice of the World Health Organization or USA Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to have some vaccinations in advance.

Medical services in Mongolia are available everywhere. However, in some remote regions, the health service may not be as standard as big cities’. So please ensure that you are in good health and take all the suggested precautions to avoid illness.

We recommend you carry some common medicines along while traveling Mongolia, such as the medicines for flu, coughing, sore throat, diarrhea, etc that you use at home. It is advisable to go to see your doctor and follow his or her advice on which medicines you should take.

What happens if I get sick in Mongolia during my tour?

Most of time, if you get sick during your tour in Mongolia, you can be cured in the local hospitals. But, for some tours in the remote places, the hospitals could be far away, requiring the help of planes. Besides, the hospitals in Mongolia are different from those in western countries.

It is possible for you to pay for the medical services in advance, and receive the compensation from your health insurance company later on.

Serious medical problems requiring hospitalization and/or medical evacuation either within Mongolia or to other countries are extremely expensive and can cost more than $100,000. Evacuation companies will not take you to another location without a full fee guarantee beforehand.

Please note that not all insurance companies provide medical evacuation coverage for Mongolia. Please check with your insurance provider before traveling and consider supplemental medical or travel insurance. Currently, SOS Medica Mongolia UB International Clinic is the only clinic that has medical evacuation services in Mongolia. More Mongolia travel advice.

THERE ARE TWO MAIN WAYS TO GET TO MONGOLIA, BY AIR OR BY TRAIN.

By air

You can get to Mongolia by the Mongolian airline MIAT, the Russian airline Aeroflot, Air China, Korean Air, and Turkish Airlines. The Mongolian airline MIAT has direct flights to Berlin, Moscow, Beijing, Tokyo, Osaka, and Seoul. Korean Air has several flights a week to Ulaanbaatar City. The Russian Airline Aeroflot makes 2 flights a week to Ulaanbaatar City.

 If  you are coming from Europe, our recommended routes are, first to fly to Berlin, then to transfer there to a MIAT flight or fly to Moscow, then take a MIAT or Aeroflot flights to Ulaanbaatar City.
U.S. travelers might find less expensive to buy tickets from a Mongolian air-ticket agency in the U.S.

If you are coming from the U.S., one option is to take a United Airlines flight to Beijing and then transfer to MIAT or Air China flight to Ulaanbaatar. Another option is to fly to Seoul, Korea and then take Korean Airlines flight to Mongolia.

By train

Travelling by famous Trans-Siberian railway gives you lifetime opportunities of experiencing different countries, different cultures on one holiday and many more besides it is cost effective, practical and reliable. When you are in the train, you will look completely different landscapes all daylong through the windows of the train, which is like watching live TV through your window.

There are several branch lines of Trans-Siberian railroad.  The longest rail line (7900 km) runs from St. Petersburg through Moscow, Russia and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia to Beijing, China. The train spans seven zones and two continents.  The journey takes 5 days from Moscow to Ulaanbaatar and takes 35 hours from Ulaanbaatar to Beijing.

We can book a train ticket according the client’s request. And please note that tickets can only be purchased at least one month in advance.

By Bus

Visa is required for all, except citizens of the following countries. Visas are available from the Mongolian embassy in your country. If there is no Mongolia embassy in your country, one month visas can be obtained on the spot once you arrive at the airport or railway station. The cost of a Mongolia visa changes slightly depending on the country of application and local currency. A single-entry 30-day visa is approximately USD 50 to USD 70.  More about visa

Read Mongolia travel advice and enjoy Mongolia travel advice. If you need more Mongolia travel advice, please contact us!