Mongolia has roughly three million people and 1.5 million square kilometres, and outside the capital it has very few paved roads and almost no fences. That combination makes it one of the last places where travel means agreeing a direction rather than following a route.
How travel actually works here
Nearly everyone hires a driver with a vehicle — typically a Russian UAZ van or a Land Cruiser — usually with a cook, and shares the cost with other travellers.
This is not a tour in the packaged sense. The driver knows the tracks, negotiates with families for ger stays, and handles fuel and repairs. You decide roughly where to go and how long to stay.
Costs land around $50–90 per person per day with four sharing, covering vehicle, fuel, driver, cook, food and ger accommodation. Solo it is considerably more, which is why hostels in Ulaanbaatar run noticeboards and group-forming boards — turning up and finding three others going the same way is the normal method.
The two main routes
The Gobi, south. Seven to ten days. The Yolyn Am ice canyon, the Khongoryn Els singing dunes, and the Bayanzag flaming cliffs where the first dinosaur eggs were found. Long drives, big emptiness.
Central and north, toward Khövsgöl Lake. Seven to ten days. Kharkhorin, site of the Mongol imperial capital, the Orkhon valley, and then a lake the size of a small sea surrounded by forest and reindeer-herding communities.
Both can be combined into two to three weeks. Neither should be rushed, because the driving days are long and the point is the time spent between them.
Ger etiquette
You will stay with families, and there are conventions worth knowing.
Enter with your right foot first and move clockwise around the interior.
Do not step on the threshold — it is considered the household's neck.
Do not lean against the central columns.
Accept what is offered with your right hand, supporting your right elbow with your left. Refusing outright is impolite; touching the cup to your lips and returning it is acceptable.
Expect to be offered airag, fermented mare's milk, and dried curd. Both are acquired tastes and both are offered generously.
Bring gifts — rice, flour, tea, sweets for children — rather than money for a family stay arranged informally. Your driver will advise.
Practical realities
There is no signal across most of the country. Download offline maps and tell someone your route.
Sanitation is basic. Ger camps aimed at tourists have facilities; family gers have a pit outside. Bring wet wipes and hand sanitiser and adjust expectations.
Nights are cold even in summer. The steppe is at 1,000–1,500 metres and drops sharply after dark. A proper sleeping bag matters even in July.
Vehicles break down. It is normal, drivers are extraordinarily capable mechanics, and it is part of the trip rather than a crisis.
Ulaanbaatar
Worth two days at the start and end. The Gandan monastery, the National Museum for context on the Mongol empire and the socialist period, and the Zaisan memorial for the view.
It is also where you arrange everything — vehicle, group, supplies. Do not book a full itinerary from abroad at three times the price when the hostels organise it in a day.
Season
June to September. Naadam, the wrestling, archery and horse-racing festival, falls in mid-July and is worth timing a trip around, though Ulaanbaatar fills.
Winter reaches minus 30 to minus 40°C. Travel is possible and there is a small market for it — the Golden Eagle Festival in Bayan-Ölgii is in October — but it is an expedition rather than a holiday.