5 Day Central Mongolia Tour: Itinerary, Sites, & Expectations

Central Mongolia is a region full of beautiful landscapes, rich history, and it’s own unique cultures. From visiting Terelj National Park to the ancient capital of Kharkhorin and the Orkhon Valley, there is so much to see and do. Experiences include staying in yurts with nomadic families, riding horses and camels, visiting monasteries and temples, and sampling local food from mutton to yak. A Central Mongolian tour offers an immersive experience and deep dive into the “Real Mongolia.” If you have a week or longer in Mongolia, I highly recommend getting outside of Ulaanbaatar and exploring Central Mongolia.

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Booking A Central Mongolia Tour

If you want to travel outside of Ulaanbaatar and see more of what Mongolia has to offer, I recommend booking a tour either through Viator or Get Your Guide.

Why do I recommend booking a tour in Mongolia? Here are a few reasons why it’s worth it.

Leave the planning and itinerary up to the tour company.
The company generally picks you up and drops you off at your hotel.
The tour will come with a guide and driver.
Food is covered throughout the tour, at least the main courses.
Water is provided.
Entrance fees are typically included in the price.
You learn so much from a local guide and can ask questions throughout the trip.
You will get a local experience: Staying with nomads, eating local meals, and seeing attractions not many others get to see.

I spent a week in Mongolia and wanted to see more then just Ulaanbaatar. Based on our interests and time, I went with this 5 Day Terelj National Park and Central Mongolia tour.

There are many other tours on Viator and Get Your Guide. Here are a few more that might be of interest.

5 Day Central Mongolia Tour

Based on time and interest I decided to book a 5 day Central Mongolia tour. I felt 5 days gave me plenty of time to see as much of Central Mongolia as possible.

Booking 5 day Central Mongolia tour was done through Viator. I have nothing but great stories and experiences to share from this tour.

The guide and driver were outstanding. I learned so much about the history, culture, wildlife, food, and nomadic lifestyle through the tour.

The tour hit so many highlights of Central Mongolia and the accommodations were all unique. We stayed in yurts every night.

If you are interested in my Central Mongolia itinerary, I broke it down by each day below. I am including what we did, where we stayed, attractions, food, and everything I else I learned and experienced along the way.

Day 1: Terelj National Park

I stayed at the Puma Imperial Hotel in downtown Ulaanbaatar. Our tour started at 9:00 am and our guide and driver were promptly there to pick us up.

Before I go to deep into our Central Mongolia itinerary. I want to vent. The traffic in Ulaanbaatar is horrible! I mean it took 3.5 hours to get from the airport to the hotel, which is only about 18 km. Driving within and near Ulaanbaatar was horrendous. So in case your driver shows up late, or it takes more time then expected to get from one place to the other, just note it’s no ones fault, just horrible Ulaanbaatar traffic.

Bogd Khaan Palace Museum

Our first attraction of the day was the Bogd Khaan Palace Museum. This temple complex is in Ulaanbaatar. Feel free to walk the grounds an enter the Winter Palace. There is an interesting museum on the grounds with exhibits and personal items from the Bogd Khan.

Zaisan Memorial

After visiting the Winter Palace, we drove to the Zaisan Memorial. This is a very soviet memorial and it’s apparent. The memorial is a circular painting with scenes of people from the USSR and Mongolia.

I found the memorial to be quite interesting. I’ve never traveled to a place quite like Ulaanbaatar. It felt more Eastern European then Asian to me.

Other then the memorial, the views from the Zaisan Memorial are worth the hike up the stairs alone. You get views of Ulaanbaatar and the surrounding hills.

Genghis Khan Statue Complex

The next stop was the Genghis Khan Statue Complex. In the middle of nowhere it seemed like, is the largest equestrian statue in the world.

The statue truly is massive standing at 40m tall (130 ft).

You can walk inside the statue and if you pay the entrance fee, you can walk the stairs to the top of the statue and access the museum.

Lunch: Mutton Ribs and Tsuivan

On the way to Terelj National Park, we stopped at a family owned restaurant. The restaurant was in a yurt and served traditional Mongolian cuisine. I ordered Mutton Ribs and Jill had a popular Mongolian dish named Tsuivan. Tsuivan is a noddle dish with meat and vegetables.

In Mongolia, you will end up eating a lot of mutton. I had mutton for lunch and dinner 3 days straight. I love it, but others might not, so maybe try Tsuivan for a change.

Terelj National Park

The main and final stop for the first day was at Terelj National Park. Terelj National Park is an easy day trip from Ulaanbaatar and a must visit.

On a day trip from Ulaanbaatar, you can visit: Turtle Rock, Aryabal Meditation Temple, go on a hike, and even ride a horse or camel.

We stayed in a yurt camp for the first night in Terelj National Park.

If interested in reading more about Terelj National Park, I have a dedicated post here.

Day 2: Kharkhorin

Day 2 of the Central Mongolia tour was more of a driving day. We drove about 6-7 hours from Terelj National Park to the ancient city of Kharkhorin.

Not once was the drive boring. The entire drive, I was amazed by the landscapes, animal crossings, and everything else really.

We stopped for lunch at a new road side stop. Surprisingly, Mongolia has a lot of nice and new road side stations. The ones we stopped at had nice bathroom facilities and cafeteria style restaurants serving delicious food.

Kharkhorin Museum

We got to Kharkhorin and had spare time, so we visited the Kharkhorin Museum.

If staying in Mongolia’s Orkhon Valley, I highly recommend visiting this museum. We learned so much about the area in regards to its culture and history.

There was a tomb found in the Orkhon Valley of an aristocrat from the 7th century, which I found interesting.

Monkhshuuri Ger Camp Guesthouse

We stayed the night in Kharkhorin at another yurt camp called Monkhsuuri Ger Camp Guesthouse.

Out of all the yurt camps and nomadic families we stayed at, this one was the most equipped. This yurt camp had a nice bathroom facility with actual toilets and showers with warm water.

There was even a live show for us the night we stayed here. The show consisted of an older gentleman and his student. They preformed traditional Mongolian folk songs with the traditional Morin Khuur.

The Monkhshuuri Ger Camp Guesthouse can be found and booked on Agoda.

Day 3: Orkhon Valley

Day three of our Central Mongolia Tour consisted of a morning at Erdene Zuu Monastery, before heading to The Monument for Mongol States, and finishing the day off at Orkhon Waterfall.

Erdene Zuu Monastery

We started our day at the Erdene Zuu Monastery in Kharkhorin. We visited in October and the weather was already chilly. Thankfully October is in the off season, so we had the monastery to ourselves.

The Erdene Zuu Monastery dates back to 1586 and hit its prime around 1872. During this time period, the monastery had 60 temples and more then 500 structures.

Under communist rule, in 1939 most of the monastery was destroyed as were many religious monuments throughout Mongolia.

Today, there are still a few temples and structures left within the walls. Visitors can walk around the grounds and even go inside some of the temples.

Monument for Mongol States

A few minutes away from Erdene Zuu Monastery through town was the Monument for Mongol States. I recommend coming here for the views. You get incredible views of the Orkhon River.

Horse Ride to the Orkhon Waterfall

Prior to visiting Mongolia, I had hopes to ride a horse. I wanted to get the most out of my Mongolian experience and what better way then to ride a Mongolian Horse in the Orkhon Valley.

From Kharkhorin we drove about 4 hours off road to Ulaan Tsutgalan Waterfall, otherwise known as the Orkhon Waterfall.

Here we stayed in a yurt with a nomadic family. The host had horses already set up for us and we trotted along to the trailhead of the Orkhon Waterfall.

We dismounted from our horses and walked the upper portion of the waterfall before taking a trail to the lower half of the falls. Being October, the pine trees were all orange.

The Orkhon Waterfall is 20 meters tall and is definitely a site to see.

I have a post on the Orkhon Valley with details of our itinerary, here.

Stay with Nomadic Family

This was our first night staying in a yurt with a real nomadic family. Beforehand, we stayed in yurt camps. We were in the middle of nowhere, hours from the nearest small town.

The nomadic family stays in one location with their herds and seek other areas for livestock grazing and more suitable locations during the harsh Mongolian winter months.

The yurts at this location were our favorite. The family came into the yurt several times to load wood into the burning stove. They even served us dinner and breakfast in the yurts.

For dinner we had Khuushuur which is a meat filled pastry, kind of like an Empanada. The family we stayed with freshly slaughtered a yak, so of course the meat filling of the Khuushuur was yak. I found it to be delightful. The yak tasted a little like a mix of beef and goat.

For breakfast we had what seemed to be a standard Mongolian breakfast that came with toast, egg, and slices of meat.

The yurts are quite the experience and the bathroom saturations are as well. At this camp, they had a open bathroom that did have stalls. The toilet consisted of a wooden floor with a hole cut out in the bottom. It’s kind of like you are camping. Another side note, bring your own toilet paper to Mongolia.

Interested in seeing what our experiences of staying in a yurt was like? I have a dedicated post here.

Day 4: Elsen Tasarkhai Sand Dune

Day 4 of our Central Mongolia tour was another driving day but we made stops along the way to look at wildlife, landscapes, and stopped at Elsen Tasarkhai Sand Dune toward the end of the day. Elsen Tasarkhai is known as the Mini Gobi Desert.

Elsen Tasarkhai Sand Dune (Mini Gobi)

Located about 280 km from Ulaanbaatar is Elsen Tasarkhai Sand Dune. It’s known as the mini Gobi desert. Although small compared to the Gobi desert it’s still quite large. Going north to south, Elsen Tasarkhai is 80km long and about 5 km wide with its largest part being 10 km wide.

I highly recommend riding a camel here. It’s a unique experience. In my opinion it was more fun then riding a horse. You sit higher up, sitting in between the humps is comfortable, and getting on and off is an adrenaline rush.

We rode camels for about 15 to 20 minutes before getting off and walking around the dunes. Once you are on the dunes, you can see how massive Elsen Tasarkhai really is.

Last Night with a Nomadic Family

Not far from Elsen Tasarkhai Sand Dune, we stayed with another Nomadic family. We arrived later in the afternoon and had time to rest and just enjoy the beautiful mountains surrounding the yurts.

At night, the family we stayed with made Buuz which is a meat dumpling. They made two different ones, one had goat meat in it and the other batch had horse meat. Now I can say I’ve had horse dumplings.

Day 5: Hustai National Park

Our final day was driving back to Ulaanbaatar but first, we stopped at Hustai National Park. About 2 hours from Ulaanbaatar, Hustai National Park can be done as a day trip from the capital city. Hustai National Park is known to be home to the Przewalski’s Horse, the only true wild horse.

Hustai National Park

Hustai National Park covers about 506 km² or 195 mi² and is home to several species of wildlife. Its most notable resident is the Przewalski’s Horse.

The Przewalski’s Horse also known as the Mongolian Wild Horse or Takhi, is an endangered species of wild horse. They are named after Nikolay Przhevalsky, a Russian explorer.

The Przewalski’s Horse was extinct or close to extinction in the wild. Apparently in the early 1900’s, a lot of Europeans were traveling to Mongolia to bring the horses to Europe to display them in zoos. In the 1990’s many conservation efforts were made to bring the horses back to Mongolia.

We saw a herd of the Przewalski’s Horses which was exciting. We also saw Altai Wapiti which is an elk. Other mammals you can see in Hustai National Park include gazelle’s, marmots, foxes, Pallas’s cats, and 44 other mammal species.

Back to Ulaanbaatar

After spending a couple hours at Hustai National Park, we made the journey back to Ulaanbaatar and the driver and guide dropped us back off at our hotel.

Tips and Recommendations for your Visit to Central Mongolia

Bring your own toilet paper. Many places don’t have toilet paper this includes the yurt camps and even some restrooms.
If you get car sick, bring medication to prevent illness like Dramamine.
Clothing wise, bring layers. We visited in October, it did get cold at night, during the day it was warm. So bring layers that can easily be put on or taken off.
I recommend bringing a headlamp. A headlamp is especially useful if you need to go to the bathroom at night.
For packing tips and preparing for your trip to Mongolia, I have a dedicated post here.

Conclusion

Spending 5 days in Central Mongolia was one of the best and most memorable experiences in my travels. Mongolia was just so much different then any other place I’ve traveled. Spending days in beautiful nature and staying in yurts under the starry night skies everyday was simply incredible. Each day was different, unique, and jam-packed! What are you waiting for? Book your Central Mongolia tour, and please share your experience with me. Safe Travels!

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