Bespoke travel agency in Mongolia

The peak season for a trip to Mongolia runs from mid-June to mid-September. The steppes turn green, herds move to summer pastures, and nights in the yurt remain cool but comfortable. July concentrates the festivals, including Naadam in Ulan Bator and throughout the provinces, featuring children's horse races across the steppe. September offers exceptional light, less crowded camps and the first snows on the Altai. Conversely, the Mongolian winter is harsh — down to -40°C in Khentii — but it's also the season of the eagle festival in Ölgii in October, and the ice festival on Lake Khövsgöl in March. Spring, windier and dustier, is best avoided for a first visit.

Mongolia is not a budget-friendly destination, and that often comes as a surprise. The distances between regions are vast, the tracks require sturdy 4x4s and experienced drivers, and each night in a local home involves discreet but very real logistics. For a circuit of around ten days combining the Gobi, Karakorum and Orkhon Valley, expect on average between €2,500 and €3,500 per person excluding international flights, with English-speaking guides, full board and accommodation in family yurts or camps. An itinerary in the Altai with a domestic flight to Ölgii will increase the budget. Conversely, a shorter stay focused on Khentii or Khövsgöl remains more affordable.

In Mongolia, more than anywhere else, the quality of a trip depends on human connections built beforehand. Since 2006, our English-speaking team has been based in Ulan Bator, exploring off-season trails, and knows personally the herding families who open their yurts to travelers. It is these relationships, patiently built, that make it possible to sleep at a Gobi camel herder's home or share salted tea with a Kazakh family in the Altai — not a tourist script. Working with a local English-speaking agency also means being able to adjust an itinerary on the road, change a camp based on weather, or extend a stage because the encounter is worth lingering over. Our work: listen, understand your project, then bring it to life on the ground.

A Mongolia circuit revolves around a few major regions, rarely combinable in a single trip. The Gobi Desert to the south unfolds its Khongoryn Els sand dunes, the red cliffs of Bayanzag and the ice canyons of Yolyn Am. In the center, the Orkhon Valley, the ancient capital Karakorum and Erdene Zuu monastery tell the legacy of Genghis Khan. Further north, Khövsgöl Lake opens onto the taiga and the Tsaatan reindeer herding people. To the west, the Kazakh Altai, its glaciers and eagle hunters, requires time and an internal flight. Khentii, the birthplace of Genghis Khan, remains the ideal region for a horseback immersion, closer to Ulaanbaatar.