What does a trip to Mongolia really cost?
Mongolia is cheaper than most people expect and priced in a way that surprises them. The hotel line, which dominates a budget almost everywhere else, is small here. The vehicle line, which barely exists in Thailand or Japan, is the largest single item on most quotes.
Understanding that inversion is most of what you need to budget accurately.
Everything below is land only, per person, based on two people sharing, and it excludes international flights.
Daily cost by style
These are the four anchors our consultants price against, and they are the same numbers used in our complete Mongolia guide.
| Style | What it looks like | Per person, per day |
|---|---|---|
| Careful | Simple ger camps with shared shower blocks, mostly by road, a shared vehicle and guide | $150 |
| Comfortable | Good camps, a private vehicle and guide, one domestic flight | $240 |
| Boutique | The camps with private bathrooms in the ger, better food, more flights | $390 |
| Luxury | The top handful of lodges, and charter flights where they help | $650 |
Two things that table does not show. The gap between careful and comfortable is mostly the vehicle: a private van and driver rather than a shared one. The gap between comfortable and boutique is almost entirely where the bathroom is.
That second point matters more than it sounds. Many Mongolian ger camps have shared shower blocks: a separate building a short walk from your ger, with hot water at set hours because it runs off a generator or a scheduled boiler. A smaller number of camps have a private bathroom built onto each ger, they cost more, and to a lot of people they are worth it. We state the arrangement for every single night in the proposal before you book, which is the paragraph clients most often tell us mattered.
Three complete trips, costed
Land only, per person, two sharing.
| Style | 9 days | 10 days | 14 days | 21 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Careful | $1,350 | $1,500 | $2,100 | $3,150 |
| Comfortable | $2,160 | $2,400 | $3,360 | $5,040 |
| Boutique | $3,510 | $3,900 | $5,460 | $8,190 |
| Luxury | $5,850 | $6,500 | $9,100 | $13,650 |
Ten days, comfortable, about $2,400. Ulaanbaatar, Kharkhorin and the Orkhon valley by road, then a domestic flight south to the Gobi for three or four nights of dunes, gorge and red cliffs, and a flight back. Private van, private guide, good camps. This is the most common shape of Mongolia trip we build and it maps onto classic Mongolia in 10 days.
Fourteen days, comfortable, about $3,360. The overland loop: south into the Gobi, west to the dunes, north into the Arkhangai hills for the volcano, the lake and the hot springs, and back east. About 1,550 miles (2,500 km), most of it not on a road. The route is here.
Twenty-one days, comfortable, about $5,040. The Gobi, the centre, Lake Khovsgol in the north and Bayan-Olgii in the far west, with four domestic flights. The route is here.
What is inside the number
A Mongolia quote outside Ulaanbaatar is close to all-inclusive, which is why the daily figure covers more than it would elsewhere.
A comfortable day typically covers your ger camp or hotel, full board outside the capital and breakfast in it, a private 4×4 or Russian van with a Mongolian driver, an English-speaking Mongolian guide, all national park and monument entries, the camel rides and herder visits paid properly to the families, and permits.
It does not cover alcohol, tips, laundry, souvenirs, or domestic flights unless the tier includes them. We break the flights out separately so you can see what each one buys.
The three things that actually move the number
1. Group size, which is the big one
Mongolia is priced on the vehicle. Two people share one van, one driver and one guide. Four people share exactly the same van, driver and guide, and the per person price falls sharply.
This is one of very few countries where travelling as two couples genuinely changes the economics rather than shaving a margin. If you are considering asking friends, this is the country to ask in.
2. Domestic flights
Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad for the Gobi, to Olgii for the far west, to Murun for Lake Khovsgol. Each one buys back one to three days of driving and costs a fare.
Whether that is worth it is a real calculation rather than an upsell. On a ten day Gobi trip, flying one leg is almost always the right call: Ulaanbaatar to the Khongoryn Els dunes is about 620 miles (1,000 km), of which most is not paved, and it is two long days by road.
The catch is that schedules are seasonal and thin, aircraft are small, the baggage allowance is usually around 15 kg, and changes happen. We book them the moment the schedule opens and we keep a road contingency.
3. Naadam week
The national festival falls on 11 to 13 July and it fills every bed in the country. Ulaanbaatar hotels sell out months ahead and rates rise, and the effect ripples out to camps across the countryside because domestic travel peaks in the same week.
If you want Naadam, book six to nine months out and expect to pay more. If you want empty countryside, travel in late August instead and the same itinerary costs less. Mongolia month by month covers the full calendar.
What things cost on the ground
A short list, as planning guidance rather than as quotes, because prices move and we confirm the current numbers when we price your trip.
- A meal in a good Ulaanbaatar restaurant: $12 to $25
- A meal in a simple town canteen: $4 to $7
- A cashmere scarf from a Mongolian mill: $40 to $90
- A cashmere sweater from the same: $150 to $350
- A led horse ride at a camp, one to two hours: usually included, otherwise $15 to $30
- A litre of bottled water outside the capital: $1 to $2
Cash is the practical point. Ulaanbaatar has cards and ATMs. The countryside has neither. Carry togrog in cash for the whole trip and change it before you leave the city.
What we would spend more on, and what we would not
Worth paying for: a private vehicle rather than a shared one, because your day is dictated by it. A domestic flight that removes two full driving days. A camp with a private bathroom on the nights after the longest drives. A guide we know rather than one allocated at random.
Not worth paying for: the top luxury tier on every night. Mongolia’s best lodges are genuinely good and there are not many of them, so a luxury itinerary spends a lot of money moving between the handful that exist. Two or three of those nights placed well beats fourteen of them.
Not worth paying for either: upgrading a Gobi camp that has no upgrade available. In some places the good camp and the simple camp are the same camp. We say so rather than charging for a better name.
Plan this trip
Tell us your dates, how many of you there are and whether you want the Gobi, the west or both, and one of our Southeast and Central Asia specialists will build a first outline with real drive hours and real camp names. Free, and with no obligation.
Keep reading
- Mongolia: the complete guide to planning your trip
- How many days do you need in Mongolia?
- Mongolia month by month
- Mongolia for the first time
- Classic Mongolia in 10 days
- All our Mongolia trips
Frequently asked questions
Is Mongolia expensive?
Why is a careful trip $150 a day when the camps are simple?
Do these figures include international flights?
Can we travel Mongolia independently and save money?
When do you confirm the actual prices?
Plan a trip to Mongolia, planned around a season that lasts four months All Mongolia, planned around a season that lasts four months trips
