There are plenty of mixed reviews coming out of the Gobi Desert and for good reason. Due to the vast expanses of this land, there is an exhausting amount of driving involved in this Mongolian desert tour, which leaves little time to see the actual sites.
You’ll spend an average of 8 hours per day riding in the back seat of a Russian van bouncing around like you’re in a washing machine. Unfortunately, and much to the surprise of most travellers, there is very little time spent enjoying the Gobi desert itself, and more time looking at it through the van window.
Sound like fun?!
Well, the saving grace really is the last few hours of each day when you arrive at the incredible sites & family homes in the Mongolian desert. The sand dunes, gorges, cliffs, and caves at the end of each day will really make up for the uncomfortable time in the van.
The best experiences when traveling Mongolia are with the local families. It’s amazing to be invited into a ger (traditional Mongolian yurt) and witness the age-old customs of these nomadic people firsthand.
Planning For a Gobi Desert Tour
So, how do you plan for a Gobi Desert tour? Well, the best way is to book it through your guesthouse in Ulan Bator. Almost all of the tourist-oriented hostels and guesthouses in the capital can arrange a number of Gobi tour options, as well as tours to all corners of this majestic country.
You first need to find a company or guesthouse that you can trust. We’ve compiled a list below of some good operators based on real traveller’s reports on the ground, and on TripAdvisor. Always do your own independent research when planning a Mongolian desert adventure.
Good Gobi Desert Tour Operators:
Sun Path Guesthouse – We used them to book our Gobi Desert tour and while the guide wasn’t overly informed about the history, the tour itself was superb. We were able to stop for photos when we wanted, our guide helped us find traditional food and drink that we were looking for, and she was an excellent cook.
Others used this same guesthouse for different tours and had a very positive experience as well. Ask to speak to your guide before setting out to get a feel for his/her level of English. Sun Path has many great guides available. Click here for updated TripAdvisor reviews, and click here to book a room at their guesthouse and contact the staff.
Ger to Ger – Probably the most popular travel agency in Ulan Bator, Ger to Ger is a great community-based program that prides itself on giving back to the families who host, and continuing a sustainable relationship between tourists and local families. (Update 2018: We can’t find any recent reviews on this company).
View Mongolia – We’ve recently heard about this company and it has high reviews on TripAdvisor.
Golden Gobi – While we hadn’t heard great things about this company back in 2013, according to reviews it seems they’ve smartened up and are now offering a great stay at their hostel/guesthouse, and high-quality Gobi Desert tours. Click here to read reviews and compare prices on Booking.com.
There are plenty of good operators in Ulan Bator so just look around and go for the one that you have a good feeling about. Another option is to have a look on TripAdvisor.com to see honest reviews about tour operators.
Questions to Ask Before Going on a Mongolian Desert Adventure
Before agreeing to a Gobi Desert tour, make sure to ask the company the following questions to avoid any unwanted surprises.
1. Can I meet the guide and driver before leaving?
2. Can I see the van we will be driving in?
3. Does the driver have experience in the area, a map, and/or a GPS unit? (this is very important)
4. What type of food will be included?
5. Are there any extra costs while on the tour?
6. Are there spare tires & shocks in the vehicle? (a breakdown is almost guaranteed)
Costs of a Gobi Desert Tour (What We Paid)
We went with Sun Path’s tour and we bargained the rate down to $45/day/person for 6 people in a comfortable van. This included all entrance fees, 3 meals a day (with snacks), camel riding, accommodation in shared gers, 1.5L water/day/person and basically everything we needed for our 6-day tour.
Travel Companions
The next thing you need to think about when planning a Gobi Desert trip is who you’re going with. If you’ve put together your own group of friends or like-minded travellers then you’re ready for the next step. But if the operator is pairing you up with others, you should seriously consider meeting them before agreeing to the tour.
Remember, you will be in a small van with these people for 8 hours/day, sleeping, eating and travelling together, so you better make sure that you get along! A quick meet n’ greet will usually give you a good feel for your new travel companions. If possible, we suggest having a coffee or meal together and make your decision after meeting everyone.
Things To Pack For a Mongolian Desert Tour:
Here are a few things that we found invaluable while on the Gobi Desert Tour.
1. Moist Towelettes (wet-naps): There are NO showers in the Gobi Desert, unless you’re paying for a top-end lodge/tourist ger camp. Be prepared to be covered in dirt and dust at the end of each day. A quick rinse off in the wash basin, followed by a rub-down with towelettes can save the day.
2. Bug Spray or lotion: There are times when the desert is full of flies and mosquitoes, don’t forget to protect yourself just in case.
3. Sun Screen: The sun is very intense – obviously.
4. A Hat: Again, the sun is intense in the desert.
5. A Bandana: Great for putting around your mouth and nose when driving through very dusty areas.
6. A Sleeping Bag: It’s nice to have because most gers don’t provide sheets and if they do, they usually smell like goat… seriously.
7. A Car Pillow: Remember, 8 hours / day of driving on bumpy roads, you’re going to want something to protect your head when it slams against the window.
8. Snacks: There are sometimes long breaks in between meals. Pick up some road snacks at the State Department Store in Ulan Bator. There are a couple of small shops in little villages along the way, but they only sell very basic goods.
9. Extra Water: 1.5 litres each / day just isn’t enough. Grab yourself an extra 1.5L/day in the capital before you leave and then get more along the way if you need.
10. Laundry Detergent: After 4 days, your clothes will smell like goat, sheep and camel, so unless you carry an entire wardrobe on your back, consider bringing some soap.
11. Toilet Paper: Ger camps don’t have any.
12. Motion Sickness Pills: If you’re susceptible to car sickness, then you’ll most likely feel nauseous once or twice on this trip. Bring some pills.
13. A Book: Especially if you can read during roller coaster rides, it’s a great way to pass the time in the van. Late at night or when waiting for dinner, it’s nice to have some reading material.
14. A Bottle Of Vodka (or 4): The bottle of vodka has many different uses. You can offer some to the elders at the ger camps, and you can ward off any unwanted bacteria by taking a shot after eating potentially dodgy desert meat.
15. A headlamp or flashlight: The majority of the gers won’t have electricity. Candlelight is nice, but when you need to find something in your bag or do a midnight toilet run, it’s a must-have.
16. A Deck Of Cards: You’ll be spending a lot of time chatting and hanging out with your tour mates at the end of each day. Cards (or some other game) are a great way to connect with your new friends.
17. Music: The Mongolian horse music that will most likely be playing in the van is great on your first day, but after the same 6 songs are repeated for 6 days, you’ll probably want to hear some of your own tunes.
Accommodation in the Gobi Desert
In the Mongolian desert, the only place to sleep is in a ger, or in your van! The gers are typically pretty comfortable with individual small beds with thin mattresses. Usually, the whole group will sleep together in one ger. You’ll want to bring your own sleeping bag, or rent one from Ulan Batar…who knows how often the blankets in the Gobi Desert are washed, if ever.
Brace yourself for outhouse (long-drop) style toilets. Unless you’re in the capital, or other bigger cities, this is the typical toilet when traveling in Mongolia.
Highlights of The Gobi Desert
- The Flaming Cliffs
- Wild Camels
- Local Families and Gers
- Sand Dunes
- Drinking arak
- Yolyn Am Gorge
- Riding Horses
- Temples & Caves
- Trying “snuff”
Ready For The Gobi Desert?!
Once you’ve found an operator that you trust, met your guide & driver and packed your bags, all that’s left to do is head out and enjoy the diverse Gobi Desert.
Apart from hiring a car and driving yourself (aka, getting lost in the desert), taking a Gobi Desert tour is your only option. This tour is basically just a few like-minded travellers getting together and hiring a guide and driver to show them around. If you have a great group of travellers, it’ll feel more like a road trip than a tour and you’ll be free to do as you please most of the time.
Make sure to speak up if there are any detours or particular local experiences you wish to have, most guides & drivers are very accommodating.
Backpacking through Mongolia is amazing and a Gobi desert tour is a definite must while in this nomadic land. Despite the many hours in the van, this is one adventure you won’t want to miss out on.
For more information, check out our articles:
Good Times In The Gobi Desert, Part #1
Good Times In The Gobi, Part #2
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Hi guys! Thanks for this info! Do you think it’s possible to do this kind of tour independently, just to hire a driver in Ulan Batar who would also know a place to sleep, I mean a ger, without paying $45 per day. It’s not the most expensive trip I’ve seen, but what if we want to stay in the desert longer, like 10+ days? This would be too much for our budget. Thanks for any tips and advice!
Hi Ivana,
You could definitely hire a private car and driver, but I think you would end up spending more than $45/person/day. The distances here are vast, which costs a lot in petrol, plus you’ll have to pay for accommodation (unless you have it included in the tour), plus food, plus the driver and/or guide’s fee. I honestly think it makes sense to do the tour, and usually we opt for doing things independently!
Also, we recommend a guide for this so that you can actually communicate and learn some things from the nomads, there’s really not a lot of English spoken outside of UB.
I hope this helps. You could definitely try to get a better price in UB though! Good luck guys and don’t miss out on the Gobi 🙂
Thanks a lot for this! Yeah, we are not tour lovers too but in some places you just cannot do it without them 🙂
The language shouldn’t be a problem, I can speak Russian. Although, I heard in some villages in Mongolia nowadays they don’t speak Russian anymore.
Thanks again and have a great time!
Excellent … a very useful guide for a trek that I will be looking to do in the very near future. Journalling would be a great way to pass the time as well!
Oh…that will be helpful to be able to speak Russian! Most do speak Mongolian though, but definitely the older generation will speak Russian as well 🙂
Enjoy your trip!
Yes! Writing is a great way to pass the time as well 🙂 enjoy your trip, the Gobi Desert (and all of Mongolia) is fantastic!
Can I ask you when you travel in Gobi? Could you give me tip to bargain with sun-path?
Hi Emily,
We were in Mongolia in July/August.
Not sure about bargaining tips…just try your best to get them down in the price – but not too low as you don’t want to end up with not much to eat for meals or having them scrimp out on things 🙂
Enjoy!
Thanks for your extremely useful blog post concerning Gobi tours book out of Ulaanbaatar. My wife and I are leaving the States in just a few days for a quick two-week (12 days actually) Mongolian vacation. I never know my schedule for the upcoming month until the second week of the previous month so the trip planning has been a bit hurried and last minute, at least for Mongolia in May it seems.
We thought visiting Mongolia in May would be a nice easy shoulder-season vacation but to our surprise many things are closed until June and the flight schedules are very thin and infrequent making planning a quick itinerary in such a vast country extremely difficult. We have also been shocked by the outrageous prices we have been quoted by tour operators in Mongolia. Many operators have been asking us to pay in excess of $1000 dollars a day to sleep in our own tent or on the floor in a family Ger. All of this in a very poor developing Asian country!?? It’s a bit mind-boggling that roughing-it in Mongolia should cost more than traveling about in luxury and style in a very high-cost, highly developed country like Norway, Switzerland etc. I know fuel probably costs a lot of money and most things in Mongolia that don’t derive from a goat, horse, yak etc probably have to be imported from abroad but WOW! The tour operators are asking outrageous sums from Americans inquiring online. We had heard good things about SunPath in UB from elsewhere on the internet as well. We contacted them about a four-day tour in the Gobi, we want to see the sights around Dalanzadgad, and they quoted me $320 PER PERSON, PER DAY! A far cry from the $45 you were able to negotiate. Additionally they didn’t even want to take us to Dalanzadgad and recommended somewhere they were calling the “semi” Gobi due to its proximity. ‘Semi” Gobi? What is the heck is that and why pay $640 dollars a day to see it? Did your tour visit the typical Gobi attractions around Dalanzadgad (Khongoryn Els, Yolyn Am, Bayanzag, etc.) or did you guys opt for a SunPath tour of the “semi-Gobi” ?
Thanks again for the great post!
Just want to know if you guys recommend sorting it out once we’re out there or online beforehand?
Thanks, Megan
Sorry for the delayed reply, we were in Cuba without internet until recently.
Wow, what outrageous prices!
We went for 5 nights, $45/person/day including everything. We saw all of the sites that you mentioned above. However, it does take a long time to get to them, so I’m not sure how many days you suggested to Sunpath?
Regardless, that is way overpriced, which always seems to happen when one tries to book online.
I hope everything works out.
When you’re there. Everything is way overpriced online. Plus, when you’re there you can see your vehicle, meet the guide, etc.
Cheers!
Hi
This has been amazingly helpful. I am normally allergic to travel blogs but this is JUST what I need to know. How many days do you think I need in Ulaanbaatar to organise a Gobi trip? I am going to the West (hopefully – still looking for a good tour operator who isn’t charging the earth) for about 3 weeks so don’t have much time left as I only get a 30 day visa.
Have you got any tips for organising a trek in the west?
Thanks
I’m planning to hire a Toyota land cruiser neat year, prob. last 2 weeks in May and travelling on my own. Anything in particular I need to be concerned about at that time of the year in the Gobi desert or anywhere else?
Hi Caroline,
Oh no, why are you allergic to travel blogs?! haha
We had our trip organized within a day. It depends on how you feel about the company, whether or not they have availability, how fast you can come to an agreement on price/activities, etc. We haven’t gone west actually! Enjoy.
May is a good time to be in Mongolia. May – September is good actually. Always take the usual precautions though – lots of drinking water, a GPS (definitely), food, warm gear as it gets cold at night. Check with locals before setting off.
Enjoy!
Hello!
Thank you so much for such a detailed post! I’m actually going with Sunpath on a very similar (or possibly) the same tour in about ten days! This post was so helpful!
I have one quick question though, if you’ll indulge me…I’m trying to figure out what to do about charging electronics. Like you, I run a travel blog and want to document my journey. Were you able to charge cameras or ipods at any point?
I’m going on the same tour with Sunpath in about 10 days and was just wondering if there will be anywhere to charge electronics like cameras or ipods while out in the Gobi? Thanks! Great and super helpful post!
Hi Grace!
That’s so exciting that you’re taking off into the Gobi 🙂 Some of the gers that you’ll stay in will have an option for charging – they have tv’s in there! I would recommend bringing an extra battery for your camera if possible, a solar charger would be good! Have fun.
In The end of March to 10ht of april is possible to go to gobi desert?
thanks
angela
Yes, that’s a good time of year.
Sure, that’s possible.
Have a look here for Gobi Tours: https://indy-guide.com/en?category=all&q=gobi&view=grid
Indy Guide is a growing, independent network for guides, expeditions, and homestays in Mongolia and Central Asia.
Hi, thanks for this amazingly helpful blog! We’re visiting Mongolia this summer (my wife and I with our two sons, aged 10 and 7). Is it going to be realistic to take the kids out to the Gobi, do you think? They’re pretty seasoned travellers (we live in Beijing so they’re not coddled westerners), but I don’t know whether hours every day in a van is going to become a nightmare. Will we be able to hire a van for just the four of us, and take it more slowly? If we just went off for three days, would we get anywhere?
Any thoughts appreciated!!
Hi Andy,
The days in the van were long to be honest. But, that’s how you get to all of the good stuff! It takes a few days to get out there. You could request that you spend a night in a random spot just to break up the journey though? Chat to the tour companies and see what they can do. Also, day 2 will bring you to the sand dunes (which are amazing), so maybe you could do just a 3 day trip or something? Good luck and enjoy, it’s quite the experience.
Hi Andy,
I don’t know if you’ll read this, but my husband and I are taking our 2 sons (also 10 and 7!) to Mongolia this summer as well. We want to do a Gobi tour……I’m hoping to perhaps find another family that we could tour with so our boys would have some other kids to play with. Our kids are also seasoned travelers but it’s always more fun for them with other kids around.
We’ll be there in August……if that happens to be when you’ll be there, too, maybe we can try to connect somehow?!
Cheers,
Meghan
Hello guys! Thanks for your great blog!
I am planning to be in Ulan Bator by 9th August (coming from Russian Transiberian train) and I have only 5 days before my flight back to Europe on the 14th. Do you think it is still feasible to do a short Gobi Tour of i.e. 3-4 days?
Any advice and recommmendation will be appreciated!
Thank you for your very useful advice and info! I am plannign a trip as well to Gobi Desert in august but I found very different opinions regarding the time necessary to take a trip to the Gobi. As we only have 2 weeks in Mongolia, you would like to spare time to visit another region as well. Do you think a 4 days trip is realistic?
Thansk for your feedback !
Elo
Hi Andy, thanks for the great post. I know someone asked about charging your camera/phones, but just to reconfirm, there are charging points out there in every ger if I were to spend about 5 days on the trip on Gobi?
Hey Elo, if you are reading this, maybe you like to delay till end Sept so we could plan a trip together (2 of us here) to catch the eagle festival and tour Gobi to keep the cost down? Let me know 🙂
Nice blog; thank you.
My wife and I plan to spend just 3 nights/two days in Mongolia in August of next year.
We would like a day tip from Ulan Batar, just the two of us, not other tourists. We basically just want to see nature and the countryside, and would hope to meet with people.
We will stay at a hotel in Ulan Bator, not yet sure which. It seems that booking something online is way too expensive. So, once we arrive, where should we go to arrange for a driver/guide? Is there a street or area in the center of town with travel agencies to book such a day trip?
Thanks in advance.
Hey Suhaimi,
I am also planning to do the Gobi tour in Sept (just solo) as well as the eagle festival – would love to join up with you guys if you’re still keen to keep costs down 🙂
Heya Jaydn,
Thanks for the reply. We got the quote for this tour
https://www.tourinmongolia.com/the-eagle-festival-tour.html
We aint sure how exciting the first half of this just to see lakes lol but the tour operator went MIA when I told her there is no departing flight back to UB on day 16, hence we had to shelve the plan. I enquired the cost remains the same, just that they will pair you up to make the numbers and travel in that Russian van.
The blog price here stated at 45/day is really a steal. If you book online that might cost much more, perhaps making booking personally there is cheaper? I really do not know
FYI, there are 2 eagle festival, one is of smaller scale in mid Sept and the bigger one is in the first week of Oct.
Sorry had to drop out of this and stay safe on the road 🙂
Hi Jimmy,
I would speak with your hotel / hostel in UB about booking a driver and a guide. Terelj National Park is close to UB for a good day trip, and it’s beautiful. You can take the bus there.
5 days in the Gobi is pretty much minimum. It’s vast and there is lots to see – and everything is very spread out!
Hey Jaydn and Suhaimi,
I m also traveling to mongolia in september. It would be great if we could create a group to low the prices 🙂 When do you plan to make a the tour? Is the eagle festival-tour fix? Isn’t anyone excided about the horse-riding tour (11 Days?) Would be great to hear from you both.
Hey Jaydn and Suhaimi,
I m also traveling to mongolia in September. It would be nice to creat a group to low the prices, when do you want to make the tour? I think that the horse riding tour also sounds really great!! (10-11 days).
Look forward to hear from you guys 🙂
hey mate, great article. i am very interested in doing the tour some time in the near future but had a couple of questions.
1- how often do these tours run. For example, if i land in ulan bator on saturday and book a tour soon after, would it leave on sunday or the monday?
2- how did you charge your devices? like phones and cameras on a day to day basis, as the nomads don’t have electricity like you said. Also, whats the sim card and mobile data situation like when you did the tour
Thank You
Based on some relatively old reviews found on tripadvisor and on some other websites which had more recent reviews, I decided to book a short 3-day tour of the Gobi desert with TRAVEL GOBI MONGOLIA. I would really appreciate if they could be added to the list of no-go companies.
I was immediately responded to by Ganzo, a man mentioned by name in almost all the reviews I have seen. I must say, having dealt with this man I must advise people to avoid this unprofessional company at all costs.
They may employ good guides based on other reviews but Ganzo was not easy to communicate with nor did he have the best information. Pricing was unclear and he was unable to give detailed advice about the trip beyond what is written on his website. This is mentioned in several reviews you will find with a decent google search.
He was prompt but very pushy with his emails and would often take several days to respond. I did not mind this as I was emailing him many questions and he seemed to have suitable responses even if they would take a little while. I accepted some of the vague answers due to language barriers and the fact that he himself was not the tour guide.
Once I paid my deposit the responses became even more sporadic and less informative. Through Ganzo not answering questions I sent him based on the visa requirements, it was not possible for us to complete the trip.
Bearing in mind on the contract on their website it states:
“Documentation
Prior to the arrival TGM will make sure that you with:
a. Visa support and general information about passport and visa requirements”
(This is quoted verbatim from their website)
I made sure to ask Ganzo about visa requirements more than a month before our trip to ensure we had time and he offered no clear guidance, loosely indicating that they were not required.
Upon doing my own research this did not seem to be true so again, around two weeks before the flights I contacted him again as to apply his company would need to provide certain information. He took several days to respond and then claimed it would not be possible to get the visa at this point.
I subsequently had to cancel my flights and the trip and since this point he has been refusing to refund ANY of my deposit claiming that I did not cancel far enough in advance and that the problems are my own fault and not the responsibility of him or his company.
Very unprofessional and he has now gone silent on me. The contract states that considering the date which I cancelled the tour there is a minimum amount of money I should receive back. Based on their failing to fulfil the contract I should receive everything back yet i have nothing.
I am in the process of raising this with my credit card company but any advice as to how to report these companies and who to report them to will be gratefully received.
I advise people to use other companies or contact the tour leaders directly.
Very disappointed.
Please avoid using this company, as you will see from other reviews, they do not have the best prices and Ganzo is unreliable.
Hi,
What a great blog and videos! I’m planning for a trip to Gobi this summer and your page provides very good info.
Do you get to charge your electronic devices i.e. cameras & phones in the gers on the desert?
Hey guys,
I love your website and find it very useful. How long would you say to spend in the capital and how many days is good to spend out in the desert and plains? I have about a 7 day break from work in October and plan to go up there. Cheers
Regards,
Daniel C. Yenshaw
Wow! What an experience! Always wanted to go to Mongolia. Hopefully, in soonest future. If anyone is interested in tours in Central Asia, please welcome here https://travel-experts.kg/