The calendar

When to come.
Honestly, month by month.

Mongolia has four seasons and about six climates. Some months are perfect and some we tell people to wait for. Here is the whole year as we see it from Ulaanbaatar: the weather, what is happening on the steppe, the festivals, and which journey fits.

Ask us about your dates See the six journeys

Day Night, Ulaanbaatar averages. The Gobi runs warmer by day, the Altai and the taiga colder at night.

Winter

January

-15° by day, -27° at night. 8.5 hours of light.

For the brave

The coldest capital on earth, and the clearest sky of the year.

Deep winter, dry and windless in the valleys. Eagle hunters at home in Bayan-Ulgii, hunting fox in the snow. Herders in winter camp, the countryside almost silent. Tsagaan Sar falls in late January some years.

Fits The Altai Mountains and Eagle Hunters.

Pack Expedition down jacket, insulated boots, a face cover for the wind. We lend the outer layers.

Winter

February

-12° by day, -25° at night. 9.5 hours of light.

For the brave

Tsagaan Sar, the lunar new year, at a family table.

The White Month: three days of visiting, greetings and a great deal of buuz. Eagle hunters still working the snow. Ice on Khuvsgul thick enough to drive on. First long light returns at the end of the month.

Fits The Altai Mountains and Eagle Hunters. Festival Tsagaan Sar, the White Month.

Pack Same as January. You will be indoors and well fed more than you expect.

Winter

March

-3° by day, -15° at night. 11.5 hours of light.

Good, and cold

Ice Festival on Khuvsgul, a thousand camels in the Gobi.

Ice Festival at Khatgal in the first week. Thousand Camel Festival in the southern Gobi, early March. Spring wind begins on the steppe. Herders watching for the first calves.

Fits The Gobi Desert, The Reindeer People and Khuvsgul Lake. Festival Ice Festival, Khuvsgul, Thousand Camel Festival, Gobi.

Pack Winter kit for the lake, a windproof shell for the Gobi.

Spring

April

8° by day, -5° at night. 13.5 hours of light.

Wait

Thaw and dust. The month we tell people to wait.

Wind and dust storms across the steppe. Calving and lambing, herders busy and tired. Roads soft with meltwater. Big Sky Lodge open and quiet.

Fits The Great Journey.

Pack A buff for the dust, layers for a 20 degree swing.

Spring

May

16° by day, 3° at night. 15 hours of light.

Very good

The steppe turns green and the Gobi is at its best.

First green on the steppe, migration to spring pasture. Gobi at its clearest, cool days and cold nights. Khuvsgul ice breaks in mid May. Larch buds in the north, nobody else on the road.

Fits The Gobi Desert, The Great Journey.

Pack Fleece and a shell; the Gobi still drops near freezing at night.

Summer

June

22° by day, 9° at night. 16 hours of light.

The best, with September

The greenest month, the longest light, our first departure.

Discover Mongolia departs 12 June. Taiga camps reachable from mid June, reindeer with calves. Wildflowers on the Khangai, rivers high. Long twilight until eleven at night.

Fits The Reindeer People and Khuvsgul Lake, The Great Journey, The Gobi Desert, Discover Mongolia, our joinable departure.

Pack Light layers, a rain shell, sun cream. Mosquitoes near water in the north.

Summer

July

24° by day, 12° at night. 15.5 hours of light.

Naadam

Naadam. The whole country in its best deel.

Naadam, 11 to 13 July, then countryside naadams all month. Yak Festival in the Khangai in late July. Warm days, afternoon showers, the busiest weeks of the year. Airag season begins.

Fits The Naadam Festival, The Great Journey. Festival Naadam, the Three Games, Yak Festival, Khangai.

Pack Sun hat, light layers, something for a sudden shower.

Summer

August

22° by day, 10° at night. 14.5 hours of light.

Very good

Warm Gobi nights, the taimen season opens, our second departure.

Discover Mongolia departs 14 August. Taimen fishing opens on the northern rivers. Herders begin the move to autumn pasture. Larches show the first gold at month end.

Fits Taimen Fishing, The Gobi Desert, The Great Journey, Discover Mongolia, our joinable departure.

Pack Layers again; nights cool fast after mid month.

Autumn

September

16° by day, 2° at night. 12.5 hours of light.

The best

Golden larch, clear skies, the best fishing. Our favourite.

Larch forests gold from the north down. Taimen at their best before winter. Autumn migration, herds on the move. Frost on the tent in the morning, hot sun by noon.

Fits Taimen Fishing, The Gobi Desert, The Great Journey, The Reindeer People and Khuvsgul Lake.

Pack Warm jacket for the mornings, T-shirt by noon.

Autumn

October

7° by day, -5° at night. 10.5 hours of light.

Very good

Golden Eagle Festival in the Altai. Snow on the peaks.

Golden Eagle Festival, first weekend of October, Ulgii. Eagles begin to hunt as the fox coats thicken. First snow on the high passes. Gobi still open until mid month.

Fits The Altai Mountains and Eagle Hunters, The Gobi Desert. Festival Golden Eagle Festival, Altai.

Pack Winter jacket for the festival plain, it is windy. We lend the rest.

Winter

November

-5° by day, -16° at night. 9 hours of light.

Quiet

The quiet month. Silence and the first ice.

Camps closed, guides repainting fences. Rivers freezing, first ice on Khuvsgul. Eagle hunting season in full swing in the west. Ulaanbaatar settles in for winter.

Fits The Altai Mountains and Eagle Hunters.

Pack Full winter kit.

Winter

December

-13° by day, -24° at night. 8 hours of light.

For the brave

Deep winter. For those who like it.

Clear, dry, very cold. Ice roads and ice fishing in the north. Winter camps, horses in thick coats. New Year in the city, fireworks over the frozen river.

Fits The Altai Mountains and Eagle Hunters.

Pack Full winter kit, and a good book for the long evenings.

Our verdict

If you can choose, choose September.

Gold larch, clear skies, cool nights, the fish feeding and the crowds gone. June is a close second for green and light, and July if Naadam is the point. May and October are the quiet bargains: the Gobi in May and the eagles in October. April and November are the months we would rather you skipped. Winter is for a particular kind of guest, and we love that guest.

Ask us about your dates Join a departure

1SeptemberLarch gold, taimen, migration, empty roads

2JuneGreenest steppe, longest light, taiga opens

3JulyNaadam, warm, the busiest and the brightest

4AugustWarm Gobi nights, fishing opens, second departure

5May and OctoberShoulder months with the Gobi and the eagles to themselves

Dates the country stops for