Mongolia Gobi Tour

What the six days buy

Danista Nomads Tour’s 6-day Gobi desert tour starts at 9:00 with a pickup at your Ulaanbaatar hotel. Day 1 stops at the Chinggis Khaan Statue and runs south to Baga Gazriin Chuluu, granite outcrops in Dundgovi province, with a night in a ger hostel that has a shower. Day 2 is the Yol valley, a deep, narrow gorge in the Gurvan Saikhan mountains, where you hike in to the ice; a horse ride there costs extra, and that night’s ger hostel has no shower. Day 3 is Khongoryn Els, the high sand dunes, with a camel ride of about two hours and a shower again at night.

Day 4 is Bayanzag, the red sandstone cliffs known as the Flaming Cliffs, at the edge of the Gobi Gurvan Saikhan National Park and known for the dinosaur fossils found there. Day 5 is the White Stupa, Tsagaan Suvarga, an eroded cliff of coloured layers in Dundgovi province, and a night with a shower. Day 6 is the long drive back to Ulaanbaatar by paved road.

The price covers the hotel pickup and drop-off, the driver, the 4WD and its fuel, an English-speaking guide who also cooks, the meals set out for each day, 1.5 litres of water a day, entrance fees for the national parks and museums, camping equipment and the camel ride. You pay for beer, snacks and souvenirs. The guide languages offered are English, Korean, Japanese, French and Chinese, and the tour is not for babies under one.

Option prices for the one option, 6 days (GetYourGuide checked November 2026). Treat them as the shape of the market, not a quote.

A solo traveller pays close to the price of two, so the tour suits a couple or two friends best. If you are travelling alone, the 3-day Mini Gobi trips above cost less by the day, but they do not reach the South Gobi.

Check dates for the 6-day tour

South Gobi or Mini Gobi

Most of the Gobi tours sold from Ulaanbaatar never go near the South Gobi. They drive 282 km west to Elsen Tasarkhai, a strip of sand dunes between grassland and granite hills known as the Mini Gobi or the Semi-Gobi, and often on another 79 km to Kharkhorin, the old capital. Those trips take two or three days and cost less.

The South Gobi is a different trip. The dunes at Khongoryn Els, the canyon at Yolyn Am and the cliffs at Bayanzag sit in the Gurvan Saikhan area of the south. The tours that drive there take six days; GobiGoTour’s 4-day tour saves two by putting you on the bus to Dalanzadgad, the provincial town, and its first date on the calendar in November 2026 was in May 2027. If you want the big dunes, the canyon and the dinosaur cliffs, it is the South Gobi trip. If you want a camel, a dune and a ger night and have three days, the Mini Gobi gives you those. Mini Gobi or the real Gobi sets the two side by side, and Kharkhorin and Elsen Tasarkhai covers the central loop.

The driving

Expect long days in the car. A two-star review of the 6-day tour on 27 September 2026 counted three drivers, one guide and 15 travellers in the group, six hours or more of driving a day, and less than two hours at each of the three main sights. Several five-star reviews make the same point more kindly: “a lot of time on the road but it’s worth it” (15 October 2026).

Outside the capital only about 10% of Mongolia’s roads are tarmacked, and signposting is minimal (UK government travel advice, checked November 2026). The same advice notes reports of fuel shortages, aviation fuel included, which may affect flights, road travel and access to some remote areas. That is one more reason to go with a driver who knows the tracks rather than hire a car yourself.

Where you sleep

Every night on the 6-day tour is in a ger, the round felt tent of Mongolia, in a ger hostel or camp. Nights 1, 3 and 5 have a shower; night 2, in the Yol valley, does not. A 2024 review describes the toilets and showers as somewhere on the site rather than in the ger, often with little more than a trickle of water. Women and men slept apart in a June 2026 group, which one solo traveller found important. Bring a small bag for the nights and leave room for warm layers: what to pack for the Gobi has the list.

When to go, and when to book

The 6-day tour’s calendar takes dates all year, but the travellers come in the warm months: 63 of its 66 reviews were posted between June and October, and GobiGoTour’s 4-day bus tour to the South Gobi showed no date before 10 May 2027 on its calendar in November 2026. Mongolia’s weather ranges from +35°C in summer to -40°C in winter and at night, and the most extreme conditions are in and around the Gobi Desert (UK government travel advice, checked November 2026).

For a June to September trip, book the tour when you book your flights rather than after you land, so the six days and the flights fit together. Every GetYourGuide tour on this site can be cancelled free up to 24 hours before, so an early booking costs nothing if your plans move. When to book a Gobi tour goes through the season.

Is the Gobi desert tour for you?

Take the six days if the Gobi itself is the reason for your trip, you are two or more, and you can spend most of each day in a car for the sake of a few hours at each place. Skip it if you have less than a week in Mongolia, if a bumpy drive is hard on your back, or if you are alone and want to keep the cost down: a 3-day trip to the Mini Gobi and Kharkhorin gives you dunes, a camel and the old capital for a fraction of the price. A 3-day or 6-day Gobi tour weighs the two, and the Gobi tour price puts every tour on one ladder.