Experience Mongolia like never before with expertly curated tours from a family-owned company dedicated to culture, nature, and local communities.
This Tsaatan self-drive tour is a guided 11-day 4×4 convoy through Northern and Central Mongolia. You drive your own Land Cruiser for about 2,470 km, nearly 1,000 of them off-road, across steppe, forest, mountain passes and river valleys. Our lead vehicle, English-speaking guide and support crew stay with you the whole way.
We pick you up at your hotel and drive you out of Ulaanbaatar. At the city edge you take the wheel and head north to Lake Khuvsgul, Mongolia’s “Blue Pearl”. From Tsagaan Nuur the cars stay behind, and you ride about 6 hours on horseback into the taiga to spend a night with a Tsaatan reindeer-herding family. It’s the highlight of this Khuvsgul 4×4 tour.
The return crosses the volcanic landscapes around Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur, the ancient capital Kharkhorin and the Elsen Tasarkhai dunes, with a short camel ride before the drive back. That makes it the most complete Khuvsgul self-drive route we offer.
New to off-road driving? No problem. Our guide and crew handle navigation, camps and meals, so you can focus on the drive. Read our guide to driving in Mongolia. Want to compare all our routes? See our 4×4 Mongolia self-drive tours.
Tour Highlights
🚙 11-day Tsaatan self-drive tour: drive your own Land Cruiser in a guided 4×4 convoy
🦌 A night with the Tsaatan reindeer herders in the taiga, reindeer riding included
🐎 About 10 hours on horseback through the taiga, where no car can go
🌊 Lake Khuvsgul, Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur, Khorgo Volcano and Kharkhorin
🐫 Short camel ride at the Elsen Tasarkhai sand dunes
🍽️ All meals on tour, fuel, entrance fees and hotel pickup and drop-off included
Arrive at Chinggis Khaan International Airport, where your guide will warmly welcome you. Transfer to your hotel in Ulaanbaatar and enjoy a relaxing evening. Depending on your arrival time, you may explore the city on your own or rest after your flight.
Overnight: Ulaanbaatar hotel (not included). Meals: none.
Your guide and driver team pick you up at your hotel and drive you out of Ulaanbaatar. At the city edge you take the wheel of your Land Cruiser, get a hands-on briefing, and fall in behind our lead vehicle. Tarmac gives way to wide green valleys, and the last 80 km are your first taste of real Mongolian dirt tracks. Stop for photos of nomad gers and grazing horses, then pitch camp under a huge open sky.
Drive: 338 km (80 km off-road), about 5-6 h.
Activities: vehicle briefing, first off-road section.
Overnight: Ger camp.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
Today is the off-roader’s day: 190 of the 220 km are dirt, gravel and forest tracks. You thread through larch forest and river valleys, with your guide on the radio calling the lines. Few travellers ever come this way.
Drive: 220 km (190 km off-road), about 4 h.
Activities: forest and valley tracks, picnic lunch in the wild.
Overnight: Ger camp.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
The longest driving day, with a big reward. After 80 km of tracks you join the road north to Lake Khuvsgul, Mongolia’s “Blue Pearl”, ringed by taiga and mountains. Arrive in time for a lakeshore walk and a sunset over the water.
Drive: 400 km (80 km off-road), about 5-6 h.
Activities: lakeshore walk, sunset at Khuvsgul.
Overnight: Ger camp by the lake.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
Head west into the wildest part of the trip: 200 km of mountain passes, river crossings and taiga-edge tracks. You reach Tsagaan Nuur, the last village before the reindeer herders’ land, and camp near the horses for tomorrow’s ride.
Drive: 270 km (200 km off-road), about 4-5 h.
Activities: mountain passes, meeting the local horsemen.
Overnight: Ger camp.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
The cars stay behind: the taiga is only reachable on horseback. Ride about 6 hours with local horsemen through forest, bogs and open meadows to the Tsaatan camp. Meet one of the world’s last reindeer-herding families, help with the herd, and try riding a reindeer. Sleep in their traditional teepee (urts).
Ride: about 6 hours on horseback.
Activities: horse trek, reindeer riding, time with the Tsaatan families.
Overnight: Tsaatan teepee.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
Say goodbye to the herders and ride about 4.5 hours back to Tsagaan Nuur. Back behind the wheel, cross 150 km of tracks before the road to Murun, where a hot shower and a real bed are waiting.
Ride: about 4.5 hours on horseback.
Drive: 270 km (150 km off-road), about 4-5 h.
Activities: horse ride out of the taiga, afternoon drive.
Overnight: hotel in Murun.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
A full off-road day across rolling hills and lava fields to Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur, the White Lake, below the extinct Khorgo Volcano. If you have energy left, hike up to the crater rim for a view over the lake.
Drive: 270 km, all off-road, about 4-5 h.
Activities: optional Khorgo Volcano hike, lakeshore camp.
Overnight: Ger camp.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
Easy paved driving through the green Arkhangai valleys to Kharkhorin, once the capital of Genghis Khan’s empire. Visit Erdene Zuu, Mongolia’s oldest Buddhist monastery, with its 108 white stupas.
Drive: 300 km, all paved, about 3-4 h.
Activities: Erdene Zuu Monastery.
Overnight: Ger camp.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
On the way back east, stop at Elsen Tasarkhai, a strip of golden sand dunes in the middle of the steppe, for a short camel ride. Then follow the lead vehicle on the last paved run east. Your self-drive ends at the edge of Ulaanbaatar, and our team drives you to your hotel.
Drive: 400 km, all paved, about 5-6 h.
Activities: short camel ride at Elsen Tasarkhai, hotel drop-off.
Overnight: Ulaanbaatar hotel (not included).
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch.
Enjoy a relaxed morning before your private transfer to Chinggis Khaan International Airport. Your guide and chauffeur will assist with check-in and luggage as you prepare for your journey home.
Thank you for choosing Nomad Trail Mongolia—we hope your adventure has been unforgettable, and we warmly look forward to welcoming you back.
