Experience Mongolia like never before with expertly curated tours from a family-owned company dedicated to culture, nature, and local communities.
In winter, northern Mongolia turns silent and white, and the Tsaatan reindeer herders move their teepees into the sheltered taiga forest. This 9-day private Tsaatan winter tour flies you to Murun, takes you onto the ice of frozen Lake Khuvsgul, and drives you deep into the forest to stay a night with a reindeer herding family. You travel with an English-speaking guide and a driver in a warm 4×4, sleep in ger camps and a herder’s teepee, and see a side of Mongolia few travelers ever reach. Visiting in summer instead? See our Tsaatan reindeer tour or read about the Tsaatan reindeer herders.
Welcome to Mongolia. Your driver meets you at the airport with a name sign and takes you to your hotel. Spend the rest of the day resting after your flight, or take a short walk around the city center. Your guide will brief you on the trip ahead and check that your winter clothing is ready for the north.
Activities: Airport pickup, trip briefing
Overnight: Ulaanbaatar hotel (not included in the price)
Take the one-hour morning flight north to Murun, where the steppe meets the first snowy hills. Your guide and driver meet you at the airport, and the drive to Lake Khuvsgul takes about two hours through quiet white valleys. By the afternoon you reach the lakeshore, where the “Blue Pearl” lies frozen under the winter sky. Watch the sunset over the ice from your camp.
Flight: about 1 h (UB–Murun)
Drive: about 2 h
Activities: Lakeshore walk, sunset over the ice
Overnight: Lakeside ger camp
Meals: Lunch, Dinner
If the ice is thick enough to be safe, you drive out onto frozen Lake Khuvsgul with your driver and step out to stand and walk on the ice. The surface is clear enough in places to see deep into the lake below. After lunch, head west through snowy mountain passes to Ulaan-Uul, a small herding village on the edge of the northern taiga.
Drive: about 3–4 h
Activities: Walking on the frozen lake (if the ice is safe)
Overnight: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Explore the Ar Bosgot valley, where winter turns the river into a canyon of frozen waterfalls and blue ice. Walk among the ice formations with your guide, have lunch in the valley, and enjoy the stillness of the taiga in deep winter. Return to camp for a warm dinner and a quiet night before the trip to the herders.
Activities: Exploring the Ar Bosgot ice canyon
Overnight: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
After breakfast, your driver takes you by 4×4 deep into the snowy forest, where the Tsaatan families spend the winter with their reindeer. Arrive at a herder’s camp, share hot milk tea in their teepee, and learn how they care for the reindeer through the coldest months. Tonight you sleep in a teepee beside the family, warmed by a wood stove.
Drive: about 2–3 h by 4×4
Activities: Time with a reindeer herding family
Overnight: Herder’s teepee
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Start the morning with a reindeer ride through the snowy forest with your hosts. After a farewell lunch with the family, drive about three to four hours to Jargalant Gol, a river valley known for its winter scenery and frost-covered larch trees. Warm up and rest at your camp for the evening.
Drive: about 3–4 h
Activities: Reindeer ride
Overnight: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
A long, scenic day on the road back south to Murun, with stops for photos of the snowy valleys and herders moving their animals between winter shelters. Have lunch along the way and arrive in Murun in the late afternoon. Enjoy a last countryside dinner with your guide and driver.
Drive: about 4–5 h
Overnight: Hotel in Murun
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
After breakfast, fly one hour back to Ulaanbaatar. Your driver meets you at the airport and takes you to your hotel. Spend the afternoon shopping for cashmere or visiting the city’s museums.
Flight: about 1 h (Murun–UB)
Overnight: Ulaanbaatar hotel (not included in the price)
Meals: Breakfast
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.
