Mid-Range Travel Guide: Mongolia
The sweet spot of travel - comfortable accommodations, varied dining, and quality experiences without breaking the bank
Daily Budget: ₮180,000-500,000 ($52-145) per day
Complete breakdown of costs for mid-range travel in Mongolia
Accommodation
₮85,000-210,000 ($25-61) per night
Private rooms in comfortable mid-range hotels and well-run guesthouses in Ulaanbaatar, or tourist ger camps in the countryside with proper beds, hot showers, and felt walls that keep the cool steppe night at bay. Most countryside camps bundle meals into their nightly rate. Bring flip-flops. Showers are communal.
Browse mid-range accommodation →Food & Dining
₮35,000-95,000 ($10-28) per day
A mix of sit-down local restaurants, Korean and Chinese establishments that have become fixtures on Ulaanbaatar's dining scene, and the occasional splurge at a tourist-facing spot. In the countryside, ger camp set meals typically feature roast mutton and fresh fermented dairy products. Try airag. Sip slowly.
Transportation
₮25,000-75,000 ($7-22) per day
Rideshares and taxis for city travel in Ulaanbaatar, plus organized group jeep tours into the Gobi Desert or central steppe. The jeep journeys across Mongolia's interior are rough, hours-long affairs. But they are simply the way the country gets traveled. Expect delays. Bring snacks.
Activities
₮35,000-120,000 ($10-35) per day
Organized day tours and multi-day excursions with local guides, entry to cultural sites and museums, horseback riding across open grassland, and camel rides through the Gobi where the silence is absolute and the sand gleams a deep amber in afternoon light. Bring sunscreen. Silence is loud.
Currency: ₮ Mongolian Tugrik (MNT)
Money-Saving Tips
Eating at local guanz canteens rather than tourist-facing restaurants typically saves 50-70% on food costs, and the mutton-heavy, smoky menu at a neighborhood guanz is a more honest window into daily Mongolian life than anything on a laminated tourist menu. Point and eat. No English needed.
Joining a group jeep tour for countryside travel rather than chartering a private vehicle can reduce per-person transport costs by 70-80%, as the driver and fuel expenses split across several travelers instead of falling on one. Book early. Seats fill fast.
Traveling in the shoulder seasons of late May, June, or September tends to bring noticeably lower ger camp rates, as operators compete harder for bookings outside the compressed July-August peak window. Pack layers. Weather shifts fast.
Buying food at Ulaanbaatar's covered indoor markets rather than tourist-area supermarkets cuts grocery and snack costs by 30-50% while giving a more accurate picture of what things cost for the people who live there. Bargain politely. Smile first.
Booking multi-day countryside packages rather than stringing together single-day trips typically works out cheaper per day, since guide and driver fees are the dominant cost and they spread more favorably across longer itineraries. Negotiate politely. Cash talks.
Skipping travel during Naadam festival week in mid-July, unless the festival itself is the reason for the trip, avoids the accommodation and flight spikes that regularly run 40-60% above standard rates during that narrow window. Book early. Prices jump fast.
Arriving with enough local currency for the first few days of countryside travel, sourced from Ulaanbaatar ATMs before departure, avoids the unfavorable exchange rates and limited cash access that catch travelers off guard once they leave the capital. Withdraw big. Fees are flat.
Common Budget Mistakes to Avoid
Underestimating how transportation-driven Mongolia is. The country is enormous and infrastructure is minimal. Travelers who budget only for city-level daily costs and then discover that a Gobi Desert round-trip requires a multi-day private jeep hire can exhaust a week of spending in a single booking. Plan ahead. Count kilometers.
Hiring a private guide and vehicle when a small-group tour would cover the same ground and itinerary. Private hire across the Mongolian steppe can run three to four times more per person than a well-organized group tour without delivering a meaningfully different experience. Ask questions. Compare prices.
Arriving without sufficient cash and assuming card payments will fill the gap outside Ulaanbaatar. ATMs become rare and unreliable the moment you leave the capital, and local guesthouses, markets, and nomadic family stays all operate on cash. Running short in a remote aimag center leaves very few options. Bring extra. Hide it well.