Home › Destinations › Ulaanbaatar
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - Things to Do in Ulaanbaatar

Things to Do in Ulaanbaatar

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - Complete Travel Guide

Ulaanbaatar greets you with diesel and coal smoke braided into cumin-laced lamb steam rising from street stalls. Faded pastel Soviet blocks shoulder glass towers while men in deels pass teens in Supreme hoodies. Prius horns duel with horse hooves on the fringe roads, the racket bouncing off brown hills that cup this swaggering capital. Winter dawn tastes metallic. Salty milk tea and frybread inside a ger café fix that fast. Watch leopard-print deel coats shuffle past. Summer nights flip the script: air softens, accordion licks drift across Sukhbaatar Square, grilled mutton ribs call to craft-beer bars in old print shops. Cashmere outlets squeeze between karaoke joints. You sip fermented mare's milk beside gold-toothed herders who just cashed in goats. Messy, loud, stitched from two eras, Ulaanbaatar keeps yanking people back.

Top Things to Do in Ulaanbaatar

Winter Ice Festival on Tuul River

Pack two pairs of socks; you'll need them when the river turns into a neon-lit frozen sculpture city. Wolf-fur hats glide by, carving ice slides for kids. Vendors ladle hot horse-milk vodka that steams at minus 25.

Booking Tip: Arrive after 7 p.m.; entry is free and the ice firm again. Bring a thermos. The noodle stall runs out of cups fast.

Narantuul Black Market Sunday

You'll hear the market first: three languages shouting prices, boots sucking thawing mud, Soviet pins clacking on tarps. Raw sheepskin and diesel hang thick. You might score a 1970s Mongolian army greatcoat for the price of a hostel night.

Booking Tip: Say 'Black Market' and taxi drivers triple the fare. Ask for 'Narantuul' and settle before you climb in. Show up before 10 a.m.; good souvenirs are still in sacks.
Bookable experience Full Day Tour of Ulaanbaatar With Museum, Black-market Cashmere Factory Store From $62
Check Availability

Choijin Lama Temple Museum

Inside the 1908 shrine juniper incense sticks to carved beams. Paper-thin silk thangkas rustle whenever the door cracks. Winter sun slants through green tiles and lights gold-leaf wrathful masks that track your stride.

Booking Tip: Pay the camera fee only if you shoot with a real rig. Phone snaps are ignored. The booth shutters at 1 p.m.; plan around it.

Sky Resort Night Skiing

Twenty minutes out, floodlights paint Bogd Khan slopes purple-white while techno leaks from the rental hut. Snow squeaks under edge. On clear nights the city's orange glow looks like a second piste below.

Booking Tip: Wednesday after 8 p.m. is half-price. Bring goggles. Rentals are scratched. The last microbus leaves at 10 sharp.

Moonlight Ger District Walk

Follow coal-stove smoke uphill past fences of shipping pallets. Dogs bark in stereo, kids dart between gers, a morin khuur twangs through tinny radio. Moonrise silvers the hills. Generators cut and silence drops like a lid.

Booking Tip: Hire a local guide. Guesthouses arrange one for the cost of two beers. Wear dark colors. Bright jackets wake the guard dogs.

Getting There

Most land at Chinggis Khaan International, 50 km south. MIAT and Korean Air fly direct from Seoul, Beijing, Berlin, Istanbul; elsewhere you connect through those hubs. The new airport shuttle (1.5 hrs) costs less than a downtown sandwich and drops at Dragon Center. Taxis quote in dollars yet bargain if you walk to the parking exit. The Trans-Mongolian from Moscow or Beijing pulls into UB Station downtown. The carriage smells of engine oil and cardamom from samovars, and traders share your compartment with Chinese blankets.

Getting Around

UB runs UBER and Bolt, fine until data jams at rush hour. Flag taxis run about half app price if you speak the address. Have it written in Cyrillic. Buses cost pocket change but signs stay Cyrillic-only; routes 11 and 27 hit most sights. May to October brings cheap e-bikes along Peace Avenue, scan, ride, drop inside the green zone. Ger districts past the tracks use shared minivans that leave when full. Listen for the guy yelling the destination out the window.

Where to Stay

Sukhbaatar District: grid of cafés and cashmere shops, surprisingly quiet side streets a block off the main drag

Bayangol: Soviet-era hotels retro-fitted with fast Wi-Fi, close to the railway and black-market money changers

Zaisan: hillside apartments with kettle views over the smog layer, short taxi to hiking trails

University District: cheap guesthouses in walk-ups, noodle bars open until 3 a.m., lots of English-speaking students

Peace Avenue Strip: mid-range business hotels above neon pharmacies, handy for airport buses

Outskirts ger camps: stay in a real felt tent 15 minutes from downtown, starry skies minus the coal haze

View Full Accommodation Guide →

Food & Dining

Cumin and mutton fat hit you first on Broadway Street. Food trucks exhale the scent. Yak-butter tea steams three floors above Seoul Street. The Russian dumpling house behind the State Department Store reeks of dill and vinegar. Downtown keeps the good restaurants close. Modern Nomads serves airag-glazed ribs at mid-range prices. Cross the river to the old Russian quarter for beet soup and dill-heavy salads that cost less than a beer. The Dragon Center canteen never closes. Fatty buuz wait after the clubs die. Locals queue at dusk outside the Circus. Khuushuur fry so fast the pastry blisters in seconds. Worth the wait.

When to Visit

July roars in with Naadam, 25 °C sun, and cavalry sweat. Hotels triple their rates. Steppe grass turns yellow early. September wins. Clear sky, cool nights, golden larch forests an hour away. Some countryside guesthouses close as the tourist season fades. January drops to minus-30. Airfares crater. The city empties. Ice festivals shine without crowds. Wear two scarves. May drags Gobi dust into town. Skies go apocalyptic orange. Contact lens wearers curse the wind.

Insider Tips

Head to the State Department Store basement. Glass booths beat bank rates. No passport needed. Cash changed in minutes.
Pack a bandanna. Winter smog claws the throat. Summer dust coats your teeth. Simple fix.
A stranger draws you to a private karaoke room near Seoul Street. Smile. Decline. Watered vodka and a padded bill follow. Skip this.

Explore Activities in Ulaanbaatar

Didn't see anything interesting yet?

Browse Viator's full catalog of tours, day trips, food experiences, and private guides in Ulaanbaatar.

See All Ulaanbaatar Tours on Viator

Continue Planning Your Trip

Itineraries

Sample trip routes and plans for Ulaanbaatar

Getting Around

Transport options and tips for Ulaanbaatar

Where to Stay

Accommodation guide for Ulaanbaatar

Budget Guide

Trip costs and money tips for Ulaanbaatar