Routes
Naadam Festival Tour
Mongolia's national festival, built on the three games of wrestling, horse racing and archery, and held from 11 to 13 July across the country; UNESCO inscribed it on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010. Tour versions pair the festival days in Ulaanbaatar or at a provincial Naadam with three or four days of countryside so the trip is not purely spectating. The horse races are held out of town on open steppe, not in the stadium, so itineraries usually split the days. Because dates are fixed, this is the one route where booking early genuinely matters.
- Typical length
- 6–16 days (Read more: 7)
- Difficulty
- easy
- Driving per day
- 2-5 hours on the countryside days; short transfers on festival days, plus a drive to the horse-racing ground
- Total distance
- Roughly 900-1,200 km on a 7-day version that pairs the festival with Kharkhorin and Khustai
- Best months
- Jul
- Jan: not a best month
- Feb: not a best month
- Mar: not a best month
- Apr: not a best month
- May: not a best month
- Jun: not a best month
- Jul: a best month
- Aug: not a best month
- Sep: not a best month
- Oct: not a best month
- Nov: not a best month
- Dec: not a best month
Stops: Ulaanbaatar → Elsen Tasarkhai (Mongol Els) → Kharkhorin and Erdene Zuu Monastery → Hustai National Park (Khustain Nuruu)
Day by day
- Day 1
Arrive Ulaanbaatar
Airport transfer and welcome dinner. Hotel.
- Day 2
West to Kharkhorin
Drive with a stop at the Elsen Tasarkhai dunes and camel riding. Ger camp.
- Day 3
Erdene Zuu and Karakorum
The walled monastery and the Karakorum Museum on the site of the imperial capital. Ger camp.
- Day 4
Khustai National Park
Horse riding and a search for the reintroduced Takhi. Ger camp.
- Day 5
Naadam horse racing
Watch the cross-country horse races, which are run on open steppe rather than a track, then return to Ulaanbaatar for a cultural performance. Hotel.
- Day 6
Opening ceremony, archery and anklebone shooting
Early start for the archery and anklebone-shooting grounds beside the central stadium, then the opening ceremony and wrestling. Hotel.
- Day 7
Departure
Airport transfer.
Price bands
budget join-in
250-264 USD
Prices as published for 2026-2027
Group size assumed: 8-12 on a group departure
Includes: Selena Travel's 7-day Naadam Festival Tour 2027 is US$1,850 pp: guide and driver, all listed meals, entrance fees, private AC vehicle, 1 hour each of camel and horse riding, Naadam festival tickets, 3 hotel and 3 ger nights, bottled water. Single supplement US$420. Its 2026 Grand Naadam version is US$1,750 for 7 days.
standard private
237-269 USD
Prices as published for 2026
Group size assumed: small private group combining Naadam with the Gobi or a longer circuit
Includes: Discover Mongolia's 8-day Naadam and Gobi tour is from US$1,896 pp and its 13-day Beauty of Mongolia with a local Naadam from US$2,178 pp, on the same inclusion pattern.
premium
269 USD
Prices as published for 2027
Group size assumed: 8-12 on the 10-day Naadam-plus-Gobi combination
Includes: Selena Travel's 10-day Gobi Desert and Grand Naadam Festival tour 2027 is US$2,690 pp.
Accommodation
Three nights in a 4-star Ulaanbaatar hotel and three in tourist ger camps with shared Western-style facilities on the standard 7-day shape. Ulaanbaatar hotel inventory is the binding constraint in the Naadam week.
Vehicle
Air-conditioned vehicle with a driver; no domestic flights needed for the national Naadam. Provincial Naadam variants may need a flight or a long drive. Traffic in Ulaanbaatar during the festival is the real scheduling risk, not road quality.
Not for
Ask before you book
- Are Naadam stadium tickets included, and for which sessions — opening ceremony, wrestling, archery?
- Is this the national Naadam on 11-13 July or a provincial one on different dates?
- Does the itinerary include the horse races, which are outside the city?
- Is the Ulaanbaatar hotel confirmed for the festival nights, and at what rating?
- What is the single supplement, given hotel scarcity that week?
- Are transfers timed around festival traffic?
Sources (5)
- Naadam, Mongolian traditional festival - UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage — Festival dates of 11-13 July, the three games, and the 2010 inscription on the Representative List
- Naadam Festival Tour 2027, 7 days - Selena Travel — Day-by-day structure including the separate horse-racing and archery days, 6-12 July 2027 dates, US$1,850 price, group size, inclusions and exclusions, accommodation mix
- Mongolia tours catalogue - Selena Travel — Grand Naadam 2026 at US$1,750 and the 10-day Naadam-plus-Gobi at US$2,690
- Mongolia tours - Discover Mongolia Travel — Naadam-and-Gobi 8-day and local-Naadam 13-day and 16-day price points
- Sacred Rivers Horse Trek - Selena Travel — Confirmation that operators suspend other departures during 5-15 July because of Naadam