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Mongolia travel guide

Best time to visit from the UK, weather, festivals, flights from London and FCDO travel advice.

Gobi Desert
Gobi Desert. Photo: unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
9hflight from London
Tögrögcurrency
No visafor UK passports
Type C, Eplugs

Endless steppe, nomad camps and the Gobi's singing dunes

Don't miss

  1. Gobi Desert
  2. Naadam Festival
  3. Ger camps
Good forAdventureDesertsCulture

Best time to visit Mongolia from the UK

Best value: May, Sep. Jun–Aug. Busiest and priciest: Jun–Aug.

-21 C-21°J-17.9 C-18°F-8.9 C-9°M0.5 C0°A7.3 C7°M14.8 C15°J17.3 C17°J14.7 C15°A7.8 C8°S-1.3 C-1°O-11.4 C-11°N-19 C-19°D
Best valueBusy and pricierQuietAverage temperature in Ulaanbaatar, °C, 2001–2025 (NASA POWER).

Each bar is the average temperature in Ulaanbaatar for that month, and its colour shows the season for visitors: best value (good weather, fewer crowds and lower prices), busiest and priciest, or quiet (off-peak, sometimes because the weather is poorer).

  • Our pick: May and SeptemberThe warmest of the best-value months (7–8°C), with fewer crowds than peak season.
  • Peak season: Jun–AugUsually 15–17°C. The busiest time, so book flights and rooms early and expect higher prices.
  • Quiet season: Oct–AprAround -21–0°C. The cheapest and least crowded time, but cold, so pack layers.
  • Warmest: July (17°C) · coolest: January (-21°C)A 38°C swing between the warmest and coolest months.
Temperatures as a table
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
-21-17.9-8.90.57.314.817.314.77.8-1.3-11.4-19

Festivals and events

  • Naadam Jul · Ulaanbaatar
  • Golden Eagle Festival Oct · Ölgii
  • Tsagaan Sar Jan–Feb · Nationwide

Festival dates move from year to year: check before you book.

Getting there from the UK

Flight time
About 9h
Distance
6,990 km
Main airport
UBN

Flight times are straight-line estimates for a direct flight from Heathrow; journeys with a change take longer.

Add Mongolia to your bucket list Search flights to UBN

Practical info and travel guidance

TögrögCapital: Ulaanbaatar
Type C, E · 230VBring a UK adapter
Drive on the rightOpposite to the UK
102
EmergencyAmbulance 103
Drink bottledOr treated water
  • VisaNo visa neededUp to 30 days (until 31 Dec 2026)
  • HealthcareNo free healthcareYou pay for treatment, so travel insurance with medical cover is essential.
  • LGBT+ travellersLegal, but attitudes can be conservativePublic affection may draw attention.
  • Women travellersNo specific FCDO warningTake the usual precautions.

For British passport holders, summarised from the FCDO's advice for Mongolia, checked October 2026. FCDO page last updated 7 August 2026. Rules change: read the official FCDO travel advice for Mongolia before you book and again before you go.

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