Come in summer and you can track snow leopard in the Altai Mountains, unearth velociraptor bones from fossil-rich desert cliffs, live with nomadic eagle hunters and camel herders in their gers, take a hot-air balloon flight over the Buddhist stupas of Erdene Zuu, go land sailing in Khustai, and hike, raft and ride (on horses, camels, mountain bikes and Harley Davidsons) to your heart’s content, supported by luxury mobile tents and a crack team to look after you. We’ll try to ensure your adventures include a traditional Naadam festival, Mongolia’s answer to the Olympic Games, featuring wrestling, horse racing and archery–an amazing spectacle and absolutely worth including during your time here. 

Mongolian winters are famously chilly, but wrap up warm and you can travel down frozen rivers behind a dog team, track wolves and go skiing with shamanic Tsaatan reindeer herders in the remote Darhad Valley. Whatever time of year you explore, and wherever you go, be warned: Mongolia’s epic landscapes and crazy wonderful people will very likely become an addiction. And it never takes much to escape the tourist hordes, as they were never there to begin with.