Savings Tips

With these strategies, you can get the most out of your budget:

• Share Jeep tours: By far the most important tip. A Jeep with a driver and guide costs the same for 1 or 4 people. With four people, you pay about 500–600€ for a 10-day Gobi tour instead of 1,500€.
• Eat cheaply in UB: Mongolian canteens (Guanz) serve a plate of Tsuivan or Buuz for 3,000–5,000 MNT (under 1.50€). Western restaurants cost three times as much.
• Stay with nomads instead of in a Ger camp: An overnight stay in a nomad family's Ger (20,000–30,000 MNT / 5–8€ per person, with food) is cheaper and a hundred times more authentic than a Ger camp (50,000–150,000 MNT). Your guide will arrange this.
• Local tour providers: Booking on-site in UB is cheaper than through Western agencies. Sunpath Mongolia, Happy Camel, and Gobi Tour offer fair prices and good reviews.
• Book domestic flights early: The flight UB → Dalanzadgad (Gobi) costs about 100€ if booked early and saves you 2 hard travel days. Last minute: 200€+.
• Negotiate at the Narantuul Market: Ulaanbaatar's huge market (formerly "Black Market") has everything — from cashmere to souvenirs. Prices are negotiable, start at 50% of the initial offer.
• Save on water: Buy water bottles in large 5-liter canisters in UB instead of individual 0.5l bottles. On tour, your guide will supply water — check this beforehand!