A field-based expedition through Mongolia’s fossil landscapes with expert interpretation, remote camps and scientific context.
In the Gobi, a ridge of red stone can hold the memory of a world that disappeared millions of years before the first human footprint.
The itinerary that follows is the structure. The expedition itself will be shaped by weather, people, wildlife, road conditions and the opportunities that appear along the way.
A field-based expedition through Mongolia’s fossil landscapes with expert interpretation, remote camps and scientific context.
Mongolia’s paleontology is best understood in the field. This itinerary connects museum collections and laboratory work with the sedimentary landscapes in which discoveries were made.
City hotel, ger camp and expedition tents
Families, schools, universities and specialist travelers
Airport welcome, hotel transfer and a detailed introduction to the route, field conduct and desert logistics.
Visit Gandan Monastery and the Chinggis Khaan National Museum before a specialist session on Mongolia’s geology, fossil record and major expeditions.
Fly south and continue overland to the Flaming Cliffs. Explore the site in late-afternoon light and discuss the work associated with Roy Chapman Andrews.
Travel across changing desert terrain to a remote field area. Establish camp and complete a geological and safety orientation.
Examine sedimentary formations, erosion patterns and the environmental conditions in which fossils are preserved.
Continue field interpretation with a paleontologist, focusing on dinosaur ecology, stratigraphy and responsible scientific practice.
Begin the return journey and visit a herding community living in an arid environment. Discuss livestock, water and adaptation to change.
Continue to a comfortable ger camp. The afternoon allows time for rest, showers and an optional lecture or image review.
Fly north and visit a paleontology laboratory to observe preparation, conservation and research methods.
Conclude the academic program, visit selected city sites and gather for a farewell dinner.
Private airport transfer.
Where you sleep is chosen for the route. Some nights are the best room for hundreds of kilometres; some are a tent beneath a sky with nothing else under it, which is its own kind of luxury.
Where this journey stays somewhere we book by name, here it is. The nights not listed here are ger camps, herder households or our own tents, described below.
Ulaanbaatar
The city's largest hotel, a short walk from Sükhbaatar Square.
Ulaanbaatar
One hundred metres from Sükhbaatar Square — the closest good hotel to the centre.
South Gobi
Sixty-two kilometres out of Dalanzadgad, the Gurvansaikhan range on the skyline.
Permanent seasonal camps with beds, bedding and a wood or dung stove. Facilities vary by region: the better camps have private shower blocks and reliable hot water, remote ones have neither. We will tell you which is which before you book.
Staying in a working household, sharing the family ger or a guest ger beside it. Simple, warm, and the reason most travellers remember a journey. Washing is basic and the space is shared.
Our own mobile camp where no fixed accommodation exists. Proper sleeping mats, a mess tent, a cook and a toilet tent. Carried in and carried out, leaving nothing.
In Ulaanbaatar and provincial centres. City nights are booked at the standard you ask for, and we will tell you what to expect where a provincial hotel is a simpler place.
Every journey is priced for your dates, party size and choice of accommodation, and confirmed in writing in your proposal. This is a private journey, so the vehicle, driver, guide and camp staff are the same whether two of you travel or six, and the per-person price falls as your party grows.
The price also moves with season, domestic airfares and any specialist staff your route calls for. Single travellers and anyone wanting sole occupancy should ask about the supplement.
Confirmed in writing at proposal stage. Anything not listed here is not assumed to be included. Booking terms →
Warm days and cold nights, with the year’s heaviest rain falling as short afternoon storms in July. Pack for a wide daily range rather than for one temperature, and for sun on open steppe.
Hire the bulky, expensive items rather than buying them for one trip; bring your own base layers. Equipment hire → · What the month is like →
A private journey can usually be moved a grade in either direction by adjusting pace and distance. How we grade a journey → · Choosing your month →
Adjust the pace, accommodation, specialist access and regional extensions around your interests.
Plan a private itineraryThe experiences that give the route its character.
A defining moment of the expedition.
A defining moment of the expedition.
A defining moment of the expedition.