Step1
Leave the city early
Collection from your hotel around eight, ahead of the traffic east.
Day trip
Out of the city by breakfast.
The Chinggis Khaan equestrian statue and Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, in a single day that gets you onto real ground and back for dinner.
This is the day trip everyone does, and it is popular for a sound reason: within an hour of the city you are among granite outcrops, larch forest and grazing herds, and the change is abrupt enough to be startling.
The 40-metre stainless steel statue at Tsonjin Boldog, 54 km east of Ulaanbaatar, was raised in 2008 for the 800th anniversary of the empire’s founding. You enter through the horse and climb to a viewing platform in its head. It is unapologetically monumental, and the view across the steppe from the top explains more about the country than the statue does.
What you get.
Set out clearly, so you know exactly what is arranged.
Included
- Private vehicle, driver and English-speaking guide
- All park and site entrance fees
- Statue viewing platform ticket
- Bottled water
- Lunch at a ger camp in the park
- Optional short horse ride or walk in Terelj, arranged on the day
Not included
- Additional activities such as extended riding
- Personal purchases
- Gratuities
Pricing.
Quoted for your dates and party size, and confirmed in writing before anything is booked.
Includes the statue complex ticket, national park entry, lunch at a ger camp and all transport. Extended horse riding beyond a short ride is charged separately by the camp.
Prices are confirmed in writing before anything is booked. Payment by bank transfer or on invoice; we do not take cash in the vehicle.
How it works.
One long day, two very different places.
Step2
Tsonjin Boldog
The statue complex, the viewing platform in the horse’s head, and the museum beneath. An hour and a half is usually right.
Step3
Into Gorkhi-Terelj
Granite formations, the Turtle Rock, larch forest and the Tuul river valley. Time on foot, or a short ride if the weather and your interest both hold.
Step4
Lunch at a camp
A proper hot meal at a ger camp inside the park.
Step5
Back by evening
In Ulaanbaatar for dinner, usually between six and seven.
Worth knowing.
The details that decide whether this goes smoothly.
Which is manageable
Both sites are busy in July and August. Going early, and reversing the usual order when it helps, avoids most of the coaches.
A steep climb
The Aryabal meditation temple involves a long staircase. Worth it if your knees agree; easily skipped if not.
Different, not closed
Terelj in snow is quieter and arguably better. The roads are cleared and the ger camps that stay open are heated properly.
Stay the night
If the park makes you want to stop, an overnight at a ger camp is easy to add and turns a good day into a proper first taste of the countryside.
Questions.
Asked often enough to answer here.
Can we ride horses in Terelj?
Yes, short rides are easy to arrange on the day at the camps. For anything longer than an hour, tell us in advance so we can use horses and horsemen we know rather than whoever is standing at the gate.
Is the statue worth it, honestly?
It is a modern monument rather than a historic site, so it will not appeal to everyone. Almost nobody regrets the view from the platform, and the museum underneath is genuinely good.
Can this be combined with the airport?
Yes. If you have a late-evening flight, we can do the day and take you to the airport directly, with your luggage in the vehicle.
How rough are the roads?
Paved most of the way to both sites. The tracks inside the park are unsurfaced but undemanding.
One day, real country.
If you only have a spare day in Ulaanbaatar, spend it outside the city.
Request this serviceOr stay the night.
Terelj is close enough to do in a day and good enough that people wish they had not. Both of these are an hour and a half from the city, and we can add a night to the same trip.
Five-star
Gorkhi-Terelj National Park
Terelj Hotel
On the bank of the Terelj river with wooded mountains on every side, fifty kilometres from Ulaanbaatar. A member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, and the most comfortable room in the park.
Ger lodge
Gorkhi-Terelj National Park
Terelj Lodge
In the Ongot area of the park, about an hour and a half east of the city. Gers rather than hotel rooms, which is the point of coming out here.
Other services.
Most travellers book two or three together, which is simpler for everyone.