China and Mongolia in 2 weeks: Beijing to Ulaanbaatar by train

Four bases and one night on the train

This route joins two capitals by rail. You fly into Beijing, see the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall at Mutianyu, and take the weekly K23 train across the Gobi to Ulaanbaatar. In Mongolia a four-day private tour takes you to Kharkhorin and the Orkhon Valley, and a night in a ger camp in Gorkhi-Terelj National Park closes the trip. You fly home from Ulaanbaatar.

The 13 nights are split like this: four nights in Beijing, one night on the train, one night in Ulaanbaatar, three nights in ger camps on the tour (Kharkhorin, the Orkhon Waterfall and Khogno Khan), two more nights in Ulaanbaatar, one night at Terelj and a last night in Ulaanbaatar. That makes four nights at one Ulaanbaatar hotel, which keeps your main luggage while you are in the countryside.

In Beijing, sleep in Dongcheng, close to Wangfujing. The Peace Hotel Beijing (Novotel Beijing Peace), at No. 3 Jinyu Hutong, is about 300 metres from Wangfujing Street, and the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square are about 1.5 km away on foot. Beijing Railway Station, where the K23 starts, is a short taxi ride away. Our Beijing guide covers the other good areas.

In Ulaanbaatar, the Mika Hotel is a three-star hotel on Foreign Embassy’s Street, beside the Japanese, Czech and Turkish embassies and a walk from Sükhbaatar Square. Its Deluxe Double, with a queen bed, lists from USD 97 a night with a free breakfast, and luggage storage is free. The tour operator chooses the three ger camps; the hotel box names the camps that fit its plan. At Terelj, Terelj Lodge is a ger camp next to Turtle Rock, 55 km east of the city.

Prices and times checked 5 November 2026

Day by day

The plan is built around a Saturday departure of the K23, which is the running day China International Travel Service (CITS) lists from 1 June 2026. Confirm the day for your year before you book flights; if it changes, move the Beijing days so that the train still leaves on the morning of day 5. With the Saturday train, day 1 is a Tuesday and days 2 to 4 fall from Wednesday to Friday, so the Monday closures of the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven do not touch the plan.

• Day 1 (Tuesday): arrive in Beijing. Land at Beijing Capital (PEK), take the Capital Airport Express to Dongzhimen for CNY 25, and change to the metro or a taxi to the Peace Hotel. Night 1 in Beijing.
• Day 2: Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Enter the square with your reservation and walk north to the Meridian Gate for a morning session in the palace; add the Treasure and Clocks galleries if you have time. Peking duck for dinner near Qianmen. Night 2.
• Day 3: the Great Wall at Mutianyu. Take the official tourist bus from the Qianmen hub (07:00 to 11:00, CNY 80 return), ride the cable car up and walk the restored towers, then have lunch in the scenic area before the bus back from car park P4 (13:00 to 16:00). Night 3.
• Day 4: the Temple of Heaven and the hutongs. The Temple of Heaven buildings when they open at 08:00; zhajiangmian in Fangzhuanchang Hutong for lunch; then Nanluoguxiang, the Drum and Bell Towers and an evening by Houhai. Buy food and water for the train, enough for breakfast and lunch on day 6 as well. Night 4.
• Day 5 (Saturday): the K23 to Ulaanbaatar. Be at Beijing Railway Station at least an hour and a half before the 07:27 departure: China Railway's international-train page (in its Harbin section) asks passengers to be in the international waiting room that early for the border and security checks. The train runs north-west through Jining South in the afternoon and reaches Erenhot (Erlian) at 20:18, where you clear Chinese exit checks and the carriages get new wheels for the Mongolian track. Night 5 on the train.
• Day 6 (Sunday): arrive in Ulaanbaatar. Mongolian entry checks at Zamyn-Üüd between 01:25 and 02:40, then the Gobi in the morning light, with breakfast and lunch from your own supplies or the restaurant car; arrival in Ulaanbaatar at 14:35. Taxi to the Mika Hotel and tsuivan for dinner. Night 6 in Ulaanbaatar.
• Day 7: to Kharkhorin. The tour picks you up at 08:00 for the longest drive, about 360 km and six hours, with lunch and a camel ride at Elsen Tasarkhai, a strip of sand dunes between green hills. Night 7 in a ger camp near Erdene Zuu.
• Day 8: Erdene Zuu and the Orkhon Waterfall. Kharkhorum Museum and Erdene Zuu, the monastery behind a wall of 108 stupas, then about 136 km and four hours into the Orkhon Valley. Night 8 in a ger camp near the waterfall.
• Day 9: Tövkhön and Khogno Khan. Tövkhön Monastery on a forested mountain, a visit to a herding family and a taste of airag, fermented mare’s milk, then about 246 km and six hours to Khogno Khan and Övgön Monastery. Night 9 in a ger camp at Khogno Khan.
• Day 10: Khustai and back to the city. Lunch at Khustai National Park, home to the takhi, Przewalski’s wild horse, then on to Ulaanbaatar, arriving around 19:00. Buuz for dinner. Night 10 in Ulaanbaatar.
• Day 11: Ulaanbaatar. Gandan Monastery in the morning, the Chinggis Khaan National Museum, lunch at Bistro Nomads, the Choijin Lama Temple Museum and Zaisan Hill at the end of the day. This is also your spare day if the tour runs late. Night 11.
• Day 12 (Saturday): the statue and Terelj. A hired car and driver take you 54 km east to the Chinggis Khaan Equestrian Statue, then into Gorkhi-Terelj National Park for Turtle Rock and the Aryabal Meditation Temple. Khorkhog for dinner at Terelj Lodge. Night 12 in a ger at Terelj.
• Day 13 (Sunday): back to Ulaanbaatar. A slow morning in the park, lunch at the lodge and the lodge’s car to the city. The State Department Store for last purchases. Night 13 in Ulaanbaatar.
• Day 14 (Monday): fly home. Take a taxi to Chinggis Khaan International Airport (UBN) for your flight home.

Prices and times checked 5 November 2026

Beijing: the palace, the Great Wall and the Temple of Heaven

The Forbidden City runs north from Tiananmen Gate through courtyards of red walls and yellow-tiled roofs. The outer court centres on the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the largest hall in the palace, where Ming and Qing emperors were enthroned; beyond the Gate of Heavenly Purity lies the inner court, where the emperors and empresses lived. Allow a full morning. The Palace Museum sells no same-day tickets: tickets go on sale seven days before your visit at 20:00 China time on the official ticket site or the museum’s mini-programme, one per passport per day, and you show the same passport at the Meridian Gate, the only entrance. The ticket is CNY 60 from April to October and CNY 40 from November to March, each gallery is CNY 10 more, and the palace is closed on Mondays except public holidays. Tiananmen Square needs its own reservation, one to seven days ahead, in a Weixin (WeChat) mini-programme.

Mutianyu is a restored section of the Great Wall in Huairou District, north-east of the city, with watchtowers along a forested ridge. The official tourist bus leaves the Qianmen transport hub between 07:00 and 11:00 and returns from car park P4 between 13:00 and 16:00, for CNY 80 return; buy the ticket on the bus, at the hub or by reservation on the scenic area’s website. Admission is CNY 45 on a real-name ticket for your passport, which you can book up to 30 days ahead; the shuttle bus inside the scenic area costs about CNY 15 and a cable-car return about CNY 140, each sold separately. Our Great Wall guide compares Mutianyu with the other sections.

The Temple of Heaven is where emperors prayed for good harvests. Its Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, built in 1420, is 38.2 metres high, and the Circular Mound Altar and the Echo Wall stand on the same axis. The buildings open at 08:00 and are closed on Mondays except public holidays; the combined ticket is CNY 34 from April to October and CNY 28 from November. Tiantandongmen station on metro line 5 is next to the east gate.

Day 4 ends in the hutongs, the lanes of courtyard houses north of the palace. Nanluoguxiang is an 800-metre lane, free to walk, that leads to the Drum and Bell Towers; Yandai Xiejie runs on to Yinding Bridge and the Houhai lake, a good place to end the day. If you would rather see the Summer Palace, give it the afternoon instead of the hutongs: from April to October the park is open 06:00 to 20:00 and the combined ticket with the gardens inside is CNY 60 (CNY 50 from November), the gardens close on Mondays except major holidays, and Xiyuan station on lines 4 and 16 is at the East Palace Gate.

Prices and times checked 5 November 2026

The K23 from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar

The K23 is the international sleeper train from Beijing Railway Station to Ulaanbaatar, run by the Chinese and Mongolian railways. China Railway’s timetable gives these times, in Beijing time in China and Ulaanbaatar time in Mongolia:

That is about 31 hours. CITS, the agency that sells the tickets, lists the K23 every Tuesday from 1 January to 31 May 2026 and every Saturday from 1 June 2026. Discover Mongolia, a Mongolian tour operator, says the train runs once a week in each direction and that tickets sell out fast from June to September. The return train, the K24, leaves Ulaanbaatar at 07:30 and reaches Beijing at 14:35 the next day.

The wheel change at Erenhot. The Chinese railway uses the standard gauge of 1,435 mm and the Mongolian railway the wider gauge of 1,520 mm, so at Erenhot the carriages are taken into a shed and their bogies, the wheel sets under each carriage, are changed. The train stands at Erenhot for more than four and a half hours on the timetable, and the UK Foreign Office warns of a delay of a few hours at the border because of the gauge change. You complete Chinese exit formalities at Erenhot, and Mongolian entry at Zamyn-Üüd in the middle of the night, so keep your passport in reach.

On board. The deluxe compartment has two berths and a door you can lock; the UK Foreign Office warns that petty theft on overnight trains is common and advises locking the cabin door before the train leaves. Discover Mongolia says the restaurant cars have limited menus at higher prices and that cards are unreliable on board, so carry yuan, tögrög or US dollars and bring snacks; this plan has you buy food and water in Beijing for both days. Expect little sleep before about 03:00: the train stands at Erenhot from 20:18 to 00:59 for the exit checks and the bogie change, and the Mongolian checks at Zamyn-Üüd follow between 01:25 and 02:40.

China Railway’s timetable also lists the K3, the Beijing–Ulaanbaatar–Moscow train, with the same times as far as Ulaanbaatar, but Discover Mongolia says the through service to Moscow is suspended with no confirmed restart date, so plan on the K23.

Prices and times checked 5 November 2026

Buying the train ticket as a foreigner

China Railway names CITS (China International Travel Service) as the seller of K23 tickets. Its ticket office is in room 717 of the CITS building at 1 Dongdan North Street in Beijing, open Monday to Friday 09:00 to 12:30 and 13:30 to 17:00 and Saturday 09:00 to 12:00. You need the passport of each traveller. CITS also sells the train on its English website, with prices in US dollars.

For two people, the deluxe soft sleeper gives you a compartment of your own, and this guide budgets it at the CITS website price of USD 365 each. Book about two months ahead, as Discover Mongolia advises; the summer trains are the first to sell out. Book the train before the Mongolian tour, then fix the tour to start on the morning after you arrive.

Prices and times checked 5 November 2026

If the train does not fit your dates: fly

If the train is full, or its running day does not suit you, fly. Air China and MIAT Mongolian Airlines both fly from Beijing Capital to Chinggis Khaan International Airport (UBN). On the airport’s 2026–27 winter timetable, Air China CA901 arrives every day at 10:40 and CA955 at 15:05, and MIAT flights MGL224 and MGL272 also arrive from Beijing; summer timetables are published separately. The flight replaces the train night: add a fifth night in Beijing or an extra night in Ulaanbaatar, and the rest of the plan stays the same.

Flying also changes the Chinese side of the trip only a little: you leave China through the airport instead of Erenhot. From UBN, the airport’s official taxi counter charges MNT 120,000 per car to the city centre for a standard taxi (MNT 170,000 for a pre-booked VIP car).

Prices and times checked 5 November 2026

Kharkhorin, the Orkhon Valley and Khogno Khan

The drives in central Mongolia are long, up to six hours a day on this route, so this plan uses a private tour with a driver and an English-speaking guide. Mongolia Short Tours sells a four-day central Mongolia tour from 1 June to 20 September for USD 1,240 per person for two, with a 20% deposit and the balance due 30 days before the start. It includes the guide, the driver and the vehicle, three nights in tourist ger camps in twin gers, 3 breakfasts, 4 lunches and 3 dinners, entrance fees, a one-hour camel ride and water. Our Kharkhorin guide describes each stop in detail.

Kharkhorin stands beside Kharkhorum, the capital that Chinggis Khaan decreed in 1220 and that became the administrative centre of the Mongol Empire. Erdene Zuu, the first Buddhist monastery in Mongolia, was founded next to it in 1586; inside its wall of 108 stupas, eight temples now hold a museum of religious history, open daily from 09:00 to 18:00 from 1 May to 30 September. Kharkhorum, Erdene Zuu and Tövkhön are part of the Orkhon Valley, a World Heritage cultural landscape since 2004.

The Orkhon Waterfall (Ulaan Tsutgalan) falls from lava cliffs about 24 metres high where the Ulaan River meets the Orkhon, above a canyon about 22 metres deep. Tövkhön Monastery, where the young Zanabazar built a meditation house in 1651, stands on a forested mountain at about 2,000 metres, with four temples, two stupas and rock formations known as the womb and the cradle, symbols of rebirth. Khogno Khan joins rocky mountains, semi-desert and sand dunes, and the tour visits Övgön Monastery there. On the last day the tour stops at Khustai National Park, home to the takhi, or Przewalski’s horse; the operator notes that the horses are easiest to see two to three hours before sunset.

Hotels and camps in Mongolia register foreign guests with the Immigration Agency within 48 hours, so keep your passport ready at each check-in.

With a week more, add the Gobi after the central tour: our Gobi guide gives a six-day loop by road from Ulaanbaatar with nights in ger camps.

Prices and times checked 5 November 2026

Ulaanbaatar and the ger camp at Terelj

Day 11 is a city day on foot from the Mika Hotel. Start at Gandan Monastery, built in 1840, where the monks chant every morning; it was the only monastery that kept working through the communist period. The Chinggis Khaan National Museum follows the history of the Mongols from the steppe empires to the modern state; from 15 May to 14 September it is open daily from 09:00 to 20:00 (last entry 19:00), and from 15 September from 09:00 to 17:00 and closed on Tuesdays; an adult ticket costs MNT 45,000 for the permanent exhibition and the Hall of the Great Khaan together. The Choijin Lama Temple Museum, a complex of temples built in 1904–08 that survived the repression of the 1930s, costs MNT 20,000. End on Zaisan Hill, the Second World War memorial south of the centre, for the view over the city. Our Ulaanbaatar guide has more sights and the evening shows.

On day 12 a car with a driver gives you the day at your own pace. Tengri Tours hires out a Hyundai Starex with its driver for USD 120 a day. The Chinggis Khaan Equestrian Statue at Tsonjin Boldog, 54 km east of the city, is a stainless-steel horseman 40 metres tall including its base, and a lift in the horse’s tail takes you up to a viewing platform on its neck; Eternal Landscapes, a tour operator, gives the 2026 adult ticket as about MNT 30,000. In Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, about 40 km on, Turtle Rock is a granite outcrop in the shape of a turtle, and the Aryabal Meditation Temple stands 3 km away above a suspension bridge and 108 steps. The park fee is MNT 15,000 per foreign visitor, plus MNT 9,000 for a car. Our Terelj guide has the tours and the bus.

Terelj Lodge, next to Turtle Rock, charges USD 135 a night for a standard ger for two from May to September on its 2026 tariff. Breakfast costs USD 19 a person, a set lunch or dinner USD 30, and khorkhog, mutton cooked with hot stones, USD 40 a person. The lodge’s own car to or from the city costs USD 90 one way for up to three people. The lodge closed for the winter on 17 October 2026 and reopens on 20 April 2027.

Prices and times checked 5 November 2026

Visas: entering China at Beijing and leaving at Erenhot

China. Ordinary-passport holders of the countries on China’s visa-free list, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand, can enter without a visa for tourism for up to 30 days, counted from the day after entry. The Chinese embassy’s FAQ says the waiver applies at any sea, road or air port open to foreigners, so you can enter at Beijing Capital and leave by train at Erenhot on the same waiver. Four nights in Beijing and a fifth on the train sit well inside 30 days. The embassy gives the waiver until 31 December 2026; a trip in 2027 needs a published extension or a visa.

The 240-hour transit rule does not fit this route. That rule lets travellers enter through one of 65 designated ports and stay up to ten days within the permitted areas of 24 provinces and municipalities, and CITS says the Erenhot port does not apply the 240-hour rule. US, Czech and Lithuanian citizens, who are not on the 30-day list, therefore need a Chinese tourist (L) visa for this trip. Our China entry guide explains how to apply.

Mongolia. Mongolia lets citizens of 34 countries, including the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand and most EU countries, visit for tourism for up to 30 days without a visa until the end of 2026. Germany and Canada have standing 30-day agreements and the United States a 90-day one. If the temporary exemption is not extended into 2027, the others need a visa from a Mongolian embassy. Your passport needs at least six months’ validity on arrival, and the UK Foreign Office lists Zamyn-Üüd among the land crossings open to British nationals. Our Mongolia entry guide has the full lists.

Prices and times checked 5 November 2026

When to go: June, or late August to early September

Go between June and early September: the four-day tour runs from 1 June to 20 September, and Terelj Lodge’s high season is May to September. June and late August to early September are the best weeks for this route, because they avoid Naadam week in July.

July and Naadam. Mongolia’s national festival of wrestling, horse racing and archery is held every year from 11 to 13 July. If you want Naadam, book the train, the tour and the hotels as soon as they are on sale and add a day in Ulaanbaatar for the opening. If you do not, choose June or late August.

Terelj Lodge closes for the winter on 17 October, and the four-day tour stops on 20 September. Our Mongolia seasons guide covers the rest of the year.

Prices and times checked 5 November 2026

Money, phones and apps on both sides of the border

In China, set up Alipay or Weixin Pay (WeChat Pay) with your own bank card before you leave, and carry some yuan for small shops; our payments and apps guide explains how. The Palace Museum, Tiananmen Square and the Temple of Heaven all book through Chinese sites or mini-programmes, so install Weixin before you fly. Buy a SIM or eSIM that works in China for the five days there.

In Mongolia, the tögrög (MNT) is the currency, and many hotels and operators quote in US dollars. Unitel sells a 10-day tourist plan with 15 GB for MNT 25,000 plus MNT 5,000 for the SIM. The tour, Terelj Lodge and the car are paid in advance or in dollars; carry tögrög for museums, the park fee and restaurants. Keep your passport with you in both countries: police in China carry out random checks.

Prices and times checked 5 November 2026

What two weeks cost, all in

About USD 3,040 per person, USD 6,080 for two, for 14 days and 13 nights on the ground: every hotel night, the train in a deluxe compartment, the private four-day tour with its camps and meals, the Terelj night and car, every other meal, local transport, admissions, two SIMs in each country and a 10% buffer. The London flights add about USD 1,070 per person, which makes about USD 4,110 per person, USD 8,220 for two.

The model is two adults sharing a double room, a twin ger and a two-berth compartment in June or late August, outside Naadam week, with passports that enter both countries without a visa; if yours needs a visa for China or Mongolia, add the visa fees. Yuan and pounds are converted at China’s central parity rates for 23 October 2026 (USD 1 = CNY 6.7180, GBP 1 = CNY 8.9749), and tögrög at the Bank of Mongolia’s rate of USD 1 = MNT 3,599.08 for 29 October 2026.

• Rooms, about USD 1,060 for two. Four nights at the Peace Hotel Beijing at about USD 134, the August average KAYAK users found over the past year, its dearest month; four nights at the Mika Hotel in a Deluxe Double from USD 97 with breakfast; one night at Terelj Lodge in a standard ger at USD 135. The three camp nights are in the tour price and the train night is in the fare.
• Food and drink, about USD 700 for two. In Beijing and on the train, about CNY 220 a person a day for five and a half days, to lunch on day 6 (CNY 2,420 for two): a dinner at about the CNY 160 a person that Liqun Roast Duck gives as its average spend, a noodle lunch, breakfast and water. In Ulaanbaatar, four dinners at Modern Nomads of tsuivan (MNT 29,900) or buuz (MNT 30,900) with milk tea and water, and two lunches at Bistro Nomads (a beef sandwich and a tea, MNT 14,400 a person): MNT 370,800 for two. At Terelj Lodge, two set lunches, a khorkhog dinner and a breakfast for two: USD 238. Breakfast is included at the Mika Hotel, and the tour includes its own meals.
• The train, transfers and local transport, about USD 1,050 for two. Two deluxe berths on the K23 at USD 365 each; in Beijing, the Airport Express (CNY 50 for two), the Mutianyu bus (CNY 160 for two) and about CNY 280 of metro rides and taxis; in Mongolia, the Tengri Tours car with driver (USD 120), Terelj Lodge’s car back to the city (USD 90), and about MNT 144,000 for the taxi from the station, the airport taxi on day 14 and city rides.
• The tour, sights and park fees, about USD 2,650 for two. The Mongolia Short Tours four-day tour at USD 1,240 each; in Beijing, the Forbidden City with two galleries (CNY 80), Mutianyu with the shuttle and a cable-car return (about CNY 200) and the Temple of Heaven combined ticket (CNY 34), that is CNY 628 for two; in Mongolia, the statue (about MNT 30,000) and the Terelj park fee (MNT 15,000) each plus MNT 9,000 for the car, the Chinggis Khaan National Museum (MNT 45,000) and the Choijin Lama Temple Museum (MNT 20,000) each, and about MNT 50,000 for two for small fees at Gandan and Aryabal, which publish no prices: MNT 279,000 for two.
• SIMs, about USD 60 for two. About CNY 150 each for a China SIM or eSIM, based on the CNY 125 15-day visitor card that China Telecom’s Shaanxi branch sells until 30 November 2026; Unitel’s 10-day plan with its SIM at MNT 30,000 each.
• Flights, about GBP 800 per person (about USD 1,070). An open-jaw ticket, London to Beijing and Ulaanbaatar to London, priced as half of Turkish Airlines’ London–Beijing economy return (GBP 656 to 669 on its late-2026 fare calendar) and half of its London–Ulaanbaatar return (GBP 933 to 983), both through Istanbul.

Prices and times checked 5 November 2026