Ulaanbaatar: museums, monasteries and a first city day

Three nights in the capital: two at the start, one at the end

Ulaanbaatar is where you land, sleep off the flight and meet your driver and guide, so plan two nights at the start: the first for the arrival, the second after a full day in the city. The countryside then takes over, and you come back for a last night before the flight home.

Day 1: arrive at Chinggis Khaan International Airport (UBN) and take the bus or the official taxi in (see the transport section below); an early dinner and bed. Day 2: the city day described in the next sections: Gandan Monastery in the morning, Sükhbaatar Square and the Chinggis Khaan National Museum before lunch, the Choijin Lama Temple Museum after lunch in summer, then Zaisan Hill towards evening. If your dates fall on one of the Bogd Khan Palace's announced open days, add it on the way to Zaisan. Day 3: your operator collects you for the countryside; the nearest escape is Terelj and the Chinggis Khaan statue, 54 km east to the statue, about an hour's drive. Spend your last night back in the city, with time for the National Museum of Mongolia and the State Department Store or Narantuul Market.

Choose the area by how you want to spend the evenings. The centre, around Sükhbaatar Square, puts the museums, the Opera House and the restaurants on foot, and suits a first visit. Khan-Uul, in the south, is quieter and close to the Bogd Khan Palace and Zaisan, but the centre is a bus or taxi ride away. Our where-to-stay guide names hotels and their rates in each area.

Sükhbaatar Square and the Chinggis Khaan National Museum

Sükhbaatar Square is the city's great open space: a wide expanse of paving with the equestrian statue of Damdin Sükhbaatar at its centre and the colonnaded Government Palace, the seat of parliament, along its north side, while glass towers rise beyond. Everything else in the centre is measured from it: the museum lies a few minutes north, the Choijin Lama temples a few minutes south.

About 400 m north of the square, on J. Sambuu Street, the Chinggis Khaan National Museum tells the country's story floor by floor, climbing from the ground to the ninth. The third floor holds the Bronze Age and the Xiongnu, Mongolia's first state, with chariots and the earliest Mongolian inscription; the fourth the Turkic and Uighur states; the fifth Chinggis Khaan and his ancestors, with a copy of the Great Khan's letter to the Pope; the sixth the Yuan dynasty and the khanates that stretched to Russia and Iran; the seventh the princes who came after, with armour, seals and Mongolian chess; and the eighth the empire's place in the world, with helmets and coins from Kharkhorum. The top floor is the Hall of the Great Khaan, a ceremonial hall under a ger-shaped roof with a golden statue of Chinggis Khaan.

From 15 May to 14 September the museum opens every day from 09:00 to 20:00, with last entry at 19:00; from 15 September to 14 May it opens from 09:00 to 17:00, with last entry at 16:00, and closes every Tuesday. Adults pay MNT 30,000 for the permanent exhibition, MNT 20,000 for the Hall of the Great Khaan, or MNT 45,000 for both, and a photo permit costs MNT 50,000 more. Free entry for children up to 16 is for Mongolian children under the Museum Law; children with foreign passports pay a reduced fee, from MNT 10,000. An English-speaking guide for a private group of one to nine people costs MNT 100,000 for a 60-minute tour, booked by phone. Allow two hours, more if you take the guided tour.

The National Museum of Mongolia, also on J. Sambuu Street, is the broader of the two. Founded as the State Museum in 1924, it is the country's principal museum of history, archaeology and ethnography, with more than 60,000 objects in nine permanent halls: the earliest nomads, the ancient states on Mongolian soil, traditional dress and ornament, the Mongol Empire, traditional culture and herding life, the 17th to the early 20th century, and socialist and democratic Mongolia. Where the Chinggis Khaan museum tells the story of the empire, this one shows how Mongolians have dressed, lived and herded since. It opens every day from 09:00 to 18:00; adults pay MNT 20,000, students MNT 10,000, and children enter free. It fits the last afternoon before your flight home.

Gandan Monastery and the Choijin Lama Temple Museum

Gandan Monastery (Gandantegchinlen), about 1.7 km west of the square in a straight line, is the place to start the day: the monks chant there every morning. Founded in 1840, it was, in the city tourism department's words, the only working monastery of the communist period. Enter from the south and a path leads right to a courtyard with two temples: Ochidara Temple, where the most important ceremonies are held, with a large statue of Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelugpa school, behind glass on the pilgrims' clockwise path (kora) round it; and the two-storey Didan-Lavran, where the 13th Dalai Lama stayed in 1904 after fleeing Lhasa.

At the end of the main path stands the white Migjid Janraisig temple, a tall brick building in Tibetan style under a Chinese roof. It was built for an 80-cubit statue, about 26 metres, of Janraisig (Avalokiteshvara), the Bodhisattva of Compassion, commissioned in 1911 when the Eighth Bogd Khan's eyesight was failing and consecrated on 13 June 1913; the temple became a symbol of Mongolia's independence. The communists destroyed the statue in 1938, while the building survived as a barracks and later as the State Archive. A gilded Janraisig stands in the hall again, watched by hundreds of small images of Ayush, the Buddha of Longevity, along the walls. Come early, while the monks are chanting, and carry tögrög in cash for the ticket and for donations. Ask before taking photographs and do not touch sacred images or objects.

The Choijin Lama Temple Museum, about 450 m south of the square, is a walled group of temples hemmed in by modern towers. Luvsankhaidav, appointed the state's Choijin Lama (protector lama) and brother of the Eighth Bogd Khan, built his first temple in 1899-1901; after it burned in 1903, more than 300 craftsmen led by Uran Ombo rebuilt it on this site between 1904 and 1908. Religious services stopped in 1938, and it is one of the few temple complexes in Mongolia that survived the repression of the 1930s. In the main temple a 13th-century gilded Buddha sits between two disciples, flanked by the mummified figures of Choijin Lama and of Khamba Nomun Khan Baldanchoimbol, and glass cases along the walls hold tsam costumes, among them the complete robes of the protector deities Jamsran and Gombo worn in the masked dances. The Zankhan temple behind, once open only to the Bogd Khan and the nobility, keeps a throne carved with eight lions and nine dragons.

Choijin Lama opened every day from 09:00 to 18:00 in summer 2026, from 15 May to 15 September. Adults pay MNT 20,000, Mongolian or foreign, and tickets are also sold on the museum's website. Allow an hour.

The Bogd Khan Palace and Zaisan Hill

In the south of the city, about 2.6 km from the square in a straight line, the Bogd Khan Palace Museum was the residence of the Eighth Bogd Khan, Mongolia's last king, who was given the rights of head of state in 1911. You walk through the palace chambers where he lived and the two-storey white Winter Palace with its green roof, past rare Buddhist statues, silk robes from the royal collection and the king's collection of stuffed animals, which the government tourism site says includes a white elephant from the Dalai Lama. It opens only on days it announces on its website, such as 9 to 11 October in autumn 2026, from 09:00 to 18:00, so plan it as an option if your dates match; it publishes no standing ticket price. Tickets are sold at the palace and online through Shoppy and Ticket.mn. An hour is enough, and it sits on the way to Zaisan.

From the palace it is about 1.5 km further south to Zaisan Hill, across the Tuul River. The circular memorial on the summit, ringed with a painted mural of soldiers and workers, honours the soldiers who died in the Second World War; a wartime tank stands below it, and just to the south Buddha Park has a 23-metre statue of the Buddha. The climb is a long flight of stairs, slippery in ice, and the reward is the best view in the city: the river and its bridge below, the centre's towers and the ger districts climbing the hills beyond. Go in late afternoon, when the light falls along the valley. Zaisan is about 4 km south of Sükhbaatar Square, a short UBCab ride: the app shows the fare before you set off.

Shopping, music and where to eat

The State Department Store on Peace Avenue, about 800 m west of the square, is the classic place to buy cashmere, felt slippers, deel robes and dried aaruul curd to take home. Its shopping floors, the second to the seventh, open Monday to Saturday from 09:00 to 22:00 and on Sunday from 09:00 to 21:30, and close on 11 July for Naadam; the Nomin hypermarket in the same building opens from 08:30 to 22:30 Monday to Saturday and from 09:00 to 22:00 on Sunday. It is also the easiest place to buy water and snacks before a countryside trip. For the full bazaar, Narantuul Market in the east of the city is Mongolia's largest traditional market, with around 10,000 traders, according to the city tourism department.

An evening of throat singing (khoomei) and the horsehead fiddle (morin khuur) is the city's other classic. The city tourism department names two shows for visitors: the Tumen Ekh ensemble's concerts of traditional music and dance, and the Mongolian National Grand Theatre's folk concert, with long song, throat singing, biyelgee dance and contortion on one stage. In July the city's great show is Naadam, the national festival of wrestling, horse racing and archery, held every year from 11 to 13 July: on 11 July the nine white banners are carried from the Government Palace to the Central Stadium, followed by a horse parade and the opening ceremony. Our festivals guide covers the programme and the other festivals of the year.

For food, Ulaanbaatar is the one place in the country with real choice. Khaan Buuz, opposite the State Department Store on Peace Avenue, is the city's best-known dumpling chain: its branch there is open 24 hours, which suits a late arrival, and the city tourism department notes an English menu with photos. Modern Nomads, with branches south of Metro Mall on Baga Toiruu and on Amar Street in the centre, serves the national dishes from 10:00 until late at sit-down prices; its menu warns that prices and dishes can differ by branch. On weekdays its café sister, Bistro Nomads in the TDB building, opens from 08:00 to 17:00 for breakfasts and sandwiches.

Getting in from the airport and around the city

Three services run from Chinggis Khaan International Airport (UBN) to the centre:

Bus tickets are sold at a self-service kiosk on the west side of the arrivals floor or at the Bus & Taxi counter, and seats can be reserved up to three days ahead in the UBCARD app. Bus X:20 also runs to the airport, but to 5 Shar on the west side of the city, not to the square.

In the city, buses charge MNT 1,000 per ride in cash or by contactless bank card; a UBcard (MNT 3,600) gives four rides a day for MNT 1,000. The centre itself, from Gandan to the square and the Choijin Lama temples, is walkable. For anything longer, and always after dark, the UK advises using licensed taxis such as VIP Taxis or the trackable UBCab app, or asking your hotel or restaurant to order a car, and not being out alone at night; pickpockets work in markets and crowds, more so during Tsagaan Sar and Naadam. UBCab fares depend on distance, time and demand.

Outside Ulaanbaatar, travel with a licensed operator's driver and guide: distances are long, many roads are unpaved tracks, and there is no mobile signal in large areas. Our transport guide covers the train from Beijing and the domestic flights to the Gobi and Lake Khövsgöl. Buy a Unitel tourist SIM on arrival: MNT 30,000 for 10 days and 15 GB, card included, enough for UBCab and maps. Visas and the 48-hour registration are in our entry guide.

What the city days cost

| | Per person | For two | | --- | ---: | ---: | | Arrival and a city day, before the room | about MNT 300,000 (USD 80) | about MNT 600,000 (USD 170) | | Last day before the flight home, with the National Museum and dinner | about MNT 80,000 (USD 20) | about MNT 160,000 (USD 50) |

About MNT 300,000 per person, MNT 600,000 for two, covers the start of the trip on the ground for two adults: food, transport, sights, SIM cards and a 10% buffer. Add your room from our where-to-stay guide, which prices hotels in the centre and in Khan-Uul. Prices were checked on 29 and 31 October 2026; dollar amounts use the Bank of Mongolia rate of USD 1 = MNT 3,599.08 for 29 October 2026.

Food: dinner on both evenings at Modern Nomads (a dish such as tsuivan with milk tea and water, MNT 38,900 each) and a weekday lunch at Bistro Nomads (a beef sandwich and Fuze tea, MNT 14,400 each; at weekends, when it is closed, Khaan Buuz opposite the State Department Store is the easy alternative). Getting around: the official taxi from the airport and six city bus rides each. Sights: the Chinggis Khaan National Museum with the Hall of the Great Khaan, and Choijin Lama at MNT 20,000 each; Gandan publishes no adult price, so the budget counts MNT 20,000 for it too. The Bogd Khan Palace, open only on announced days, is left out. SIM and extras: a 10-day Unitel SIM each and a 10% buffer.

The last day, on the second line, is the National Museum of Mongolia (MNT 20,000 each), a Modern Nomads dinner, a city bus to the square and bus X:19 out to the airport. The return flight to Mongolia is a one-off for the whole trip, priced in our trip cost guide.

Add the last day (about MNT 160,000 for two) and the three city days come to about MNT 770,000 for two (USD 210), or about MNT 380,000 (USD 110) per person, before the rooms.

A guided city day is the easy alternative to doing it yourself. Stone Horse Expeditions & Travel, based in Ulaanbaatar, charges USD 80 per person for two (USD 160 for the pair) for its Ulaanbaatar City Tour, with entrance fees and lunch included. It takes in Sükhbaatar Square, Gandan Monastery, the National Museum, the Zanabazar Museum, the State Department Store and a traditional music concert, depending on what is open that day and the season.