Naadam Festival Tour
Mongolia's Naadam Festival is the country's most important celebration -- a three-day national holiday built around the 'Three Manly Games' of wrestling, horse racing, and archery that have been contested on the Mongolian steppe for centuries. This tour puts you in the stadium seats and along the racecourse for the full event, then takes you into the countryside to see the landscape that shaped it.
Naadam has been held every July since at least the era of Chinggis Khan, and the competition format has barely changed: 512 wrestlers in single elimination, child jockeys racing horses across 25 kilometers of open steppe, and archers hitting leather targets from 75 meters. The opening ceremony at the National Stadium in Ulaanbaatar is the start, but the real atmosphere is at the horse racing grounds outside the city, where families camp for days and the finish line is a wall of dust and noise. After the festival, the tour moves into Gorkhi-Terelj National Park and the central Mongolian steppe -- the same grassland that produced the horsemen and wrestlers you just watched compete.
- 4WD Vehicle
- 1-12 guests
- 6-Day, 5-Night
- Fulltime English Speaking Tour Guide
- Available July Only (Naadam Festival Period)
INCLUTIONS & EXCLUSIONS
Inclusions:
- Airport transfers (arrival and departure)
- All transport in private 4WD vehicle
- Naadam Festival opening ceremony entry
- Horse racing viewing at Khui Doloon Khudag
- Wrestling and archery competition access
- 4 nights hotel accommodation in Ulaanbaatar
- 1 night at traditional ger camp in Terelj
- All meals during Terelj day (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
- English-speaking guide throughout
- Entrance fees to all listed sites
Exclusions:
- International flights
- Mongolia visa fees
- Travel insurance (required)
- Meals in Ulaanbaatar (abundant restaurant options)
- Alcoholic beverages
- Optional cultural show (~$20 per person)
- Personal purchases and souvenirs
- Tips for guide and driver
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Your guide meets you at the airport and drives you into a city that feels electric in the days before Naadam. Ulaanbaatar in early July is unlike any other time of year — nomadic families stream in from the countryside, vendors line the streets selling traditional deels, and the National Stadium hangs banners across every facade.
After checking in, you walk to Sukhbaatar Square to get your bearings and visit Gandantegchinlen Monastery before the festival crowds descend tomorrow. Dinner is at a local restaurant where your guide explains what to expect over the next three days of competition.
A day before the festival begins, you leave the city behind and drive into Gorkhi-Terelj. The landscape shifts quickly from apartment blocks to alpine valleys — rivers running between forested hills, granite formations rising from the meadows, and herder families living exactly as they have for centuries.
After exploring Turtle Rock and the hilltop temple, the afternoon is yours. This night under canvas — and under stars with no city light competing — is one of those experiences that stays with you long after the festival itself.
The opening ceremony of Naadam is one of the most striking spectacles in Central Asia. Hundreds of soldiers ride into the National Stadium in full Mongol Empire battle dress — iron armor, horsehair banners, and the sound of hooves on the track. The roar from 20,000 Mongolians greeting their athletes is something you will not forget.
Your guide secures reserved seating so you have a clear view without fighting through the crowd. After the ceremony, the festival grounds come alive with food stalls and smaller competitions — a perfect time to try khuushuur (deep-fried mutton pastry) and watch children compete in traditional games alongside their elders.
The horse races start early, and the drive out to Khui Doloon Khudag at dawn — past thousands of families already camped on the steppe — is an experience in itself. The races are not like anything you have seen: child jockeys, most under ten years old, riding bareback across 20 kilometers of open grassland. The horses that finish first are honored with ancient songs; those that finish last receive equal ceremony for having tried.
Back in Ulaanbaatar for the afternoon, the wrestling championship moves into its decisive rounds. Mongolian wrestling has no time limit — a match ends only when one competitor touches the ground with anything other than feet or hands. Your guide explains the ranks, the gestures, and the deep tradition while you watch from close range.
The archery competition is the most intimate of the three Naadam sports. Competitors stand in traditional robes, drawing arrows in silence while the crowd reads the result from the ancient hand signals of the judges. Your guide explains each movement and its centuries-old meaning as the rounds progress through the morning.
After archery, you drive east to the Chinggis Khan statue — a monument that sits exactly where, according to legend, Temujin found the golden whip that inspired his rise to empire. On a clear day, the steppe stretches to every horizon and the scale of the place makes the history feel real.
Your last morning moves at a slower pace. The Bogd Khan Palace is quietest early in the day — ornate gers, lacquered furniture, and an extraordinary gift collection fill eight interconnected temples on the southern edge of the city. It is one of the most underrated museums in Ulaanbaatar.
After the museum, your guide drives you to the airport with time to spare. The three days of Naadam you have witnessed — the opening ceremony, the horse races, the wrestling, the archery — represent an unbroken tradition reaching back eight centuries. Most travelers leave already planning a return.
