To curious U.S. travelers, Mongolia has a firm grip on some pretty wild superlatives. Under a sky that’s sunny approximately 250 days of the year, the country that’s more than twice the size of Texas is home to roughly the same number of people as those who live in Los Angeles. The landscapes, bracketed by Russia and China borderlines, have stories to tell, from the Steppe grasslands, where Chinggis Khaan (aka Genghis Khan) once rode, to the Gobi Desert, where arid landscapes belie subterranean layers rich in coal, gold, and dinosaur bones. The country is home to arguably the weirdest competition on earth, known as the Mongol Rally; the dreaded dzud winter phenomenon that sees temperatures drop to -50 degrees Fahrenheit; and the Golden Eagle Festival, for which fur-clad Kazakh hunters train wild raptors to hunt small game.
For travelers, in 2025, Mongolia is becoming notably more accessible. “The country is coming into its modern self,” says travel advisor Tyler Dillon, who’s arranged U.S. travel to Mongolia for more than 15 years. “With the combination of large open spaces, [clear] night skies that are hard to find [elsewhere], and growing international attention, now is the time to go there before it shifts into another gear.”
Here’s a look at what’s new and happening in Mongolia.
Mongolia has become known for its famous Golden Eagle Festival.
Courtesy of Black Tomato
United’s new Mongolia flight, and visa-free travel
Previously, no U.S. airlines offered routes to Mongolia. To get there, U.S. travelers flew with international carriers such as Turkish Airlines, Korean Air, or Lufthansa.
That’s going to change next month, when United Airlines becomes the first U.S. airline to operate regular flights to Mongolia. Starting May 1, United will launch three weekly direct flights from Tokyo’s Narita International Airport to Chinggis Khaan International Airport, in Mongolia’s capital city of Ulaanbaatar. Pair this new leg with United’s nonstop routes to Tokyo from major U.S. cities such as Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, and San Francisco, and the result is a straightforward, one-connection ticket across the globe, arguably the most accessible route to Mongolia a U.S. airline has ever offered.
If you fly there, don’t be surprised to find yourself among passengers from all over the world. Last year, more than half of the people passing through Ulaanbaatar’s airport were international travelers, and officials expect the visitor count to grow in 2025.
Another bonus for travel to Mongolia: The government has extended its visa-free travel policy that began in 2023, meaning U.S. citizens can stay in Mongolia for up to 90 days without any special paperwork.
A room at the recently opened Yeruu Lodge.
Courtesy of Yeruu Lodge
New lodging and cultural destinations
Travelers coming to Mongolia should check out the new Chinggis Khaan Museum while in the capital. Since it opened in late 2022, it’s received acclaim for its collection of more than 10,000 artifacts, exhibited across six floors, including paintings, sculptures, ironwork, and embroidery from before, during, and after the Mongol Empire.
Another relative newcomer to Mongolia’s tourism scene is Yeruu Lodge, which opened in 2023 to welcome travelers to the northern forested Selenge province. The lodge consists of 26 contemporary white gers, or yurts, ranging from premium tents with en suite bathtubs to spaces with multiple single beds, perfect for groups of friends. In addition to the types of experiences you’d expect to try in Mongolia, like horseback riding, the team there offers kayaking, mountain biking, and yoga. There are two on-site restaurants, one of which, the casual Bistro, doles out pub fare from two outdoor pizza ovens while diners can play bocce as they wait.
Adrenaline junkies might head to the new Husky Lodge, opening this June, a ten-ger camp in the steppe of the Uvurkhangai region. It’s being launched by Nomadic Off-Road, a dirt-bike tour operator based in Mongolia that’s expanding into hospitality after 10 years of leading roving trips in less-commonly visited regions.
Additionally, late last year, the Eagle Hunter Cultural Center opened in the Bayan-Ölgii province, where the famed eagle festival occurs. The center supports collaboration between Kazakh eagle hunters, visitors, and conservationists. Visitors can watch an eagle hunter demonstration, learn about the region’s history of falconry, shop for art and textiles, depart for a nearby overnight homestay, or set off horseback riding—activities that the center can arrange.
Lodges in Mongolia will often arrange horseback riding outings for guests.
Pecold/Shutterstock
A boom in new tours and activities
Adventure tour operator Nomadic Expeditions has brought travelers to Mongolia for more than 30 years. “When we started the Golden Eagle Festival, there were only about 10 eagle hunting families in Bayan-Ölgii. Now, there are 300 to 400 eagle hunters,” says founder and CEO Jalsa Urubshurow. But as the success of that festival has continued to grow—along with other trips Nomadic leads, including both private, custom trips and set-date departures—other operators are launching new ventures.
In June, Intrepid Travel will launch its new “Trans-Mongolian Railway Adventure,” an 11-day trip that begins in Beijing and ends in Ulaanbaatar. It includes activities like staying overnight in sleeper cars and meeting nomadic camel herders in the southeastern desert steppes of the Dornogovi province.
For travelers wanting more luxury, this year Black Tomato created a Mongolia itinerary as part of its new “Pursuit of Feeling” offerings, a collection of trips designed to match travelers’ emotive state of mind, from contentment to freedom. The 12-day Mongolia foray, in which travelers stay in en suite gers like those operated by Mandala Mongolia (felt slippers and organic toiletries included), is centered around fully immersing travelers in the location. “Mongolia is brimming with experiences that are visceral and sensorial,” says Black Tomato cofounder Tom Marchant. “And the route itself is unusual and compelling, including the very far west of Mongolia, which often gets overlooked.”
The nonprofit Mongolian Bankhar Dog Project is working to restore the native Bankhar dog.
TonNam50/Shutterstock
Mongolia’s animal kingdom is a major draw
Unquestionably, one of Mongolia’s biggest conservation stories is the successful reintroduction of the takhi. Previously called the Przewalski’s horse, this stocky, near-prehistoric wild equine species dates back more than 4,000 years and was once extinct in the wild. Today, the best place to see them is in Hustai National Park, a day trip from Ulaanbaatar, where a herd of more than 400 roam.
Unlike the takhi, many other endangered species live in Mongolia without government protection. A signal that that might change came late last year, when Mongolia’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change officially designated October 25 as Khulan Conservation Day. The khulan, or asiatic wild ass, is a pale, slender-limbed equine and a keystone species of the country’s Gobi Desert. Just under 80 percent of the entire world’s khulan population lives in this arid terrain—making it center stage for a new chapter of awareness and conservation efforts.
At the same time, the nonprofit Mongolian Bankhar Dog Project is working to restore a different kind of animal: the domestic Bankhar dog. This native breed traditionally protected nomads’ livestock herds from snow leopards and gray wolves and helped herders maintain healthy pastoral practices. Since the org partnered with Three Camel Lodge in 2020 to expand the breeding program, visitors to the camp can meet the stoic (but still quite cute and fluffy) guardian dogs.
