A SELF-DRIVE EXPEDITION FROM THE GOBI DESERT TO THE STEPPE
When was the last time you woke up to find your neighbours were nomads? Mongolia in summer is the country at its most alive, and this crossing takes it from the bottom up: it begins in the Gobi, on sand and red rock under a hard sun, and ends on a steppe so green it looks painted. In between, the ground changes almost every day: dunes give way to wind-carved mountains the colour of rust, brown plains turn slowly into rolling hills, and a river valley opens up where the empire was born. A coterie of twelve, chosen carefully, from different corners of the world, who chose the same road you did.
Mongolia is where Nomadic Road began, on this ground, in the summer of 2017. Every route we have made since grew from this one.
What This Journey Holds
Max 30°C l Min 12°C
Toyota Land Cruiser 200 or similar
Sand dunes, open steppe, dirt roads and tarmac
EXPEDITION DIFFICULTY
Two kinds of expedition. The terrain, the weather and the altitude decide which.
Tough & Challenging: The country sets the pace and the plan bends to it.
– Long driving days, with journey times the road decides
– Trails that ask something of you
– Weather that can turn, and altitude that slows everything down
– Breakdowns, fixed on the road
– Basic stays, with little around them, and shared facilities at camp
Moderate & Comfortable: The same country, an easier line through it.
– Steadier days, journey times that hold
– More road under the wheels
– Beds with walls and doors
– Amenities within reach
Neither is the soft version. The difference is how much the country is allowed to decide.
MAX GROUP SIZE
Small groups, always. Twelve at most on a Signature expedition, fourteen on a Classic.
– Small enough to move as one convoy
– A camp that fits around one fire
– No one becomes a passenger in their own expedition
– Many join solo. No one finishes that way.
Choose Your Edition
William
Head of Mongolia Operations
Seventeen years in the air with Emirates, then the open road. British-born and Sweden-based, William brought a career in global logistics to Nomadic Road and now leads every Mongolia expedition, winter and summer, from the frozen lakes to the Gobi. Precision on the ground, and a long appetite for the far end of the map.
William
Head of Mongolia Operations
Seventeen years in the air with Emirates, then the open road. British-born and Sweden-based, William brought a career in global logistics to Nomadic Road and now leads every Mongolia expedition, winter and summer, from the frozen lakes to the Gobi. Precision on the ground, and a long appetite for the far end of the map.
Prices are per person, in US dollars, and exclude your international flights. Dates and prices are
set in good faith, and two things beyond our control can move them: a domestic flight schedule
that changes can shift the dates by a day, and a sharp move in fuel prices can change the price. If
either happens after you book, we tell you first, and why.
This ground, your dates, your circle? That’s Privé →
Nothing Discovered Later
The Drive
A Toyota Land Cruiser 200 on dirt roads that run for days, the tallest sand dunes in Mongolia, river crossings in the Orkhon valley, and a last stretch of tarmac home. Close to thirteen hundred kilometres, most of them without a road.
The Landscape
Singing dunes and rust-coloured mountains in the south. Brown turning to green as you drive north. The river valley the Mongol empire chose, with a waterfall in it, and the open steppe outside the capital.
The Nights
Traditional gers, the same round felt homes the nomads live in, on most nights. Camps raised from nothing, exclusively for you, in places where no hotel has ever existed. Hotels at either end.
The Table
Hot breakfasts at camp, packed lunches on the road, dinners the field chef has ready as the light goes off the steppe, and whatever a family puts in front of you when you are a guest in their ger.
The Culture
Nomads moving with their herds as their ancestors did, a family’s ger with the door open, and a Naadam festival created just for the expedition members.
Where You’re Headed
Your Journey, in Movements
70% of every Signature expedition is planned to the hour. What follows is the seventy. The thirty, the road decides.
The Beginning · The Gateway into Mongolia
Ulaanbaatar, the capital of the Land of the Blue Sky. The convoy meets, the briefing sets the road ahead, and the next morning a flight sets you down in the Gobi, with the afternoon to find your feet on the dirt.
The Dunes and the Cliffs · The Gobi
The tallest sand dunes in Mongolia, which sing when the wind moves them. Then north out of the sand into mountains the wind has carved and coloured, and a camp raised for one night where the desert starts to end.
Nomadic Culture · The Green Valleys of the Orkhon
The longest push of the crossing, and the one where brown turns to green outside your window. Two nights in the Orkhon valley, where the empire was born: the waterfall, a family to sit with, and a Naadam run for the convoy alone.
History and Culture · The Old Capital and the Open Steppe
A day for the great Mongol empire, at Kharkhorin, the capital it ruled the world from. Then east across the steppe to a final camp on the edge of Hustai: the farewell to the countryside, and the farewell dinner.
The End · Back to the Capital
The short drive back into Ulaanbaatar, and a day that is yours: the city, a last look around, and an early night before the flight home.
The People Who Travel With You
Head of Mongolia Operations. First into every crossing, and the last one to call it a day.
William
Head of Mongolia Operations
Seventeen years in the air with Emirates, then the open road. British-born and Sweden-based, William brought a career in global logistics to Nomadic Road and now leads every Mongolia expedition, winter and summer, from the frozen lakes to the Gobi. Precision on the ground, and a long appetite for the far end of the map.
Rides with the convoy, camera up. Films what happens, not what’s staged, so it comes home with you.
filmmaker - nomadic summer - transgobi
Filmmaker
Rides with the convoy, camera up. Films what happens, not what’s staged, so it comes home with you.
Wherever the route sleeps in the wild: the camp raised before you arrive, beds made, and the fire already lit.
Hospitality crew - nomadic summer - trans gobi
Hospitality crew
Wherever the route sleeps in the wild: the camp raised before you arrive, beds made, and the fire already lit.
Behind the convoy with the tools and the backup vehicles. What breaks on the road gets fixed on the road.
Mechanics - Nomadic summer - trans gobi
Mechanics
Behind the convoy with the tools and the backup vehicles. What breaks on the road gets fixed on the road.
Wherever the route sleeps in the wild: cooking before you wake, and hot food in the middle of nowhere.
Field chef - Nomadic summer - trans gobi
Field chef
Wherever the route sleeps in the wild: cooking before you wake, and hot food in the middle of nowhere.
What to expect
Where you’ll Drive
What you’ll Drive
What you’ll See
Where you’ll Stay
Mongolia’s landscape is a study in contrasts, where verdant valleys give way to windswept dunes, and soaring mountains descend into fertile plains.
Unscripted Stories
