Modern Spring Nomads | Small Group Trip | April 27th 2025 | 9 Days
Spring in Mongolia offers a unique and immersive experience, allowing you to witness the raw beauty of the steppe, sand dunes, and historical river valleys while connecting with herding families who share their traditions, daily lives, and warm hospitality.
Spring in Mongolia may not be the most commonly promoted season by tour companies, but it holds immense significance for Mongolia’s herders and offers a fascinating, genuine, and immersive experience, allowing you to witness the country’s raw beauty and cultural authenticity firsthand.
Embark on this extraordinary journey as you explore, discover, and trek three of Mongolia’s most iconic landscapes: the expansive open steppe, sand dunes, and a historical river valley, all while immersing yourself in the rich traditions and daily life of Mongolia’s herding families.
Our adventure takes you to the heart of the central region, where you will be welcomed by three diverse families, each offering a unique lens into their rural existence. These families, with whom we have nurtured long-term local community partnerships, invite you to experience their warm hospitality and gain a connection to their way of life and an understanding of their rural heritage.
Interested? Please email or send a message through WhatsApp for the full itinerary details. Price details are below.
- Start Date – April 27th 2025
- Duration – 9 Days
- Maximum Group Size 6 which is refreshingly small for the travel industry
- Accommodation – Homestays – Hosted by families we work in long-term local partnerhsip with, family ger camps
- No single supplements for solo travellers
- Travel with & experience the friendship of our great Mongolian teams of male driver & female trip assistant as well as the friendship of the families we work in partnership with.
- This is a small group trip. However, our maximum is group size is six – which is refreshingly small for the travel industry. Our small group sizes mean that our trips are more respectful for your host families that we work in long-term local community partnerships with. It also means you’ll be one of few rather than one of many and this leads to a more genuine experience as well as a more personal and real insight for you as our guest. It also means that no two trips are ever the same as we can keep things flexible. All images used throughout our website were taken either by EL guests or members of the EL team. This is the Mongolia that you will also experience.
- Book With Confidence (see below)
‘It won’t always be easy and comfortable but It felt like our interactions with local families were authentic and respectful so embrace it anyway and you will have a truly memorable trip.’
Catherine Challies, Modern Mongolian Nomads
Modern Spring Nomads | Positive Impact Overview
- No domestic flights. Emissions per km for domestic flights are high because a large proportion of the flight is spend taking off and landing. As we are serious about tackling the carbon footprint of the trips we offer, we try that a majority of our experiences don’t include domestic flights.
- The maximum group size is six which is refreshingly small for the travel industry and allows us to manage our impact.
- The experience has been built with a focus on Mongolian culture and on creating local benefits for local people & communities including families we work in long-term local community partnership with – helping to supplement their income to help prevent urban migration, face the challenges of climate change and allowing them to maintain their fragile herding lifestyle- https://www.eternal-landscapes.co.uk/who-we-are/who-we-work-with/
- Our team of female Mongolian trip assistants is breaking down barriers in tourism and leading the way for other Mongolian women from a diverse range of backgrounds to work in and be supported by tourism. Mongolia’s growing economy has not directly translated into better employment opportunities for women and by choosing to travel with us you’re helping us to create long-term development and employment opportunities for our brilliant trip assistants – https://www.eternal-landscapes.co.uk/empowering-mongolian-women-in-tourism/
- High unemployment rates and toxic masculinity are two very real issues faced by older more traditional men in Mongolia. By choosing to travel with us you’re helping us to provide long-term employment for our team of older, more traditional male drivers who have experience and accumulated knowledge but who would otherwise struggle to find employment and provide for their extended families – https://www.eternal-landscapes.co.uk/supporting-mongolias-male-tourism-drivers/
- We are in the process of measuring the carbon footprint of each experience we offer and balancing the footprint through the Mongolian Nomad Carbon Project. We wanted a high-standard project local to Mongolia where the local community had a positive say in the scheme and its impact. It’s the first project of its kind in Mongolia – https://www.eternal-landscapes.co.uk/climate-action-plan/
- A donation is made to the Mongolian projects we support and that you will visit such as the Uuliin Nuur Community Project in Ulaanbaatar – https://www.eternal-landscapes.co.uk/project-support/
Explore More: Connected Stories on Our Blog
Learn more about the herding calendar for the families we work with.
Learn about Mongolia’s Orkhon River Valley
Learn more about Khogno Khan Nature Reserve in the central heartland
Learn about Kharkhorin – the ancient capital of the Mongol Empire
Modern Spring Nomads | The Small Details
- For all of our low season experiences, we offer a sliding price scale. We appreciate your holiday funds are precious and so the price depends on the final group size. The more individual travellers that book so everyone benefits.
Group Size – Maximum of six. Minimum of two required for a guaranteed departure (or pay a surcharge)
** If you’re considering this trip as a private experience for a group, we prefer a maximum group size of 6 as it helps manage our impact but we will increase it for private trips. Get in touch for details.
- Final group size of 2 guests USD 2230 pp
- Final group size of 3-4 guests USD 2105 pp
- Final group size of 5 guests USD 1850 pp **Current Group Size**
- Final group size of 6 guests USD 1680 pp
Where Does Your Payment Go?
We understand that budget is a personal consideration, and everyone has different preferences. Our rates may be higher compared to some other agencies, not because we position ourselves as a luxury tour operator, but due to our commitment to a form of tourism that is fair and equitable. By limiting our operations to around 150-200 travelers annually, we focus on delivering personalized and meaningful journeys rather than generic tick-list experiences.
- Commitment to Mongolia: We are a registered Mongolian business, contributing to the local economy through taxes, employment, and social security payments. Your tour payment stays within Mongolia, supporting local initiatives and fostering economic growth.
- Empowering Employment Opportunities: We offer long-term employment to individuals often overlooked by other tour companies. Our team includes female Mongolian trip assistants who break barriers in the tourism industry, paving the way for other women to flourish in tourism-related roles. Similarly, we employ older, traditional male drivers, addressing high unemployment rates and supporting extended families within Mongolia. Learn more about our initiatives: Empowering Mongolian Women and Supporting Male Drivers.
- Community and Herding Family Support: Our trips are designed to benefit Mongolian herding families and local communities that we have formed long-term local community partnerships with without disrupting their lives or work. Our sustained support helps these families face the challenges posed by climate change. Discover more: About Us.
- Climate Emergency Advocacy: As members of Tourism Declares A Climate Emergency and signatories of the Glasgow Declaration, we are committed to finding solutions to the climate crisis. We pioneer regenerative tourism practices that minimize our carbon footprint and contribute positively to our planet’s well-being. Learn about our climate initiatives: Climate Emergency.
- All meals outside of the city of Ulaanbaatar. Mainly prepared and cooked by your local team so they are fresh and it means we offer more flexibility for any dietary requirements. We also provide filtered drinking water (not bottled), tea, and coffee.
- In Ulaanbaatar: local lunch and welcome drink on city walking tour
- Local team of English-speaking female Mongolian trip assistant and Mongolian male driver
- All overland transportation throughout the trip (+ fuel)
- Each vehicle has a charger for cameras and phones
- Free (informal and relaxed) city walking tour of Ulaanbaatar
- Transportation to and from the airport on arrival and departure days
- All activities mentioned PLUS any activities offered including
- Camel or horseback rides
- Entrance fees to monasteries, temples, and museums (when with local team) – excludes camera tickets
- Festival tickets if a festival is highlighted in the itinerary
- International airfare to and from Mongolia
- Accommodation in Ulaanbaatar
* Our trip pricing excludes the price of accommodation in UB though. Why? Everyone is different is the standard of accommodation they prefer at the start and end of a trip. As there is now such a variety of hotels in UB it is easier to exclude this cost. I provide a list of ideas covering varying standards and budgets and I can also help with booking. There’s everything from a homestay through to Airbnb, US$10 guesthouses and the Shangri-La!
- Domestic flight where/if applicable
*If you are travelling by domestic flight, the schedule and cost of the domestic flights have not yet been determined by the Mongolian airlines. Once you have booked this trip, you will be notified directly by us as soon as that info becomes available. Reservations and payment arrangements for any domestic flight will be coordinated by us.
- Passport and visa fees
Let us know your nationality at the time of booking and we’ll confirm whether you need to apply for a Mongolian visa. It is a relatively easy process depending on your nationality and we can help with some of the formalities.
- Travel insurance (mandatory)
- Gratuities
*Each member of the local team receives a responsible but fair salary and none have to rely on receiving gratuities to supplement their income. In addition, we make sure that everyone who works with us or helps us is fairly rewarded for their work and the service they provide. At the end of the tour, if you wish to make a gratuity to the local team then thank you – it is not compulsory but it is appreciated when given. If you would like to provide a tip, a tip for the drivers would be roughly equal to what you would give to the tour guides – anything from $20 (USD) per member of staff (driver & tour guide) is a good minimum guide.
Take a look at our comprehensive FAQ section – https://www.eternal-landscapes.co.uk/mongolia-faqs/
We are members of Tourism Declares A Climate Emergency and a signatory of The Glasgow Declaration which requires us to publish an annual Climate Action Plan. It also means we have essentially signed up to work towards halving our emissions by 2030 and reaching Net Zero as soon as possible before 2050. We must report publicly on an annual basis on progress against our interim and long-term targets, as well as on actions being taken. We do this in our Climate Action Plan linked above.
One of the five pathways defined in the Glasgow Declaration is ‘measure’ and we have started the process of measuring the carbon footprint of our tours.
- We wanted an accurate footprint analysis whilst also keeping the process manageable and achievable. Of the limited carbon calculators available to small tourism companies with a restricted budget we have signed up with the carbon calculator tool Carmacal – specifically designed for tour operators and the 2017 winner of the UNWTO Award for Innovation in Research and Technology.
- However, there are limitations with this online tool in the fact that – like most online carbon calculators – you can only measure transport and accommodation and a few very specific activities. But, the main contributors to carbon footprints are food, consumption, transportation, and energy, and all are heavily utilised during a tourism experience.
- As a result, Jess has been working with postgraduate student Kelly Hirschbuehler from the Responsible Tourism Management Postgraduate Course of Leeds Beckett University in the UK – the only responsible tourism management MSc certified by the UNWTO – looking at how we can measure the carbon emissions of meals on tour as well as the carbon footprint of our office as well as certain tour activities.
- Using the calculations provided by Kelly in her research project we can now better calculate – not perfectly but still better – the overall carbon footprint of each trip we run.
We then balance the footprint for each tour by purchasing Plan Vivo Foundation carbon certificates which are used to support the Plan Vivo Mongolian Nomad Project – working in partnership with the Mongolian Society of Range Management.
It’s not perfect, but it is a start. After all, you can’t manage what you don’t measure, and the way we measure the carbon footprint of our tours is manageable and achievable for us – a very small business with limited finance and resources.
We will be publishing the carbon footprint for each tour on each specific tour page but this will take a little time.
Help us to spread the word about our immersive experiences! Share the adventure with friends and family.
