Mongolia's appeal is less about specific sights and more about the scale and strangeness of the country itself. That said, a few places and experiences stand out.
The Naadam Festival is the centerpiece of the Mongolian calendar. Held in Ulaanbaatar on July 11–13 each year (with smaller versions in towns across the country throughout early July), it features the Three Games of Men: wrestling, horse racing, and archery. The horse racing is the most remarkable — the jockeys are children aged five to twelve, racing across open steppe for distances up to 30 kilometres. It is spectacular, ancient-feeling, and completely unlike any sporting event elsewhere. Book accommodation months in advance if you plan to attend.
The Gobi Desert defies expectations. It is not a sea of sand — most of it is rock, scrub, and gravel. But the Flaming Cliffs at Bayanzag, where Roy Chapman Andrews found the first dinosaur eggs in 1922, glow orange and red in the afternoon sun, and the Khongor Els sand dunes rise 300 metres from the flat desert floor. The Yoliin Am canyon, cut deep into the Gurvan Saikhan mountains, stays icy even in summer. Combine these three in a loop from Dalanzadgad.
Lake Khovsgol in the far north is one of the great freshwater lakes of Asia — 136 kilometres long, intensely blue, surrounded by taiga forest. The Tsaatan people who live in the hills above the lake still herd reindeer. In winter the lake freezes thick enough to drive a truck across; in summer you can kayak, trek, or simply sit and watch the light change.
Staying with nomads is the reason many people come to Mongolia. It is not a tourist performance — millions of Mongolians genuinely live this way. Most tour operators can arrange a night or several in a ger camp, either a tourist-oriented one with comfortable beds and meals, or a homestay with an actual herding family. The latter requires more flexibility but is far more memorable. Accept everything offered — the salty milk tea, the dried cheese, the airag (fermented mare's milk) — and step over the threshold, never on it.
Eagle hunting in the west is one of the most visually striking things in Central Asia. The Kazakh eagle hunters of Bayan-Olgii province train golden eagles to hunt foxes and rabbits, and have done so for centuries. The Golden Eagle Festival, held the first weekend of October in Olgii, is the largest gathering of hunters. Outside the festival, you can arrange visits to eagle hunter families through guides in Khovd or Olgii.
The Orkhon Valley stretches across central Mongolia through lush grassland, hot springs, and ancient monasteries. Karakorum — Kharkhorum — was the capital of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century. Almost nothing of the original city remains, but the adjacent Erdene Zuu monastery, built partly from its stones, is one of the most evocative Buddhist sites in the country. The valley is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Horse trekking is the best way to move through the steppe. You don't need experience — Mongolian horses are small, tough, and forgiving — but you will be sore. A week's ride through the Arkhangai highlands or along the Orkhon River is challenging and wonderful. Local guides are essential and available through operators in Ulaanbaatar or small towns.