I’ve been traveling Mongolia by car for more than six years now, learning most of my lessons on the road the hard way.

Mongolia is completely unforgiving in so many ways and incredibly rewarding in so many others. Just when you think you can’t take another corrugated washboard road, the most amazing natural wonder appears ahead. It’s an effect I like to call the Mongolian Magic, and one of the things that makes Mongolia one of the best overlanding destinations in the world.

The route I’m laying out below is one of my favorites for traveling from Central Mongolia up to Northern Mongolia.

It has everything you want – historic sites, small towns, easy-to-drive dirt tracks, and enough traffic where you don’t feel completely alone. This is the main “highway” locals use to make the journey from Tsetserleg to Murun.

Below I’ve outlined the day-to-day itinerary and even included a Google Maps pin list so you can navigate this 6-day route on your own.

As always, there are several ways to take this route, and even more ways to break it up day by day. This was my preferred way to take it on, giving me a slow but satisfying journey through this incredibly beautiful and historically rich part of the country. You can do this route in one long driving day, or in six days, like I outline below.

Keep in mind that road conditions often change, but overall, this is an easy route. If you have an oversized vehicle, or one with low clearance, I feel confident in saying this route won’t give you any out of the ordinary issues. I say out of the ordinary because you are still in Mongolia, after all!

There are three bridges along this route you don’t want to miss, as well as some historically significant landmarks I’ve pointed out below.

Let me know what you think of this route if you take it, and any other tips fellow travelers might need that I might have missed!