Visiting Mongolia’s Reindeer Herders in Winter: What to Know & Tours to Book
You’ve seen Mongolia’s reindeer herders all over social media and in magazines and now you’re wondering how to visit them yourself. Here are the best tours to book to visit the tsaatan reindeer herders in winter (the best time to visit), and everything else you need to know when you go.
Chances are you’ve seen Mongolia’s reindeer herder’s photos on social media, in magazines, or on television. They are the last ethnic group in the world to herd and ride reindeer, so people are naturally curious about their unique way of life. They are one of the biggest draws for people to visit Mongolia for good reason – you won’t find a community like this anywhere else in the world.
Living in the remote taiga in northern Mongolia, the Dukha people, known more commonly as the tsaatan, which simply means people with reindeer, in the Mongolian language, are one of the hardest to reach communities in Mongolia. And that’s saying a lot.
To get there, it usually takes a 2 – 4 days from the capital of Ulaanbaatar and involves many different modes of transportation. Airplanes, cars, Russian furgon vans, horses, or even reindeer. No matter what time of year you visit, getting there is always an adventure.
I’ve visited the tribe five times already, both in summer and winter, and I have to admit that visiting them in winter is my favorite.
In winter, there are less tourists visiting this area and the families that make up the tribe are easier to reach.
In summer, the families head deep into the mountains of the taiga and can take two days by horseback to reach. If you’re a comfortable horseman, I absolutely recommend making this trip to the reindeer tribe in the summer.
However, in winter, the families of the tribe come down from the mountains, where the weather can be too harsh, and are a bit easier to reach. I saw that relatively, because there will still be a lot of driving, and horse or reindeer riding involved. Some families are possible to reach by car, if you aren’t comfortable riding, and other families it will be necessary to ride for at least a few hours to reach.
Even the most kitted out 4×4 vehicles won’t make it far into the taiga.
Because the families move seasonally and are near impossible to contact on your own, one of the only ways to visit them is by booking a tour privately or joining a group.
Mongolia is a bit complicated in that way. It isn’t easy to roam solo or wing an adventure here; the country is just too vast and finding the things worth doing and people worth visiting takes knowing a local to get you there. Especially in winter when you genuinely don’t want to get stuck outdoors or be put in a bad situation when the sun starts setting and temperatures start dropping to -40°C.
As a former travel journalist and avid solo traveler, the idea of always having to hire a guide or join a group used to be my nightmare. But, having now hosted group tours across Mongolia for the last several years exactly for this reason, I can say with full honesty and transparency that traveling this way is the absolute best way to experience Mongolian culture and hospitality. Plus, look at like this – hiring a guide or joining a tour with the right local tour operator really helps support the local communities and drives more money back into the local economy. I don’t want to go on too much of a tangent here, and I think you already get the idea.
So, let me jump into the best time to visit the reindeer herders, the weather in the taiga, how to get to a reindeer family, and the best reindeer herder winter tours to book.
Table of Contents
First Time in Mongolia? Here's Where to Start
Understanding how things work in Mongolia can be confusing. Here are some things I’d book for my first trip to the country.
🚕 Airport Transfer into Ulaanbaatar
Book your airport transfer before you land. Ulaanbaatar taxis are chaotic and this is worth the peace of mind.
🛌 Where to Stay
My picks at every budget, all within walking distance of the main square:
→ Hostel One: best hostel in the city for solo travelers
→ Urgoo Hotel: locally owned boutique spot, great value and location
→ H9 Hotel Nine: steps from Sukhbaatar Square, ideal for first-time visitors
→ Best Western Premier Tuushin: 4-star hotel next to Sukhbaatar Square, super comfortable
👉 Make the Most of Your Time in Ulaanbaatar
If you have extra days, these are the day tours and 1-day experiences that start and end in Ulaanbaatar I’d actually recommend:
→ Ulaanbaatar: Private Guided City Tour with Car
→ Cooking Class in a Local Home
→ Mongolian Traditional Dance & Music Concert Ticket
→ Chinggis Khaan Equestrian Statue & Terelj National Park
→ Ulaanbaatar: Private Nomad Horseback Ride + Homemade Lunch
Visiting the Reindeer Herders in Winter: Why Winter is the Best Time of Year to Travel North
Winter is the best time to visit the reindeer herders for several reasons.
First, there are very few tourists this time of year and that means more privacy and intimate experiences with a family. One of the biggest downsides in visiting the reindeer tribe in summer is that with very few families, and a really high demand to visit them, you’ll likely see a lot of other tourists during your visit. In winter, this isn’t the case.
Second, January and February offer absolutely stunning scenery in northern Mongolia this time of year. The landscape looks so pristine covered in a layer of white snow and the trees make it look and feel like a truly untouched winter wonderland. These are just a few of the reasons why Mongolia in winter is my absolute favorite time of year. Besides visiting the reindeer tribe, there are plenty of other things to see and do in northern Mongolia during these months, including walking on a completely frozen Lake Khovsgol, admiring the magic waters of Jargant River, and venturing into the Khoridol Saridag Mountains.
Finally, having visited the Dukha people in both summer and winter, I personally feel like the reindeer are happier in winter. Winter is when they have their full antlers on display, their winter coats are at their fullest, and they seem their strongest. I know that might sound a bit woo-woo, but from what I’ve seen, winter really is the season they are truly made for, and the season they’re the happiest in.
Weather in the Taiga: What to Actually Expect
There’s no way around it, winter in this part of Khovsgol Province is genuinely extreme.
Before you plan and book a trip to Mongolia during winter, it’s worth being honest with yourself about what that means before committing to a trip here.
- Average temperatures in the taiga during winter typically run from around -20°C to -30°C (-4°F to -22°F).
It’s not unusual for conditions to drop even further on a particularly cold night, sometimes approaching -40°C.
While in the small towns and cities like Murun, buildings will have reliable heating, but once you start to head into the taiga it will be a different story.
The name for the homes in the taiga are ortz and they are basic tipi structures with practically no insulation. Each ortz will have a wood-burning stove that will need manually fed throughout the day and night. Sleeping in an ortz in winter was genuinely the coldest night of sleep I’ve ever had in my entire life.
I knew going into staying with a reindeer herding family in the taiga I’d be exposed to extreme cold, but nothing truly prepares you for it.
A proper sleeping bag rated for extreme cold, real winter layers, hand and feet warmers, are all fundamental for traveling to the taiga in winter.
For recommendations on what to pack, these are my extreme cold weather packing essentials to survive -40°C →
The Two Gateway Towns: Ulaan-Uul vs Tsagaannuur
There are two main towns used as entry points into the taiga to reach the reindeer families. Which one you use generally depends on where the family you plan to visit has set up their camp: west taiga or east taiga.
Ulaan-Uul is the entryway to the west taiga and is the most common starting point for reaching families in that area. It’s a small, quiet town, more of a logistics stop than a destination where you’ll typically pick up final supplies and meet local guides or drivers before heading further north.
Tsagaannuur is the entryway to the east taiga and is generally used for reaching families further east and north, closer to the Siberian border. It’s similarly modest in size, but it tends to be the busier of the two during winter.
Expect basic services in both towns, simple guesthouses, small shops, and not much beyond that. Visiting the towns themselves aren’t the point, they’re the last stop before journeying into the taiga.
From either town, the last stretch to reach a family isn’t a fixed distance or a fixed method. It genuinely depends on the season and where the families have moved.
Getting to a Reindeer Herding Family
Here’s the part that surprises a lot of people.
In winter, reindeer families often move their camps down from the higher mountains, seeking more bearable conditions for their reindeer herds. Because of that, it’s sometimes possible to drive to a family’s winter camp, at least partway. This isn’t an option during spring, summer or fall, when reaching them means riding in on horseback or reindeer for many hours over multiple days, so winter is actually the easiest time to reach a reindeer herding family.
That said, driving access isn’t guaranteed and depends entirely on where a specific family has settled that winter and what the roads and trail conditions allow.
In many cases, you’ll still cover part of the distance on horseback, or on the backs of the reindeer themselves, particularly for the final stretch into a family’s actual camp.
Hire a Guide or Join a Tour: Best Reindeer Herder Winter Tours to Book
No matter the season, you cannot simply show up in Ulaan-Uul or Tsagaannuur and expect to find a Tsaatan family on your own. The taiga is enormous, largely unmarked, and the families move throughout the year based on their own needs, not on any published schedule. Without someone who already knows where a specific family currently is, you will not find them.
This is why you need to go through a local guide, tour operator, or a herder who already has a relationship with the families and knows their current location.
It’s not a matter of convenience; it’s the only realistic way in.
Beyond the practical necessity, it also matters for the families themselves. A good local guide maintains an ongoing relationship with the herders they visit, which means your visit is welcomed rather than intrusive, and that the impact of tourism on these communities stays respectful and sustainable.
Here are the reindeer herder winter tours I recommend booking.
11-Day Mongolia Winter: Reindeer Herders & Nomadic Life (11-days, Private Tour)
This private tour includes everything I would recommend seeing and doing in northern Mongolia. Dates are flexible, so you can book anytime. Again, I recommend visiting January or February as the best time to visit northern Mongolia.
Starting in Ulaanbaatar, this tour breaks up the long drive to Khovsgol Province by stopping in Erdenet, a Soviet-era mining town I always found quirky in all the right ways. From there you continue north to a frozen Lake Khuvsgul to experience the beauty of it being completely frozen over. Then, it’s onto Tsagaannuur and into the taiga to spend time with a reindeer herding family.
After visiting a family, you take the scenic route back through the area stopping at the Jargant River and Renchinlkhumbe village, two of my favorite places in the area. Then, it’s onto Murun, the Uran Togoo Volcano, and the scenic route down through Central Mongolia to end at Kharkhorin and Elsen Tsarkhai before returning to Ulaanbaatar.
This route is great for really experiencing it all and getting the most out of a winter trip to Mongolia and the reindeer herders.
CLICK HERE: Best 11-day tour that covers it all →
From Ulaanbaatar: Khovsgol Lake & Tsaatan Tribe Winter Tour (6-days, Group Tour)
This is a group tour with set dates: December 27 to January 1, 2027.
What’s to like about this tour is that a domestic flight to Murun from Ulaanbaatar is included at the very start of the tour so you jump right into it.
From there, the group goes to Ulaan-Uul for an overnight before heading into the taiga to meet a local family. This tour doesn’t overnight with a family, so if you’re looking for that extreme experience, this won’t be the right fit.
One special and unique element to this tour is the New Year’s Eve train journey from Erdenet to Ulaanbaatar, which is a quite fun experience.
CLICK HERE: Unique New Year’s Eve group tour to see the reindeer herders →
Author: Breanna Wilson
Hi! Sain uu! I’m Breanna, an American travel writer and adventurer living in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for more than 9 years. I’ve written for and been featured in Condé Nast Traveler, CNN, Forbes, and the New York Times, among others. Read more of my Mongolia travel articles here.
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I can not come in February 2026… I think I might be moving out of the US.
But, oh! Maybe I can do 2027?!