Self-Driving Mongolia: 19 Helpful Tips for When You Rent A Car (or Drive Through)
Where to camp, safety advice, and other important things to know when renting a car or driving through Mongolia on your own.
I started driving solo, overlanding my way across this vast and beautiful country, years ago.
To me, it felt like the ultimate freedom. Thanks to my Land Cruiser Troopy 78, I can pack up the car in minutes, usually just packing a fresh set of clothes, and be on road. Sometimes with a specific destination in mind. Sometimes just needing to fill a craving for an undisturbed night surrounded by nature.
When I first came to Mongolia in 2018, it was a motorcycle adventure that brought me back again in 2019. In 2020, I was hoping to recreate that motorcycle adventure, but to bring along friends. Unfortunately, we all know how 2020 turned out.
When I was finally able to return to Mongolia in 2022, I decided to ditch the motorcycles and go for four wheels instead. It was the best decision of my life.
With the help of some friends, and with tourism still suffering, I was able to take out some pretty awesome 4×4 vehicles to explore the country. Which is exactly how my love for overlanding and car camping started.
Table of Contents
Are you planning your trip last minute?
🚕 Book a Cheap Airport Transfer (great, budget-friendly option when landing in Mongolia)
🛌 Best Places to Stay:
Hostel One (favorite overall hostel with central location and clean facilities)
Urgoo Hotel (local boutique hotel with clean rooms and great location)
H9 Hotel Nine (boutique hotel located next to Sukhbaatar Square)
👉 Top Things to Do in Ulaanbaatar:
Cooking Class in a Local Home (unique way to spend a day and meet a local family!)
Mongolian Calligraphy Class: 1-Hour Lesson (try your hand at traditional Mongolian script)
Ulaanbaatar City Tour (best way to get to know the city with a local guide)
🐴 Most Popular Day Trips from Ulaanbaatar:
Brief Introduction to Mongol Horse (the most Mongolian experience you can have!)
Day Trip to Terelj National Park and the Chinggis Khaan Equestrian Statue (the perfect day trip for active travelers)
Bogd Khan National Park Hiking Day Trip (a beautiful hike with views of the city in the world’s first ever national park)
Mongolia by Car
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term overlanding, it simply means being able to be completely self-sufficient out of your car, no matter where you are. You can sleep in the vehicle, cook in the vehicle, and it’s packed with everything you need from groceries to clothing and recovery gear.
My Troopy has all that and more, including wi-fi thanks to Starlink, a custom 90 liter water tank, and a built in diesel heater for those unexpectedly cold Mongolian nights. It’s the best way to travel and experience Mongolia, without a doubt.
Car camping is similar in the sense that you drive somewhere and camp using your car. Sometimes that means in a tent beside the car. Car camping is done in any kind of car without any special preparation, and more often than not, you’ll see Mongolians traveling this way in a Prius.
If you’d rather experience Mongolia by motorcycle, read our motorcycle rental guide →
Mongolia, the Best Country for a Road Trip Adventure in the World
There are many challenges to driving in Mongolia. For one, only about 1/5 of the roads are paved.
Many of the roads, including the roads to some of the country’s most famous landmarks, are dirt paths. Figuring out which path to take can be a daunting experience if you’re not used to driving this way.
Especially when cellular data is unreliable. Before you even leave Ulaanbaatar, you need to make sure all of your maps are downloaded to your device and are available offline. If you forget to do that, well, you’re out of luck.
But it’s those things that also make Mongolia magical, and the best country in the world for a road trip adventure.
Because it’s not easily accessible, it’s still an undiscovered gem. It hasn’t been ruined by mass tourism and the tourists that do come are usually some of the coolest people you’ll meet. Mongolia isn’t for everyone, but for the people it is for, it’s paradise.
It’s those experiences driving without seeing people for hours that really makes you understand how remote this place is. It’s also why it’s so important to be prepared here.
With nobody but the goats around, you have to be ready to get yourself out of any situation at any time.
I can see how this is intimidating to most travelers, but it shouldn’t be. Like anywhere, Mongolia is a place where you have to make the most of everything and live in the present moment. So what if you have a flat tire? Flats are fixable. Remembering the gorgeous scenery you’ve been temporarily stranded in? You may never see something quite as beautiful ever again.
Entering Mongolia by Car: Tips for Acquiring Car Insurance
By law, you need car insurance when you bring a vehicle into Mongolia.
As far as local car insurance companies go, I personally use Mandal Insurance. Contact them before driving into the country to arrange insurance for your car ahead of time. Most of the time, you can’t get car insurance at the border crossings.
Reach out the them at [email protected] and +976 7575-2000.
Contact them at least two weeks before you plan to enter Mongolia. You can do everything digitally and be sure to ask for off-road coverage to be included in your plan.
19 Tips for Driving Mongolia
It’s from these combined experiences – motorcycle packing, car camping, and overlanding – that I’m able to share this advice that I’ve learned. After five years of traveling this way, here are the most important things I’ve learned self-driving in Mongolia.
1. You don’t need to be a master mechanic, but you absolutely should know how to change a tire.
Even getting to some of Mongolia’s most famous landmarks will mean off-roading. Sometimes to the point of questioning the map and yourself. Thinking, there’s no way this can be right. Unfortunately, it usually is.
Which means, if you don’t know how already, be sure to learn how to change a tire before you even leave home.
Almost everyone who travels here gets a flat tire at some point. Be sure if you’re renting a car in Mongolia, the car you’re sent out with has a spare tire. When you pick up the car, also familiarize yourself with where the jack and tire iron are.
2. Don’t be afraid to ask locals for advice along the way. They can be surprisingly helpful – even though you don’t speak the same language!
Always, always, always ask locals along the way. Mongolia is such a tough place that everyone helps everyone, no matter what.
Use Google Translate and whatever else means of pointing, smiling, map tracing, and sign language you can to ask about road conditions, weather, directions, and more. You’ll be surprised how well you can communicate even though you don’t speak the same language.
Additionally, check iOverlander, look at Google satellite images, use Caravanistan, or ask in Mongolia Travel Facebook groups. In Mongolia it’s always important to ask about best routes, current route conditions (especially if there’s been a lot of rain), destination updates, and other up-do-date advice.
Thanks to severe weather, it’s not uncommon for areas to be flooded, roads and bridges to be washed out, or routes to be inaccessible for one reason or another.
3. Whatever driving time Google Maps gives you, don’t trust it.
In fact, I usually double it. Although it is getting more and more accurate.
For Maps.me, their driving times are also all over the map.
Instead, look at the distances and calculate your own driving time estimate based on the road conditions.
And remember not to push yourself too hard or drive too many hours in one go. When you start to become stressed about making it to a place because you packed your schedule too tight, that’s always when something goes wrong. You also don’t want to just see the country through your window, you want to breathe, feel, and live in it!
Try to make the most of any route you’re traveling on and ideally don’t take on more than 350 – 500 kilometers in one day. My sweet spot is 300 kilometers of driving a day. Anything more than that and I’m just too tired to enjoy the place I’ve stopped at, and that’s always a shame.
Mongolia is a place where you want to take your time and get the most out of everyday.
4. You can wild camp anywhere.
As far as camping in Mongolia goes, it’s wild camping heaven. As soon as you find a spot you like, it’s all yours! No permits, permission, or other planning necessary. It’s one of the top reasons why self-driving is such a cool thing to do here.
When it’s time to find a place to camp, be sure to give yourself plenty of time. My rule of thumb is to give myself two hours before dark (which is about 9:30 / 10 pm in the summer) to find, set up, and settle into camp.
I do this because sometimes I end up moving and changing my camp. That can be because either someone else has decided to camp nearby, the bugs are too aggressive, the spot has the chance to flood if it looks like it could rain, or a million other reasons.
For my essential camping gear, this packing list is useful →
5. No driving after dark. Not ever. No exceptions.
This is one of the most important things you can do to stay safe in Mongolia.
The roads are horrible, animals are everywhere, and Mongolian drivers can be crazy (and drunk). And it all only gets amplified at night.
6. When choosing where to wild camp, try to stay out of sight of the road.
When you’re trying to find a spot to wild camp, try to park in a place that’s not visible from the road. Unless you really like visitors at all hours!
That being said, you better believe the locals herders will know you’re there. Mongolia’s aren’t mean or malicious, but they are definitely curious! So, chances are a herder will come visit you on his motorcycle or horse. Feel free to offer them tea or food, but please don’t offer them anything to alcoholic to drink.
7. If you have the capacity to help, help other cars in need.
Cars stuck in rivers, mud, sand, or stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire, everyone helps everyone here.
If you have MaxTrax, be sure to get them down for drivers stuck in the sand. If you have tow ropes or a winch, do your duty to help get a car out of a bad situation. Basically, just don’t be a dick. If you can help, help.
8. Be mindful of the weather. Rain and mud will make getting in and out of certain places risky business.
It can also mean the potential to be stuck in a place if there are river crossings. Rivers rise and fall often, so keep an eye and double check before making any attempts to cross water higher than your knees.
Only make a crossing if you have the appropriate vehicle, skill, and power.
9. Drive out or and back into Ulaanbaatar as early in the morning as possible.
This is the only way to avoid traffic.
Think you’d rather take your chance late at night? Don’t do that either. I just drove back into Ulaanbaatar at 10 pm on a Tuesday night and the traffic was worse than if it was peak rush hour at 6 pm on a Friday.
Try to leave the city between 6:30 – 8:00 am, if you can. Then, try to enter back into the city before 2 pm, if possible. It’s not a perfect system, but it’s a good rule of thumb from my years of driving experience.
10. Turn signals mean it’s safe to pass and blinking headlights means cops ahead.
Mongolians are very conscious of helping their fellow drivers and expecting help in return. It’s just how Mongolian culture is.
If you’re on a main road and a big truck puts on his turn signal, this usually means it’s safe to pass. Be sure to check before passing though, just in case.
If you’re driving and all of sudden every driver who passes you in the opposite direction starts flashing their headlights, that means there’s a speed trap ahead. Slow down to 80 kilometers or below.
11. Petrovis is my gas station of choice.
I only refill at Petrovis gas stations, which are fortunately very common around the country. I’ve found this to the gas station that most locals prefer as well because it’s the best gas quality.
Since I have a diesel car, I also like them because they have a “Euro diesel.” I’m not 100% sure what that means, but I’ve found it to be a better quality than the regular diesel they have available. Not all of their locations have this type of diesel, so look for it on their sign before pulling in.
If you need a full tank of gas, just say “full” to the gas attendant, who will gladly fill you up. Petrovis takes credit cards, but you should always carry the cash equivalent of a few tanks of gas with you, just in case. It is unfortunately very common for foreign credit cards to have issues here.
As of today (June 29, 2025), a liter of diesel is about 3,850 tugrik or $1.07 USD.
12. Never let your gas tank get below a quarter of a tank.
Petrol shortages do happen here and it’s better to always be safe than sorry. Especially when you’re in the countryside. Even the smallest towns have at least one gas station, or at a minimum a pump.
Plus, if you drive a diesel car like I do, keeping your tanks above a quarter of a tank will help extend the life of your fuel filters.
13. Be kind and ready with your documents if you get pulled over.
Cops aren’t going to speak English and you aren’t going to speak Mongolian. Have patience, show them all your documents, and wait for instruction. They’ll be looking for your passport and driver’s license, car registration papers (it’s a little blue book), and proof of car insurance. If you have an International Driver’s License, show them that, as well. It’s helpful to have, but not necessary. A driver’s license from your home country will suffice.
Be sure you have your seatbelt on and don’t film the interaction. Mongolian cops are mostly friendly and they are just doing their job.
Whatever you do, do not try to bribe them. That will cause you more trouble than it’s worth.
14. Things are going to get dusty.
There’s no way around it. Your eyes and skin are going to dry out, your car is going to be covered in a layer of dust and dirt, and you’re going to love every second of it. It’s just how it goes.
15. Air up and down often, and try to find a balance in between.
In Mongolia, I run my tires a little flatter PSI/bar (35) on main roads than I would normally. I do this because roads often go from tarmac to dirt with insane corrosion and washboard in minutes. Then, back to tarmac. I can’t air down, and back up, with every little change in the road. I won’t ever make any progress that way.
When I do air down, and back up, it’s when I’m heading off-road for good, in search of a specific destination or campsite.
On horribly corrugated roads, like the ones in the Gobi, I ran 20 PSI and found that softened the ride.
16. Never leave your car unattended at a repair shop. Especially in the countryside.
Parts have been known to go missing. I was even warned that 5th gear in my model and make was particularly valuable at one point in time.
I’m also weary of leaving my car with anyone in the city, besides the Toyota shop I trust in Ulaanbaatar.
17. Don’t stay in the same spot for more than 1 – 2 nights.
Herders see everything, and I mean everything. After more than two nights you aren’t as conspicuous as your first two nights.
18. Always park far enough away from the road you aren’t in plain sight.
Otherwise, you will 100% get visitors.
This is also helpful at night when you have lights on. The car becomes like a fish tank, unless you have curtains, and then you become a beacon for anyone in the area to come check out.
19. If (and when) you do get visitors, don’t offer to share your alcohol.
If you’re drinking a beer or you have a bottle of wine out, kindly put it out of sight if you get a visitor. Try to do so discreetly, but do yourself a favor and just do it.
If they ask you for something to drink, you can offer them “os” (water), or tea or soda, but keep it at that. Otherwise, you are likely to have a visitor for a lot longer than you might enjoy.
Emergency Numbers
Should you run into any emergencies on the road, keep these local emergency numbers and information handy.
Author: Breanna Wilson
Hi! Sain uu! I’m Breanna, an American travel writer and adventurer living in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for more than 5 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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