Ulaanbaatar City Tour

Ulaanbaatar was actually founded 382 years ago, but it was not actually classified as a city until the 1940s. In earlier times, when nomads would settle down in one place, they used to set up their gers in a circular pattern around the village center; and therefore, Ulaanbaatar used to be called Ih Huree, or also Da Huree, which means “big circle”.

In 1840, the Gandan Monastery was founded in the area known as Ih Huree, now Ulaanbaatar.  Since that time, the Gandan Monastery has become the center of Mongolian Buddhism. From the 1940s, the first Russian-style of architecture, called Stalinist architecture or Soviet Classism, was introduced to Mongolia.

From the 1990s, following the democratic revolution and transition to an open-market economy, modern, glass-cladded high-rise buildings began to spring up everywhere.

However, you will still see nomadic dwellings, called gers, a Chin Dynasty-era Buddhist temple, and soviet classism, mixed in with the modern, high-rise buildings—a big contrast!  You can go shopping for world-famous brands, browse the cashmere shops, and experience much more entertainment than ever before.

Tour Itinerary Suggestion

-Pick up from hotel and visit the Gandan Monastery

-Zaisan, a hill-top, Soviet-era statue with a good view of the city

-Lunch

-Bogd Khan Winter Palace Museum, or the Tsojin Lama Monastery Museum

-Main Square (Sukhbaatar Square) and Parliament House

-National music and dance show (in the Soviet classism-style main theatre)

-Cashmere and souvenir shop

-National History Museum of Mongolia