Beyond Adventure Mongolia Extreme

An expedition across the Mongolian steppe, the mountains and the Gobi, self-guided in convoy, run as one of the operator’s hardest tiers, with the price quoted on application.

The operator does not dress this one up. The roads are described as tough, the days as long and the distances as huge, and that candour is the selling point rather than a warning: this is the Extreme edition and it is meant to be.

Mongolia is the right country for it. There are almost no surfaced roads outside the capital, a quarter of the population still lives nomadically, and the Gobi is a gravel and rock desert rather than a sand one, which makes it driveable and utterly empty. The itinerary takes in the open steppe, the mountains and the Gobi, with visits to nomadic families and ancient monasteries along the way, and the operator’s own phrase for what the days feel like, far away from everything familiar, is about right. Life on that land has changed very little in centuries, which is the half of the trip that is not about the driving at all.

The cars are the operator’s own safari-prepared machines rather than hire vehicles, which is the distinguishing feature of everything it runs. No day-by-day itinerary, trip length or inclusions were published at the time of writing, and the departure is listed for 2028 with bookings open, so all of that needs establishing directly. The price is given on application. Summer is the only realistic window on the steppe, where winter temperatures reach minus thirty. Anyone considering it should ask early: these departures are small, and the vehicle preparation alone means places are limited.