Lake Khövsgöl (multi-day)

Хөвсгөл нуур (Хатгал)

Mongolia's 'blue pearl', a clear lake ringed by taiga and mountains

⚠ Needs 3+ nights

Tickets

National park fee applies (check amount); usually included in packages

Address

Khatgal village at the lake's southern tip is the base, several hundred kilometres northwest of Ulaanbaatar

If you've been picturing only desert and steppe, this is where Mongolia changes shape. Larch forest runs down to the shoreline and the water is clear enough to see the stones on the bottom, stretching to the horizon. People stay in lakeside ger camps, ride horses or boats, and some visit reindeer-herding families. In summer it's a cool escape; in winter the lake freezes thick and trips run across the ice. Many say the roads are kinder than the Gobi's.