Things to do
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Bogd Khan Palace Museum
Six temples and a two-storey Russian-built winter house survive from the residence of Mongolia's eighth Jebtsundamba, head of state until 1924. Inside are his ceremonial robes, a ger lined in snow leopard skins and diplomatic gifts from a brief spell of independence. The complex is unheated and lightly visited. Ninety minutes covers it, and it pairs with Zaisan up the road.
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Choijin Lama Temple Museum
Five temple buildings stand behind a wall among downtown towers, preserved as a museum while monasteries were being destroyed elsewhere in the 1930s. Inside are tsam dance masks, thangka and figures from the school of the sculptor Zanabazar. The interiors are dim and unheated, so winter visits tend to be brief. An hour is enough.
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Gandantegchinlen Monastery
Mongolia's main working monastery survived the purges of the 1930s as a showpiece and now houses hundreds of monks. Its central temple holds a gilded Migjid Janraisig standing some twenty-six metres tall, rebuilt in the 1990s after the original was carried off and melted down. Morning chanting is open to visitors, and a fee applies to photography inside.
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Genghis Khan Statue Complex
Stainless steel wraps a forty-metre equestrian figure on the steppe about fifty kilometres east of the capital, facing the place tradition gives as the birthplace of the man it depicts. A lift and stairway inside lead out onto the horse's head for a view over grassland. Tours often combine it with Terelj in one day, which makes for a long drive.
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Gorkhi-Terelj National Park
Granite outcrops, larch forest and river meadow begin about ninety minutes northeast of the capital, which makes this the nearest taste of the Mongolian countryside for anyone short of time. Ger camps take overnight guests and hire out horses. Summer weekends bring capital traffic, while the shoulder months of May and September stay quiet.
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Naran Tuul Market
Known locally as the black market, this fenced ground on the eastern edge of town sells saddles, deels, boots, felt and ger poles to Mongolians equipping themselves for the countryside. It is the practical place to buy a winter coat or a horse bridle. Pickpocketing is common in the crowds, bags are best worn in front, and the gates close mid-afternoon.
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National Museum of Mongolia
Three floors trace the country from bronze age burials through the Mongol empire to the democratic protests of 1990, with a hall of traditional dress from each ethnic group that justifies the visit on its own. Labelling in English is good. Two hours suits a general visit, and it is the sensible first stop before heading to the countryside.
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Sükhbaatar Square
The civic centre of the capital is a wide paved rectangle with parliament along the north side, where a seated Genghis Khan presides from a colonnade. Ceremonies, concerts and occasional protests happen here. It anchors the city grid and sits a short walk from the national museum, the opera and the main department store.
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Zaisan Memorial
A Soviet-era mosaic ring on a hill south of the centre commemorates wartime alliance, and the climb up the steps delivers a panorama over the city, the river and the power station chimneys. Around three hundred steps lead to the top. Wind funnels hard across the platform in winter, and sunset draws a crowd.