No one goes to Mongolia for the cities, and yet there's much to recommend about Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. Once you’re over the shock of its chaotic diversity and deranged energy, Ulaanbaatar’s may well suck you in, with everything from Tibetan temples and royal palaces to acrobatics shows, heavy metal gigs, and traditional shamans. Most of the top things to do in Ulaanbaatar are actually outside the city: It’s a solid base for exploring the Gorkhi-Terelj and Hustai national parks, not to mention the giant Genghis Khan Statue Complex.
Unless you’re a sucker for icy winters, you’ll likely want to visit Ulaanbaatar in summer, when the weather is more pleasant, or conceivably in May or September. The Naadam Games, a celebration of Mongolia’s three “manly sports”—archery, horse racing, and wrestling—falls in mid-July and is the city’s biggest tourist draw. Book well ahead if this is on your agenda.
Ulaanbaatar has a good network of public buses, but unless you read Cyrillic (Russian-style) script, both the buses and the associated apps can be hard to navigate: If you fancy your chances, you’ll need a U-money bus card. Self-driving in Mongolia is generally difficult and dangerous, so most travelers get around by taxi (UBCab is one popular homegrown taxi app), on foot, or with private drivers.
Genghis Khan—known here as Chinggis Khaan—is Mongolia’s national hero, and his name looms large over Ulaanbaatar’s drinking scene. You can enjoy Chinggis beer, Chinggis vodka, and Chinggis cocktails, maybe even to a backdrop of local folk-metal band The Hu’s The Great Chinggis Khaan. For the full experience, head out of the city to the bar in the Genghis Khan Statue Complex, which sits underneath a 131-foot (40-meter) equestrian statue of the great man himself.
