Tel/Fax: +97699598468
Tel: +441869866520
Please see below a summary of current travel situation – to, from and within Mongolia. This page will be updated on a regular basis.
Latest Update – November 2022
Current Travel Situation
Covid-19
Mongolia is now fully open to travellers with no entry restrictions or requirements, as per the announcement on 13th March 2022, effective 14th March 2022:
The only border and transport route fully open is the main airport in Ulaanbaatar. International trains and buses are not yet running to/from China, and only the train service between Ulaanbaatar and Irkutsk is running to/from Russia. The main Trans-Siberian services are not running and there is no information as to when these will resume. All Mongolian embassies have also begun issuing tourist visas again, but please contact your local embassy or consulate for up to date information. Mongolia’s new and easy online visa service – evisa.mn – is also now operational, and UK, Australian, NZ, Chinese & most European citizens can use this if applying for a tourist visa.
Mongolia has one of the most successful vaccination programmes in the world, comparable with that of developed Western nations. Almost 95% of all adults have been fully vaccinated, with most of the population having been offered 3rd and 4th booster jabs. The country is fully open domestically with no legal restrictions on gatherings, events etc., no mask mandates nor social distancing, but the advice for good hygiene practices remain in place.
A limited supply of free lateral flow tests will be provided on Goyo Travel group trips, primarily for use only by symptomatic members of your travel group. If you are asymptomatic but inclined by personal preference to take regular tests, please be advised that you should bring your own supply of lateral flow tests for this purpose. These are also available to purchase in Mongolia.
On our group tours, if you or any of your travelling companions (including our staff) present a positive lateral flow test when in Mongolia, that person will be advised to isolate for 3 days and/or until a negative lateral flow test is presented. All other members of your immediate travel group would need to take lateral flow tests and if negative would be able to continue the trip. Arrangements for self-isolation accommodation and any additional lateral flow or PCR tests (following the initial positive lateral flow test) would be facilitated by Goyo Travel, and any costs incurred for provision of these arrangements would paid for directly by the guest(s) and Goyo Travel would not be liable to refund any section of a trip that is missed due to Covid. All guests are advised to purchase travel insurance that covers such an eventuality. However, Covid insurance is not a requirement for entry to Mongolia – and also in the unlikely case that anyone needs any treatment, including hospitalisation, the Mongolian government provides this for free.
If your onward country/return country or airline requires you to present a negative PCR test to depart Mongolia, we can book this for you with IT Laboratories in central Ulaanbaatar, either in clinic or using their mobile laboratory service (available for groups of 3+ persons). They operate 7 days a week and can provide same day results for tests taken before 1pm. The cost for this is 90,000MNT (c. $35) for in-clinic testing and 100,000MNT (c.$40) for the mobile testing service and guests can pay directly to the clinic.
Please note that many 3rd-party websites do not have updated current Covid or travel regulations, so best to check directly with us or with Mongolian authorities rather than relying on information from travel advisory websites, outdated media stories & press releases or foreign governments.
If you require more detailed information regarding the travel restrictions, please contact olly@goyotravel.com, and you can also refer to the following official source which corroborates and confirm the entry rules:
Ukraine-Russia Conflict
Like most people, we are horrified at the turmoil in Ukraine and the brutal aggression of Russia. We hope that a swift conclusion is brought to the armed aspect of the conflict and that a diplomatic solution can be found somewhere in the middle of where both sides stand right now.
As a country that shares a long border with Russia, we have inevitably been fielding questions about how the conflict with Ukraine is affecting – or could affect – travel to, from and within Mongolia. Currently the only effect has been the cancellation of Aeroflot flights from most of Europe and the US to Moscow. Luckily most of our guests have other flight route options via Istanbul, Frankfurt, Seoul and Tokyo, and all of these routes are open and functioning normally.
We do not expect the tensions between Western nations and Russia to spill over into Mongolia. However, we have no crystal ball, and we are a experts in travel, not war (nor virology, for that matter).
Mongolia is a peaceful country, very welcoming to all foreigners. Of course, they sit between Russia and China, which in some ways is an unenviable position but in other ways is beneficial for them. Both larger neighbours quite like the buffer zone of Mongolia between them and neither would rock the boat. Mongolia, by geographical necessity (including being landlocked), has in recent years maintained good relations with both and also relies on both economically, but has forged a 3rd strong alliance with US-Japan-South Korea with the aim of bolstering the strength of their neutrality.
There are relatively few Russians living in Mongolia, visitors would probably hardly come across any, so the likelihood of tensions – perceived or otherwise – arising from Westerners coming to Mongolia, is very low.
Mongolia has very little ability or power – in any way, shape or form (militarily, economically, population-wise, geographically) – to aid Ukraine in the current situation, but they have much to lose by vocalising any support, so any local political commentary on the situation has been muted. They have not come out in support for either side, and will most likely remain neutral and stay out of it.
Ukraine as Swiss Mongolia – an article that touches on Mongolia’s neutrality, and how such a policy should have – and could yet still, in the future – also be applied to Ukraine.
Mongolia’s East West Balancing Act – an explanation of why Mongolia has to tread carefully with regard to their stance on the situation in Ukraine.
