Nomadic Mongolia and the Naadam Festival

We have a very exciting new departure for intrepid artists eager to experience one of the world’s most intriguing landscapes! Mongolia is a vast emptiness that... Read more

From £6430 including internal flights
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Date
10 Jul - 24 Jul 2025


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Location(s)
Gobi Desert, Hustai National Park, Erdenezuu monastery, Terelj National Park, Ulaanbaatar
Mongolia


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Tour content
Sketching, Painting & Travel in the steppes, mountains and vast deserts of Mongolia


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Tutor(s)
Mary-Anne Bartlett

Wander the deserts of Mongolia to discover a nomadic lifestyle, wildlife, alpine flowers, horses, culture and the greatest nomad's festival - the Naadam.
We have a very exciting new departure for intrepid artists eager to experience one of the world’s most intriguing landscapes!

Mongolia is a vast emptiness that links land and sky.  It is one of the last few places on the planet where nomadic life is truly still a living tradition.  It has a diverse wildlife, and we will set off into the steppes and into the Gobi desert by jeep to find wildlife in the landscapes and to paint it from life.

Mongolia is a wild and exciting place to paint.

Join Mary-Anne Bartlett on her second Art Safari in Mongolia for our venture into Khongoryn Els in the Gobi Desert,  the Gobi Altai Mountains and Mongolia’s other extraordinary national parks, including Terelj National Park and Hustai National Park.

‘The Land of Blue Skies’ provides us with a wilderness of shifting colours, where mountains lift from desert grasslands and where the light shifts from blues to oranges on the sand dunes of the Gobi desert.

Sketch and paint in some of the most magnificent geographical and wildlife areas on this exciting Art Safari painting holiday, meeting local people and experiencing the depths of the Mongolian culture and beliefs.

We arrive in Ulaanbaatar during the colourful traditional festival of Naadam with archery, horse racing, Mongolian wrestling, singing and dance and we’ll have a couple of nights here to get to know the capital city and its highlights.  This summertime festival is celebrated throughout the country.

We stay in a mix of comfortable Ger Camps (with hot water for showers every day) and hotels during our time in Mongolia as we travel around the country with our paintboxes and binoculars by road and by air, accompanied by local guides and drivers.

Tour highlights include:

  • Join the vibrant Naadam Festival and sketch the riders, archers and wrestlers as they compete to show off their skills and celebrate these traditional aspects of nomadic culture.
  • Paint the vast open grasslands, sweeping hills and huge blue skies of Great Steppe and the gentle flow of pastoral life as sheep, goats, horses, and yaks meander between the streams and lakes that criss-cross the steppe.
  • Watch the ancient art of falconry and sketch the weather-worn eagle hunters in all their finery.
  • Explore the scenic valleys of Terejl National Park and fill your sketchbooks with a mass of delightful alpine wildflowers – blue columbines, yellow poppies, pink fireweed, white edelweiss and many more.
  • Experience the breath-taking, other-worldly beauty of the Gobi Desert – rocky outcrops, frozen canyons and high sand dunes sculpted over millennia by the wind. Capture the towering shapes and graceful curves, the ever-changing light and shadows, and the shimmering colours of the sand.
  • Enjoy a rare meeting with the last truly wild horses and watch them in their natural environment in Hustai National Park. Przewalski’s horses are direct descendants from prehistoric horses and once ranged throughout Europe and Asia. Today they can only be found in Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan. They are known locally as ‘takhi’ meaning spirit.
  • Discover a host of special mammals and birds – including wild sheep or Argali, wild Bactrian camels, gazelles, corsac foxes, marmots, jerboa, and pikas as well as Demoiselle cranes, Lammergeiers, and Ural owls.

Itinerary

Day 1Arrive in Ulanbataar
Day 2Naadam day: state opening ceremony in main stadium, archery and wrestling
Day 3Naadam morning: Sketching horse racing and participating cultural activities
Day 4Hustai National Park (wildlife, wild horse and landscape)
Day 6Gobi Altai mountains
Day 8Khongoriin Els
Day 10Dalanzadgad
Day 11Gun Guluut Nature Reserve
Day 13Terelj National Park
Day 14Ulaanbaatar
Day 15Departure day
Ask for full itinerary
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TOUR COST:

Per person sharing from £6430.

Single supplement if required £tbc.

Internal flight from Dalandzadgad/Ulaanbaatar (included)

FLIGHTS:

The joining point for this tour is Ulaanbaatar aiport.  Please talk to us about your flights, so that we can try to arrive together.

 

OUR PRICES INCLUDE:

All accommodation, all meals, art tuition & hosting, excursions, internal flights & internal transport as stated on the itinerary, group airport transfers

 

OUR PRICES EXCLUDE:

International flights, alcoholic drinks & gratuities, optional activities such as horse riding and concerts, art materials, personal expenses, visa (if required)

Enquire now on 01394 382235 or [email protected]