🦅 Altai Eagle Festival & Altai Tavan Bogd National Park 10 Days Tour
📍 Western Mongolia | Altai Mountains | Altai Eagle festival | Eagle Hunter Family | Altai Tavan Bogd national park
🦅 An Epic Journey into Mongolia’s Highest Mountains & the Living World of Eagle Hunters
📅 Altai Eagle Festival Dates: September 12–13, 2026
This 10-day immersive expedition is designed for travelers who want to go beyond sightseeing and truly experience the wild, cultural, and spiritual heart of the Mongolian Altai.
Combining deep exploration of Altai Tavan Bogd National Park with full participation in the legendary Altai Eagle Festival, this journey offers rare access to landscapes and traditions that have remained unchanged for centuries.
From glacier-crowned peaks and turquoise alpine lakes to ancient petroglyphs and living nomadic households, this is one of the most complete Altai experiences available in Mongolia.
⭐ Highlights – Altai Eagle Festival Tour
- 📅 Altai Eagle Festival Dates: September 12–13, 2026
- 🦅 Altai Eagle Festival – 2 Full Days
- Attend the authentic Altai Eagle Festival, where real Kazakh eagle hunters compete in traditional hunting skills, horse and camel races, archery, and colorful cultural ceremonies.
- 🏔 Altai Tavan Bogd National Park
- Explore Mongolia’s most remote and spectacular mountain wilderness, featuring glaciers, alpine valleys, and untouched high-altitude landscapes.
- ⛰ Khuiten Peak & Potanin Glacier
- Enjoy breathtaking views of Mongolia’s highest mountain and largest glacier from remote viewpoints deep in the Altai Mountains.
- 🌊 Khoton Lake – Sacred Alpine Waters
- Relax beside crystal-clear alpine lakes surrounded by snow-capped peaks and grazing yaks.
- 💦 Baga Turgen Waterfall Hike
- Hike through forested valleys to one of the most beautiful and secluded waterfalls in the Altai region.
- 🪨 Ancient Petroglyphs & Turkic Stone Monuments
- Discover rock carvings and standing stones that reveal thousands of years of nomadic history.
- 🏡 Extended Stay with a Real Eagle Hunter Family
- Live with a Kazakh eagle hunter family, learn eagle training and care, and experience true nomadic hospitality.
- 🦅 Eagle Training & Hunting Demonstrations
- Observe how golden eagles are trained and used in traditional hunting (weather and wildlife permitting).
- 🎶 Uriankhai Throat Singing Experience
- Visit a Uriankhai ethnic group family and experience traditional Altai throat singing and music.
- 📸 Outstanding Photography Opportunities
- Capture eagles in flight, hunters on horseback, dramatic mountain scenery, glaciers, lakes, and authentic nomadic life.
- 🌍 Remote & Authentic Experience
- A deep cultural and wilderness journey far from mass tourism, designed for travelers seeking authenticity.
Itinerary:
- 🍽 Meals: Lunch, Dinner
- 🏕 Overnight: Nomadic ger camp / yurt / tent
- 🚗 Distance: ~200 km | ⏱ ~5 hours
✈️ Arrive in Ulgii, the cultural capital of Mongolia’s Kazakh population. After meeting your experienced local guide and 4WD driver, enjoy lunch in town and prepare for the journey ahead.
🚗 Depart Ulgii and drive south-west into the Altai Mountains. The road gradually disappears into wide valleys, river crossings, and open steppe.
🐎 Along the way, you may see herds of yaks, camels, horses, and sheep, as well as distant nomadic gers scattered across the landscape.
🏕 Arrive near the entrance of Altai Tavan Bogd National Park. Settle into your camp, enjoy dinner, and experience your first night beneath the immense Altai sky.
- 🍽 Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
- 🏕 Overnight: Ger camp / yurt / tent
🐎 Today follows ancient herders’ routes by horse trail, allowing you to access remote mountain viewpoints unreachable by vehicle.
The ride and hike combination covers approximately 12 km (3 hours one way).
👀 From the high ridge, the Altai reveals its most dramatic face:
- Khuiten Peak (4,374 m), Mongolia’s highest summit
- Potanin Glacier, a vast ice field flowing from the Russian border
🥪 Picnic lunch in an alpine setting surrounded by moraine fields, glaciers, and tundra vegetation.
📸 This day offers exceptional wide-angle and telephoto photography, especially during changing mountain light.
- 🍽 Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
- 🏕 Overnight: Ger camp / yurt / tent
- 🚗 Distance: ~160 km | ⏱ ~4 hours
🚗 Travel deeper into the park toward the pristine waters of Khoton Lake, one of the most sacred and photogenic alpine lakes in Mongolia.
🗿 En route stops include:
- Turkic standing stones
- Ancient burial mounds and tombs left by early nomadic civilizations
🏞 Spend the afternoon exploring the lakeshore, watching grazing yaks, photographing reflections of snow-capped peaks, and enjoying the silence of the Altai.
- 🍽 Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
- 🏕 Overnight: Ger camp / yurt / tent
🚗 Short drive to the trailhead of Baga Turgen Waterfall.
🥾 Enjoy a 1.5-hour hike through forested valleys, streams, and rocky terrain to reach the waterfall hidden deep within the Altai wilderness.
🏡 Lunch with a local Kazakh nomadic family, learning about herding, seasonal migration, food preparation, and daily life.
🪨 Afternoon visit to ancient petroglyph sites, rock carvings depicting hunting scenes, animals, and spiritual symbols thousands of years old.
- 🍽 Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
- 🏡 Overnight: Eagle hunter family homestay
- 🚗 Distance: ~200 km | ⏱ ~5 hours
🚗 Leave the high mountain zone and travel toward an Altai village, home to traditional Kazakh eagle hunters.
🏡 Upon arrival, meet your host family, their horses, and their golden eagle. Learn about:
- Eagle capture and training
- Daily care and feeding
- The spiritual bond between hunter and bird
📸 Extended photography session with eagle hunters in traditional dress.
🍽 Dinner and overnight stay, experiencing genuine Kazakh hospitality.
- 🍽 Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
- 🏡 Overnight: Eagle hunter family homestay
🦅 A full immersion day dedicated to eagle hunting culture.
Activities include:
- Eagle handling and training demonstrations
- Learning how young eagles are prepared for hunting
- Optional horse riding across open steppe
- Cultural exchange, storytelling, and relaxed photography
📸 Ideal day for portraits, lifestyle shots, and documentary photography.
- 🍽 Meals: Breakfast
- 🏡 Overnight: Eagle hunter family homestay
🦅 Travel with your host family to the festival grounds to attend the opening day of the Altai Eagle Festival.
Festival Day 1 Highlights:
- Registration and credential verification of eagle hunters
- Grand opening ceremony
- Best Kazakh traditional costume competition
- Best eagle & horse harness competition
- Horse races
- Eagle adaptation competitions
- Tenge Ily (coin grabbing on horseback)
- Uriankhai archery competition
- Best Kazakh costume for couples
- Evening folk concert in Ulgii
- 🍽 Meals: Breakfast
- 🏨 Overnight: Hotel in Ulgii
- 🚗 Distance: ~120 km | ⏱ ~2–3 hours
Festival Day 2 Features:
- Shyrga Tartu – eagle speed and accuracy test
- Camel races
- Kyz Kuar horseback chasing game
- Kokpar (Kukhbar) goat-skin competition
- Award ceremony and closing celebrations
🚗 After the festival, return to Ulgii for hotel check-in and rest.
- 🍽 Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
- 🏨 Overnight: Hotel in Ulgii
🏡 Visit a Uriankhai ethnic group family, one of the indigenous peoples of the Altai.
🎵 Experience traditional throat singing (Khoomei) and learn about Altai musical instruments, shamanic beliefs, and folklore.
🏙 Free time in Ulgii for museums, markets, and souvenir shopping.
- 🍽 Meals: Breakfast
🚐 After breakfast, transfer to Ulgii Airport.
✈️ Flight back to Ulaanbaatar and end of the tour with unforgettable memories of Mongolia’s eagle hunting heritage.
ℹ️ Tour Notes – Altai Eagle festival tour
- 📅 Festival Dates: September 12–13, 2026
- 📅 Festival: Altai Eagle Festival (September)
- 📌 Early booking recommended – Flights and accommodation in Ulgii are limited.
- ✈️ Flights between Ulaanbaatar and Ulgii are weather dependent.
- 🏕 Accommodation: Ger camps, tented camping, eagle hunter family stays, and hotel in Ulgii.
- 🌦 Weather: Cool and mostly dry; cold nights in the mountains.
- 🚗 Roads: Off-road and unpaved sections; travel times may vary.
- 🥾 Activity level: Easy to moderate with light hiking and walking.
- 🦅 Eagle activities: Subject to weather and local conditions.
- 📸 Photography: Excellent; please ask permission before photographing people..
🌍 Why Choose the Altai Eagle Festival?
- 🦅 Authentic Altai Eagle Festival – Experience the real Altai Eagle Festival with genuine Kazakh hunters.
- 🏔 Altai Tavan Bogd National Park – Explore Mongolia’s wildest landscapes: glaciers, alpine lakes, and the highest peaks.
- 🏡 Live with Eagle Hunters – Stay with a real Kazakh eagle hunter family and learn their traditions first-hand.
- 📸 Outstanding Photography – Eagles in flight, hunters on horseback, dramatic mountains, lakes, and waterfalls.
- 🌍 Remote & Authentic – A deep cultural and nature experience far from mass tourism.
🎒 What to Bring
- 🧥 Warm layers – Thermal base layers, fleece, insulated jacket
- 💨 Windproof / waterproof jacket – Essential in the Altai Mountains
- 🧢 Warm hat & gloves – Cold mornings and evenings
- 👟 Hiking shoes or boots – Good grip for trails and uneven ground
- 🧦 Warm socks – Wool or thermal recommended
- 👖 Comfortable outdoor pants
- 🎒 Daypack – For hikes and festival days
- 📸 Camera & spare batteries – Cold drains battery power
- 🔋 Power bank & charging cables
- 🧴 Personal items – Toiletries, sunscreen, lip balm, wet wipes
- 💊 Personal medication & basic first-aid kit
- 📄 Travel documents – Passport, visa (if required), insurance copy
- 💵 Cash – Limited ATMs outside Ulgii
❓ FAQs – Altai Eagle Festival Tour
- 🦅 What is the Altai Eagle Festival?
- The Altai Eagle Festival is a traditional Kazakh festival where eagle hunters compete in hunting skills, costumes, and nomadic games.
- 📅 When is the festival held?
- Every year in September (exact dates confirmed annually).
- 📍 Where does the tour take place?
- Western Mongolia, around Ulgii and Altai Tavan Bogd National Park.
- ✈️ How do we get to Ulgii?
- By domestic flight from Ulaanbaatar. Flights are limited during festival season.
- 🏕 What accommodation is used?
- A mix of ger camps, tented camping, eagle hunter family homestays, and hotel accommodation in Ulgii.
- 🥾 How difficult is the tour?
- Easy to moderate. Includes light hiking, off-road travel, and optional horse riding.
- 🦅 Is eagle hunting guaranteed?
- Festival competitions are guaranteed; hunting demonstrations depend on weather and wildlife conditions.
- 🌦 What is the weather like?
- Cool and mostly dry; cold mornings and nights in the mountains.
- 📸 Is this tour good for photography?
- Yes—excellent opportunities for culture, wildlife, and landscapes.
- 💰 When should I book?
- As early as possible. Flights and accommodation sell out quickly in September.