Rules for overlanding in Mongolia
Our summary of the country advice published by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Viaggiare Sicuri) on 4 January 2026.
Which licence you need
- All vehicles — An International Driving Permit on the 1968 Vienna Convention model is what the ministry lists for Mongolia. Check what applies to the licence you hold.
An International Driving Permit states the categories it covers: check yours covers what you will actually drive. A car licence does not cover a motorcycle, and a heavy camper or a truck can need a higher category.
At the wheel
- Roads — The internal road network is not well developed: a little over 10,000 km of paved roads against some 1,800 km of railway. Drive with maximum care, above all outside the capital, where crashes — usually not very serious — are frequent, especially in bad weather.
- Tolls — A toll of around 1,000 tugrik is charged for the use of some rural and regional roads.
- Vehicles for off-road tracks — If you use a local agency for internal travel, make sure the vehicles are in excellent condition and genuinely suitable for off-road tracks, and that the agency guarantees assistance in an emergency. Rescue vehicles can have trouble reaching the most isolated and difficult parts of the country.
- Entering overland — If you enter Mongolia by road rather than by air — by car, motorcycle or bicycle — the ministry says to get information before the trip from the diplomatic authorities of each country you will cross.
- Zamin-Uud crossing — Passenger traffic by road is again allowed at Zamin-Uud (Erlian), the main crossing for road and rail links with China.
What catches travellers out
- Russian visa — If you plan to continue into Russia from Mongolia, get the visa before you leave: Russian consular offices in Ulaanbaatar no longer issue entry visas to foreigners who are not resident in Mongolia. Visa-free tourist entry has recently been introduced for China; in other cases you need to arrange that visa at home too.
- Local currency only — A 2009 law requires the local currency for all commercial transactions inside the country. Many businesses will ask for and accept USD or EUR, but the ministry advises against it so you do not run into the penalties in that law. You also cannot leave the country with more money than you declared on entry.
- Archaeological finds — Exporting archaeological or culturally valuable items is prohibited, and offenders can be arrested.
- Drugs — Possession, use and illegal dealing are punished very severely, with prison and heavy fines.
Before you rely on this
This is our summary of advice written by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Italian travellers, published on 4 January 2026. We summarise in good faith, but we cannot guarantee it is accurate, current or complete, and we take no responsibility for decisions made on the basis of it. Rules change without notice and are applied by officials at the border, not by websites. Always read the original source and the travel advice your own government publishes for Mongolia before you travel. GuideMeet has no way of checking whether an individual guide meets any standard mentioned here — ask them directly.
Source: Viaggiare Sicuri — Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, updated 4 January 2026. Last checked by GuideMeet on 2026-09-20.