What to do in Ulaanbaatar in 24 hours

To explore Ulaanbaatar city either you come by train or flight, I would highly suggest you stay by the City center if possible. From here, you can follow this nice route and explore all the best places Ulaanbaatar has to offer.

To start your city tour, you can go to the Sukhbaatar square which is in the heart of the city and is formerly known as the Chinggis square. In this place, you can see the most developed part of UB city and enjoy the beautiful view around. 

After taking a nice walk around general Sukhbaatar you may want to go Mongolian historical museum which is right next to the square. A ticket may cost you 10'000 MNT (approx 4 USD). Exhibitions cover prehistory, pre-Mongol Empire history, Mongol Empire, Mongolia during Qing rule, ethnography and traditional life, and twentieth-century history. The ethnographic collection has significant displays of the traditional dress of various Mongolian ethnic groups and of snuff bottles. Most exhibits have labels in both Mongolian and English. 

From here I would suggest you go to Gandan Tegchileng monastery. On the way there, you may want to stop by the Dinosaur Museum if you are into dinosaurs. The Dinosaur Museum has one of the best preserved dino bones of the world, after all about 80% of the dinosaur bones of the world are found in Mongolia. The museum ticket will cost you about 10'000 MNT (approx 4 USD).

At the Gandan Tegchilen monastery, there's the 26-meter tall statue of white tara who is the goddess of all good things. This beautiful statue is highly recommended to visit. The monastery has a very big wall, along the walls there are many monasteries for certain purposes and houses for 150 monks. Last year (2019) Gandan opened a big and beautiful monastery for you to explore. Entrance ticket costs around 7000 MNT (approx 3usd) which will give you permission to take photos.

Now it should be evening by now. it is time to explore final two attractions. Now, you may want to head to the Zaisan tolgoy. On the way there you may want to visit the Bogd khan winter palace. During the beginning of the 20th century, Mongolia had a king who was governing both religiously and politically, and that king was the last king, and the palace (this museum) was his winter place. In this museum, you may see how royals lived in the past times and many antique objects. A ticket may cost 10'000 MNT (approx 4usd).

The final attraction you may want to climb up to is Zaisan tolgoy, a memorial monument of the 2nd world war. On the hill, you'll have a panoramic view of the whole city, and also the night view is wow.

As for nice lounges and restaurants, I would suggest my favorite place called Premium place. It is in the tallest building of Ulaanbaatar city. At the top, there is a lounge where you can enjoy live music and enjoy views of the whole city.