Mongolia or Kyrgyzstan: where to film the steppe, nomads and horses?

Both countries still live with horses and yurts, so neither needs a dressed set to show nomads. The difference is scale and distance. Mongolia is one of the emptiest countries on earth, about two people per square kilometre, and its signature landscapes are far apart: the dunes of Khongoryn Els are about 180 km from Dalanzadgad, which is itself a flight or a 6-7 hour drive from Ulaanbaatar. In Kyrgyzstan the steppe, the lakes, the glaciers and the canyons sit inside one mountain system: Son-Kul is about 5 hours from Bishkek, Suusamyr about 3, the red canyons 2-5.

• Real sand desert: Khongoryn Els, the singing sands, covers more than 965 km², with dunes up to about 300 m. Kyrgyzstan has no Gobi-type desert.
• The Flaming Cliffs of Bayanzag, red sandstone where the first dinosaur eggs were found.
• Scale: 5.1 million horses (end of 2025) and a steppe that runs to the horizon without a road or a fence.
• Naadam, the national festival of horse racing, wrestling and archery, every year on 11-13 July.
• Extreme winter: Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital in the world; the Korean feature Harbin (2024) filmed its frozen-river crossing on a lake in Mongolia at about -40 °C.
• A rebate in law: 30% of eligible spend for foreign productions spending at least $500,000, plus 10% for cultural criteria and 5% of foreign crew salaries (Law on Promotion of Film Art, in force since 2022). The applicant must be a company registered in Mongolia. We found no public record of a payout to a foreign production yet, so check the current status with the Film Council.

• Mountains in the same frame: yurts at Son-Kul at about 3,000 m, the Alay Valley with Lenin Peak (7,134 m) on its south side, glaciers 40 km from Bishkek.
• Variety within a day's drive: alpine lakes, spruce gorges, red sandstone canyons and the stone caravanserai of Tash-Rabat.
• Equipment on the spot: ARRI Alexa cameras, lenses, lighting and grip are rented in Bishkek. For Mongolia, sources disagree on how much professional kit is available locally, and many guides advise bringing it in.
• A known price: about $2,600 for a 12-hour day with a crew of 13 and an ARRI Alexa Mini LF package (October 2026). For Mongolia we found no credible published crew rates; service companies quote on request.
• Shorter flights from Europe: Istanbul to Bishkek is about 5 h 10 min, Istanbul to Ulaanbaatar about 8 h 25 min.

Mongolia: foreign crews need a filming permit from the Film Council; the law asks for the application at least 14 days before filming, with synopsis, schedule and locations, and the Council decides within 10 days. Crew members go through accreditation and a working or K4 film visa: visa-free entry for EU and UK citizens (up to 30 days, extended until the end of 2026) and US citizens (up to 90 days) covers tourism, not work. Mongolia accepts ATA Carnets. Small drones under 25 kg fly under Part 101 rules: daylight, line of sight, up to 120 m, at least 4 km from aerodromes.

Kyrgyzstan: citizens of the EU, the UK and the USA enter visa-free for 30 days in every 60. Kyrgyzstan is not part of the ATA Carnet system, so most crews rent kit in Bishkek. Every drone with a camera is registered with the civil aviation agency, which takes up to 10 working days, so we start before you arrive. Filming permits for your locations are arranged by us as part of the production plan.

There is no direct flight between Bishkek and Ulaanbaatar at the moment; connections go through Almaty or Astana (Almaty to Ulaanbaatar about 4 h 15 min). A production that needs both the Gobi and high mountains can shoot the desert in Mongolia and the mountain-steppe and canyon scenes in Kyrgyzstan.

Netflix's Marco Polo played Mongolia in Kazakhstan, Italy and Malaysia; Sergei Bodrov's Mongol (2007) was shot mainly in China and Kazakhstan. Films really shot in Mongolia include The Eagle Huntress (2016), The Story of the Weeping Camel (2003) and Harbin (2024). In Kyrgyzstan, horse games, eagle hunters and nomad camps have been filmed for Netflix's Home Game (2020), BBC and ITV travel series and the documentary Beyond the Silk Road (2026). Eagle hunting exists in both countries: both are part of UNESCO's multinational falconry element.