It lies on the northeastern slopes of the Khangai Mountains, 600 kilometres (370 miles) southwest of Ulaanbaatar.
The sixth Zaya Pandita, Jambatseren, was killed by the Communists in 1932, and the main Guden temple was turned into a museum.
Tsetserleg has an airport, with regular connections from and to Ulan Bator, a theatre, hotel, hospital, and an agricultural college.
It is part of a microclimate which experiences cooler summers and warmer winters than the rest of Mongolia.
In the coldest month of winter, January, it is often the warmest place in the country and temperatures rarely plummet below -30 °C, often hovering at around -15 °C to -25 °C during nighttime and 5 °C to -15 °C during daytime.