Our recommendations and our ideal itinary

Our ideal agenda for Iran (15 days)

This would be our agenda after our great trip to Iran.  Our opinions on visited sites you can find in previous texts.

• Arrival by plane to Shiraz: with Persepolis 2 days stay
• Kerman: 2 day's stay with visit to Rayen and Shahdad Kalut desert. I would recommend taking a taxi/driver to Yazd to see many nice places (incl Varzaneh desert) on the road (plus 1 day).
• Yazd: 1,5 days stay.
• Isfahan: 2 day stay.
• Kashan: 1 day.
• Tehran: 1,5 days. Don’t miss Darband!
• Tabriz: 2 days.

This would be an agenda for non-budget travellers (using the taxi/car).

Some of our general recommendations and comments

• Getting in:
  • Iran is very safe (also for women).
  • For most of European countries buying the visa at airport works (but formal (registered) letter of invitation is needed.
  • In high season hotel reservations are needed (even off season recommended).
  • Buy local SIM card in airport.
  • Exchange rate on airport 1^st floor is not so bad for initial exchange.  But take benefit of Iranian tourist card as most of shops have card terminals.
• Getting around:
  • Night trains and inter-city buses are reliable and generally good quality. But it is advised to buy tickets some days ahead.
  • For local travel arrangements ask you hotel (very often they have some good deals). Travel agencies prices are usually ca 30 % higher (but you will get English speaking service).
  • Taxi or car with driver costs usually 50-60 eur per day. When you are 2+ it would make sense to use it going around (good time saver).
  • In Tehran metro is the best for going around (but without luggage – during pike hours metro is crowded and good metro map is recommended when using it).
  • The best for shopping is Isfahan, but bazaars in many places are worth to visit.

Our overall impression of Iran

Our overall impression of Iran is positive. We had been reading about it and listening other peoples experiences, so we were quite prepared for the trip. And everyone were saying how friendly and helpful locals are. This is exactly how it was. Even though there were some minor misunderstandings and annoying people, but you get that anywhere where you go. And there is also the cultural differences, but I guess as a male you won´t experience cultural shock there.

There are some things that drew our attention overall:

• When you go to the bazaars and stay looking something for a little longer, the traders are not trying to get to your head to sell you something, rather it happens more that you have to go ask yourself some help from the trader.

• When you talk to someone, even if they didn´t speak English, they would try to manage somehow or find someone who would speak. It is not always easy, but in the end you usually get the idea what they are trying to say. There are those who speak fluently as well, but the smaller the place, the lower the chances finding someone who speaks any at all.

• When you ask for some help on the street, can´t find a place and need some directions, even if they don´t speak English and you point the place on the map where you wanna go (preferably map has both Farsi and western names on them) they will point the way or even in some cases take you all the way there, without asking anything for return. But sometimes it happens as well that none of the locals know the place and the map is not so clear to them (their own maps tend to be little bit different as well, than the western ones, as they sometimes leave out small streets, alleys and you can´t measure distances). Lonely planet´s maps are usually quite good, but can be confusing as well. Local maps are unreliable, but tend to have more concentrated/extra information on them.

• When you are looking for a good place to eat, do not set your hopes high, if you are not in Darband, Esfahan or some parts of Tehran and Shiraz as well. This was probably one of the challenges on our trip, but this wasn´t culinary trip anyways, so we managed. And forget about our usual fast food, it is impossible to find. It is quite usual that the restaurants that you find in TripAdvisor do not exist anymore, so you can´t rely on that, especially if you are not in Tehran, Esfahan or Shiraz.

• When you are taking a taxi from the airport, make sure you do agree on the price on the spot, do not believe anything they say about taximeter or traffic or what ever, they will screw you. Probably the taxi drivers are the ones you need to be careful with during your trip or otherwise it will turn out to be more expensive than you hoped for. But then again travelling longer distances and if you are 2+, it is usually worth it to take a taxi instead of a bus, as you can have stops where you want, pass through places or even the taxi driver can suggest some places to visit sometimes.

• When you want to buy something from the bazaar, in our experience there is one place only for it and that is Esfahan, but if you have something specific, there are some area specific things in local bazaars, be sure to ask.

• Hotels in Iran are lacking. There is not enough of them and they are pretty poor quality (but usually clean and friendly). So this is somewhat disappointment. Always take a star or even two down from what the Iranian hotels are promising, to get to compare it to western standards. This is definitely one thing Iran needs to improve on if they are hoping for more tourism.

I general we are very happy with our trip and it was well worth the time and would be a place to return some future date, as the country is huge and there are still many more places to see.

Qom

We got very good deal with one taxi company and for 50 eur we got fast and safely to Qom. It is mentioned to be second holiest city after Mashad. You can see and feel it. Streets are crowded by women in black chador. The main reason is, it is required to enter Fatima-al-Massumeh shrine. In other places women could enter just in headscarves. It is very nice and really busy place. We saw people queuing to touch mausoleum of Fatima (and others). We also noticed more than usual handicapped people. As it is one of the holiest places in the region, there are many people also from neighbouring countries. We also talked to Bahraini family and Iraqi man. The father of the Bahraini family spoke good english, but others not so good, we managed though, using hands and google translate. The Iraqi man was doing his military service in there, as he had escaped from his country because of the war and living in Iran now. He was saying that he will not return to Iraq before the situation would go better in there. Until then he would help his country as much as he could, safely from Iran.


As it was almost the only site to visit, we just walked around and bought some herbal tea and plant essences. We didn´t find a hotel for our last night in Darband, Tehran, so we just spent one more night in Qom and took taxi in the morning to the airport. In general it probably took about as long going there from Qom as it would have from Darband. As we still wanted to go and see around the area there we just had a day trip there, visited the places we wanted to and came back for the night. This is also something to consider as hotels in Darband are not so cheap, though the quality would reach to the western standards probably.

Kashan

We took a taxi from Abyaneh to Kashan. This was a first town what was almost dead between 14 and 17. Even bazaar was closed.

Fin Garden (Bagh-e Fin) is average classical Persian garden. But for locals it is like amusement park. It was very crowded there. We took 1 hour walk around, looked into local bath (like museum) shot some photos and back to the centre.

Aqa Bozorg mosque and Abu-Lu'lu'ah shrine were quite usual - nothing special. Sultan Amir Ahmad bathhouse (hammam) was interesting - pretty big, nice architecture. Khan-e Abbasian house is good example how wealthy merchants lived that time. It is bigger than it looks at first glance. It was a first place is saw special cellar for "treasury" (actually 2).

Trip to Abyaneh

We decided not to waist our time to take a bus and we took a taxi (taxi is generally very cheap in Iran and you can usually also bargain) to Abyaneh. From different forums we got it is very special place. But we were disappointed - it was just a bit different half-empty Iranian village with mostly elderly people. In one and half hours everything is seen what is worth to see. One of the differences was there was in many places street sale - all kind of local pretty low quality handicraft.

We had a lunch in Abyaneh hotel. Hotel did not look better than ours, food and service were also poor. But we enjoyed shisha evening on terrace of Viuna hotel.  Nice people and service around and quite many all kind of tourists as well. Thing to bring up would be the view and location. It is located in the mountains/valley and it makes the climate much more tolerable when it is really hot everywhere else.

All in all it might be reasonable stop-over going to Kashan.

Trip to Esfahan

We met one local tour guide who offered more interesting off-road trip to Esfahan (for 55 eur) and we decided to take it (not using our paid hotel in Naein). It was worth - even after pretty chilly sleep in abandoned caravanserai. He was loud and very energetic, but he had good stories and humour.

Kharanaq is an amazing mud brick village. It is good example how was a life of people 1000 years ago. It has been renovated modestly - so for elderly people could be dangerous. It has been one of the best examples of such type of architecture.

Next stop was Chak Chak - the best site of Zoroastrian religion. It is the most sacred Zoroastrian shrine. You have to climb up but it is worth of it. You feel it is a holy place. The story behind it was that a priestess escaped there when being chased. Her cane became a tree that is still growing there and the spring is one of the most holiest places for the Zoroastrians.

In Meybod city we visited pigeon tower - it could be seen in many places but this was the best example. Interesting to know it had several purposes. Farmers built them to keep birds (not only pigeons) away from the fields, but also to get valuable bird manure. Farmers put in tower water to drink but also food. Inside it was full of nests, but at the moment only few birds actually lived there now days. We paid a visit also to Narin castle. It could be one of the oldest mud brick castles, it was also quite big, so it takes a bit time to walk around it. We were also shown industrial part of the city where the ceramics and pottery was made. If you haven´t seen anything similar, it is interesting to see. Most of it was mass produced, but for some the decorations on it were made by had.
Khargoushi caravanserai is abandoned for many years. it is surrounded by classical Iranian desert. It is used time to time by shepherds. We slept under the stars in sleeping bags on the roof of it. It was very windy and we needed to put on few more layers. Supposedly it is only one of the few ones that aren´t restored yet or damaged beyond repair. Our guide was telling how police is sometimes patrolling the area in the night, because drug trafficking is also done by desert roads. So when moving around desert during a night don´t get scared if police officers with machine guns stop you. If you explain who you are and what you do there everything should be ok.


Zein-o-Din is in fact more interesting. There is also a restaurant and it is possible to rent a room. Prices seemed for us quite high. And there is small observatory where they organise star gazing during the nights for a price.

With our 4 wheel very old Landcruiser we passed through salty land. In spring, large area is under water and it is big lake (we saw similar place in few other areas). In summer rivers are very small and very salty. It was for us very difficult to understand what attracted flamingos to stay there, as water looked to us lifeless.
One of our top sites was Varzaneh desert. It is beautiful classical sand dunes desert. It seems to be also very popular among locals. We saw many families coming for picnic. You can ride a camel, quad or proper 4 wheel car. We took opportunity and challenge to take a ride with our "grandfathers" landcruiser. Driving there is quite different. Thanks good guide was experienced in this. We took a short walk on dunes but heat started to hit us and we finished our exiting desert trip in some 2 hours. There isn´t that much to see but the sand dunes all the way where your eye can reach, but the ride there is a rush. If you are not into such extremes you can just walk around the entrance of the desert or ask for a ride with a camel.

Esfahan was definitely our number one city / it is spectacular place. Many interesting sites to see, lively, the best place for shopping. Imam square (Nagh-e-Jahan complex) with 2 mosques and great bazaar is one of the largest public squares we have been so far and probably the biggest in Iran. It was full of local people - for picnic, for shopping just for a walk. Don't forget to go there also at evening when lights are on. If you want to do some shopping for local stuff this would be the best place, you probably could spend hours in there if you are looking for something special.
Lotfallah mosque is very small but it is great architecture. It has entrance fee but it is worth to pay a visit to shoot some nice photos. And it is the place where the Lonely Planets cover foto is taken. Also the Shah mosque is nice to have a look. Aliqapu palace is more for those who are more interested in architecture or if you just want to have a photo from the whole Imam square. Also Chehel Sotoun did not impress us, but for a little walk in the park, why not.

Esfahan bazaar was the best for good shopping. In other cities it was more to have a look on architecture and local people. Quality and variety of handicraft is better then in other bazaars. Choice of carpets (woollen and silk) was way better then in other cities. I bought medium size good quality silk carpet from Magic of Persia II shop. Shop keeper was professional and as it was not anymore high season, gave us very good price. We visited more than 10 different shops before making decision. I bought also 2 nice tablecloth's. Wife was very happy at home. You can find also great variety of natural perfume and scents. Prices were very reasonable.

Vank church and Armenian quarter was nice experience. Church is itself very nice and also museum is worth to visit, as there was lot of christian history there and much information about Armenian genocide. We had great lamb in Khangostar restaurant and the owner was a great guy as well. Former professional football player trying to offer good quality food for locals and foreigners.

We decided to visit famous Khaju bridge at evening (we saw it from taxi window when we entered the city). Si-e-She and Chubi bridges we visited walking around. We took taxi as it was too long to walk. It was very memorable walk. It was full of local people  (all age groups) "chilling" around. Probably popular among locals as it is free of charge and you can also dip your feet in the water if you want to.
Setareh hotel and restaurant were very good and comfortable. The main plus - good location. The other dinner we had in Abbasi hotel. It was occupied mostly by tourists. I took a local meatballs what were surprisingly good. But it was a bit expensive. All in all Esfahan has also highest average food quality, but the prices are higher as well.

If you have time only to visit one city in Iran, then we would recommend Esfahan.

Trip to Yazd

We planned to take a buss from Kerman to Yazd. We met one local tour guide who offered off-road trip for 55 eur. We decided to take it.  Rocky village of Meymand and SarYazd where worth of it.

Meymand village in rocks was really impressing. Many nomad families are still living there part of the year, but at that moment they were out in desert areas where they are growing animals. There is also farming area where they grow crops and have orchards, where they spend 1/3 of the year as well. We saw mostly local tourists (several of them having famous local picnic).  It was very difficult to imagine someone is still living there (only toilet we saw there was a public and built for tourists). Inside of the caves houses were what you could expect, quite dark and cool with mostly one or two rooms, at the moment they were totally empty, only some trash lying around. But still definitely worth of visit when you are around.

We got lost in old mud brick castle SarYazd. It is only partly renovated and could be dangerous. So, be careful. It was nice example how people lived many centuries ago and stored their valuables and crops. As it was quite like a labyrinth it was perfect place to live through a siege or attack even when enemies got inside.

In Yazd it took hours to walk in old mud brick city (in fact the main attraction), but it is lovely. On our way we saw several coffees, some house museums. There are many wind towers around, some of them pretty high, these were used old days for cooling and preserving food in the room under them. It took effort to find Zorastian museum and it was not worth of it, took time to find someone to open the doors and there wasn´t that much to see. Bazaar was also not what we expected. If you arrive at noon, half a day is enough to spend in it. Jameh mosque is worth to visit when you are around. It is rather average but it was nice walking. Amir Chakhmagh is better to visit evening hours when lights are on. Most of the things worth seeing are near each other. There is also a park which is recommended to visit, but by the time we got there, it was already closed and it is bit out of the center, so you should take that into account when you want to go there.