CHARM OF PERSIA

Describe of tour plan first to end

Day 1: Origin | Tehran Flight

Take the flight to Tehran. Arrive in the capital of Iran. Meet at the airport and transfer to your hotel accommodation in Tehran.

Day 2: Tehran

Starting Iran tour by visiting the remarkable museums and palaces of Tehran:

• National Museum
• Golestan Palace
• Carpet Museum

• Jewelry Museum
• Emamzadeh Saleh Shrine
• Tajrish Bazaar

Hotel accommodation in Tehran.

Note: Jewelry Museum is just open on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, in case the trip coincides with another day, this museum will be replaced with Abgineh Glassware Museum.

Day 3: Tehran | Flight to Shiraz

In the morning take a flight to Shiraz (I hour 20 min).

Start visiting:

• Eram Garden (One of the most famous gardens of Iran which is part of the UNESCO-listed Persian Gardens)
• Tomb of Hafez and Saadi (tombs of Iran’s greatest lyric poets)
• Nasir-ol-Molk Mosque. The pink tiled 19th-century Nasir-ol-Molk Mosque
• The Arg-e-Karim Khan (the 18th-century citadel)
• The Qajar-period Narenjestan Garden/House
• The Vakil Bazaar of Shiraz
• The Holy Shrine of Shah-e-Cheragh

Hotel accommodation in Shiraz.

Day 4: Shiraz | Persepolis | Shiraz

• Morning Departure to the ancient city of Persepolis, visiting the remains of ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire, 50 km from Shiraz. You also visit four cave-like Achaemenid royal tombs of Naghsh-e Rajab and Naghsh-e Rostam.
• Return to Shiraz for the afternoon visit to Hafezieh, the Mausoleum and memorial garden and building of the celebrated Persian poet Hafez (1324- 1391).

Hotel accommodation in Shiraz.

Day 5: Shiraz | Pasargadae | Abarkuh | Yazd

Depart Shiraz towards Yazd, the bride of the desert.

On the way to Yazd, you will stop to visit:

• Pasargadae, the capital of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great.
• The next stop will be in Abarkuh, a famous city during the Silk Road.

Hotel accommodation in Yazd

Day 6: Yazd

Full day visit to the adobe city of Yazd and selected historical sites such as:

• Amir Chakhmagh’s monumental complex includes a caravanserai, a bathhouse and cold water well.

Take a stroll through the narrow alleys of the old city with traditional houses.

• You will also visit Atash Behram Temple (Fire of Victory) with continuous burning of sacred fire since the fifth century
• The 12th century Jame Mosque of Yazd
• Towers of Silence and Dowlatabad Garden

Hotel accommodation in Yazd.

Day 7: Yazd | Meybod | Nain | Isfahan

Depart Yazd towards Esfahan, the city known as the pearl of the orient. On the way to Esfahan you will stop to see:

• Meybod, a pre-Islamic city with one of the oldest castles in Iran Named Narin Ghaleh.
• The next stop will be to visit the ancient city of Nain and some of its outstanding monuments such as the Jame Mosque of Nain, one of the first four mosques built in Iran after the Arab invasion
• The Pre-Islamic Narej Fortress
• Pirnia Traditional House
• The Old Bazaar
• A Qanat-based watermill named Rigareh and
• A Zurkhaneh (a place for traditional sport). Arrive in Esfahan in the evening.

Hotel accommodation in Isfahan.

Day 8: Isfahan

A full-day tour of the beautiful city of Isfahan, the 17th century capital of the Safavid, referred to as Nesf-e-Jahan (Half of the World) in Safavid sources, to visit one of the world’s grandest squares.

• Naqsh-e-Jahan Square, the UNESCO World Heritage Site which contains several sites including:
• The Ali-Qapu Palace with its enchanting music rooms and balcony overlooking the square, from where the Safavid Kings watched polo games.
• Two of the Islamic world’s greatest mosques – Sheikh Lotfollah mosque and Shah Mosque – with magnificent architecture and tilework.
• The Qeisarieh Bazaar, where hundreds of shops display a rich variety of handicrafts, carpets, tiles, and miniature paintings.
• Jameh Mosque. Continue the visits to the magnificent Jameh Mosque, with the famous Uljaitu Mihrab (Prayer Niche) of the Il-Khanid period. Jameh Mosque of Isfahan is considered a museum of a thousand years of Persian religious architecture and is truly one of the world’s greatest
  mosques.

Hotel accommodation in Isfahan.

Day 9: Isfahan

Another full day of sightseeing in Isfahan:

• Chehel Sotun Palace was built by Shah Abbas II in the 17th century; its wooden columns reflected in the surface of the pool give rise to its name “The Palace of Forty Columns”
• Hasht Behesht Palace
• Armenian Quarter with its important Cathedral of Vank
• Famous historical bridges of Khajou and Sio-se-pol

Hotel accommodation in Isfahan.

Day 10: Isfahan | Kashan | Qom | Tehran

Drive to Tehran stopping en route at the charming town of Kashan (215km) to visit:

• Historical Garden of Fin (UNESCO Site)
• Mosque and madrasah Agha Bozorg
• Boroujerdi House. 19th century merchant residence known as Borujerdi House with its beautiful stucco dome and inlaid mirror work, with some of the best examples of existing “badgirs” (wind catchers).

Continue the route with another stop in Qom (112km) to visit:

• The Holy Shrine Complex of Hazrat-e-Ma’asumeh

Day 11: Tehran 

After one final breakfast at your hotel, you will be met for your private transfer to the airport and your flight home. Leave Iran with sweet memories.

End of the journey