What to see in Iran: 9 must-sees
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Discover what to see in Iran: 9 must-see destinations, from Isfahan (Imam Square) to Persepolis. Predominantly UNESCO heritage and city; each entry includes the best time to visit and the link to its official source.
UNESCO Heritage(5)
Walk Imam Square in Isfahan, a space that for 500 years has gathered the Friday Mosque, the Ali Qapu Palace and broad gardens in a single monumental setting. Since 1979 it has been part of the World Heritage list for its exceptional value as an architectural ensemble. Walk beneath the arcades flanking its sides, study the blue and turquoise mosaics of the domes and read in its walls the testimony of a cultural tradition and of a civilisation now vanished.
Walk the terrace of Persepolis, in Fars Province, the ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire raised 2,500 years ago under Darius I. Climb the monumental stairway, cross the Gate of All Nations and pause before the columns of the Apadana and the reliefs where delegations parade with their tribute. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, the citadel preserves royal tombs cut into the rock and the charred remains of palaces set alight after Alexander the Great's burning.
See how the Grand Bazaar of Tabriz, one of the oldest covered markets in the world, still beats among brick vaults where carpets, spices and jewellery are sold. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this maze of caravanserais was a key staging post on the Silk Road. Also stop by the Blue Mosque with its remains of turquoise tiles, and sample Azerbaijani cooking at the teahouses of the historic center.
Pause before Arg-e Bam, the world's largest adobe citadel, raised in Kerman Province some 3,000 years ago on the Silk Road itself. Walk its walls of mud and straw, the watchtowers and the covered bazaar that the 2003 earthquake nearly erased from the map. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004, the fortress keeps the souk, the mosque and courtyard houses that show how people built in the Iranian desert. Climb to the lookout at sunset, when the adobe turns coppery over the palm groves.
Follow the maze of adobe alleys in Yazd's old town, declared a UNESCO site, where badgirs catch the desert wind to cool the houses. Climb a cistern roof at dusk, watch the towers pierce the ochre horizon, and walk toward the turquoise-tiled mosques peeking out between terraces and century-old water reservoirs.
City(2)
Explore Shiraz by following the tombs of Hafez and Saadi, the two poets Iranians still quote by heart at gatherings. Enter the Nasir al-Mulk Mosque in the morning, when its stained glass dyes the carpet with color, and then lose yourself in the maze of the Vakil bazaar. End the day among cypresses and orange trees at the Eram Garden, a World Heritage site, as the city smells of orange blossom beneath the Zagros mountains.
Wander the bazaar of Gorgan, where stalls of spices, fabrics and local bread gather under the arches of the old town in Golestan. From the city you reach the remains of the Great Wall of Gorgan, the brick barrier the Sasanians raised against the peoples of the north. Between mosques with their distinctive roofs and traditional houses, the provincial capital mixes old bazaars, modern cafés and the influence of the nearby Turcoman region, with its own crafts and cuisine.
Natural(2)
Camp in the Dasht-e Kavir, the great salt desert of northern Iran, in Semnan Province. Walk dunes of reddish sand, salt crusts that crack underfoot and old caravan routes with abandoned caravanserais. Spot gazelles, desert foxes and migratory birds beside oases of date palms. Hike among clay and salt formations, watch a night sky free of light pollution and feel the contrast between day heat and cold nights in one of the most arid places on the planet.
Step onto the shore of the largest lake in the Middle East and tread its crust of pink salt, which crunches underfoot beside the water. Walk out toward the islands — former hills that the receding water has joined to the coast — and watch the flamingos that still gather in the wetlands of Iranian Azerbaijan. Follow the trails between geological formations of salt and clay while the desert plain rises in the distance. Walk its mineral beaches, listen to the silence and see how the light changes the color of the water hour by hour.
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