The governments of Iran and the United States are . . . well, you
know the story. But since we began our groundbreaking trips
to Iran in 1993, our many travelers have been deeply gratified by
the openhearted, open-minded welcome of the Iranian people.
Geopoliticians we’re not, and our warm people-to-people encounters
in Iran remind us that we made the right career choice.
We begin this edition of our ongoing Iranian adventure in Tehran. After some busy sightseeing, we drive southwest to Hamadan (set beneath 11,700-foot Kuh-e-Alvand) and north via Soltanieh and Takht-e-Suleiman, through Robert Byron’s “plushcoloured mountains” to the great bazaar city of Tabriz. A flight across northern Iran brings us to the great pilgrimage site of Mashhad (where the old custom of providing temporary wives for pilgrims elicited a humph from Lord Curzon: “There is probably no more immoral city in Asia,” he wrote in Persia and the Persian Question 114 years ago). We swing south into the heartland, savoring the edge-of-the-desert town of Yazd (with its brooding Towers of Silence). Then on to Shiraz, Persepolis, and Isfahan— the glories of which are much too numerous to write of here. Let it simply be said that the most breathtaking room in the world lies under the cobalt-domed roofs of Isfahan, the country’s masterpiece. As the well-traveled Robert Byron wrote, “I have never encountered splendour of this kind before.”
We begin this edition of our ongoing Iranian adventure in Tehran. After some busy sightseeing, we drive southwest to Hamadan (set beneath 11,700-foot Kuh-e-Alvand) and north via Soltanieh and Takht-e-Suleiman, through Robert Byron’s “plushcoloured mountains” to the great bazaar city of Tabriz. A flight across northern Iran brings us to the great pilgrimage site of Mashhad (where the old custom of providing temporary wives for pilgrims elicited a humph from Lord Curzon: “There is probably no more immoral city in Asia,” he wrote in Persia and the Persian Question 114 years ago). We swing south into the heartland, savoring the edge-of-the-desert town of Yazd (with its brooding Towers of Silence). Then on to Shiraz, Persepolis, and Isfahan— the glories of which are much too numerous to write of here. Let it simply be said that the most breathtaking room in the world lies under the cobalt-domed roofs of Isfahan, the country’s masterpiece. As the well-traveled Robert Byron wrote, “I have never encountered splendour of this kind before.”
Days 1 & 2: USA to Tehran • Days 3 & 4: Tehran • Day 5:
drive to Hamadan • Day 6: excursion to Kermanshah • Day
7: drive to Zanjan via Soltanieh • Day 8: drive to Tabriz via
Takht-e-Suleiman • Day 9: excursion around Tabriz • Day
10: Tabriz • Day 11: fly to Mashhad • Day 12: Mashhad and
environs • Day 13: fly to Yazd • Day 14: Yazd • Day 15: to
Shiraz via Pasargadae • Day 16: Shiraz • Day 17: Persepolis,
fly to Isfahan • Days 18–20: Isfahan • Day 21: fly to Tehran •
Day 22: return to USA.
Treasures of Persia
Trip Details
2008 Departures:
22 days
Activity Type:
Touring
Trip Price:
2008: From $5925
2009: From $6795
- October 11 - November 1
- April 18 - May 9
- October 10 - October 31
22 daysActivity Type:
Touring
Trip Price:
2008: From $5925
2009: From $6795
- More Iran Trips
- More Touring Trips
