Southeastern Iran

While central Iran's gem cities are deservedly a far bigger draw, the southeast offers cave-houses, classic gardens, fortresses, deserted villages, oases and fabulous erosion patterns all set in scenery that intersperses great expanses of desert with chains of high mountains. Especially if you're mobile, this is a thrilling region in which to feel like a real-life explorer discovering timeless ancient sites...and enjoying them all on your own.

If planning a multiday loop, do it clockwise: Birjand and Kerman seem far more delightful if you've yet to see Yazd and Esfahan. And crossing the Dasht-e Lut westbound provides a scenic crescendo that reaches a glorious climax at the Kaluts.

Explore Southeastern Iran

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Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Southeastern Iran.

  • Market

    Bazar-e Sartasari

    Kerman’s magnificent 'Sartasari' ('end-to-end') Bazaar is one of the oldest and most memorable trading centres in Iran. Its main thoroughfare stretches…

  • Oasis

    Deh Salm

    With lush date-palm groves, domed mud-brick houses, carpet-saddled camels and a distant backdrop of arid mountain ridges, it's hard to imagine a more…

  • Fortress

    Arg-e Rayen

    One of Iran's most impressive fortress-citadels, the Arg's vast adobe walls top a gentle slope directly south of central Rayen. Inside is a castle within…

  • Village

    Meymand

    A Unesco site, this troglodyte village is a series of over 400 cave-houses with a total of more than 2500 kiche rooms burrowed into the gently sloping…

  • Fortress

    Qa'en Castle Peak

    Walking to and exploring this mountaintop fortress ruin is the highlight of a visit to Qa'en, especially if you time your descent to coincide with sunset,…

  • Mausoleum

    Aramgah-e Shah Ne’matollah Vali

    The physical and spiritual heart of Mahan is filled by the impressive mausoleum complex of dervish-mystic and poet Shah Ne’matollah Vali, who died in 1431…

  • Area

    Kaluts

    The Kaluts is a large area in which the rough, rocky desert has been sculpted by millennia of wind erosion into long lines of photogenic formations. Much…

  • Gallery

    Muzeh Sanati

    The 'contemporary' section of this wide-ranging gallery is a selection of thought-provoking photographic and illustrative social commentary in the rear…

  • Historic Building

    Gonbad-e Jabaliye

    Where Shohada St approaches the arid crags that abruptly mark the city's eastern edge sits this hefty octagonal structure of mysterious provenance. Some…

  • Museum

    Hammam Museum

    This historic bathhouse is now a museum in which wax dummies illustrate the workings of a traditional hammam. Signage is a little garbled ('AD' dates…

  • Gardens

    Bagh-e Shahzde

    Arriving at these handsome gardens is like being beamed onto a different planet. One second you’re in the arid semidesert, the next it’s all flowing…

  • Mausoleum

    Moshtari-ye Moshtaq Ali Shah

    With prominent blue-and-white-tiled roofs dating from the late Qajar period, this attractive mausoleum is the last resting place of several Kerman…

  • Gardens

    Bagh-e Sangi

    Possibly Iran's most mind-blowing work of contemporary art was haphazardly created over decades by deaf/non-verbal shepherd Darvish Khan Esfandiarpur, who…

  • Castle

    Qaleh Dokhtar

    Wrapping a conical crag in ruined fortress ramparts, Qaleh Dokhtar is a dramatic, if well camouflaged, castle. From its summit you can appreciate its…

  • Village

    Khonik Sofla

    Around Qa'en you can find several old villages of low, domed, mud hovels, which have been almost entirely abandoned as folks moved to new, more sanitary…

  • Mosque

    Masjed-e Imam

    The expansive Imam Mosque courtyard covers 6000sqm with tiled iwans (barrel-vaulted halls) on three sides. But it's the main southwest iwan that's the…

  • Mosque

    Jameh Mosque

    Although possibly 9th-century in origin, the main core of Qa'en's bulky central mosque predominantly dates from a 1394 rebuild funded by a Timurid…

  • Bazaar

    Bazar-e Mesgari Shomali

    As you walk east into the Bazar-e Sartasari from Tohid Sq, turn left at the first 12-sided charsoq (junction) to find shops selling shiny copper-plated…

  • Fortress

    Qaleh Tarikhi

    Birjan's adobe-plastered fortress has been comprehensively restored and looks particularly impressive at night when glowing with the lights of the…

  • Village

    Old Esfandiar

    Old Esfandiar feels like an Indiana Jones discovery, a virtually deserted tight-packed village of crumbling old buildings – several three storeys high –…