Getting around Iran - 10 days trip

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tommy_ledar
tommy_ledar

Hi all,

I'm heading to Iran with 4 other people from the 26th of Jan. to the 05th of Feb. Therefore I'm writing this topic to have any advice or info about the different ways of travelling inside of the country.

Itinerary would go as follows:

26 Jan: arrival to Tehran IKA at 3.30 AM - Going straight to Isfahan either by plane (transferring to THR) or by train (any info on the early trains would be appreciated)
27 Jan: Isfahan
28 Jan: Yazd - The trip from Isfahan to Yazd could be done either by train, bus, or flight, on the evening of the 27th (overnight trip) or in the morning of the 28th. Any recommandations on such a route would be appreciated also.
29 Jan: Yazd
30 Jan: Shiraz - Same as mentioned above: could be done late/overnight on the 29th or early in the morning on the 30th.
31 Jan: Shiraz - Night train from Shiraz to Tehran.
01 Feb: Tehran
02 Feb: Tehran
03 Feb: Tehran
04 Feb: Tehran

  • Flight booking seems to be possible through Mahan Air (http://mahan.aero/en) and Aseman (http://asemanbooking.com/EN/) . Would you recommend ordering tickets straight from these websites ?

  • We'd enjoy taking the (night)train, which seems to be very comfortable in Iran. Would you have any info on how to book such trains ? Booking through http://iranrail.net/ seems a bit sketchy (the info is quite complete, yet it's the "unofficial homepage of Iranian railways" and the payment can't be proceeded).

  • As for the bus, any booking platform including detailed info on schedules would be appreciated.

Thank you very much in advance!

Edited by tommy_ledar
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ked999
ked999

Tommy, I think you will be quite exhausted during this trip.
You arrive at 3.30am (from how many hours flight?) then spend more time travelling to Isfahan. You then have to find accom. You will need to rest. Then use the next day sightseeing.

Overall, bus is the easier way for long distance travel, and the buses are extremely comfortable and cheap.
They are frequent, and in my experience there you are better to take the stress out of trying to plan all the travel logistics and see what keeps your interest. When you arrive in a town (mainly by long distance bus) use that as the time to quickly check out departure schedules (take photos of the various company schedules etc).
With a total of 5 people travelling, just get taxis to and from the bus stations.

In my experience, 2 full sightseeing days in Teheran are enough - its a noisy busy city, with some things to see.

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mvbergen
mvbergen

Why do you stay four days in Teheran ?
Too much.

Michel

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Sinasina
Sinasina

Hi Tommy!

I could suggest you to stay in Varzaneh, in between Isfahan and Yazd. It has beautiful sand dune desert, salt lake, wetland, and hundreds of places... . Here there is a link tallking in details:.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Varzaneh

Edited by Carinae, to remove commercial information as per our community guidelines.
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tommy_ledar
tommy_ledar

Hey all,

First of all, thanks for your kind replies. It's really appreciated!

@ked999 We found an alternative and are going to take a taxi from Tehran's IKA airport straight to Isfahan. It'll cost us about 120 euros. We'll be arriving at Isfahan around 10 am and enjoy some rest as well. Thanks for all your info.

Also, @mvbergen We were thinking of staying 4 days in Tehran, knowing we might get a bit fed up with Tehran itself but still have the opportunity to organize day trips around the city, including for instance spending a day around Dizin. Don't you think this would be a great opportunity too ?

We might eventually stay longer in Shiraz. Would you recommend staying one more day in Shiraz instead of Tehran ?

@Sinasina Thanks for the info, we will look it up! Varzaneh is indeed perfectly located between Isfahan and Yazd.

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mvbergen
mvbergen
In response to #4

Day trips from Teheran could be a good option but in fact, as your time is limited, and as you have plenty of places to discover around Iran or at least on your itinerary, my suggestion was to reduce your time in the capital city.
It's of course my point of view.
Enjoy, people are so friendly and Iran is an amaizing country.

Michel

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ked999
ked999

at shiraz, the main site is persepolis (could be half day there with guide, depending on how detailed you want the experience to be). nearby there are some tombs also.
in shiraz itself there are a few sights. I would recommend 2 nights (allow at least 1.5 days)

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goldenway
goldenway

Hi Dear Tommy
first at all you are very welcome to iran
if you like to stay in small village in the way from Esfahan to Yazd(not detour) to stay with local familly desert trip fire at night and .... highiy will recomend to stay in Toudeshk TakTaku Guest House( lonely planet page 173)
ps.it's easy to travel from Esfahan to there also from there to Yazd
enjoy

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