I have bought one way flight ticket from Vienna to Istanbul and then to Tehran for total price of 135 EUROs. Visa cost for the Czech Republic was 75 EUROs payed on arrival. On-line visa application was not approved on time so I decided to deal with it at the airport and it turned out to be a bigger issue (actually the first online application was rejected so I applied one more time just before departure so the status of my application was still pending when I arrived to Tehran). Airport officials held me interrogating for approx. 7-8 hours and they kept asking same questions and using the same arguments that I don’t have plan for the whole month, accommodation booked for the entire stay, return ticket (took a bus to Armenia at the end), not enough money etc. saying that they will have to deport me. At the end they gave me the visa but just for 15 days (no worries, can be extended later in different office). Original plan was to rent a car but it showed up to be more expensive than planned and after witnessing crazy traffic in Tehran I quickly changed my mind, but buses and hitchhiking worked really well.
Important info:
- ladies must wear headscarf and generally be all covered, men no shorts allowed
- you must bring enough cash with you (ATM withdrawals are not possible) or local can give you a gift card in exchange for your euros but yet the limit is not so high
- you should get some VPN app to be able to connect to your usual pages which are blocked by government
- SIM card is cheap so you can try to get one (we had some issues but eventually we managed to get it with help of locals). Then you can use SNAP (like UBER)
I arrived to Iran, Tehran on 11-JUN-2022 and left onland by bus to Armenia on 11-JUL-2022. One month is good amount of time to explore the most famous sights and cities in Iran but it is a big country and you could easily spend there another 2 or 3 months exploring little villages, mountains or deserts. Majority of time we stayed with local people and families and Persian hospitality is enormous.
Tehran is a big city with lot of traffic and there is not so many things to see but definitely worth to stop by Golestan palace and Tehran bazaar then iconic Azadi tower and we also visited Tabiat bridge. After Tehran our plan was to head south to Kashan where Agha Bozorg mosque is located and you can do a daytrip to desert and also visit some of the traditional houses. We payed 30 EUROs for 2 people to go to Imamzadeh Holy shrine, to Maranjab desert sand dunes and salt lake. On the way to Isfahan we stopped in Abyaneh (red) village. Isfahan has biggest square on the world called Naghshe Jahan square where Shah mosque and Ali Qapu palace are located. Other worth visiting places are Armenian Vank cathedral, Si-o-se-pol bridge, Khaju bridge (bridges over dry river), Chehel Sotoun palace, Molabashi House and Jameh Mosque. We took a bus after couple of days and went to Varzaneh where we got a private car for 35 EUROs for two people and visited pigeon tower, fire temple, sand dune and salt lake. Next day we stopped in Ghurtan village and headed towards Yazd. We were excited to go to Zoroastrian graveyard with towers of silence, museum and we also visited Zoroastrian Fire temple. One day we went to immigration office to extend our visa which was pretty straightforward and fast process even though we had to return next day in the morning to pick them up. Meanwhile we decided to see Jameh mosque and Amir Chakhmaq mosque and we also had a chance to witness traditional Zoroastrian exercise called Zurkaneh. One day we did a trip to Chak-Chak (Zoroastrian temple) and Kharanaq village. Shiraz was our next destination and the main attraction was Persepolis. You can visit Naqsh-e Rustam which is nearby. There is famous Pink mosque in city center and also Vakil mosque is worth to see even though is less popular. We visited Mausoleum of Hafez (personally I would skip this one). From Shiraz we headed to Hamedan where we visited Ganjnameh waterfall and took a cable car to the top of the mountain. We did day trip to Ali-sadr cave and then we hitchhiked to Kermanshah. Some people will ask you to pay money even though the principle of hitchhiking is not based on payment so better if you make this clear before you get in the car. Near Kermanshah there is place called Bisotun – UNESCO heritage. One day we went to Taq-e-bostan and to the bazar and Jameh mosque. We hitchhiked to Kurdish village of Pallengan and stayed there over night. This was my favorite region of Iran as Kurdish people are so hospitable, welcoming and friendly so hitchhiking in this area was super easy and there are amazing mountains everywhere. Another worth to see Kurdish village not far away is Deyvaznav. Lake Zarivar near Marivan is nice spot to stop but there is not many other things to do than see the lake. Then we wanted to hitchhike to Urmia but ended up in Sanandaj and continue to Urmia next day in the morning where we visited Baranduz waterfall and Kazem Dashi rock formations. Our last destination was city of Tabriz and nearby Kandovan Rock houses. In Tabriz we went to the famous Bazaar, citadel, Blue Mosque and Azerbaijani museum. From Tabriz we hitchhiked to border crossing in Novduz and we continued our trip to Armenia.
