This
itinerary through Iran will have you visiting the Castles of the
Assassins in the remote valleys near Qazvin, explore the legendary
beauty of Isfahan, stay in atmospheric boutique hotels in Isfahan, pay
your respects at the tomb of Hafez and visit iconic Persepolis.
Photo courtesy of Mira Pavlakovic
Day 1-3 Tehran:
Visit the Golestan Palace and Carpet Museum on the second day
Photo courtesy of Mira Pavlakovic
Day
3-4 Qazvin: The mysterious, secretive sect of the Assassins- a
group whose name within Orientalist discourse has an etymology
widely speculated to derive from the Arabic word 'hashshashin' or
hashish user, are a group of followers of Hassan al Sabah, whose
ruthless (and legendary) assassinations and odd, secretive behaviour has
led to speculations of drug-fueled assassinations.
While Marco Polo's
account of his visit to Alamut certainly references drug use, there has
been no such reference within the secret archives of Alamut but
nevertheless served to build a reputation so terrifying, stacking the
odds in their favour in their brand of asymmetric warfare. Their retinue
of high-profile victims, the systematic ways of inspiring fear (leaving
a Hashshashin dagger with a note, for instance. Saladin allegedly had a
poisoned cake left on his chest with a note 'You are in our grip'),
public high-profile slayings and methods that do away with additional
casualties and loss of innocent life- all add to the aura of this
reclusive group.
You will be visiting the Alamut region, the region which Freya Stark
found hard to penetrate during your trip to Qazvin.
Photo Courtesy of Hossein Fotowat Khah
Day
4-5 Rasht/Anzali: Day trip to Anzali Lagoon, where you'll be
able to find wild horses and birds. You can take a boat ride on the
marshes as well as visit both the cities of Rasht and Anzali.
Photo Courtesy of Toomas Jarvet
Day
5-6 Masouleh: You will be driving to the UNESCO protected city
of Masouleh today. With extraordinary mountain views and located on the
Alborz mountain range, the city of Masouleh has a unique architecture,
being built into the mountains with courtyards and roofs serving as
pedestrian areas. Drive back to Tehran in the afternoon before taking a
connecting flight to Shiraz.
Photo courtesy of Jack Arrington
Day
6-9 Shiraz:
Known as the city of 'poets, wine and flowers', Shiraz became a
leading centre of the arts, reaching its peak as the capital of Persia
under the Zand dynasty. Visit the tomb of Hafez in Shiraz where you can
experience a particular method of divination using the odes of Hafez.
Hafez's current mausoleum was designed by Andre Godard in the 1930s
and his tombstone bears the inscription of one of his poems.
Photo courtesy of Mira Pavlakovic
Day 7: Day trip to
Persepolis
Full day trip to Persepolis, visiting Naqsh-e-Rostam and
Naqsh-e-Radjab.
Day 9-10 Yazd : Drive to Yazd today, making a stop at
Pasargardae, the capital of Cyru the Great and the city where his tomb
is to be found. Today Pasargadae is one of Iran's 10 UNESCO World
Heritage Sites.
Pasargadae is a fascinating city, displaying a
structural engineering plan indicating a propensity for withstanding
severe earthquakes(or what translates into a 7.0 on today's Richter
scale). The first capital of the Achaemaenid Empire's most important
monument is of course Cyrus the Great's tomb (while there is no firm
evidence that Cyrus the Great's body does indeed lie within the tomb,
Alexander the Great must have believed so when he paid a visit to the
tomb.
A supposed inscription on the tomb, which did not survive to modern
times, reads:
O man, whoever thou art, from wheresoever thou cometh,
for I know you shall come, I am Cyrus, who founded the empire of
the Persians.
Grudge me not, therefore, this little earth that covers
my body.
Take a city tour of Yazd today before driving onwards to Isfahan.
Yazd is the centre of Zoroastrian culture. Situated at an oasis that
serves as a meeting point between two deserts, you can visit the
Zoroastrian temple of Yazd and the windcatcher of Dowlat-Abad, a fine
example of desert architecture in Persia.
Photo courtesy of Akbar Nemati
Day 10-12 Isfahan : The beauty of Isfahan is famous the
world over and the Iranian proverb Esfahān nesf-e jahān ast" (Isfahan is
half of the world). The capital city of the Safavid Kings, it was
captured in the 11th century by the Seljuk Turks who then made it the
seat of their empire. It was later captured by Tamer Lane in the 13th
century.
A city whose beauty has been immortalized by Robert Byron and
Andre Malraux, we visit the Naqsh-e-Jahan square, the Sheikh Lotfollah,
a 16th century ladies' mosque and the Aliqapou Palace.
Photo Courtesy of Mira Pavlakovic
Day 12-13 Tehran:
Full day tour of Isfahan, visiting the Vank Church, Shaking Minarets
(thus dubbed due to its unsual feature of minarets moving side to side
when shaken vigorously) and Chehel Sotoon Palace before flying to
Tehran to spend the night.
Day 13: Transfer to airport for international flight back.
Photo Courtesy of Mira Pavlakovic
Option/Prices:
This trip combines well with Dubai, which makes an excellent entry
point to Tehran and can be extended to include Kerman
USD3296 per person on double occupancy basis.
Price is with accommodation on a bed and breakfast basis in the best
hotels possible en route, entrance fees, porterage, domestic transfers
and tours as mentioned.
Price does not include international return flights to Tehran, tips
and gratuities, meals, travel insurance and other items of a personal
nature.
This itinerary
through Iran will have you visiting the Castles of the Assassins in the
remote valleys near Qazvin, explore the legendary beauty of Isfahan, stay in
atmospheric boutique hotels in Isfahan, pay your respects at the tomb of
Hafez and visit iconic Persepolis.
Day 1-3 Tehran: Visit the Golestan Palace and Carpet Museum on the second day.
Day
3-4 Qazvin: The mysterious, secretive sect of the Assassins- a
group whose name within Orientalist discourse has an etymology
widely speculated to derive from the Arabic word 'hashshashin' or
hashish user, are a group of followers of Hassan al Sabah, whose
ruthless (and legendary) assassinations and odd, secretive behaviour has
led to speculations of drug-fueled assassinations.
While Marco Polo's
account of his visit to Alamut certainly references drug use, there has
been no such reference within the secret archives of Alamut but
nevertheless served to build a reputation so terrifying, stacking the
odds in their favour in their brand of asymmetric warfare. Their retinue
of high-profile victims, the systematic ways of inspiring fear (leaving
a Hashshashin dagger with a note, for instance. Saladin allegedly had a
poisoned cake left on his chest with a note 'You are in our grip'),
public high-profile slayings and methods that do away with additional
casualties and loss of innocent life- all add to the aura of this
reclusive group.
You will be visiting the Alamut region, the region which Freya Stark
found hard to penetrate during your trip to Qazvin.
Day
4-5 Rasht/Anzali: Day trip to Anzali Lagoon, where you'll be
able to find wild horses and birds. You can take a boat ride on the
marshes as well as visit both the cities of Rasht and Anzali.
Day
5-6 Masouleh: You will be driving to the UNESCO protected city
of Masouleh today. With extraordinary mountain views and located on the
Alborz mountain range, the city of Masouleh has a unique architecture,
being built into the mountains with courtyards and roofs serving as
pedestrian areas. Drive back to Tehran in the afternoon before taking a
connecting flight to Shiraz.
Day
6-9 Shiraz:
Known as the city of 'poets, wine and flowers', Shiraz became a
leading centre of the arts, reaching its peak as the capital of Persia
under the Zand dynasty. Visit the tomb of Hafez in Shiraz where you can
experience a particular method of divination using the odes of Hafez.
Hafez's current mausoleum was designed by Andre Godard in the 1930s
and his tombstone bears the inscription of one of his poems.
Day 7: Day trip to
Persepolis. Full day trip to Persepolis, visiting Naqsh-e-Rostam and
Naqsh-e-Radjab.
Day 9-10 Yazd : Drive to Yazd today, making a stop at
Pasargardae, the capital of Cyru the Great and the city where his tomb
is to be found. Today Pasargadae is one of Iran's 10 UNESCO World
Heritage Sites.
Pasargadae is a fascinating city, displaying a
structural engineering plan indicating a propensity for withstanding
severe earthquakes(or what translates into a 7.0 on today's Richter
scale). The first capital of the Achaemaenid Empire's most important
monument is of course Cyrus the Great's tomb (while there is no firm
evidence that Cyrus the Great's body does indeed lie within the tomb,
Alexander the Great must have believed so when he paid a visit to the
tomb.
A supposed inscription on the tomb, which did not survive to modern
times, reads:
O man, whoever thou art, from wheresoever thou cometh,
for I know you shall come, I am Cyrus, who founded the empire of
the Persians.
Grudge me not, therefore, this little earth that covers
my body.
Take a city tour of Yazd today before driving onwards to Isfahan.
Yazd is the centre of Zoroastrian culture. Situated at an oasis that
serves as a meeting point between two deserts, you can visit the
Zoroastrian temple of Yazd and the windcatcher of Dowlat-Abad, a fine
example of desert architecture in Persia.
Day 10-12 Isfahan : The beauty of Isfahan is famous the
world over and the Iranian proverb Esfahān nesf-e jahān ast" (Isfahan is
half of the world). The capital city of the Safavid Kings, it was
captured in the 11th century by the Seljuk Turks who then made it the
seat of their empire. It was later captured by Tamer Lane in the 13th
century.
A city whose beauty has been immortalized by Robert Byron and
Andre Malraux, we visit the Naqsh-e-Jahan square, the Sheikh Lotfollah,
a 16th century ladies' mosque and the Aliqapou Palace.
Day 12-13 Tehran:
Full day tour of Isfahan, visiting the Vank Church, Shaking Minarets
(thus dubbed due to its unsual feature of minarets moving side to side
when shaken vigorously) and Chehel Sotoon Palace before flying to
Tehran to spend the night.
Day 13: Transfer to airport for international flight back.
Option/Prices:
This trip combines well with Dubai, which makes an excellent entry
point to Tehran and can be extended to include Kerman. USD3296 per person on double occupancy basis. Price is with accommodation on a bed and breakfast basis in the best
hotels possible en route, entrance fees, porterage, domestic transfers
and tours as mentioned. Price does not include international return flights to Tehran, tips
and gratuities, meals, travel insurance and other items of a personal
nature. Prices are approximate only.
For a pdf version of
the itinerary:
A trip that covers
a visit to the ruins of what was once the seat of a legendary/charismatic group
of
Day
3-4 Qazvin: The mysterious, secretive sect of the Assassins- a
group whose name within Orientalist discourse has an etymology
widely speculated to derive from the Arabic word 'hashshashin' or
hashish user, are a group of followers of Hassan al Sabah, whose
ruthless (and legendary) assassinations and odd, secretive behaviour has
led to speculations of drug-fueled assassinations.
Day
4-5 Rasht/Anzali: Day trip to Anzali Lagoon, where you'll be
able to find wild horses and birds. You can take a boat ride on the
marshes as well as visit both the cities of Rasht and Anzali.
Day
5-6 Masouleh: You will be driving to the UNESCO protected city
of Masouleh today. With extraordinary mountain views and located on the
Alborz mountain range, the city of Masouleh has a unique architecture,
being built into the mountains with courtyards and roofs serving as
pedestrian areas. Drive back to Tehran in the afternoon before taking a
connecting flight to Shiraz.
Day
6-9 Shiraz:
Day 9-10 Yazd : Drive to Yazd today, making a stop at
Pasargardae, the capital of Cyru the Great and the city where his tomb
is to be found. Today Pasargadae is one of Iran's 10 UNESCO World
Heritage Sites.
Day 10-12 Isfahan : The beauty of Isfahan is famous the
world over and the Iranian proverb Esfahān nesf-e jahān ast" (Isfahan is
half of the world). The capital city of the Safavid Kings, it was
captured in the 11th century by the Seljuk Turks who then made it the
seat of their empire. It was later captured by Tamer Lane in the 13th
century.
