Iran travel tips

Best time to visit Iran

Every guide's best months, checked against its own thirty-year rainfall: a filled month is recommended, a hatched one has over 250 mm of rain. Most of Iran agrees on Mar, Apr, May, Oct, Nov.

PlaceJFMAMJJASONDIn words
IsfahanMarch to May, and October to November (the New Year holiday in early spring fills every hotel)March to May, and October to November (the New Year holiday in early spring fills every hotel)
ShirazMarch to May, and October to November (spring is when the orange blossom is out)March to May, and October to November (spring is when the orange blossom is out)
TehranApril to May, and late September to November (spring and autumn; summer is hot and winter brings smog)April to May, and late September to November (spring and autumn; summer is hot and winter brings smog)
YazdFebruary to April, and October to November (summer is over 40°C in the old town)February to April, and October to November (summer is over 40°C in the old town)
KashanMarch to May, and October to November (the rose-water harvest is in late spring)March to May, and October to November (the rose-water harvest is in late spring)
TabrizMay to June, and September to October (winter is properly cold)May to June, and September to October (winter is properly cold)
KermanOctober to April (the cool season is the only one for the desert)October to April (the cool season is the only one for the desert)
QeshmNovember to March (summer is extremely hot and humid)November to March (summer is extremely hot and humid)
KandovanMay to October (winter is snowbound at over two thousand metres)May to October (winter is snowbound at over two thousand metres)
MasulehMay to July, and September (avoid the New Year holiday and summer weekends, when the steps are packed)May to July, and September (avoid the New Year holiday and summer weekends, when the steps are packed)

best month · over 250 mm · the letters are the months, January to December.

The guides in Iran

The dome of the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque over Naqsh-e Jahan Square — Isfahan, IranIsfahanIranThe Safavid capital, built around one of the largest squares in the world and the tiled mosques on its sidesThe pavilion and pools of the Eram Garden — Shiraz, IranShirazIranThe city of poets and gardens, with a pink-tiled mosque and Persepolis an hour up the roadThe Azadi Tower on Azadi Square — Tehran, IranTehranIranA sprawling capital under the Alborz, with a Qajar palace, a vast bazaar and the mountains at the top of the streetThe windcatchers above the mud-brick roofs of the old city — Yazd, IranYazdIranA mud-brick desert city of windcatchers and covered lanes, and the centre of Iran's Zoroastrian faithThe courtyard and pool of a historic merchant house — Kashan, IranKashanIranA desert-edge town of merchants' mansions, a royal garden on a spring, and rose water made in the villages above itA domed hall of the Grand Bazaar — Tabriz, IranTabrizIranThe Azeri-speaking capital of the north-west, with one of the oldest and largest covered bazaars in the worldThe turquoise dome of the Shah Nematollah Vali shrine at Mahan — Kerman, IranKermanIranAn old caravan city on the edge of the Lut, the hottest desert surface ever measured, with its sand-carved kaluts two hours awayA sandstone canyon on the island — Qeshm, IranQeshmIranThe largest island in the Persian Gulf, a geopark of salt caves, eroded canyons and mangroves, with Hormuz across the waterHouses carved into the volcanic cones — Kandovan, IranKandovanIranA village of homes hollowed out of volcanic cones on the slopes of Mount Sahand, and still lived inThe stepped houses of the village on the hillside — Masuleh, IranMasulehIranA stepped mountain village in the Gilan forests, where the roof of one house is the street of the one above