Find places in Iran

Must-Haves

• Golestan Palace (Arg Square)
  The mirrored halls and tiled courtyards of the Qajar kings are Tehran's most beautiful sight.
• National Museum of Iran (Imam Khomeini Street)
  Finds from Persepolis, Susa and prehistoric Iran tell the country's story in one visit.
• Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (Laleh Park)
  A rare collection of modern Western and Iranian art in a building inspired by desert windcatchers.

Off the Beaten Path

• Treasury of National Jewels (Ferdowsi Avenue)
  A vault under the Central Bank holding the Darya-ye Noor diamond and the Peacock Throne, open only a few days a week.
• Glass and Ceramics Museum (Si Tir Street)
  A small Qajar mansion full of ancient glass and pottery, quiet and beautifully lit.

Must-Haves

• Grand Bazaar of Tehran (Panzdah-e Khordad)
  Kilometres of covered lanes selling carpets, spices, copper and gold, with mosques hidden inside.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Tajrish Bazaar (Tajrish)
  A lively local market for fruit, herbs, pickles and sweets beside the Imamzadeh Saleh shrine.

Fun for Everyone

• Tabiat Bridge (Abbas Abad)
  A striking three level footbridge between two parks, packed with families at sunset.
• Tochal Telecabin (Velenjak)
  A long cable car ride up into the Alborz, with hiking in summer and skiing in winter.
• Milad Tower (Gisha)
  One of the tallest towers in the world, with a viewing deck over the whole city.

Must-Haves

• Azadi Tower (Azadi Square)
  The city's landmark gateway, built in 1971, with a museum underneath.

Off the Beaten Path

• Former US Embassy Museum (Taleghani Street)
  The old embassy compound, now a museum telling the revolutionary story of 1979.

Fun for Everyone

• Darband (Shemiran)
  A mountain path lined with teahouses and kebab places beside a rushing stream.
• Jamshidieh Park (Niavaran)
  A rocky hillside park with streams, viewpoints and easy walks above the city.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Moslem Restaurant (Grand Bazaar)
  A famous, always busy bazaar lunch spot for saffron chicken and kebab with rice.

Must-Haves

• Shandiz Restaurant (Jordan Street)
  A well known name for lamb shishlik and grilled kebabs.

Great for Date Night

• Cafe Naderi (Jomhouri Avenue)
  A historic café attached to an old hotel, once a meeting place of Tehran's writers.

Off the Beaten Path

• Lamiz Coffee (Tehran)
  A local speciality coffee chain that shows how serious young Tehran is about coffee.

Must-Haves

• Fajr International Film Festival (Tehran)
  Iran's main film festival each winter, with screenings across the capital.

Fun for Everyone

• Tehran International Book Fair (Imam Khomeini Mosalla)
  One of the largest book fairs in Asia, a huge spring event for readers.

Must-Haves

• Espinas Palace Hotel (Saadat Abad)
  A large modern hotel in the north of the city, popular with business visitors.
• Parsian Azadi Hotel (Chamran Expressway)
  A landmark tower hotel with mountain views.

Fun for Everyone

• Valiasr Street evening walk (Valiasr Street)
  Iran has no bars, but a walk along the long plane tree lined street shows Tehran's evening life.

Must-Haves

• Naqsh-e Jahan Square (Central Isfahan)
  One of the grandest public squares in the world, ringed by mosques, a palace and the bazaar.
• Shah Mosque (Naqsh-e Jahan Square)
  A masterpiece of Safavid blue tile work with a famous echoing dome.
• Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque (Naqsh-e Jahan Square)
  A small royal mosque whose dome glows cream and pink, often called Iran's most perfect building.
• Ali Qapu Palace (Naqsh-e Jahan Square)
  A palace terrace over the square and a music room carved with sound niches.
• Jameh Mosque of Isfahan (Old city)
  A thousand years of Persian mosque architecture in one quiet, rambling complex.

Great for Date Night

• Khaju Bridge (Zayandeh River)
  The best place in the city at dusk, when people gather and sometimes sing under the arches.

Fun for Everyone

• Si-o-se Pol (Zayandeh River)
  The thirty three arch bridge, a favourite evening walk for local families.

Must-Haves

• Qeysarieh Bazaar (Naqsh-e Jahan Square)
  The old royal bazaar, full of workshops for enamel, miniatures and printed cloth.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Gaz shops on Chaharbagh (Chaharbagh Street)
  Shops selling Isfahan's pistachio nougat, the classic sweet to take home.

Great for Date Night

• Azadegan Teahouse (Naqsh-e Jahan Square)
  A cluttered old teahouse hung with lamps and curios, just off the square.

Great for Date Night

• Shahrzad Restaurant (Abbas Abad Street)
  A traditional dining room with mirror work, serving classic Persian dishes.

Fun for Everyone

• Nazhvan Forest Park (West Isfahan)
  A large green park by the river with walking paths and family picnics.

Must-Haves

• Abbasi Hotel (Chaharbagh Street)
  A grand hotel in a converted Safavid caravanserai with a beautiful garden courtyard.

Fun for Everyone

• Nowruz in Isfahan (Naqsh-e Jahan Square)
  Persian New Year brings families, picnics and lights to the square in late March.

Must-Haves

• Nasir al-Mulk Mosque (Old Shiraz)
  The pink mosque, where morning light through stained glass floods the prayer hall with colour.
• Tomb of Hafez (Hafezieh)
  The garden tomb of Iran's most loved poet, where people come to recite his verses.
• Vakil Mosque (Old Shiraz)
  A prayer hall of carved twisting columns and floral tiles.

Fun for Everyone

• Tomb of Saadi (Saadieh)
  A quieter garden tomb of the great poet, with an underground fish pool.

Great for Date Night

• Narenjestan Qavam (Old Shiraz)
  A garden house of orange trees and mirror work, lovely in spring.

Must-Haves

• Eram Garden (Eram)
  A UNESCO listed Persian garden of cypress avenues, pools and a Qajar pavilion.

Fun for Everyone

• Quran Gate (North Shiraz)
  The old city gate and a hillside park with views across Shiraz at sunset.

Must-Haves

• Vakil Bazaar (Old Shiraz)
  An eighteenth century brick bazaar for spices, textiles and nomad rugs.

Off the Beaten Path

• Moshir Caravanserai (Old Shiraz)
  A restored caravanserai with craft shops and a courtyard.

Fun for Everyone

• Arg of Karim Khan (Shohada Square)
  A brick citadel with a famous leaning tower in the city centre.

Must-Haves

• Persepolis (Marvdasht)
  The ceremonial capital of the ancient Persian kings, with carved staircases and great columns.
• Naqsh-e Rostam (Marvdasht)
  Royal tombs cut into a cliff above Sasanian rock reliefs.

Off the Beaten Path

• Pasargadae (Fars)
  The simple stone tomb of Cyrus the Great in a wide open plain.

Must-Haves

• Haft Khan Restaurant (Shiraz)
  A large, popular restaurant complex with several dining styles.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Faloodeh Shirazi shops (Vakil Bazaar area)
  Try the frozen rose water noodle dessert where locals buy it.

Must-Haves

• Niayesh Boutique Hotel (Old Shiraz)
  A traditional courtyard hotel in the heart of the old city.

Fun for Everyone

• Hafez Day (Hafezieh)
  Each October Iranians gather at the poet's tomb for readings and music.

Must-Haves

• Jameh Mosque of Yazd (Old town)
  The tallest tiled portal in Iran, lovely at night.
• Amir Chakhmaq Complex (Old town)
  Three tiers of arched niches over a square where families gather in the evening.
• Atash Behram Fire Temple (Yazd)
  A Zoroastrian temple keeping a flame said to have burned for fifteen centuries.

Off the Beaten Path

• Yazd Water Museum (Yazd)
  Explains the ancient qanat channels that kept desert life going.
• Lari House (Fahadan)
  A Qajar merchant's house with windcatchers and courtyards.

Must-Haves

• Towers of Silence (South Yazd)
  Two hills where Zoroastrians once laid out the dead, best climbed at sunset.
• Dowlatabad Garden (Yazd)
  A Persian garden with one of the tallest windcatchers in Iran.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Haj Khalifeh Ali Rahbar (Yazd)
  Yazd's best known sweet shop, for baklava, ghotab and pashmak.

Must-Haves

• Khan Bazaar (Old town)
  Yazd's old bazaar for textiles, sweets and spices.

Fun for Everyone

• Old town rooftop walks (Fahadan)
  Lanes of mud brick and windcatchers, best seen from a rooftop at sunset.
• Meybod (Yazd Province)
  A pottery town with a pigeon tower, ice house and old caravanserai.

Off the Beaten Path

• Zurkhaneh Saheb A Zaman (Yazd)
  Watch traditional Persian athletes train to drums and chanting in an old cistern.
• Chak Chak (Yazd Province)
  A Zoroastrian cliff shrine with dripping water, an hour into the desert.
• Kharanaq (Yazd Province)
  An abandoned mud brick village with a shaking minaret.

Must-Haves

• Moshir al Mamalek Garden Hotel (Yazd)
  A hotel set in a historic Persian garden.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Silk Road Hotel (Old town)
  A long running traditional courtyard hotel near the Jameh Mosque.

Great for Date Night

• Dad Hotel (Yazd)
  A grand courtyard hotel in a converted old building.

Must-Haves

• Muharram ceremonies (Amir Chakhmaq Square)
  Mourning rituals in the month of Muharram fill the square, a deep cultural experience.

Must-Haves

• Tabriz Historic Bazaar (Central Tabriz)
  One of the largest covered bazaars in the world, a UNESCO site.

Off the Beaten Path

• Muzaffariyeh Timche (Tabriz Bazaar)
  The carpet hall of the bazaar, where traders explain designs and knots.

Must-Haves

• Blue Mosque of Tabriz (Central Tabriz)
  Fragments of fifteenth century tile mosaic of extraordinary depth and colour.
• Azerbaijan Museum (Imam Khomeini Street)
  Finds from the region's ancient sites and a sculpture gallery.

Fun for Everyone

• Arg of Tabriz (Central Tabriz)
  A massive brick wall from an unfinished medieval mosque.

Off the Beaten Path

• Constitution House (Tabriz Bazaar area)
  Where the leaders of the constitutional revolution met, now a museum.
• Saint Stepanos Monastery (Near Jolfa)
  An Armenian monastery in a gorge, part of a UNESCO listing.

Great for Date Night

• El Goli (South east Tabriz)
  A park and lake with a pavilion, busy with families at dusk.

Fun for Everyone

• Eynali Mountain (North Tabriz)
  A mountain park with a cable car and views over the city.

Must-Haves

• Kandovan (Osku County)
  A village of homes carved into volcanic rock cones, still lived in.

Must-Haves

• Pars El Goli Hotel (El Goli)
  A large hotel above El Goli park.

Must-Haves

• Tabatabaei House (Old Kashan)
  A merchant's house of courtyards, stucco and stained glass.
• Boroujerdi House (Old Kashan)
  A grand house with distinctive windcatchers and painted walls.
• Sultan Amir Ahmad Bathhouse (Old Kashan)
  A beautifully tiled bathhouse with a rooftop of domes to walk on.

Off the Beaten Path

• Agha Bozorg Mosque (Kashan)
  An unusual sunken courtyard mosque and school.
• Sialk Hills (Kashan)
  Remains of one of the oldest settlements on the Iranian plateau.

Must-Haves

• Fin Garden (Fin)
  One of Iran's oldest Persian gardens, with spring fed channels and pools.

Must-Haves

• Kashan Bazaar (Central Kashan)
  An old bazaar with the stunning Timche-ye Amin od-Dowleh dome.

Off the Beaten Path

• Abyaneh (Natanz County)
  A red mud village in the mountains where elders still wear traditional dress.
• Maranjab Desert (Aran va Bidgol)
  Dunes, a salt lake and a caravanserai for a desert night near Kashan.

Fun for Everyone

• Rosewater festival (Qamsar)
  In May villages near Kashan distil rosewater from fresh roses, a fragrant spring event.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Manouchehri House (Old Kashan)
  A restored historic house hotel with courtyards and a café.