Top 10 Iran Tourist Villages Iran is a vast country with varied climatic conditions and different weather systems with mountain regions, desert terrains, forests, lakes, and seas which create many tourist villages in different corners. Each tourist village is distinct from others regarding the climate, natural beauties, landscapes, plants, and geographical features, as well as the indigenous culture, architecture, traditions, and customs. The differences between Iran's tourist villages are so amazing that you think you have traveled to a different country! If you pay attention to the Iran map below, which is spotted with the locations of the villages, you will see the tourist villages are scattered in different provinces all over the country, and the visiting time of each one is different from the others. With an astonishing variety of geographical and cultural distinctions, villages provide a wide variety of activities and tourist destinations in Iran for all adventure seekers and culture lovers who travel to Iran with special interests, from landscape photography or hiking on the off-the-beaten-path trails, to those who are into rural tourism and plan their trips based on sustainable tourism principles. The villages on the highlands overlooking snow-capped peaks, in the desert oases with an extended desert landscape, or at the foothills of spectacular mountain forests offer ideal opportunities for trekking, hiking, mountaineering, skiing, photography, and most of all communicating with the hospitable local communities in the rural areas and Iran off-the-beaten paths. Whether you are the kind of traveler bored with the common tourist hubs and in seek of some adventure in the less known attractions in a new destination, or a second-time visitor who already visited the Iran Classic Route and now plans for a deeper experience of the ancient Persia, we advise you to put Iran tourist villages on your bucket
Top 10 Iran Tourist Villages Iran is a vast country with varied climatic conditions and different weather systems with mountain regions, desert terrains, forests, lakes, and seas which create many tourist villages in different corners. Each tourist village is distinct from others regarding the climate, natural beauties, landscapes, plants, and geographical features, as well as
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Tourist Highlights Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari is the name of a small Province in the southwest of Iran, situated in the west of Esfahan province. Geographically, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari is located among the central Zagros Mountain Range, full of tourist highlights for adventure seekers. In this part of Zagros, the Zardkuh mountains chain (Zardkooh) is the most famous sub-range, making it the best spot for adventurous travelers. Zardkuh “yellow mountain” has a few important peaks above 4000m. Zard in Persian means yellow and Kuh means mountain. MT. Kolonchin (4200 m) is the most famous one, perfect for summer ascent. These mountains have huge volumes of snow in winter, and they are the main sources of water for the two main Iran rivers of Karun and Zayande-Rud. Moreover, there are a lot of springs, waterfalls, and underground water reserves in various parts of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province in different parts of the mountains. The weather and climate of this province along with the high-altitude mountains and geographical features of this region made this land a perfect place for livestock breeding for the local tribes. The highlight of this province is the nomadic lifestyle of Bakhtiari tribes who live in a different part of the Central Zagros Mountains. Bakhtiari Lifestyle, The Most Prominent Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Tourist Highlight The most important tourist highlight in Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari province is visiting the Bakhtiari tribes who are living in the mountains with a very basic life. They have a long history and for thousands of years, they have been living with their traditional culture in this land. Seeing their tribes and staying in their houses in villages or their basic nomadic tents in the mountains would be one of the most unforgettable experiences that you could have
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Tourist Highlights Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari is the name of a small Province in the southwest of Iran, situated in the west of Esfahan province. Geographically, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari is located among the central Zagros Mountain Range, full of tourist highlights for adventure seekers. In this part of Zagros, the Zardkuh mountains
Photography Travel to Iran: Kurdistan & Hawraman Valley Iran is a vast country with many special destinations for travel photography. Depending on the type of your photography and your travel time, there are so many places you could travel to. Kurdish regions of Iran in the two provinces of Kurdistan and Kermanshah are the most exotic destinations in Iran for Photography. The amazing landscape of the mountains, the architecture of the houses in the villages, and the people with special costumes create a perfect destination for photographers around the world. Kurdish people's culture and lifestyle in the mountains in Hawraman valley in the heart of Zagros mountains have attracted many travelers' attention. Moreover, UNESCO registered the Cultural Landscape of Hawraman/Uramanats on the Iranian UNESCO world heritage sites in 2021. This destination is noticeable regarding three main aspects of photography: Landscape photography Portrait Photography Architecture photography In addition to the three above photography types in Iranian Kurdish regions, people's lifestyle who are living in the mountains, the Kurdish dance, their very famous musical instruments of Tanbur and Daf, and their long stories of Kurdish histories are other highlights of this region. There are a couple of annual festivals such as Pir Shaliar and Daf music performed in the Hawraman region. These traditional festivals are very interesting and attract many people from different countries annually for photography travel to Iran. The Kurdish women work together with men in the fields. They have had a hard life in the mountains and have fought against enemies for years. Besides all the above elements of the Iranian Kurdistan region, the hospitality of Kurdish people in the mountains, their simple life, their clothes, customs, food, and old traditions have made this region one of the new destinations of Iran for those who would like
Photography Travel to Iran: Kurdistan & Hawraman Valley Iran is a vast country with many special destinations for travel photography. Depending on the type of your photography and your travel time, there are so many places you could travel to. Kurdish regions of Iran in the two provinces of Kurdistan and Kermanshah are the most
Persian Gardens of Iran The UNESCO Sites Persian Gardens is one of Iran's 28 UNESCO World Heritage Sites (as of September 2024). One of Iran’s main tourist attractions is Iranian historical gardens, which are situated in different regions of Iran. UNESCO collected 9 gardens under the name of the Persian Gardens and registered them in their heritage sites in 2011. Across time and in various climates, this type of designed garden has taken on a multitude of forms. Chahar Bagh, or the Persian Garden's original principle, adapts in new ways over the centuries. It first matured in the garden of Cyrus the Great's palace complex, in Pasargadae, more than two thousand years ago. Persian Garden exemplifies the ideals of art, philosophy, symbolism, and religion through a combination of natural elements and man-made elements. In a way, the Persian Garden is an Earthly Paradise or Eden. No Name of the Gardens Region Province/ City Geographical Coordinates 1 Ancient Garden of Pasargadae Iran Plateau Fars/Shiraz N: 30˚ 10΄ 0.0΄΄ E: 53˚ 10΄ 0.0΄΄ 2 Bagh-e Eram Iran Plateau Fars/Shiraz N: 29˚ 38΄ 10.03΄΄ E: 52˚ 31΄ 31΄΄ 3 Bagh-e Chehel Sotun Iran Plateau Esfahan/Isfahan N: 32˚ 39΄ 27΄΄ E: 51˚ 40΄ 20΄΄ 4 Bagh-e Fin West of Dasht-e Kavir Desert Esfahan/ Kashan N: 33˚ 22΄ 20.53΄΄ E: 51˚ 22΄ 20.53΄΄ 5 Bagh-e Abas Abad Caspian Sea Mazandaran/ Behshahr N: 36˚ 39΄ 50΄΄ E: 53˚ 35΄ 38΄΄ 6 Bagh-e Shahzadeh South west of Dasht-e Lut Desert Kerman/ Mahan N: 30˚ 01΄ 30΄΄ E: 57˚ 16΄ 59΄΄ 7 Bagh-e Dolat Abad Iran Plateau Yazd/Yazd N: 31˚ 54΄ 12.30΄΄ E: 54˚ 21΄ 6.59΄΄ 8 Bagh-e Pahlavanpur Iran Plateau Yazd/ Mehriz N: 31˚ 33΄ 36.6΄΄ E: 54˚ 26΄ 25.21΄΄ 9 Bagh-e Akbariyeh Desert (North of Dasht-e Lut) Southern Khorasan/ Birjand N: 32˚ D1΄ 10΄΄
Persian Gardens of Iran The UNESCO Sites Persian Gardens is one of Iran’s 28 UNESCO World Heritage Sites (as of September 2024). One of Iran’s main tourist attractions is Iranian historical gardens, which are situated in different regions of Iran. UNESCO collected 9 gardens under the name of the Persian Gardens and registered them in
Bagh Firuze Medicinal Herb Garden Bagh Firuze is a Garden dedicated to Agritourism focusing on Permaculture (sustainable and self-sufficient) farming that started working in the year 2010. Firuze garden offers a variety of programs and events to the general public and it is the best place for Agriculture & Agriculture Operations students to explore and learn about important medicinal herbs of Iran. This garden, placed in one of the villages on the outskirts of Tehran has a unique collection of Medicinal and Aromatic herbs and with the slogan of “A plant a day” takes care of 365 kinds of herbs yearly which you can visit and learn about on the farm. The rest of the farm is for the plantation of common herbs and vegetables. These get planted seasonally and visitors can pick anything they want for their taking and the products of this field can be bought from the farmer’s shop in the garden. Also, a small café is stationed in the garden too that gets its material for their delicious Herbal drinks and foods from the garden as well. Activities of Firuze garden There are 3 main activities you can do in this 4 Hectare farm: 1. The collection The plants in the collection are engrained yearly and each one of them has a special usage and properties in Iranian traditional medicine. Many groups of students visit this part yearly for their scientific research because besides traditional herbs of Iran many foreign herbs get planted in the collection too. A specialist accompanies these groups as a tour guide for a more detailed presentation of the area. The 4 corners of the garden are named after 4 Persian scientists active in the field of medicine and traditional medicine of Iran: Avicenna, Rhazes, al-Biruni and Zayn al-Din Gorgani. 2. Dasht-e
Bagh Firuze Medicinal Herb Garden Bagh Firuze is a Garden dedicated to Agritourism focusing on Permaculture (sustainable and self-sufficient) farming that started working in the year 2010. Firuze garden offers a variety of programs and events to the general public and it is the best place for Agriculture & Agriculture Operations students to explore and
Shemshak Winter Mountain scenery Shemshak is the name of a touristic village before the revolution which has now turned mostly into a small town. Shemshak became famous because of the famous Shemshak Ski resort and a lot of old wealthy people before the revolution came to Shemshak for skiing and it was a hub for many active people in the past years. It’s located in the heights of central Alborz Mountains 50 km away from north east of the capital. The video that you see is a collection of 6 months of photography and timelapsing in the winter season from November 2020 till April 2021. Shemshak village is located between 2600 m – 2800m above the sea level surrounded by a lot of mountains above 4000m and it has about 6 months of winter. There is a long story behind this short video and these pictures as it happens after the pandemic situation when I moved from Lavasan to Shemshak to be far from the population. I had decided to make a short documentary about this special lifestyle that can happen in Iran and the things that happen in the village, but I couldn't make it fully and the end result was the aforementioned video. There were two reasons for that. The first was I didn't have much material and footage to make this video and the second was that I needed a crew and a lot of professional equipment to record this live life happening in the village. So I cut short the plan I had in my mind and only took the most special moments that happened during that winter and I asked our editor to make a nice slide show of the magnificent nature that happens in the high mountains of Alborz. Most of the footage
Shemshak Winter Mountain scenery Shemshak is the name of a touristic village before the revolution which has now turned mostly into a small town. Shemshak became famous because of the famous Shemshak Ski resort and a lot of old wealthy people before the revolution came to Shemshak for skiing and it was a hub
Travel to Iranian Kurdistan Kurdistan Introduction Iranian Kurdistan with 21137 sq./m is located in the west of Iran with a joint border with Iraq. It’s one of the destinations of Iran that offers you a lot of Off the Beaten track for those who are looking for new experiences. Depending on your travel style and the type of activity you would like to do, you could travel to Iranian Kurdistan from one week up to one month. Most Iran visitors who already visited the Main tourist destinations of Iran travel to Kurdistan as a cultural tour. They only visit a couple of spots mentioned in the guidebooks. Also, most of the tours designed to visit Kurdistan are two to three-week tours of northwestern and western Iran, which spend only one or more days in this province and actually pass through this province and cannot explore the attractions of this region and understand the intangible highlights of this exotic destinations. Kurdistan has a long list of attractions for travelers and in this article, we try to mention the main important highlights of the province. Kurdish Region locations The Kurdish region of Iran is a geographical area in northwestern Iran that has been historically and is presently inhabited by a predominantly Kurdish population. This region includes parts of three Iranian provinces; the Kordestan Province, the Kermanshah Province, and the West Azerbaijan Province. These three Iranian provinces share borders with parts of Iraq and Turkey that are also inhabited by the Kurds. West Azerbaijan Province location in Iran Map Kurdistan Province location in Iran Map Kermanshah Province location in Iran Map Kurdish People The Kurdish people have inhabited the northwestern region of Iran for centuries – dating back before the Islamic conquests of the 7th century. It
Travel to Iranian Kurdistan Kurdistan Introduction Iranian Kurdistan with 21137 sq./m is located in the west of Iran with a joint border with Iraq. It’s one of the destinations of Iran that offers you a lot of Off the Beaten track for those who are looking for new experiences. Depending on your travel style
Photography Travel in Iran Iran is an amazing destination for photography and depending on your photography type there is so much to offer for experts in this field. The most important type we could mention are as below: 1- Landscape photography in Iran 2- Iran portrait photography 3- Architecture photography in Iran 4- On the Road Photography 5- Iran’s Tribes and nomads (and their lifestyle) Photography Along with the above main categories, there is also another topic for special interests like bird-watching and wildlife adventure photography in Iran and a much unrelated subject, Persian historical houses. Photography of events or special festivals is also another specific topic that many travelers come to Iran for. Some travelers are interested in these events but for photographers it’s a whole different story. Ashoora and Tasooa are the two main important religious ceremonies which are in the summer this year. On the 7 and 8 of August 2022. But every year those date move 12 days forward so, on 2023 the event would be 20 and 21 of July. In some towns, Ashoora and Tasooa ceremony and their special customs are totally different which is amazing for taking some out of this world shots. Along this ceremony, there are other historical ceremonies in Iran which is amazing for event photography as well. Pireh Shaliar is a traditional dance festival of Kurdish people in Howramanat and it is one of the best locations for traveling for photography. In Adventure Iran, we have done photography in all main categories and we have performed a few photography tours in different regions. Also, another important matter for photography is that you have to visit places when it’s not crowded and you have to have local information or special guides for the destination and the topic of your
Photography Travel in Iran Iran is an amazing destination for photography and depending on your photography type there is so much to offer for experts in this field. The most important type we could mention are as below: 1- Landscape photography in Iran 2- Iran portrait photography 3- Architecture photography in Iran 4- On the
Iran 5 Best Touristic Destinations In this article, you can read about Iran best touristic destinations and all the activities you can do in them in detail. These tourist cities are in the most popular travel itinerary of travellers during the spring season and is on the Best Iran Tours list. Iran has proudly secured its place among the top 10 countries with the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites, a remarkable achievement that highlights its rich cultural and natural heritage. Iran, with 28 UNESCO world heritage sites, (as of JULY 2024), is the tenth country in the world with regard to the number of such sites. Contrary to the perception of many tourists who haven’t read about Iran, it’s too much to even see its major highlights in a month. For this reason, most travelers prefer to make the main touristic cities of the country their main priority which includes Tehran, Kashan, Esfahan, Yazd, and Shiraz. Also, Lonely Planet’s travel guide book, which is a reference for many travelers, has chosen these cities for Iran’s first-time visitors. Also, Lonely Planet uses the term “CLASSIC” to describe a short travel itinerary for each country where travelers wish to visit a famous site. CLASSIC IRAN route is an overland journey that includes the main 5 urban tourist destinations of Tehran, Kashan, Esfahan, Yazd, and Shiraz with 7 UNESCO World Heritage Sites along with a couple of other attractions on the route. You need two weeks to visit these 5 major cities but depending on the holiday time you have available, the season of travel and your interests, you may want to extend your visit to see more attractions or even if time is a problem, make it shorter. Along with the historical and cultural attractions of this major cities, this route
Iran 5 Best Touristic Destinations In this article, you can read about Iran best touristic destinations and all the activities you can do in them in detail. These tourist cities are in the most popular travel itinerary of travellers during the spring season and is on the Best Iran Tours list. Iran has proudly secured
Nowruz The Persian New Year Nowruz in Iran marks the first day of Farvardin and the Iranian New Year. In the Gregorian calendar, Nowruz mostly occurs on March 20 or 21 and rarely on March 22 if it’s a leap year. This day in Iran and Afghanistan makes the New Year. UNESCO has registered Nowruz on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage as a World Heritage in 2009. The International Day of Nowruz (21th March) became well-know for the world. The United Nations officially accepted the “International Day of Nowruz” in 2010 and Iran has 29 UNESCO sites as of July 2025. More than 300 million people around the world, mostly in central Asia and IRAN, celebrate this day as the first day of the year and the New Year. Nowruz is officially a holiday celebrated in many countries such as Tajikistan, Russia, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Syria, Iraq, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Albania, and Uzbekistan. Iranians have inherited this ancient celebration from different ethnic groups in the region; a celebration with special colors and fragrances, which has a Persian identity and symbolizes the unity of Iranians. Nowruz is known as the beginning of the revitalization of nature, the timing of its growth, and the emergence of plants. Also, they believe they have to start the first day of the year by being in good spirits and wearing new clothes. The word NOWRUZ (Novruz, Navruz, Nooruz, Nevruz, Nauryz, Norooz, Nowrooz, Nowroz, Noruz, Novrooz, Novroz), means new day; its spelling and pronunciation may vary by country. Nowruz customs and traditions in Iran Chaharshanbe Suri (before Nowruz) Nowruz is a collection of celebrations and events. Nowruz celebrations first begin with Chaharshanbe Suri. On the last Thursday of the year, Iranians visit the graves of their forebearers to spend some time with their
Nowruz The Persian New Year Nowruz in Iran marks the first day of Farvardin and the Iranian New Year. In the Gregorian calendar, Nowruz mostly occurs on March 20 or 21 and rarely on March 22 if it’s a leap year. This day in Iran and Afghanistan makes the New Year. UNESCO has registered
