21 Days

Duration

Challenging

Activity Level

May, Jun, July, Aug, Sep, Oct

Best Months

Multi-Activity

Activity Type

Off the Beaten Track, Adventure Travel

Travel Styles

Special Iran’s long distance hiking tour through Alborz and Zagros mountains along visiting the main highlights of Iran and the UNESCO sites in major touristic destination

TOUR CODE

182-STN-MLT

START

Shiraz

FINISH

Tehran

REGION(S)

Central Iran

INCLUDED

MEALS: 17 Breakfasts, 9 Lunches, 10 Dinners
ACCOMMODATIONS: Hotel: 9 Nights, Camp: 1 Night, Guesthouse: 4 Nights, Local House: 5 Nights, Shelter: 1 Night
TRANSPORTATION: Private vehicle
All transportation according to the itinerary Accommodation as mentioned in the itinerary Meals as indicated in the itinerary English speaking tour guide Backpack handling by Mules/Horses (limited to 15kg per person)

NOT INCLUDED

Entry fee for the sites not mentioned in the itinerary
Travel insurance
International airfare
Excess baggage charges
Airport and departure taxes
Any extra hotel costs such as early check in or late checkout
Laundry
Mini bar used in the room
Meals not stipulated in the itinerary
Tips (optional)
Cost of medical immunizations
Bottled water
Phone calls
Any other service not mentioned in the itinerary

Iran main highlight through an efficient journey
An Active journey through central Iran
Visiting Dena National Park and protected areas
Visit Shiraz, Yazd, Isfahan, Kashan and Tehran UNESCO world heritage sites
Staying in historical renovated in different region of Iran
Explore Dasht-e Kavir “Central Desert of Iran”
Hike in heights of Zagros mountains
Visiting local people in non touristic villages
Taste local cuisine
Visit historic Eqlid town
Explore off the beaten tracks of Iran
Hiking through Bakhtiari nomadic tribe
Experience different climate of Iran in one journey
Hiking from Almut valley towards the Caspian Sea
Visit Ramsar royal palace
Explore Masuleh historic village and hike in Rudkhan Castle
Visit Lahijan the center of Iran’s tea plantation farms
Visit Gilan heritage museum & Anzali lagoon

One of the main concerns for travelers visiting Iran for the first time is how to prepare their travel itinerary. Iran is a vast country with many cultural and natural attractions spread across different regions. To plan a proper trip, travelers often need to spend a lot of time researching and reading guidebooks. However, many hidden and spiritual places are not mentioned in any books or websites — only local experts know about them.

This exclusive itinerary covers different regions with diverse climates. Especially in early spring and late autumn, travelers will notice big changes in weather from one place to another. If you book this trip during those seasons, you need to be well equipped for various conditions.

It’s not easy to create an itinerary that includes most of Iran’s highlights in a short trip, especially if you want to save time and money. Combining Iran’s cultural and historical sites with nature and trekking makes it even more challenging. That’s why we designed this multi-activity tour — to help travelers enjoy both Iran’s unique mountain landscapes and its most important Iran’s UNESCO heritage sites in one well-planned journey.

This is a three week active holiday in Iran with combination of hiking and Iran sightseeing. In Iran there is two mountain ranges of Alborz and Zagros mountains and we will cover a short trek in both mountains on this trip. In Zagros you have one week hike in north of Shiraz in DENA national park, which is listed on the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve destination. The mountain route crosses a couple of interesting villages and you will have the interesting night with local tribes in their house and at the end of this one week hike you will have a challenging ascent to climb one of the highest mountains in the Zagros mountain chain. In another region in Alborz mountains, we will have a famous hike from the Valley of the Assassins in Alamut Castle towards the Caspian Sea which is a 3 day hike. Also you will visit the most attractions of Iran in famous touristic cities of the country in Iran classic route and you will visit the main UNESCO sites of Shiraz, Esfahan, Yazd, Tehran. At the end of the trip you will have an exploring tour in the Caspian Sea and you will visit a couple of the famous villages like Masuleh and short trek in Rudkhan Castle as well as boat trips in Anzali lagoon. The journey will start from Shiraz and finish in Tehran.

Day 1: Arrival to Shiraz

Depending on your arrival time you’ll likely have free time to relax, get adjusted and explore the famous city of Shiraz. Overnight stay at hotel. (-,-,-)

Day 2: : Shiraz- Persepolis excursion

In Persepolis we start a full sightseeing of Persia’s imperial past by visiting Naghseh Rajab and Nagshe-Rostam. In the late afternoon we will drive back to Shiraz. Overnight stay at hotel. (B)

Day 3: Shiraz City tour- drive to sisakht

In the morning we will start a walking tour to visit Karimkhan citadel, Vakil mosque & baths, Nasirolmolk mosque, the grand bazaar and the old part of the town. Afternoon we will spend a while for visiting Hafez mausoleum Persia’s beloved poet and Eram garden registered in UNESCO World Heritage sites. late afternoon we will leave Shiraz towards Sisakht “ Dena mountains foothill” which is 216 km away. Overnight stay in a traditional guesthouse. (B, D)

Day 4: Enter to Dena national park- Trek day 1

After breakfast start your long day trekking. Starting point is national park’s gate for 6 days. The altitude of starting point is 2500m from sea level. More or less we will traverse around 15 km per day taking us to the central part of the region. Dinner in the camp. (B, L, D)

Day 5: Passing by villages & farms- Trek day 2

Second day walk is also around 7.5 km passing forest and mountain foothills. Today we will visit a waterfall which is the highest waterfall in Dena region. (B, L, D)

Day 6: Walking on a river through the canyon - Trek day 3

Third day walking length is also approximately 10 km crossing some rivers and visiting another waterfall. We will arrive in the late afternoon to the 3rd camp, having dinner in our tents. (B, L, D)

Day 7: Descending to Sisakht- Trek day 4

After breakfast we will collect our camps and continue trekking towards a shelter at 3780m height. Hiking will start from 2580m from sea level hiking to a mountain to reach the shelter. (B, L, D)

Day 8: Summits day – the highest Zagros peaks- Trek day 5

6.00 A.M wake up for breakfast to get ready to start at 7.00 A.M. Today we have chosen a couple of peaks to ascend. (B, L, D)

Day 9: descend to the base Trek day 6- drive to Yazd

After collecting our camps we will continue trekking to the base (3000m) to be picked up by our vehicle to drive towards Yazd. Overnight stay at hotel. (B, L)

Day 10: Yazd city tour

After breakfast you will have full day sightseeing tour visiting its touristic attractions such as Zoroastrian sites of Dakhmeh (old cemetery & tower of silence), the fire temple, Amir Chakhmagh complex and the main Grand Mosque next to bazaar. (B)

Day 11: Drive to Esfahan

After breakfast drive to Esfahan and en route we will visit the historical city of Meybod and Naeen and Varzaneh desert. Overnight stay in Esfahan. (B)

Day 12: Isfahan walking tour

A full day Esfahan city walking tour to visit all of the UNESCO’s world heritage sites on Naqshe Jahan Square, Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque, Imam Mosque as well as Aali Qapu Building, Chehel Sotun (Forty Pillar) and Hasht Behest (Eight Heaven) building on this day. Overnight stay at hotel. (B)

Day 13: Drive to Tehran – En route Kashan city

After breakfast in the hotel you will drive to Kashan, you have have a half day Kashan tour. visit a couple of historical houses as well as Aghabozorg old mosques and the Grand Bazaar. We will visit Fin garden and bath before leaving the city by drive to outside of the town. Fin garden is one of the Persian gardens UNESCO world heritage list. Afterward we will drive to Tehran. Over night stay in a hotel. (B)

Day 14: Tehran city walking tour

After breakfast there will be Tehran sightseeing and city tour. It will be a walking tour and we will include all of important sites of the capital on it. Golestan Palace world heritage site, Iran anthropology museum and the Grand Bazaar are the sites till afternoon. Drive to Tehran IKA to take departure flight. (B)

Day 15: Tehran to Alamut Valley- Trekking

Departure from hotel after breakfast and drive towards the city of Ghazvin. Start trekking from the canyon to Alamut Castle. (B, L, D)

Day 16: Trekking day

Today we will pick an old trail through the mountains and work our way up to another historic village. (B, L, D)

Day 17: Trekking to the Caspian

After breakfast at 7:30 A.M we will hike our way through some spectacular scenery towards another beautiful and old village. (B, L)

Day 18: Explore the Caspian Sea

We have one day sightseeing and exploring tour in the Caspian sea towards Gilan. There are lots of attractions in the north of Iran, which according to the time of your travel, climate and local situation you will see some of them. (B, L, D)