Adventure Iran Active Cultural Journeys
These types of tours are our own invention. After many years of conducting separate active tours and cultural/historical journeys; we recognized that many of our clients’ interests and desire was to accomplish both in the same trip. The reason was that for many visiting the country twice to accomplish both was not feasible. We therefore decided to combine these two activities and design appropriate tour itineraries. This was truly a challenging task and has taken Adventure Iran several years of thinking and logistics planning in order to carry out such journeys according to our high standards and our guests’ satisfaction.
Depending on which type of activities desired, we have created quite a number of fantastic journeys. They are divided into 2 basic categories:
1. Iran classic route with one activity
In the Lonely Planet guide book there is a popular route which covers the most important historical cities as well as the capital. The route starts from Tehran and then continues to Kashan, then Isfahan, Yazd and Shiraz. We combine coverage of these cities with trekking, mountain biking or even skiing. These types of trips are generally available from March to November. You can check with us to get our input on the best time for travel. We are willing and capable of designing tailor-made tours for tour operators. We can add or subtract elements from any of our in-house tours and will listen to input and suggestions from our clients.
Two examples of these types of tours are as follows:
Active Iran tour is a two week long journey from Shiraz to Tehran, where our guests complete the Classic tour of the country (visiting Shiraz, Isfahan, Kashan and Tehran); combined with hiking through the beautiful Zagros Mountains walking through Dena National Park ; A UNESCO registered Biosphere Reserve, short hiking on Bakhtiari tribal territory, and a short hike in the Dasht-e Kavir desert.
The second example is performing the Classic tour but this one adds Mountain Biking as the activity of choice. It is called Explore Highlights of Iran by Bicycle. Our guests will pedal through some of the most beautiful mountain vistas in the Zagros Mountain range, as well as desert biking in Dasht-e Kavir desert.
2. Out of the way parts of Iran uncovered by the classic route
For second time visitors or for those who are interested in other lesser known regions uncovered by regular tour operators, we offer off the beaten path types of tours combined with an activity. Iran possesses many historical/cultural monuments that are situated in faraway and difficult to reach locations. Iran was a main player in the Silk Road trade, and there are still considerable number of monuments, caravanserais etc. that remain from that period; well worth visiting.
There are many strands of the Iranian nation each with their particular traditions, dress, way of life and numerous spoken dialects. Some are tribal and nomadic, others settled and agricultural and yet others more urbanized but distinct. We combine visiting a selection of the above mentioned with soft, short activities. Our goal is to provide something genuinely authentic and impactful. These journeys in total cover the entirety of Iran. Obviously one cannot see everything in one journey, but we try to give a good glimpse for every tour. Because the country is large and there are considerable differences in temperature and general climatic conditions; it gives us the flexibility to offer these journeys throughout the year. A couple of examples follow:
The Valleys of the Assassins consists of soft hiking through the Alborz Mountain range, cover a portion of the Alamut valley and explore some the highlight of Caspian Sea coastal region. It is available from May to November.
Iran Desert Detour (Dasht-e Kavir & Lut Deserts) covers a thorough desert attraction itinerary with short day hiking in select sections of these deserts combined with some mountain plateau walking with excellent views. This one is offered for spring and autumn seasons.
We continuously strive to provide rich, deep and certainly memorable journeys in this ancient land, which we are very proud to be one of her representatives.