Iran is bigger than France, Britain and Germany combined, stitched together by deserts, 5 000 m peaks and millennia-old cities. If you book the wrong format—too rushed, too soft, too hardcore—you’ll miss the magic that happens in the narrow space between places. That’s why travel planners such as HiPersia organise trips around tour styles rather than cookie-cutter routes. Their website lists cultural loops, wildlife safaris, ski expeditions and more, each tweaked for pace, comfort level and the calendar.
Tehran → Shiraz → Yazd → Isfahan: the famous rectangle that packs in half of Iran’s UNESCO sites in as little as eight days. Expect guided walks through Persepolis, blue-tiled mosques at dusk and family dinners in garden courtyards.
Follow Qashqai or Bakhtiari tribes as they migrate with their herds, sleeping under goat-hair tents and learning to weave saddle-bags. Slow travel fans love the unfiltered conversations and zero-screen nights beneath the Milky Way.
The Lut and Rig-e Kavir deserts rank among the planet’s darkest skies, making them prime ground for star parties, sunrise yoga on “singing” dunes and 4×4 drives past salt polygons.
Mount Damavand (5 609 m) is Iran’s answer to Kilimanjaro, while untouched powder in the Zagros lets back-country skiers notch brag-worthy first tracks. Technical gear can be rented locally, keeping packing light.
With the Tehran–Van line back on the timetable (twice weekly, 22-hour run) you can now ride the same corridor merchants once took to Anatolia, swapping border chaos for a samovar and a sleeper berth.
Visa-free Kish and Qeshm guarantee winter sun, coral dives and Afro-Iranian music aboard wooden lenj boats—proof Iran isn’t all rugs and ruins.
Helicopter over Alborz valleys or book an entire caravanserai for your group; everything is designable when budget and imagination align.
If you say… |
Lean toward… |
|---|---|
| “First time, limited days.” | Classic Heritage |
| “I want stories, not souvenirs.” | Nomad Encounter, Desert Camp |
| “Give me adrenaline!” | Damavand Trek, Zagros Ski |
| “Travelling mid-winter.” | Gulf Island-Hopping, Desert Astronomy |
| “Need train-and-hotel comfort.” | Silk Road Rail |
“I said, ‘What about my eyes?’ God said,‘Keep them on the road.’”
Hafiz