TEHRAN
- take in the over-the-top opulence of the Golestan Palace,a monument to Qajar
excess.
-Gaze in wonder at the 51,366-gem Globe of Jewels in the National Jewels Museum.
-Ski the slopes of Dizin and Shemshak for
fraction of what you'd pay at home.
-Relax Tehran-style by taking a mountain walk from Darband to Parke-e
Jamshidiyeh, enjoying the views, food and company en route.
-Grid your loins and climb aboard a Motorcycle Taxi for a trip across peak-tour
Tehran-a white-knuckleb ride you're unlikely to forget.
WESTERN IRAN
-Hike between flower-filled Valleys and snowcapped peak amid the ruined
12th-century Castles of the Assassins.
-Challenge Iran's desert image in the paddy fields and forest of
Gilan that lead to the delightful stepped
village of Masuleh.
- From Jolfa explore ancient churches,
mud-walled castles and grand canyons along the biblical Aras
River Valley.
-Staggerup to Babak Castle, the dramatic emotional heart of Azarbayjan.
-Venture into Howraman, a magical, rarely visited valley of traditional Kurdish
villages.
-Be awed by lonely Choqa Zanbil's massive, brick ziggurat which somehow managed
to get 'lost' for 2500 years.
-Cross sparsely populated mountains capes from Zanjan
to reach the ruins of Takht-e soleiman, history's foremost Zoroastrian temple
complex.
-Potter about between the fairy-chimney homes of Kandovan, Iran's
mini-Cappadocia.
CENTRAL IRAN
-Watch the sun set over Esfahan's many -splendoured Imam Square from the rooftop
Qeysarieh Tea Shop.
-Sit on the hill behind the sublime Persepolis, just soaking it all up.
-Haggle over a carpet or Kilim in the vaulted arcades of Esfahan's Bazar-e
Bozorg or Imam Square.
-Lose yourself in the historical lane ways of Yazd, and find yourself in a
traditional hotel.
-Treat yourself to a dose of Safavid -era luxury in the wonderfully restored
Caravanserai Zein-o-din.
-Experience a real desert oasisbat simple, silent Garmeh.
PERSIAN GULF
Take an early morning speedboat to sleepy Hormoz Island
and climb through the silent history of the Portuguese Castle.
-Enjoy a delicious meal in the converted stone water cistern that is Ghavam
Restaurant in Bushehr.
-Watch the sun set behind wooden LENGES in the unfeasibly photogenic Bandari
village of Laft, on Qeshm Island.
-Become one of the few people to have dived on the reefs and wrecked tankers of
Qeshm Island.
-Shop and shoot photos til you drop at Minab's colorful Thursday Market.
NORTHEASTERN IRAN
-Feel the emotion of pilgrims at Mashhad's glorious Haram-e Razavi, the holy
shrine of Imam Reza
-See the magnificent Alborz Mountains at the their peaceful best by driving the
little-known mountain road through Baladeh to pol-e Zanguleh
-Go horse-riding and sleep in Turkmen Oy tent at the Gharra Tappeh Sheikh stud
farm.
-Ask yourself if a forerunner of NASA didn't help build the incredible
1000-years-old tower Mil-e Gonbad in Gonbad-e Kavus.
-Hide across the bald Binalud mountains to the splendid stepped village of Kang,
nicknamed 'Mashhad's Masuleh'
-Enjoy an incredible caspian panorama as you wind up through ridge-top forests
towards a 'secret valley' hiding the lonely West Radkan Tower.