Théhéran
Kashan
Isfahan
Yazd
Shiraz
Program:
Day 1: 16/12/2024 Tunis/Istanbul/Tehran
- Night flight, Arrival in Istanbul, transfer to the hotel and Check in
Day 2: 17/12/2024 Tehran
- Free lunch
- Departure for a visit to downtown Tehran
- Former US Embassy (now the Spy Museum): The former US Embassy in Tehran serves as an exhibition space for objects tending to prove that espionage activities were carried out by the USA. This is where the conflict between these two countries really began, with the infamous hostage-taking that took place within its walls following the Islamic revolution of 1979.
- Museum of Islamic Arts: It is located in a modern building inspired by the Sassanid Palace of Bishapour. It was inaugurated in 1996, then refurbished in 2015. This museum houses a collection of ceramics, carpets and calligraphy tracing the history of Islamic art in Iran.
- Museum of Jewels according to opening: This museum is located in the city center. It houses the crown jewels, considered today as a national treasure and property of the nation.
- Free dinner
Day 3: 12/18/2024 Tehran
- Breakfast at the hotel
- Visit to the Golestan Palace: The sumptuous Golestan Palace is a masterpiece of the Qajar era. It was the first royal palace of this dynasty. However, its construction dates back to the Safavid period. It was refurbished and today represents a beautiful anthology of Qajar art and decorative style, inspired by the West of the 19th century.
- Free lunch
- Visit to the Saad Abad Palace (the last home of the Shah): This is a palace complex, located in a beautiful wood, whose construction began in the Qajar period. It was later completed under the Pahlavi period. Each house in this building complex housed a member of the family or the royal court.
- Walk in Darband: It is an ancient village, located in the northernmost part of Tehran. Darband is the start of a very popular hiking trail that leads to a mountain in the Alborz range, Mount Tochal, which dominates the city of Tehran.
- Walk to the Tajrish Bazaar: This is a lively and colorful market, a good place to shop with a wide variety of products, especially food.
- Free dinner
Day 4: 12/19/2024 Kashan
- Breakfast at the hotel
- Departure for Kashan around 9am (about 3 hours drive)
- Before leaving Tehran, stop at the Azadi Tower to take pictures.
- Visit to Fin Garden: It is a typical Persian garden located next to the village of Fin, at the entrance to the city of Kashan. This magnificent garden was the crime scene of the assassination of Amir Kabir, one of Nasredin Shah's chancellors.
- Agha Bozorg Mosque: It was built at the end of the 18th century by Ustad Haj Sa'banali. Its architectural model is unique in the whole country.
- Free lunch
- Historic Tabatabaei House: The house was built in the mid-19th century by the influential Tabātabāei family, a family of bourgeois notables of the time. It is considered the most beautiful mansion in the country that can still be visited.
- Hammam Sultan Amir Ahmad: This is an old hammam , built during the Safavid era . It was largely destroyed during the earthquake that struck the region at the end of the 18th century. This Hammam is a perfect model of the typical architecture of the Persian public bath.
- Kashan Bazaar: Located in the historic center of the city, it was probably built during the Seljuk period , with renovations during the Safavid period .
- Aminoddowleh Caravanserai: This caravanserai or Timcheh, is the most famous and most visited tourist spot in the great Kashan bazaar. There is
a small tea room in its center, as well as pretty antique shops more or less from the period.
- Free dinner
Day 5: 20/12/2024 Isfahan
- Breakfast at the hotel
- Departure from the hotel at 9am (3 hours drive)
- Visit the village of Abyaneh (1 hour): It is a village that is of ancient Zoroastrian culture. It is nestled in the heights around Kashan, and is characterized by the ocher color of its dwellings, as well as by the colorful shawls worn by the women of the village
- Walk to the Tajrish Bazaar: It is a lively and colorful market, a good place to shop with a wide variety of products, especially food.
Free dinner
Day 6: 12/21/2024 Isfahan
- Breakfast at the hotel
- Visit to Nagshe Jahan Square: Designed and built under the direction of Shah Abbas I at the beginning of the 17th century, it is a testimony to the social and cultural life of Persia during the Safavid dynasty . It is the second largest square in the world and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. - Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque: It is a mosque whose architectural model was developed without minarets. It is also the first religious building erected in Isfahan by the Safavids. Its construction lasted sixteen years according to sources, and it undoubtedly houses the most beautiful dome in the world. - Shah Abbas Mosque: Built by and for the Safavid sovereign Shah Abbas I between 1612 and 1630, it is intended as the work testifying to his life, his indelible mark in the history and heritage of the country. - Ali Qapu Palace: It was built in the 17th century, opposite the Sheikh Lotfallah Mosque. It is a reception palace in which various national or international delegations were received. It offers a magnificent panorama of Naghshe Jahan Square from its terrace - Free lunch - Tchehel Sotoun Palace: It is a Safavid royal palace located outside the Royal Square. This major monument of the reign of Shah Abbas II was used for coronation ceremonies and for receptions given in honor of foreign ambassadors. - Stroll through the Bazaar: it extends from Naghsh Jahan Square to the Friday Mosque. - Visit of the craftsmen and demonstration of carpet making. - Free dinner
Day 7: 12/22/2024 Isfahan
Breakfast at the hotel
- Visit of Imam Ali Square, the old royal square before the construction of Naghshe Jahan
- Jameh Atigh Mosque: It is a mosque built from the 10th century, in the heart of the historic Jewish quarter of Isfahan. It is built on the remains of an ancient Zoroastrian place of worship. It is one of the oldest mosques in the country. Considered a museum of the architecture and history of Isfahan, it is connected to the new square via the Grand Bazaar.
- Old Bazaar and its hidden treasures: Stroll through the bazaar connecting the old and new main squares, Imam Ali Square and Naghshe Jahan Square.
- Free lunch
- Free afternoon and free dinner
Day 8: 12/23/2024 Yazd
- Breakfast at the hotel
- Departure from the hotel at 9 a.m. (approximately 4 hours drive)
- Visits to the villages of Naein and Meybod: Naein, once famous for its cream-colored carpet workshops, is a village where one of the first mosques in the country is located. Meybod was the capital of Iran during the Mozaffarid dynasty in the 14th century, we will visit its Icehouse, a masterpiece of architecture and ingenuity.
- Free lunch and check-in at the hotel
- Visit to Amir Chakhmaq Square: This square is named after one of the governors of the city of Yazd who was its master builder. It includes a complex offering a religious school, a mosque and a bazaar.
- Free time and free dinner
Day 9: 12/24/2024 Yazd
- Breakfast at the hotel
- Visit to the Jameh Mosque of Yazd: This is the city's great Friday mosque. It was built 900 years ago, on the remains of an ancient fire temple. The ornamental work in blue ceramic tiles makes it unique and majestic.
- Stroll through the Bazaar: Divided into several alleys, the covered bazaar hosts stalls offering various handicrafts. Yazd's specialty is still ceramics
and silk and cotton weaving.
- Visit to the Fire Temple: It was built in 1934 and houses the AtashBahram, which means "victorious fire", and which defines the sacred fire lit several centuries ago. The one in this temple was lit in 470 AD.
- Free lunch
- Dowlatabad Garden: This is a typical Persian garden where you can find the highest wind tower in the world. The wind towers or Bad Gir, constitute the oldest natural air conditioning system of humanity. This garden is a small miracle in the arid climate of Yazd and it is classified by UNESCO.
- Visit of the Towers of Silence: These large circular structures, placed on top of hills, were used for Zoroastrian funeral rites.
- Return to the city and free time
- Free dinner
Day 10: 12/25/2024 Shiraz
- Breakfast at the hotel
- Departure for Shiraz (5 hours drive)
- Free lunch
- Visit of Naqshe Rostam, the valley of the Achaemenid and Sassanid Kings: It is the burial place of the kings of ancient Persia. There are the tombs of Darius and Xerxes among others, as well as a collection of bas-reliefs singing the glory of the Sassanid exploits.
- Visit of Persepolis: It was one of the capitals of the Achaemenid Empire. It mainly included a reception palace for annual ceremonies of renewal of the oath of allegiance of the peoples of Persia, the Apadana. Persepolis was destroyed by the illustrious
Alexander.
- Arrival at the hotel in Shiraz around 7 p.m., Check in
- Free dinner
Day 11: 12/26/2024 Shiraz
- Breakfast at the hotel
- Departure for the visit of the historic center of Shiraz
- Nasirol Molk Mosque: This mosque was built in the Qajar era . Also known as the pink mosque, due to the many roses painted on its ornamental tiles. It is famous for its play of light observable in the morning, the reflections of the sun project pretty colors inside the main room. Ideal for beautiful photos.
- Narenjestan Qavvam: This is an orange grove, one of the emblematic fruits of the city, which houses a pretty mansion, in a typically Shirazian style.
- Free lunch
- Visit the Eram gardens: Its name in Persian means "garden of Paradise". It was designed in the 20th century, on the site of a garden dating from the 18th century, around a palace from the Qajar era. Intended for the notables of the province of Fars, it later became the property of the wife of the Shah of Iran natural air conditioning of humanity. This garden is a small miracle in the arid climate of Yazd and it is classified by UNESCO.
- Visit of the Towers of Silence: These large circular structures, placed on top of hills, were used for Zoroastrian funeral rites.
- Return to the city and free time
- Free dinner
Day 12: 27/12/2024 Shiraz
- Breakfast at the hotel
- Departure for the visit of the historic center of Shiraz
- Visit of the Vakil complex: Located on a pretty and lively square, it has a mosque, a bazaar and a hammam. We will visit the mosque and the bazaar
Vakil Mosque: This mosque was built in the middle of the 18th century during the reign of Karim Khan Zand, founder of the Zand Dynasty. It was restored in the 19th century, during the Qajar Dynasty.
- Walk in the Vakil Bazaar
- Free lunch
- Free time and Farewell Dinner
Day 13: 12/28/2024 Shiraz/Istanbul/Tunis
- Transfer to Shiraz International Airport and return to Tunis
