Iran
Check travel advice. UK nationals face specific and serious risks here
Population
92m people
Currency
Iranian Rial
Main Language
Persian
best time to visit
April – May and September – October, subject to current advice
Climate
Arid and semi-arid, hot summers, cold winters, snow in the mountains
Visa
Visa required; UK, US and Canadian nationals face additional restrictions and must travel on a guided tour
Country overview
The advisory position is important and specific. The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to Iran for British and British-Iranian nationals, citing a real risk of arbitrary arrest and detention, and similar warnings apply to US and several other nationalities. Consular support is extremely limited. This page is reference material.
Iran, considered separately from that, holds one of the great civilisational heritages on earth. Persepolis was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid empire and remains monumental. Isfahan Naqsh-e Jahan square is among the largest historic squares in the world, framed by tiled mosques that are frequently described as the most beautiful buildings in Islam.
Yazd is a desert city of wind towers and Zoroastrian fire temples. Shiraz has gardens and poets tombs that Iranians visit as pilgrimage sites. Travellers who have been consistently report hospitality of an intensity that is hard to convey, and an enormous gap between the government and the people. None of which changes the current advice.
Annual events and festivals
- Nowruz (21 Mar) — Persian new year and by far the biggest holiday. Two weeks of family visits and travel.
- Chaharshanbe Suri (last Tue before Nowruz) — bonfires jumped over in the streets on the eve of the new year.
- Sizdah Bedar (2 Apr) — the thirteenth day of the new year, spent outdoors by everyone.
- Ramadan (varies) — strictly observed. Public eating and drinking during daylight is prohibited.
- Eid al-Fitr (varies) — a public holiday ending Ramadan.
- Ashura and Tasua (varies) — the most significant Shia commemoration, with processions and public mourning.
- Yalda Night (21 Dec) — the winter solstice, spent with family eating pomegranates and reading Hafez.
- Nowruz-e Sadeh (Jan) — a Zoroastrian midwinter fire festival still observed in some communities.
- Revolution Day (11 Feb) — marks the 1979 revolution, with large state-organised rallies.
- Rose and Rosewater Festival, Kashan (May) — the annual damask rose harvest and distillation.
Iran Travel Guides
Iran guides are coming soon.