IRAN IN AUTUMN - A PERSIAN JOURNEY
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17 October – 31 October 2010
with John & Karen Osbourne
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COST: £2495 per person (sharing twin/double room). The price includes return flights, accommodation in 4* & 5* hotels [best available] , breakfast, lunch and dinner each day, all transport, including one internal flight, services of the tour leader and a local, English-speaking escort, entrance fees at museums and monuments.
EXTRAS: the price does not include THE RATHER EXPENSIVE VISA (currently £95, plus £20 service charge), drinks or tips, insurance, or any items of personal expenditure. There is a supplement for single accommodation, if you request it and it is available, at £450.
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IRAN has had long and distinctive periods of civilization: the era of Cyrus, Darius and Xerxes, the Persian kings who made such an impact upon Biblical and Classical Greek history; the Parthians and Sassanians, who earned the continued respect of the mighty Roman empire; the successive dynasties who ruled after the Islamic conquest in 641 AD, including the Mongols, Tamberlaine and Shah Abbas, who turned Isfahan into a brilliant capital city; and, finally, the monarchies of the 19th and 20th century, which has seen the overthrow of the Qajar and the Pahlavi dynasties, and the resurgence of Shia Islam as a political force.
Our tour will start and finish in Teheran, where we visit the Archaeological and Islamic Museums with their fine collections from all periods of Persian history. We visit the palace of the Great Kings destroyed by Alexander the Great at Persepolis, where the magnificent ruins include finely sculptured reliefs, and their spectacular tombs hewn into the cliffs nearby at Naqsh-e-Rustam. We stay in the lovely city of Shiraz, famous for its gardens and its lyric poets, Hafiz and Saadi, buried there. We travel to the desert city of Yazd, with its fine mosque, Zoroastrian fire temple and ‘Towers of Silence’. We spend two full days in Isfahan, the city which is ‘half the world’, according to the Iranians, to enjoy the splendour of its tiled mosques and painted palaces, and the lively, colourful bazaars, with their traditional trades and crafts.
| Date |
Itinerary |
| Sun 17 Oct |
Fly from Heathrow to Teheran. Two nights at the 5* Laleh Hotel. |
| 18 |
Visits to the Golestan Palace, and to the National Bank to see the crown jewels and the Peacock Throne. |
| 19 |
A visit to the Niavaran Palace. Then we catch the early afternoon Iran Air flight to Shiraz. Three nights at the 5* Pars Hotel. |
| 20 |
A full day in Shiraz, visiting the Eram Garden, the tombs of Hafez and Saadi, the fine 19th c. house, the Naranjestan, and the colourful Bazaar. |
| 21 |
Drive out to visit the imposing remains of the ancient royal palaces at Persepolis, the tombs of the Persian kings high on the rock face at Naqsh-e-Rustam, and the Sassanian reliefs there and at Naqsh-e-Rajab. |
| 22 |
Drive to Yazd. En route we visit Pasargadae, where Cyrus the Great’s tomb still stands, and have a picnic lunch before crossing the Zagros mountains. Two nights in the Moshir Mamelek Hotel, a converted 19th c traditional town house with a lovely garden. |
| 23 |
A full day in Yazd, visiting the fine Friday Mosque and the Zoroastrian Fire Temple and Towers of Silence. |
| 24 |
A further full day in Yazd |
| 25 |
Drive to Isfahan via Nain, where we visit one of the oldest mosques in Iran, and a weavers’ village. Three nights at the 5* Abbasi Hotel. |
| 26 / 27 |
Two days in the great city of Isfahan, visiting the mediaeval Friday Mosque; the bazaars; the palace of the Chehel Situn; the Khaju Bridge dating from Shah Abbas’time; and Vank Cathedral in the old Armenian suburb of Julfa; the finely tiled Imam and Sheikh Lutfullah Mosques and the Ali Kapu Palace around the spacious Maidan, all dating from the reign of Shah Abbas. |
| 28 |
We leave for Natanz, where we see the fine Friday Mosque and continue to Abyaneh, where we have one night’s accommodation in this unspoilt traditional mountain village. |
| 29 |
We drive back to Tehran, via Kashan where we visit the Garden of Fin and one of the finely restored 19th c town houses. Lunch en route. Two overnights at the Laleh Hotel. |
| 30 |
Visit the Archaeological and Islamic Arts Museums in Teheran, and the Carpet Museum. Farewell dinner in local-style restaurant in Teheran. |
| 31 |
Return flight to London Heathrow |
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