Iran Desert Tour | Tailormade Tour to Iran | Pyala Travel - Travel Program
Explore the deserts of Iran. Visit the Dasht-e Lut and the Dasht-e Kavir desert with Pyala Travel. Completely tailormade Iran tour
Iran Desert Tour
private tour
Great trip to Kalut and Dasht-e Kavir desert
Great journey through the deserts of Iran. You will visit the bizarre landscapes in the Kalut and travel on ancient roads past remote villages in the Dasht-e Kavir desert. Enchanting sand dunes will be your companion on this wonderful Iran tour.
from 2020,-
15 days
Tabs
Day 1 arrival Tehran
Upon arrival at Tehran airport, a driver awaits you and takes you to the booked hotel. Depending on your arrival time, you can explore the city or enjoy a first Iranian meal. This first day you will have the opportunity to get acquainted with the various sights of the Iranian capital. We can arrange a city excursion with transportation and an English speaking guide for you. Discuss this with your travel specialist if you wish.Central to the city is the National Museum, with an extensive collection that gives you a good idea of the historical development of Iran, as well as Islamic art and culture. Nearby is the Golestan Palace from the Khajar dynasty. The various buildings provide a good insight into the noble life of yesteryear. Important attractions here are the marble throne and the first 'apartment buildings' of the country; but Western example. The National Jewel Museum is without a doubt one of the best museums in the country with its world-famous jewellery collection. showpieces here are the world's largest pink diamond, the Darya-e Nur and the Pheasant Throne. The museum has limited opening hours: in the afternoons from Saturday to Tuesday (14:00-16:30 hours).
In the north of the city you can visit the Sa'd Abad park, where several residences together formed the Shah's old summer palace. Not far from there is the former living and working residence of the last shah and his family. It is said that nothing has changed since the shah fled from Iran in 1979. The Azadi Square (Square of Liberty) was built on the occasion of the celebration of 2500 years of the Persian Empire. Nowadays there are sometimes large manifestations taking place. The Milad Tower offers on a beautiful day a beautiful view of the city and the surrounding mountains. Popular with the locals and a new attraction is the green and atmospheric Tabiath bridge over one of the busiest highways in the city.
Don't miss a visit to the bazaar, this is one of the largest and most important bazaars in the country (close to Friday).
Day 2 Tehran – Kerman
In the morning you will fly to Kerman in east part of the country. There are plenty of attractions in the city and the surrounding area. Kerman is situated at 1750 meters of elevation and has a comfortably cool climate surrounded by desert and mountains. It is a pleasant city with a central square, a few beautiful mosques and a nice bathhouse. This bathhouse is a 17th-century hammam and is now a museum. You have the whole day to explore the city.
Day 3 Tehran - Semnan
You leave Tehran and travel east to Semnan. You will travel along the south side of the Alborz Mountains. If the weather is good, you may be able to see the peak of Mt. Damavand, with 5610 m the highest mountain in the country. If you have some time left, you can take a trip to the limestone terraces of Badab-e Surt; ask your travel specialist about the possibilities.Semnan is a small town with a number of interesting historical and religious sights. Beautiful is the richly taught historical entrance to the former citadel. In addition, there are several beautiful mosques, such as the Friday Mosque with a striking detached minaret and the Imam mosque located around a beautiful square and a traditional bathhouse. Here, too, the evening in the bazaar is a good place to be.
Day 3 Semnan - Mesr
From Semnan you travel straight through the Great Salt Desert (the Dasht-e Kavir) to the oasis village of Mesr. If you are travelling via Damghan you can admire one of the oldest mosques in Iran. It was originally built as a fire temple and later converted into a mosque. Nearby is a remarkable stone minaret. The further you drive into the desert the more you understand why it is called the salt desert. Left and right you can see the shimmering of the salt in the desert.Let the driver stop at the beautiful mud town of Jandagh. Walk around it; see the old mosque and climb on the roof of the remains of the small citadel for a nice overview. In the course of the afternoon you will arrive in the oasis town of Mesr. Where you will spend the night in one of the local houses with rooms around a typical courtyard.
Day 4 Mesr / Dasht-e Kavir
Today you have a full day to enjoy the silence and vastness of the desert. In the morning you have the option of riding a camel through the sand dunes. After lunch you can rest for a while and then continue to explore the area.
Day 5 Mesr - Bayazeh via Garmeh
Today you will make another beautiful trip through the Dasht -e Kavir Desert. On the way to Bayazeh you will make a stop in the typical desert town of Garmeh. The old, loamy town centre is completely dilapidated here, but particularly attractive with the surrounding desert and the rugged mountains around it. There is also a beautiful caravanserai.After a visit to Garmeh you drive on to Bayazeh. A kasbah-like village, where people in Morocco go en masse. It is completely dilapidated here, the environment is completely desolate, whether you are in the middle of the moon, but an undiscovered treasure for desert lovers. In this village, with its old dilapidated castle, you will spend the night in a nice, simple traditional homestay on the outskirts of the village with a beautiful view over the surroundings.
Day 6 Bayazeh - Esfehak via Tabas
The next day the Dasht-e Kavir shows what it owes its name to. The sand dunes are exchanged for endless salt plains, sometimes it seems as if you are driving through a snow plain. On the way you will visit a salt lake with a real salt waterfall at the edge. The salt crystals drip down slowly as works of art. The landscape changes gradually, from salt plains back to sand dunes, to endless emptiness, through rugged mountains, until you arrive in the Dasht-e Kalut past Tabas. Small oasis villages surrounded by green gardens full of date palms and pomegranate trees.One of the most enchanting villages is Esfehak, a small village where time has stood still. Small alleys full of mud houses, mountains in the background, date palms and gardens where you can cool off. The inhabitants of the village have united in a form of Community Based Tourism. In some of the houses you can spend the night and be eaten in another one. In the late evening light there is an enchanting glow over the village.
Day 7 Esfehak - Mahan via Nayband
After breakfast your driver will be waiting for you and you will travel in the direction of Mahan. On the way you will visit the isolated village of Nayband. Nayband is perhaps the most beautiful village in the desert, and certainly one of the most beautiful villages in Iran. Like an impregnable fortress, Nayband towers over the desert. This village is built on a steep hill. The houses on the edge form a fortress wall, on the edge of the village are round watchtowers. At the foot of Nayband you will find beautiful gardens: rice fields, date palms, pomegranate trees and orange trees. Walking through the village you will imagine yourself in the old kasbahs of Morocco, but without tourists; hotels, souvenir shops or carpet traders.After wandering through Nayband you will travel on to Mahan. Mahan is a nice, small town to visit. In the center you will find a beautiful mausoleum. Tonight you will stay in style: in an invigorating palace garden, the Prinsentuin van Mahan, the Shazdeh Garden. A relief after the drought of the desert! Rippling water, fountains, trees, flowers, birds... Also be sure to ask if you can have breakfast in the Shah's garden gazebo in the morning. From behind stained-glass windows, you can look out over a green oasis of tranquillity.
Day 8 Mahan - Bam via Rayen
Today you will travel to the city of Bam, famous for its ancient citadel. On the way you will visit the citadel of Rayan. This is a smaller version of Bam but remains largely intact. In the afternoon you will arrive in Bam. This was once one of the largest mud structures in the world and one of the most important sights in Iran. In 2003, however, Bam was largely destroyed by an earthquake. In the meantime, Bam has been partly rebuilt, just like the town itself, and it is definitely worth a visit again. You can see how and in a traditional way the citadel rebuilds in its original state. The town of Bam itself is a nice town to visit and to hang out in a teahouse.
Day 9 Bam – Kalut desert
In the morning you still have time to visit the citadel or the town. Then you drive through a beautiful road through the mountains to Shahdad, the last city before the Dasht-e Lut desert begins. The Dasht-e Lut is called the hottest place on earth. Measurements of NASA once showed temperatures above 70 degrees Celsius. At sunset you will visit the 'kaluts', immense rocks that stick out of the desert. A very impressive sight, a kind of Grand Canyon in the desert. It is also somewhat reminiscent of the Acacus Mountains in the Sahara in Libya or the south of Algeria. You will be taken to a viewpoint, where you have a beautiful view over the kaluts at sunset beautiful red colors. There is a possibility to walk into the desert. You will spend the night in a simple 'desertcamp' where you will sleep under a beautiful starry sky in the open air.
Day 10 Kalut - Shafi Abad
The whole morning you still have to explore the Kalut desert further. This means in particular that you will explore the desert in the early morning. You drive to the Kalut before sunrise to see the sunrise. Then you can walk through the village of Dey Seyf. This mud village is surrounded by some gardens with date palms and you will find a large caravanserai.In the afternoon you will travel on to Shadadad. If you prefer to stay in Shafi Abad today, you can. The choice is yours!
Day 11 Kalut - Kerman
From Shahdad (or Shafi Abad) you will travel further to Kerman in the east of Iran. Kerman is a pleasant city to stay with plenty of sights in the city and surroundings. Kerman is located at 1750 meters altitude and therefore has a pleasant cool climate. The city is surrounded by desert and mountains. It is a pleasant city with a central square, some beautiful mosques and a nice bathhouse that you can visit. This bathhouse is a seventeenth-century Hamam, and now furnished as a museum. Be sure to visit the bazaar, one of the best in the country.
Day 12 Kerman – Yazd via Zein-o din, Saryazd and Fahraj
Today you will drive to Yazd, and en route visit more mud villages. The first stop is in the ancient caravanserai of Zein-o Din. This is one of the best-preserved caravanserai in Iran and one of the few with a round shape; it is now used as hotel. You can take a break with cup of tea here, and if you inform them in advance, you can also have lunch. You then continue on to Saryazd, a charming village full of mud houses and an impressive 1800-year-old castle. The next stop is Fahraj where you can visit one of the oldest mosques in Iran. Finally, you will arrive in Yazd, one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in the country, where you will spend the night.
Day 13 Yazd
Yazd is definitely a special city. You will find narrow streets lined with mud houses, especially around the central bazaar. The houses are characterized by the typical badgirs, towers that catch every breath of wind to promote circulation and cool down the house. Also unique are the many underground qanats, aqueducts that direct water throughout the city. The mosques of Yazd are like no others. The magnificent Jame Mosque dominates the old city. Its remarkably high, tiled entrance, flanked by two stunning minarets and adorned with an inscription from the 15th century, is simply superb. There are several beautiful mosques that lie hidden among the streets, also, including the Friday Mosque and the Masjad-e Mir Chakhmaq. On the main Amir Chakhmaq Square, you will find the stunning three-story façade of one of the finest tekyehs in the country. Tekyeh are places where traditional Muharram mourning ceremonies keep the memory of Imam Hussein, the 3rd Imam of Shias, who was martyred at the Battle of Karbala in 680 A.D. Yazd is also known for being the center of Zoroastrianism, an ancient Iranian religion. Here you can visit the Atashkade Fire Temple (House of Eternal Fire) and the Tower of Silence, a Zoroastrian burial place. In the evening you may choose to visit a zoorkhaneh strength ritual to see a traditional Iranian dance accompanied by the beating of drums.
Day 14 Yazd - Kashan
After breakfast you will be picked up by your driver and taken to the train station in Yazd. Here you will board a comfortable train that will take you to Kashan in a few hours. Here you will arrive in the afternoon. Kashan is a nice oasis town with a lively bazaar, a number of beautiful trading houses and one of the country's most famous gardens: the Fin Garden. Iran is a dry desert country, so the Iranian population likes to visit the beautifully maintained gardens, which form green oases on the edge of the often hot city. Here you will encounter many Iranian visitors.The rest of the day is for leisure. Today you have the whole day to see this pleasant oasis town. The most beautiful houses of wealthy traders are close together in the west of the town. For example, you can visit the Khan-e Tabatabei, which has no less than 4 courtyards, beautifully decorated rooms with murals and beautifully coloured stained-glass windows. Nearby is the beautiful Khan-e Abbassi. Another house not to be missed is Bujerdi House, owned by a trader in Samovars. This house has a beautiful courtyard garden and some beautiful frescoes by Kamal al-Molk, one of Iran's most famous artists. Nearby is one of the most beautiful Hammams (bathhouse) of Iran: Hammam-e Sultan Mir Ahmed, with beautifully coloured tiles in various rooms. Walk in at sunset and enjoy the beautiful view over Kashan from the roof. The bazaar of Kashan is not too big and reasonably easy to find your way. Don't miss the beautiful caravanserai and teahouse here.
Day 15 Kashan – Tehran via Qom
From Kashan you will drive a few hours to return to the capital. En route you will stop in the holy city of Qom. Qom is the most important Islamic city in Iran and the center of the Iranian Islamic revolution. You will be impressed by the shrine of Hazrat-e-Masumeh, Fatemeh, Sister of Imam Reza. This mausoleum is the most important pilgrimage site after the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashahd and every year there are hundreds of pilgrimages from Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, central Asia and the Persian Gulf country to visit this shrine. You can visit the shrine but photos are not allowed. It is a vast complex with thousands of mullahs (Muslim clergy), women wearing the traditional chador robes, and pilgrims. At the center is the mausoleum of Fatemeh which is surrounded by mirrored walls.Then you continue to the international airport of Iran for your departure.
Reis boeken?
Wilt u deze reis boeken of eerst een vrijblijvende optie nemen? Vul dan uw gegevens in.Book your trip
Request an Offer
Are you interested in this trip? Request an personalized offer. You will receive an offer with the exact price per person and the exact number of travel days.Request an Offer
Hi, I am Maryam Osanloo, your local travel agent.
Discover iran with me!
find out more
Hi, I am Maryam Osanloo, your local travel agent.
Discover iran with me!
find out more
Sign up for our newsletter!
Cookies and privacy
The website of Pyala Travel makes use of cookies. These cookies are divided in the following categories: functional, analytic, advertising and Social Media Cookies.
Social media
Social media