also is visa for iran easy for us?
Jul 2nd, 2004, 05:20 PM
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also is visa for iran easy for us?
I have never heard of any us citizen who has traveled to iran, but am very interested in such a journey. Can anybody fill me in on how easy it is get visa and any description on what I may experience when if I travel there? Very stong Anti- Americanism there?
Jul 2nd, 2004, 05:40 PM
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Jul 2nd, 2004, 06:20 PM
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Cliff,
If you do a search here you should be able to find my trip report on our trip to Iran last July.
Apart from Iranian Americans my hisband Dave is the only American I know who has been to Iran...additionally he was the only American tourist we saw in Iran.
I highly recommend a trip to Iran...strangely enough Iranians are very friendly to Americans...people were so happy to see us and couldn't have been friendlier...invitations to dinner, people offering us lifts...tea etc. I have travelled fair extensively and Iran is without doubt the friendliest place I have visited.
IT is easy to get a visa, but it is somewhat bureaucratic. As an American or a Brit you need to book your trip through a travel agency. This means you need to buy a ground package of some kind. We put together a private 14 day tour through a travel agency in Shiraz which I found on the web. They were wonderful...we had dinner with the owner, we loved the guide, they organized a camping trip with a nomadic group and more (www.irangashttour.com)
Anyway there are so many more details in my trip report...Travelling in Iran is relatively inexpensive and a private tour with car and guide will be far cheaper than arranging anything with a group from here in the US.
On the visa thing the way that it works is you talk to a travel agent...work out an itinerary, they put in the itinerary to the ministry and then send you an approval number. When you have this number you apply distectly to the Iranian Interest Section at the Pakistani Embassy (you can pay extra and have this stage expedited).
If you're interested in history Iran is fascinating because of its place as a crossroads of Empires and cultures. We visited Shiraz, Isfahan, Perspolis, Kerman,Bam, Tehran and Yadz. Flying and driving between the cities. The Jewellery Museum in a Bank vault in Tehran is breathtaking (an extraordinary collection) and we liked the Reza Abbasi Museum better than the Nation Archeological Museum.
Were a little nervous of the whole thing, particularly because all we knew of the travel agency was their emails...we brought cash and gave the guide the money in a cab at the airport! Crazy!
Anyway, I'll check out the board and feel free to ask any more detailed or specific questions. Do contact Gasht tour they are completely trustworthy and will do everything they can to show you a culture and history of which they are very proud.
If you do a search here you should be able to find my trip report on our trip to Iran last July.
Apart from Iranian Americans my hisband Dave is the only American I know who has been to Iran...additionally he was the only American tourist we saw in Iran.
I highly recommend a trip to Iran...strangely enough Iranians are very friendly to Americans...people were so happy to see us and couldn't have been friendlier...invitations to dinner, people offering us lifts...tea etc. I have travelled fair extensively and Iran is without doubt the friendliest place I have visited.
IT is easy to get a visa, but it is somewhat bureaucratic. As an American or a Brit you need to book your trip through a travel agency. This means you need to buy a ground package of some kind. We put together a private 14 day tour through a travel agency in Shiraz which I found on the web. They were wonderful...we had dinner with the owner, we loved the guide, they organized a camping trip with a nomadic group and more (www.irangashttour.com)
Anyway there are so many more details in my trip report...Travelling in Iran is relatively inexpensive and a private tour with car and guide will be far cheaper than arranging anything with a group from here in the US.
On the visa thing the way that it works is you talk to a travel agent...work out an itinerary, they put in the itinerary to the ministry and then send you an approval number. When you have this number you apply distectly to the Iranian Interest Section at the Pakistani Embassy (you can pay extra and have this stage expedited).
If you're interested in history Iran is fascinating because of its place as a crossroads of Empires and cultures. We visited Shiraz, Isfahan, Perspolis, Kerman,Bam, Tehran and Yadz. Flying and driving between the cities. The Jewellery Museum in a Bank vault in Tehran is breathtaking (an extraordinary collection) and we liked the Reza Abbasi Museum better than the Nation Archeological Museum.
Were a little nervous of the whole thing, particularly because all we knew of the travel agency was their emails...we brought cash and gave the guide the money in a cab at the airport! Crazy!
Anyway, I'll check out the board and feel free to ask any more detailed or specific questions. Do contact Gasht tour they are completely trustworthy and will do everything they can to show you a culture and history of which they are very proud.
Jul 2nd, 2004, 06:24 PM
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Cliff you can find my trip report on Iran in two part on the Africa and Middle East board.
There's also a discussion about our trip on a posting which should also come up if you search for Iran called something like "attention welltraveledbrit"
I hope these discussions help!
There's also a discussion about our trip on a posting which should also come up if you search for Iran called something like "attention welltraveledbrit"
I hope these discussions help!
Jul 2nd, 2004, 06:58 PM
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As mentioned you have to work thru a travel agent, either one in the US who has contacts with an agent in Iran, or an agent in Iran. There are Americans who have traveled here, but only with an approved itinerary. The NYTimes had an article about travel to Iran, maybe back four years ago. You might be able to locate it in the NYTimes travel archives.
Trying to travel on our own thru Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, as you mentioned in your other threads - not a good idea, especially with uneasy political situation in the latter two. And there too many unsavory characters who like Americans as hostages. Keep your head about you and reconsider your destinations.
Trying to travel on our own thru Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, as you mentioned in your other threads - not a good idea, especially with uneasy political situation in the latter two. And there too many unsavory characters who like Americans as hostages. Keep your head about you and reconsider your destinations.
