Why I Love Iran

11 Reasons why I love traveling to Iran

I could actually also say 11 reasons why you will fall in love with Iran, or why you should travel to Iran.

• Are you going there to get shot?
• Aren’t you afraid of traveling there on your own?
• But those people there are dangerous, you know?
• Be very careful there! Come back alive!

I didn’t really understand these questions and warnings …  I never ever thought that Iran could be dangerous and I should be afraid of traveling to Iran. I’ll be honest with you, though. I don’t really follow the news. But I read travel blogs about Iran in which bloggers and travelers are raving about how much they love Iran.

Honestly, after getting these reactions, I was even more intrigued to find out what Iran is really like. It sounded like the job for me. Remember, I’m The Globetrotting Detective.  :D I’ve signed up to travel the world and find out what the world is really like.  There is no way to get to know the real world through the media. I really felt like my mission was to prove people wrong. 

Safety in Iran might be the first thing you want to know about. What questions do you have in mind at this point? Is Iran safe? Is Iran safe to travel? Is Iran safe to visit? Isn’t Iran dangerous? Anything else?

Incredible hospitality, openness, friendliness, and generosity as the essence of Iranian culture

In Iran, Iranians always smiled at me when they saw me, especially women in smaller cities. They would always ask me where I was from and what brought me to Iran. After exchanging a few words, they said goodbye to me by saying “Welcome to Iran. Enjoy your stay here!”

Chatting up with people on the streets, in mosques, or in cafés is the most common thing ever in Iran as I experienced it. This is how I got to know many Iranians. They just approached me and we had a good time together in the end.

On top of that, they would always invite me to their home for dinner and a sleepover. In Iran, people don’t have to know you to invite you to their place, because it’s an extremely open culture. I felt it the most beautiful thing ever because it filled my heart with positive energies and made me feel the connection to Iranian people. I felt they treated me like I’m one of them.

I’ll share with you a few specific cases which show the utmost openness, friendliness, and generosity of Iranians.

When a man approached us and said to us: “Where do you want to go? I take you wherever you want.”

I was coming back from Hormuz Island with my German travel mate who I met a few days ago in a hostel. We just arrived in Bandar Abbas. We were in front of the ferry station among a sea of taxi drivers and we were discussing whether we should take a Snapp (Iranian Uber)  or taxi. After like 5 minutes a man appeared out of blue and approached us very politely.

“Hi! Where do you want to go? I take you there!”
“Oh, no, we’re taking a Snapp.”
“Oh, you don’t need to. I’ll take you wherever you want.”
“How much does it cost?”
“You don’t have to pay. I’m here with my wife and we saw that you were confused.”
“Oh, we are not confused, but ok.”

We went to his car where I met his wife and son. They asked where we wanted to go to. I showed him the message that I got from Manizheh from Bandar Abbas who I know from a Facebook group. I never met Manizheh, but she helped me a lot with her contacts and tips along the way.

So, Manizheh suggested me to stop for Tamosh bread on Kgaje Ata street where women are cooking all types of local food. So the family took us there. They also insisted on paying for our food which we declined a few times and then we accepted it. Then, they took us to another place where they wanted us to try another local food.

After that, they invited us to sleep at their place and go to Shiraz the next day. We politely declined it, because we wanted to be in Shiraz the next day in the morning.

Nevertheless, we were still pampered with a delicious traditional Persian dinner at their place.  Before dinner, the father of the family wanted to go to the train station to buy our bus tickets. We said, we could go together and then we could buy our ticket.

He also wanted to pay for our tickets, but we again very courteously refused it. After purchasing the tickets, we went back to their place for dinner. Needless to say that we got some food supplies for our journey to Shiraz. It was not the only example that proved hospitality is a Persian legacy. As a guest of Iranians, you are treated like a precious jewel.

When a young girl approached me in a mosque and offered me her headscarf for nice photos.

I was in the Nasir-ol-molk Mosque, also known as the Pink Mosque, in Shiraz. An Iranian young girl approached me and said something to me in Persian. She is Zeynab who was with her sister and mom in the mosque as local tourists.

She asked me whether I wanted to take her headscarf and take photos in her scarf. Her scarf had the exact same patterns as the walls of the mosque of the Nasir-ol-mol Mosque. I was hesitant at first and then I just accepted it. Upon exchanging headscarves, she asked me whether I wanted them to take photos of me with the scarf.

Of course, I wanted. They took our photography session very seriously. They cared so much about every single detail of the photo shooting session as if I paid for it. :-) They also invited us to their place, but I had to decline it as that evening I had a flight back to Tehran. You see Zeynab doesn’t speak English, but she found a way to be nice and generous.

other and say salaam.

People sharing with me what they have

Very often when I traveled somewhere by bus, I was offered sweets or fruits by strangers. Once, an older lady just leaned toward me in an inter-city bus and gave me a big bunch of fruits. First, I refused it because I was so surprised at her offer. For the second time, I accepted it. Another time a young lady kept feeding me with sweets on the bus, even though I tried really hard to refuse it.

The beauty of this is that Persians have a culture of sharing which I believe is so important in everyday interaction with people. Sharing creates connections and connections to create happier people.

The kindness of sellers

In Iran, I bought some souvenirs, but not loads of them. However, I visited many many shops. Generally, I experienced that in the shops, even if they spend hours with you explaining all about the products of their shop and I ended up not wanting to buy anything, they kept their kindness and nice manner.

And when we would see each other again on the street somewhere, we would smile at each

The art of Taroof

Taroof in Iran is the best example that demonstrates the incredible politeness and humility of Iranian people which is manifested as a play of words in communication. It originates from the Persian tradition of treating their guests better than their own family or themselves and always wanting to be the best host.

Let me give you an example that happened to me. I went to a small shop in a small village between Kerman and Mahan.

Me: “Salaam. Aab Lotfen.” (Hello, A water please!)
“Chande Toman?” (How much Toman? would be the literal translation. It was the easiest way to ask how much something costs.)
Seller: “Ghabel nadare.” (Be my guest!) – told me extremely humbly.
Me: “Na, chande Toman?”  (No, how much?) – answered him smiling.
Seller: “Ghabel nadare.” (Be my guest!)

Then instead of continuing dancing with the words, I just gave him money and he gave me the cashback.

The point is that people always want to consider the other, and put others’ needs first. I felt here that the guy was just grateful just for entering his shop. In any case, in the end, you need to pay. But first comes politeness and then you pay. There is an unwritten rule of two or three rounds of offering and refusing.

I can give you an even more striking example of that.

In Hormuz our guide was Saaed. I got his contact details also from Manizheh. Saaed was the one who drove us around the island, arranged our accommodation and meals. At the end of our stay, I was waiting for him to ask how much we pay. He didn’t ask, so I asked him.

Me: “Chande Toman?” (How much Toman?)
Saeed: “Ghabel nadare.” (Be my guest!)
Me: “Chande Toman?” (How much Toman?)
Saeed: “Ghabel nadare.” (Be my guest!)
Then I switched to google translate as Saeed didn’t speak English.
Me: “You worked a lot for us. Please tell me how much we should pay per person.”
Saeed: “No, you don’t need to pay. You are like my sister. You are going to Shiraz. You’ll need the money there.”
Me: “I want to pay.”
Saeed: “Ok. 270,000 Toman” – I don’t remember the exact amount, though.
Me: “Ahh, hmmm, I thought it would be less.” – Said a bit surprised.
Saeed: “You are not happy with it. You don’t need to pay.” – This was the most awkward moment that I’ve ever experienced.
Me: “Ohh, I want to pay, but Manizheh mentioned 170,000 Toman.” – But to be honest, I didn’t remember for what exactly I was supposed to pay that much.
Saeed: “How much would you like to pay? Pay as much as you like.” – Oh, it was getting even more awkward. Negotiating is part of Persian culture, but this was the first time and only time I negotiated though in Iran.  I didn’t really know how to react. In Iran, the prices were very low and I didn’t feel to bargain anywhere. This was the only time and it was just so weird for me. :-)
Me: “There you are.” – I gave Saeed 200,000 Toman.
“Are you happy with it?” – Asked him confused and feeling silly.
Saeed: “Yes. You are like my sister. The most important thing is that you are happy.”

After this situation, I was totally confused. I wasn’t sure that I did the right thing. When I was in Shiraz I explained Roya, an Irani friend of mine in Shiraz, what happened and asked whether I did the right thing and she said yes, sure. Then, I felt better. :-)

Taroofing happens not only when you pay, but in other situations that I didn’t really pay attention, but learnt about it later.
For example at the door, Iranians would always let me go first. Later my friends told me that taroof would also apply here. When I was let go first, If I remember well, I just accepted it, thanked it and went first. I didn’t think about refusing the politeness. :-)

4. Diversity in Iran

The fourth reason why I love Iran is that Iran is a multi-ethnic society.

The biggest misconception about Iran is that Iranians are Arabs. That is not really true.

Let’s see the ethnic groups in Iran. The vast majority of Iranians are Persians (61%). As for the rest, there are Azeris (16%), Kurds (10%), Lurs (6%), Turkmens (2%), Balochis (Baluchs), (2%), Arabs (2%), others such as Mazanderanis, Pamiris, Pashtuns, Ossetians, Turkic, Tajiks, Talysh, Wakhis, Yaghnobis, Zazas, and many more. (1%).

There are also countless nomadic groups and tribes in Iran. The most famous nomadic tribes are the Qashqai and Baktiari tribes. Just these two groups consist of 300 thousand nomads.

Other tribes such as the Shahsavan and the Mamivand tribe, have about 50 thousand vagabond members each.

Thanks to this diverse composition of Iranian society, when you travel through Iran, you will have the chance to learn about a lot of different cultures and their traditions.

Read more about nomadic tribes in Iran, here.

5. Iranian fashion

The fifth reason why I love Iran is Iranian fashion.

In Iran, women’s clothing is not exactly what you think. The fashion scene in Iran is big and believe me not everyone is wearing a black burka. I’m not into fashion but I really enjoyed shopping for Iranian style clothes including Iranian hijab (headscarf) while traveling around Iran.

Wearing the hijab in Iran is mandatory. It’s stipulated by Iranian law. However, as for the Iranian hijab style, it’s totally different from the rest of the world. If you check my blogs, you can see how I was dressed up in Iran and how I was putting up my headscarves.

And the way I was dressed up, is exactly what we can call Iranian street fashion.

You can actually search on Instagram, Pinterest, and Google Images and you’ll be surprised to see what women in Iran are wearing. Those pictures will definitely destroy some of your stereotypes you might have about Iranian women or Iran in general. Use the keywords: street fashion Iran or street fashion Tehran.

Yes, some women choose to wear black chador and in certain workplaces, a chador kind of dress is obligatory, but that’s not what you’ll see everywhere in Iran.

Check out this article, here, to see how women in Iran are dressed and how they wear the hijab today. Or check out my pictures. :-)

6. Iranian food is heavenly

The sixth reason why I love Iran is Iranian food.

Iranian cuisine is truly exceptional. I was literally eating all day. I’ve never spent so much time in restaurants as in Iran. When I finished my meal in one restaurant, I couldn’t wait for going to the next one and eat again.

I’ve tried a wide variety of traditional Persian food. And it’s not only that that Iranian food is so incredibly tasty, but it is presented and served artistically. Just having a traditional Persian breakfast will make you speechless.

Moreover, traditional restaurants in Iran are like museums.

Let me show you some cool places where I had typical Iranian dishes.

7. Iran has breathtaking landscapes

The seventh reason why I love Iran is that it has stunning landscapes.

Some of the places I have discovered while traveling in Iran were a blow. Iran is home to some of the most stunning natural wonders of the world.

My favorites were the colorful mountains and red sand beach of Hormuz Island and the colorful mountains on the way to the hottest spot in the world, the desert, Dasht-e Lut. I personally consider these two the most beautiful places in Iran.

But I was also blown away by the beauty of the extraordinary rock formations of Dasht-e Lut and Qeshm Island.

Let the pictures talk for themselves.

The Red beach of Hormuz Island – Iran travel

The colorful mountains somewhere between Kerman and Dasht-e Lut Desert – Iran travel

8. Architecture in Iran

The eighths reason why I love Iran is that it has breathtaking architecture across the country.

Persian architecture is another blow. The architecture all over Iran took my breath away. The most famous architectural wonders are to be found in Isfahan, Shiraz, Yazd, Kashan, and Tehran.

My personal favorites are the Golestan Palace in Tehran, Shah Mosque in Isfahan, the Masjed-i Jame Mosque in Yazd, the old bathhouse in Kashan, the Pink Mosque (Nasir al-Mulk Mosque), and Vakil Mosque in Shiraz which are perfect examples of Persian Islamic architecture and Islamic art.

Check out some of these beautiful buildings in Iran.

Aran and Bidgol Holy Shrine – Iran travel

The entrance of the Jameh Mosque in Yazd  – Iran travel

9. Persian souvenirs

The ninth reason why I love is that it offers a wide variety of souvenirs you can buy for your family and friends.

Souvenirs in Iran are simply addictive. First,  home furnishing including Persian carpets and rugs, pillowcases, and tablecloths are just to fall in love with.

Iranian handicrafts such as enamelwork (minakari in Persian) made of copper, khatamkari made of wood, bone, and metal, and ghalamzani made of gold, silver, bronze or copper are my next favorites.  Moreover, colorful handmade Iranian potteries and tea sets are also really beautiful. Check out some of them here!

enamelwork (minakari)- Travel in Iran

Sweets, nuts, dried berries, and spices are first class in Iran.

Iranian spices – Travel in Iran

Check out the 10 Unique Souvenirs you can buy in Iran, here.

10. Breaking my own prejudices is transformational

The tenth reason why I love Iran is that my first trip to Iran destroyed some of my silly prejudices.

This part will be very personal…

We all have prejudices towards people whether we want it or not, especially towards other nationalities and religions. Facts! If you don’t have, I would like to congratulate you, because you are a very special and amazing person! But I admit as much as I don’t want, I realized that I also have prejudices.

Before going to Iran, I’ve already read that Iran is safe and Iranians are the most hospitable people on planet earth. Nevertheless, I still had my own prejudices in my head. Let me honestly tell you about the prejudices I had about Iran and whether they proved to be true or false.

I find it very important to talk about this as I feel that being prejudiced is one of the biggest epidemics we have today in our society.

Prejudice #1: I thought that Iranians are very loud people. 

Wrong!

Completely the opposite. They talk so quietly and calmly. I always felt so peaceful in the presence of the Iranian people. So, basically everywhere in Iran. :-) 

By the way, there is nothing wrong with being loud.

Prejudice #2: People are pushy.

So wrong! Not at all. First, they don’t approach you on the streets to sell you stuff or bother you. If they offer something to you, they do it in an extremely nice way, and if you say no, they accept it with kindness and dignity.

Prejudice #3: Streets in Iran are dirty. 

Wrong!

The streets in Iran are clean. I have seen rubbish very rarely on the streets. 

Prejudice#4: The police is scary in Iran.

Totally wrong!

I was afraid of the religious police or morality police (gasht-e ershad). I was always checking out the police and I was afraid that they may tell me something because I’m not dressed up properly or my headscarf is not placed properly on my head.

Now, I feel totally ridiculous for wasting my time with such thoughts. The policemen are there on the streets, but they are just there and that’s it. I would always go up to them to ask for directions or ask questions when I wanted to make sure about something. They always assisted me very kindly.

Prejudice#5: I have to be careful with taking photos in Iran.

Wrong!

You can take photos wherever you want. Iranians are into taking photos like nowhere else in the world. They especially love selfies. Nobody would ever say anything to you, even if you take hundreds of photos in one place and even if they are most probably in your photo.

In most cases, they will help you with taking photos and they will also want to have a selfie with you. Then, they normally want to exchange the photos on Whatsapp or share them on Instagram. Nowhere, else in the world, I experienced such a level of openness. 

Prejudice #6: In Iran, things probably don’t go smoothly

During my travel things went very smoothly.

The hotels, hostels, or Facebook friends from Iran arranged tours, accommodation, or taxis to drive around. Everyone was always punctual and during the trips, they knew precisely by the second when we had to be where.

Moreover, due to the openness of people, their natural willingness to help, and the infrastructure it was so easy to arrange everything even without planning.

Where are all these prejudices coming from?

Now, I asked myself, where the hell were all these prejudices coming from?

I don’t exactly know, but I have to say either from my own ignorance or because of things that I might have heard somewhere. 

When I was in Iran and faced the reality of Iran and how much my prejudices were not true, I felt somehow ashamed and happy at the same time.

On the one hand, I was ashamed for having all those BS in my head before visiting Iran.  On the other hand, I was happy about this new realization. Yes, I’ve learned something again about myself and the world. I basically prejudged a nation without ever traveling to the country.

This has taught me how much we have to be aware of our possible prejudices, recognize them, and understand that they must be eliminated from our minds as they are totally pointless.

My prejudices are not the only ones toward Iran. The western world has a very weird understanding of what Iran is like, unfortunately. This is also why I’m writing this post in my travel blog.

Last but not least, dear reader, let me ask something from you. Were you in similar shoes as me? What did you feel when it happened to you?
Why do you think we have prejudices and how we could combat them?

I know one thing. What works for me is traveling. Only when I travel to other countries I can understand the truth. So how about traveling to Iran this time and see what I talked about. If you’ve become curious, check out my other blogs about Iran:

11. Firsthand understanding of the discrepancy of media and reality

The eleventh reason why I love Iran is that I could experience first hand how media can deceive us if we don’t travel and dare to see the reality.

Like mentioned before, I’m not an ardent follower of the news but I know that the real Iran is a far cry from the image painted by the media.

The news about Iran is all about political sanctions, oppression, missiles, censorship, etc. I’m not saying they are not true, but that’s not the whole picture.

Moreover, I still want to say that the news can be distorted and exaggerated. When in November 2019, the Iranian government imposed a week-long internet blackout following demonstrations after they had tripled the fuel prices, the news was showing a lot of violent protests. I personally saw a couple of demonstrations during this time but they were all peaceful protests.

I’m not saying that violent protests are false news. By the way, who can know that? But do you think that the peaceful protests I’ve seen in Mariwan and Shiraz were in the international news? Probably not.

I don’t want to go into politics. So, I’ll just stop here.

Last but not least, I would like to state that, as a foreign tourist, as a visitor to beautiful Iran, you will not have anything to do with any of the crazy stuff you see in the news. I’m sure that you will have a great time and you’ll want to keep going back to magical Iran.

Conclusion of my travels to Iran

For the first time, I traveled to Iran with a strong desire to find out whether the assumptions and prejudices about Iran are true or not. I learned that they have not much to do with reality. Just to learn that it was worth it for me to travel to Iran.

For the second time, this was reinforced.

And what I found in Iran was not violence and missiles but unparalleled hospitality,  amazing food, profound beauty, captivating landscapes, glorious architecture, and so much more that transformed the way I even look at the entire world.

I’m still not done with Iran. There is a whole lot more to discover in Iran. I can’t wait to do it and show it to the world.

I hope by reading this blog, you learned something new and I inspired you to travel to beautiful Iran.

Travel Blogs about Traveling in Iran

If you ever think about traveling to Iran, I’ve got some blogs about how to do that!

1) In the most crucial travel blog I’ve written about Iran, I explain all the relevant things you need to know before traveling to Iran and how to get prepared for traveling to Iran in 2021.

It includes the best time to travel to Iran, getting a visa to Iran, travel insurance for Iran, where to stay, Iranian debit card, transportation, tours, best SIM-card, VPN, apps you need, drinking alcohol, what to wear, prices and more about Iranian people, languages spoken in Iran, and religion and bit about Islamic Law.

Read: All You Need to Know before traveling to Iran in 2021

2) One of the most important parts of getting prepared for traveling to Iran is arranging your tourist VISA. In the following blog, you can read among others about the e-visa application and the Iran Visa on arrival.

Read: How to Get a Tourist VISA to Iran

3) I collected the 42 most beautiful places I discovered in Iran. These beautiful places are in the capital city of Iran, Tehran, Kashan, Maranjab Desert, Namak Lake, Isfahan, Yazd, Kerman, the Lut Desert, Qeshm Island, Hormuz Island,  Shiraz, Persepolis, and in many other places.

Read: 42 Most Beautiful Places in Iran

4) In Iran many websites are blocked. In order to use platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, you need to use a Virtual Private Network.

Read: Best VPN Iran

5) Tehran, the capital city is the place where you will find a lot of diversity and interesting things. In Tehran, even traveling in the subway is an unforgettable experience.

I created a travel blog about Tehran, where you can read about the best things to do in Tehran, the best way to get to Tehran from the airport, the first things you need to do when you arrive in Tehran, best ways to move around, prices, and much more.

Read: 2-day itinerary for Tehran

6) There are two islands in Iran that I discovered and explored. One of them is Hormuz Island, also called Rainbow Island, famous for its red beach with red sand and colorful mountains.

Read: Hormuz Island travel guide

7) Moreover, here is another beautiful Iranian travel destination:

Read: Qeshm Island travel guide

See You Soon in Iran!