Persia. Through Iran from desert to eternal snow.

PERSIA, on the Silk Road.

Once a land stretching from modern Greece to the banks of the Syr Darya River, the furthest land reached by Alexander the Great, Persia grew into a vast empire from the Zagros Mountains of the Iranian plateau.

The Medes, Achamenids, Parthians and Sasanians were inhabitants of as many empires built by the Iranian peoples beginning three millennia BC and ending with the conquest of the last by the Ottoman Empire in the mid-17th century.

Which in turn left its mark on socioculture, history and of course urban architecture.

Can you imagine what a wealth of history lies beneath our feet?!
So we invite you on perhaps the most unusual of our tours into the wider world...

WHAT ARE WE DOING THERE?

3 days skiing in Dizin or other nearby resorts
 2 days 4×4 raid in the desert
 4 days of immersion in Iranian history

You don't want to ski?

We thought of that too, you have an extra day and a half to explore Tehran and its surroundings with our guides!

DOES IT FIT ME?

Definitely, yes.

Skiing is for all levels, from beginners to advanced and the rest of the activities are without age or fitness restrictions. No previous experience is required.

The minimum age of accompanied children is 9 years.

OK, WHAT DO WE DO?

For three days SCHIEM, yes!
In Iran's most famous ski and snowboard resort, Dizin.

The ski area isn't very large in terms of piste kilometres but the options for hitting untouched snow are endless!

The slopes are wide and suitable for everyone, from the uninitiated to carving enthusiasts and those who choose to bring their seals in their luggage, like us.

We can help you on the slopes with a little turn school and style adjustments.

If you need a stronger booster for your ski performance, come to Ski and Snowboard School!

We spend two nights in double rooms in a 3-star hotel and then set off for the beginnings.

The fourth day We fly from Tehran to Shiraz, leaving the snowy mountains of Alborz for a tour of Shiraz including the Nasiralmolk Mosque, the Narenjestan Gardens and the Karmikhani architectural complex, the throne palace of Karim Khan Zand, the founder of the Zand dynasty.

We revel in customs and cuisine dating back thousands of years and learn about a world as rich as it is hidden from Western eyes in modern times.

We visit the Zandieh complex with the Vakil baths (traditional Turkish hammam-like baths), the Vakil mosque and bazaar and the Moshir caravanserai.

We spend the night in a comfortable 4-star hotel in Shiraz.

On the fifth day We travel between Shiraz and Isfahan, starting after breakfast and stopping in turn in Persepolis, Naghsh-e-Rostam and Pasargadae.

Three UNESCO World Heritage sites!

Persepolis dates back to 515 BC (!) and we enter it through the Gate of All Peoples, an invitation to peace and understanding over the millennia.

We discover together the Apadana Palace, the Throne Hall and the tombs of various kings scattered through enormous halls and corridors, the royal treasury, towers and fortifications.
We leave Persepolis for a
visit to Naghsh-e-Rostam, the Achaemenian necropolis.

Our last stop of the day is Pasargadae, the capital of the Achaemenid Empire during the reign of Cyrus the Great and home to his tomb.

You know him, it's Cyrus the Second who established the Persian Empire by conquering more than five million square kilometers (only narrowly surpassed by Alexander the Great, 200 years later), the famous liberator of the Jews from Babylon!

We spend the night in a comfortable 4-star hotel in Isfahan.

Day Six is of Isfahan, the splendid capital of the Safavid Empire at the time.

After breakfast we start our day as we have already started to indulge: a new UNESCO site awaits us, Naghsh-e-Jahan Sq!

In the 17th century this was the royal polo arena and the centre of the whole settlement.

We visit together the famous Imam Mosque in the southern corner of the square, an architectural monument not to be missed and a jewel of Iranian ceramics.

From the west side of the square the Safavid kings used to watch the polo matches from the balconies of Aliqapu Palace.

From here we then admire the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque on the opposite side of the square, then the Chehel-Sotun Gardens (UNESCO World Heritage site) and Masjed-e Jame Esfahan, the last UNESCO site of the day, a 1,200 year old mosque with outstanding architecture.

Wow, that's a busy day! 

We spend the night in a comfortable 4-star hotel in Isfahan.

Day seven we rest.

Well, yes, I was joking, of course! 

Today we're getting into 4×4 cars and driving 60 km deep into the Maranjab desert!

We discover massive dunes (er... let's keep our skis handy!), rock formations, lakes and photogenic salt marshes.

We hike over dune ridges in search of THAT golden desert sunset!

We'll sleep in either an old caravanserai or a traditional tented camp for the full experience and a night with a thousand stars.

Did you know that in the desert the sky is MUCH more often dotted with stars? The explanation is simple and the phenomenon famous. We will marvel there!

On the eighth day After tea and breakfast on mats in the middle of nowhere we hike again, until lunchtime when we return to civilization and continue our journey in normal cars to Tehran.

We spend the night in a comfortable 4-star hotel in Tehran.

The ninth and last day in Iran we dedicate it to rest, to discover the capital of the country and its rich historical heritage.

We can start with a tour of the 70-year-old National Museum, then the Museum of Iranian Glass and Ceramics (must see!) with exhibits dating back 4 millennia before Christ.

If the abundance of UNESCO World Heritage sites hasn't already overwhelmed you, we'll add one more :) : Golestan Palace with the Marble Throne, the House of the Basins, the Painting Gallery, the Sun Building (Shams ol Emareh) and many more.

There will of course be time for an optional visit to the Bazaar and the Carpet Market (how else?).

We spend the night in a comfortable 4-star hotel in Tehran waiting for our early morning flight home.