Toochal Ski resort is the closest ski resorts to Tehran.  There are seven stations on the Tele cabin route, Toochal ski resort is located at the seventh station, there are the restaurants at fifth and the seventh station, and a nice hotel called Toochal Hotel at the base of the resort 3550m. Depending on the climate and the amount of snowfall, the ski season usually starts in November and lasts until April or even June.

Toochal Telecabin is active from Tuesdays to Saturdays afternoon, so there would be no hotel check in, check out, etc can be done during the Telecabin off days.
Toochal has now enough snow to ski, so do not miss this beautiful ski resort.
Toochal 5-star hotel is located in the ski resort and has nice views to the mountains or the ski resort.
Do not count on the internet connection and good telephone links while skiing.

The Toochal hotel facilities are:

6 rooms with single beds – 11 rooms with twin beds – 8 double rooms – 4 normal suites – 1 VIP suite -Every room has a refrigerator, a television, and sofas – Laundry – Parking (in the entrance) -Coffee shop -Restaurant – Satellite -No swimming pool – No internet connection.
Please contact me for more information.

The best and most standard Iran ski resort is Dizin which is located in the north of Tehran in the Alborz mountain range. The Dizin Hotel is located in the Dizin complex and besides the snow ski; the grass ski is active based on the season in Dizin Complex.

There are both hotel rooms and cottages in Dizin 4- star Hotel.
The ski season in Dizin is started from Mid November to April. The ski equipments, snowboards, ski coaches and ski clothes are available to rent in Dizin. It is a cheap ski resort in comparison to the service quality.
You can but the ski resort packages from the Iran-based agencies.

The Dizin Hotel facilities are:

Restaurant – Parking lot – Laundry – Swimming pool – Sauna – Jacuzzi – Coffee net – Coffee shop

please contact me for more information.

Here is the list of Iran consulates or embassies that you can apply for the visa to Iran or collect your visas.

• Afghanistan: Kabul

• Albania: Tirana

• Argentina: Buenos Aires

• Armenia: Yerevan

• Australia: Canberra

• Austria: Vienna

• Azerbaijan: Baku

• Bahrain: Manama

• Bangladesh: Dhaka

• Belgium: Brussels

• Belgique: Bruxelles

• Bosnia and Herzegovina: Sarajevo

• Brazil: Brasilia

• Bulgaria: Sofia

• Canada: Ottawa

• Colombia: Bogota’

• Croatia: Zagreb

• Cyprus: Nicosia

• Czech Republic: Prague

• Denmark: Copenhagen

• Egypt: Iran’s interest section head: Cairo

• Ethiopia: Adiss Ababa

• Kingdom of Spain: Madrid

• Finland: Helsinki

• France: Paris

• Germany: Berlin / Frankfurt / Hamburg

• Ghana: Accra

• Greece: Athens

• Guinea: Conakry

• Hungry: Budapest

• India: New Delhi / Bombay / Hyderabad

• Ivory Coast: Abidjan

• Indonesia: Jakarta

• Ireland: Dublin

• Iraq: Baghdad

• Italy: Rome/ Milan

• Japan: Tokyo

• Kingdom of Hashemi Jurdan: Amman

• Kazakhstan: Almaty

• Kenya: Nairobi

• Kyrgyzstan: Bishkek

• Kuwait: Kuwait

• Lebanon: Beirut

• Libya: Tripoli

• Madagascar: Antananarivo

• Malaysia: Kuala Lampur

• Macedonia: Skopje

• Mali: Bamako

• Maroc: Rabat

• Mexico: Mexico City

• New Zealand: Wellington

• Niger: Niamey

• North Korea: Pyongyang

• Norway: Oslo

• Oman Kingdom: Muscat

• Pakistan: Islamabad / Peshawar / Karachi / Lahore / Quetta

• Philippines: Manila

• Poland: Warsaw

• Portugal: Lisbon

• Qatar: Doha

• Romani: Bucharest

• Russia: Astrakhan / Moscow

• Saudi Arabia: Riyadh / Jeddah

• Senegal: Dakar

• South Africa: Pretoria

• Republic of Srilanka: Colombo

• Switzerland: Bern

• Sudan: Khartoum

• Sweden: Stockholm

• Syria: Damascus

• Tajikistan: Dushanbe

• Thailand: Bangkok

• Tunis: Tunisia

• Turkey: Ankara / Istanbul / Erzurum

• Turkmenistan: Mary / Ashkhabad

• United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi

• United Arabs Emirates: Dubai

• Uganda: Kampala

• Ukraine: Kiev

• United Kingdom: London

• Uruguay: Monte Video or Mente Video

• United States: The Pakistan interest section in Washington D.C

• Uzbekistan: Tashkent

• Vatican: Vatican

• Venezuela: Caracas

• Vietnam: Hanoi

• Yemen: Sana’a

• Yugoslavia: Beograd

• Zimbabwe: Harare

The travelers can collect their visa in any of the mentioned embassies based on the places that they live or have enough time to collect the visa. There may be no embassy in some smaller countries.

Isfahan, the central city of Iran, is considered as one of the most beautiful cities of Iran. It is called the “Half of the World” or “Nesfe Jahan”.

The most highlighted site in Isfahan is the Naqshe Jahan Sq. which is registered as the UNESCO world heritage. It is the second biggest square in the world after Tiananmen Sq. in Beijing.

The Naqshe Jahan Sq. includes two beautiful mosques of Imam (Shah) Mosque and also Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque. A’ali Qapu Palace is another attraction.

The interesting highlighted attraction is the beautiful bazaar in the Naqshe Jahan Sq. called Imam or Qasariyeh Bazaar which is not for selling the things but Iran hand crafts are made and sold there. It is a good chance to see hand- made industry of Iran.

Among the other sites in Isfahan are Vank Cathedral, Chehel Sotoun (Forty Four Colum) Palace, Sofe Mountain, Monar Jonban, Hasht Behesht Garden and Friday Mosque.

There are two nice bridges of 33 Arcs (Sio se Pol) and Khajou Bridge that are so nice to see at nights with the lights reacted in the Zayande Rood River. Zayandeh Rood River is passing through Isfahan city. It is mostly dried in summer because of lack of rain in Iran.

3 days would be enough to see the most highlighted places of Isfahan.

Do not miss beautiful Isfahan.

Isfahan is the host of many Iranian and foreign tourists in most of the holidays and especially high seasons.
Most of the good Isfahan hotels are located around the highlighted places. It saves time and money as the travelers can walk to the close attractions.

Among the Isfahan hotels for good accommodation are: Tootia 2*, Karoon 1*, Jolfa 2*, Azadi 3*, Pol Park 2*, Piroozi 4*, Tourist 3*, Safir 4*, Setare 4*, A’ali Qapu 4*, Kowsar 4*, Melal 3*, Traditional top 3*, Aseman 5*, Abbasi 5* Hotels.

Some tips:

•    Abbasi 5* hotel is a very nice hotel which can be considered as an attraction for the tourists. It has different kinds of rooms with different rates. For those who can afford is a must- stay hotel.
•    Karoon and Jolfa Hotels are located in the Armenian part of Isfahan which is a little far from most of the attraction, but close to the Vank Cathedral.
•    I do recommend booking Isfahan hotels in advanced especially in peak seasons because they become full so soon.

In Abyaneh village , you can stay in its nice 3* hotel called Abyaneh Hotel.

•    It may be possible to stay in the traditional houses if your tour guide or your reference talks to the local people.

For Kashan accommodation, you can choose among Ehsani traditional House, Amir Kabir 3* hotel, Negarestan 4* hotel. The house accommodation is also available.

For further questions, please contact me.

The cheaper hotels can be found in Shiraz in comparison to Tehran, besides you do not have the problem of far distances as mostly the highlighted attractions are centered.

Roodaki St. in Shiraz is the location of many hotels from 2* to 4* hotels. By 200 meters distance Anvari St. is located on the opposite side, location of two 1*hotels named Sasan and Anvari Hotels.

Both streets are considered as the branches of Zand AVE. and are close to the Zandiyeh Complex.
The most important attraction is Persepolis which is 45 km far from Shiraz. The Apadana 2*Hotel is located beside the site.

Pasargadae is 120 km far from Shiraz and as it is located in a detour and in the road, no hotel is near that area.
Shiraz hotels are Sasan 1*, Anvari 1*, Sadra 2*, Roodaki 2*, Eram 3*, Arg 3*, Parsian 3*, Park 4*, Parseh 4*, Ario Barzan 4*, Persepolis 4*, International Pars top 4*, Chamran 5*, Shiraz Grand 5*, Homa 5* hotels.

There are also hotels in some cities in Fars Province such as Darab which is a good place for Nomad tours in winter, Firouz Abad, Lar, Fasa, etc.

Train tickets to Iran

There are lots of trains that move between different cities of Iran daily. There are different kinds of train with different quality and rates. It is considered as a cheap kind of transportation among the Iranians and the tourists.

The best kind of available train is 4 pax Ghazal or Plur train that are arranged for some routes especially longer ways.

The most trains are moved between Tehran and Mashhad daily as Mashhad is the host of many pilgrims.
As Tehran is the capital of Iran, it has trains to each city every day; it may be one train or several ones.
The train rates are from 1 USD for the short routes to about 35 USD per person for the best and longer routes.
Among different kinds of trains, I can name:

Luxurious 6 pax
Ghazal train
Plur train
Normal seat train
Pardis train
First class 6 pax

•    The train schedule is opened every 10 days based on the Iranian Calendar.
There are some international trains to or from Tehran and Tabriz as follows:

Tehran – Istanbul at 22: 10 every Wednesday
Istanbul – Tehran at 23: 55 every Tuesday

Tabriz – Istanbul at 11 A.M. every Thursday
Istanbul – Tabriz at 23: 55 every Tuesday

Tehran – Van at 22: 10 every Wednesday and Sunday
Van – Tehran at 23 every Monday

Tabriz – van at 22: 30 every Tuesday
Van – Tabriz at 21 every Wednesday

Tehran – Damascus at 22: 10 every Sunday
Damascus – Tehran at 8: 30 every Sunday

• Iran train ticket rates have had 12 – 14% increase from end of June.

To get the train ticket or get more information about the train schedule, please contact me.

Ramadan or Ramazan (in Persian Language) is probably started from August 1st and ended on august 31st based on the Iran current calendar; it may just have a slight change if the moon is seen in one day sooner or later. The experience shows that the Hilal or crescent is done on the mentioned dates in the Iran Calendar.

Many tourists travel to Iran in August simultaneous to Ramadan. Both the Iranian and foreign tourists are exempt. It defines those who travel more than 14 mile (23 km) in a day as exempt.
Some restaurants serve the lunch for the travelers in closed doors, so you do not have any problem for the lunch but maybe your options may be more limited.

What you should observe is not to eat in public and respect to this month regulations.
At sunset, the family will gather the fast-breaking meal known as Iftar.The meal starts with the ritual eating of a date — just as Prophet Muhammad was believed to have done.

Sometimes referred to as “the night of decree or measures”, Laylat al-Qadr is considered the most holy night of the year. Muslims believe that Laylat al-Qadr is the night in which the Qur’an was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. Also, it is believed to have occurred on an odd-numbered night during the last 10 days of Ramadan, either the night of the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th or 29th. Shiites also commemorate the attack on Imam `Ali ibn Abi Talib and his subsequent martyrdom every year on the 19th, 21st and 23rd of Ramadan.

• Some tourist attractions may be closed in these days, so it is better to have the arranged plan beforehand.

The holiday of Eid ul-Fitr (Fitr Eid) marks the end of the fasting period of Ramadan and the first day of the following month, after another new moon has been sighted. The Eid falls after 29 or 30 days of fasting, per the lunar sighting.

Iran is surrounded by the water from different sides. In the north of Iran is the biggest lake of the world and is called Khazar Sea or Khazar Lake or the Caspian Sea.

In the south, Iran is bordered with Oman Sea and Persian Gulf which continue to Indian Ocean from the east and to the Delta of Arvand Rood River.

There are just three passenger ferries from Iran to other countries.

1. Bandar Abbas to Sharjeh: on Mondays and Wednesdays at 22 P.M. (about 9 hours)
2. Bandar Lengeh to Sharjeh: on Saturdays and Wednesdays at 10 A.M.  (about 9 hours)
3. Khorram Shahr to Kuwait: on Saturdays and Wednesdays  at 10 A.M. (about 5 hours)

• The ferry from Bandar Abbas to Sharjeh and also Khorram Shahr to Kuwait are both passenger and cargo ferries, but the ferry from Bandar Lengeh to Sharkeh is just the passenger ferry.

If you have a vehicle with you, you should go to the port one day before the ferry departure to show the car related documents, weigh and then load the vehicle. Otherwise, it is OK to book the passenger ferry through an agency.

It is not possible to take from the other side to Iran as the E- Ticket is not issued and also the process may be different.

Iran – India Ferry

One of the most wanted ferries is Iran to India as the passengers who travel with their own vehicle have problem to enter Pakistan and then continue to India. The Pakistan visa is not issued because of political problems and Pakistan safety problems.

There was a passenger ferry from Sharjeh to India before, but now unfortunately it is cancelled, so just two options are available.

1. You can take a ferry from Bandar Abbas to FOB Nhava Sheva by Iran sales and operation company in Bandar Abbas
2. Take a ferry from Bandar Abbas to Sharjeh and then arrange a ferry from Sharjeh to India.

Please notice that they are just cargo ferries and the clients should take a flight from Bandar Abbas or Shiraz or Tehran or any other place to a city of India.

Both of them are mostly available, but unfortunately there is no regular ferry in this route.

To get the information from Sharjeh to India, please contact the companies or agencies in Dubai, but about the ferry from Iran to India, I may be able to help you.

To take the ferry from Iran to India, you may need 7 – 10 days time to do the official process and then it may reach to India about 4 – 7 days. Of course, you do not need to stay in Bandar Abbas for the initial and official process; meanwhile you can depart Iran or do the excursions.

To get the further information, you can contact me.

Visa to Iran

All the nationalities can enter Iran except the Israel passport holders. Of course, the visa application result may be vague for some nationalities as there have been some cases that have been rejected, but it is a strong point for Iran tourism that close to 100% of the visa applications to Iran are issued.

Some nationalities such as Malaysia, Singapore, Turkey, and so on do not need to have the visa before the entrance and they can stamp at the airport and be in Iran for 15 days.

To get the tourist visa before the entrance to Iran, you can do two things:
1)    Apply through the Iranian Embassy of your place, city or any country
2)    Apply through an Iranian travel agency
If the Iranian Embassy does not accept your application or wanted the hotel voucher, the letter of invitation or any other related documents, it means that you should apply the tourist visa through a travel agency.
To get the tourist visa through an agency, you need to send the passport copy in JPG format, in good quality and not heavier than 40 KB. You also need to fill out the online visa form through the agency link and submit.
The visa application is sent to MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and after a process of 10 – 15 working days for non Americans; the positive or negative visa result is announced. Mostly, it will be announced sooner.
If the positive visa issuance is announced, a 6 digit code which is called “ visa authorization number “ or “ visa code” is given to you to be able to collect your visa from any expected Iranian Embassy or even some especial airports (by the pre-announcement of MFA).
An amount of visa collection fee is needed to be paid to the Iranian Embassies which is the governmental fee and different from the agency service fee, it may be negotiable.

You have 1 month time to refer the embassy and collect the visa.

The visa validity to Iran:

The Iran visa is valid for 3 months to enter and depart Iran and the visa duration validity is based on your application, but it cannot be more than a month for the first step. It can be extended to one more month but under the especial reasons.
As soon as you collect your visa, you have 90 day time to enter and depart Iran.

The Iran visa for Americans

The visa process for the American passport holders would take longer. It is advised to consider at least 45 -50 days before your trip to Iran to apply for your visa.

The needed documents are the same as the other passport holders although a resume may be helpful too.

The American passport holders cannot apply through an embassy and they should choose a travel agency which can apply for the visa, the tour package either. Because according to Iran tourist rules, the Americans must be joined in a guided tour package throughout their trip to Iran.

An important point is that the agency which applies for the visa of the American passport holders must arrange the hotel accommodation and also the authorized tour guide and announce the name of the hotel and the tour guide to MFA when the visa application is sent.

The visa application form includes the following questions.

Visa form to Iran:

First name:
Surname:
Email (*):
Sex:
Marital status:
Spouse name:
Father’s name:
Date of birth (DD/MM/YY)
Country of birth:
Place of birth:
Nationality:
Former nationality:
Passport NO:
Passport Type:
Date of Issue (DD/MM/YY)
Place of Issue:
Expiration date (DD/ MM/ YY)
Occupation:
Position:
Name of the work place:
Address of the work place:
How many times have you visited Iran?
Visa type:
The expected embassy for the visa collection:
Duration of stay in Iran:
Entrance date (DD/ MM/ YY)
Departure date (DD/ MM/ YY)
Flight details:
Phone:
Fax:
The passport copy:
Comment:

To get the cheap visa, please contact me.

Airport visa:

The airport visa is indeed the tourist visa and you cannot get it for any other purposes except the tourist visa. The visa validity would be for two week visit.

The visa validity can be extended to next 15 days.

If you want to be sure of having visa to Iran, you are advised to apply for the visa before your arrival.
Nationals of the following countries holding ordinary passports and wishing can obtain a two-week Tourist Visa upon Arrival at the airports of:

IKA: Tehran Imam Khomeini Airport
THR: Tehran Mehrabad Airport
MHD: Mashhad Airport
SYZ: Shiraz Airport
TBZ: Tabriz Airport
ISF: Isfahan Airport

1.  The applicant(s) should have a confirmed return ticket and a valid passport with at least 6 months validity and a photo to be attached to the application form.

2.  Visa stamp fee is EUR50.00 for the holder of the passport and EUR10.00 for each one of the companions (if any).

3.  This type of visa is only for tourist purposes and the followings are not entitled to this visa facilitation:

3.1. Journalists and reporters on mission.

3.2. Applicants whose applications for Iran Visa have been rejected before.

3.3. Iranians holding foreign passports but still maintaining their Iranian nationality.

Albania
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Azarbaijan
Bahrain
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia Herzegovina
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
China (People’s Republic)
Colombia
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Denmark
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
India
Indonesia
Ireland (Rep.)
Italy
Japan
Kazakhstan
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lebanon
Luxembourg
Malaysia
Mexico
Mongolia
Netherlands
New Zealand
North Korea
Norway
Oman
Palestine
Peru
Phillippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia (KSA)
Singapore
Slovak (Rep.)
Slovenia
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
Tajikistan
Thailand
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yugoslavia Fed. Rep.

To get the cheap visa, please contact me.

There are also other types of visas to Iran such as press visa, student visa, work visa and transit visa.
The tourist visa can be used for the transit purpose.

To get the student visa to Iran, the expected institution or university should send the invitation letter. This is also applied for the work or job visa to Iran.

The applicants of press visas should have the invitation letter from any conference, meeting or magazine officials.

Some Tips:

Getting the tourist visa is the easiest one with the chance of close to 100% of the cases who do not have any especial political backgrounds, are not journalist or do not travel for begging or finding jobs.

Some weaker nationalities need to prove that they have enough money support to travel to Iran.

You are advised to choose the expected Iranian embassy for the visa collection with full attention as it may be difficult and sometimes impossible to change the visa collection place after its issuance especially in high seasons.

If you want to change the visa collection place, ask the agency to apply it for you, some agencies ask you the extra fee for the changing process.

Consider at least 1 week for the visa collection process. If you want to post your passport to the embassy from one city to another one, so consider longer process.

As soon as the 6 digit code is sent to the agency by MFA, a copy of it is sent to the chosen Iranian Embassy, so it is better to refer to the embassy after 3 days.

You can also choose the Imam Khomaini Airport as the visa collection place in the visa form which you send to the agency.

*** Please notice that if your arrival airport is different from Imam Khomaini Airport, ask the agency to change it to the expected airport one day before your arrival.  This visa is issued before your arrival, but as you collect it at the airport, it is valid for 15 days.

It is said that those who have traveled to Israel cannot get the tourist visa to Iran. But I have had some cases that could get the visa as their goal was just the tourist visit to Israel. It is enough to prove the goal to the MFA and then embassy. If you are asked at the airport that what your reason was to travel to Israel, just say “travel and visiting”.

If your visa request is rejected, you can apply for the tourist visa two months after the visa rejection time.

Those who got the tourist visa, entered and departed Iran can apply for the tourist visa again without any limitation.

The applicants of double entry to Iran should mention it in their visa application forms.

It is not possible to get the tourist visa at the border, so those who enter Iran with their own vehicles should apply for their visas before the land entrance.

British nationalities may have to do the fingerprints when they collect the visa.

The Iranians who have double nationalities must travel with their Iranian passports to Iran.

The person whose father is Iranian but does not have the Iranian passport is considered as an Iranian person and can travel to Iran with the Iranian passport. To get the further information, please refer to the Iranian Embassy of your city or country.

If a foreign woman is married with an Iranian man and their marriage is registered in the Iranian embassies can get the Iranian passport and travel without needing the visa.