Mostly Iran hotel rates are higher than the available standards. A very simple guesthouse or 1* hotel sometimes cost 60,000 Toman based on the current rate.
It is said that the high rate is because of the longer time that the travelers stay inside the hotel rooms which would be costly for the hotel suppliers.
Lack of entertainment and recreational facilities and activities in the hotels is the most important reason. The Iran travelers cannot spend some time in the hotels in gyms, billiard, tennis courts, swimming pools, or sport fields.
The hotel accommodations in Iran are just the place of sleeping and rest.
One of the reasons that the Iran hotels are not willing to prepare such places is the lack of interest in using he separate family facilities which the travelers do not like at all.
Although it seems correct, having such place cover some hotel expenses and cause Iran cheap hotels gradually.

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Those Iran travelers who want to travel independently or with pre-arranged packages should notice that some airlines such as Turkish Airline and Emirates Airline may prevent you from boarding the plane to Iran without having the Iran visa stamped in your passports.
This may be because the case of visa refusal the repatriation responsibility and expenses are normally done at the cost of an airline.
Please cross check this matter before traveling to Iran and you are strongly advised to get the Iran visa beforehand.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

The post Isfahan Attractions appeared first on Eternal Iran.

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.

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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.

The post Shiraz Hotels appeared first on Eternal Iran.

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.

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