Persepolis, frieze detail

We decided we would like to stay for 10 or 11 nights in Iran and visit Tehran (this is the capital and location of the main international airport), Yazd (an ancient desert town), Isfahan (one of the most beautiful cities in the world), Shiraz (the garden of Persia) and Persepolis (the ancient capital of the Persian Empire).

All of these places are south of Tehran and either a half/one day drive or short flight apart. Therefore for 11 days we would have time to stay for a couple of days in each place as well as have time for travel (generally by car) between each place.

We booked the London-Tehran British Airways flight, then did some research on hotels we would like to stay in. One essential hotel would be the Abbasi Hotel in Isfahan, as we had heard very good reports!.

We then decided upon the following itinerary:

• Sat 11 Nov Arrive Tehran 06:25; Sightseeing in Tehran; Hotel Tehran
• Sun 12 Nov Morning sightseeing in Tehran; Afternoon fly to Shiraz; Hotel Shiraz
• Mon 13 Nov Sightseeing Persepolis; Hotel Shiraz
• Tue 14 Nov Sightseeing Shiraz; Hotel Shiraz
• Wed 15 Nov Drive to Yazd via Passargades; Hotel Yazd
• Thu 16 Nov Sightseeing Yazd, Hotel Yazd
• Fri 17 Nov Drive to Isfahan via Nain; Abassi Hotel Isfahan
• Sat 18 Nov Sightseeing Isfahan; Abassi Hotel Isfahan
• Sun 19 Nov Sightseeing Isfahan; Abassi Hotel Isfahan
• Mon 20 Nov Drive to Tehran via Natanz and Kashan; Hotel Tehran
• Tue 21 Nov Fly back to London 07:45

Once we had our outline itinerary we could then start contacting travel agents...