Tehran

Tehran is the city in Iran where every Iranian wants to live (except perhaps a few Esfahanis). This is the city where it all happens. This is the city where everything is better. Better jobs, better schools, better hospitals, better restaurants, you name it.
So it may be no surprise to you Tehran is very crowded. Twelve million people live here and after one day in Tehran you think you've seen them all.

But even after one day we began to love this city. There is so much here to see and do, you should stay here at least a week to explore all the museums, parks, shops and all the other things Tehran has to offer.



We were here only 3 days, 2 at the beginning and 1 at the end of our tour through Iran.






The Banay-é Azadi (Freedom Monument) is probably the first thing you see when you arrive in Tehran. It's not only close to the airport, it's also very remarkable. The monument was built in 1971 to celebrate the 2500 anniversary of the Iranian Empire. It should be able to enter the building for a view over Tehran and a visit of the Azadi museum, but when we were here everything was closed.

Traffic in Tehran

Traffic in Tehran is a lot of fun, as long as you don't have to drive yourself. There are enough taxi's, although there seem to be different kinds, of which some drive on specific routes or in specific neighbourhoods.

We tried to figure it out, but we couldn't find the difference between taxi's coloured orange, white and orange, blue, white and blue or any other colour.

Carpet

If you think about buying an Iranian carpet, or if you're interested in handicrafts, you can learn about the making of carpets in Iran's Carpet Museum.

Jewel

The Throne you see on the left is on display in the National Jewels Museum. Here you can see the richest and most overwhelming collection of jewels in the world.

Museum

This staircase can be seen in the Glassware and Ceramics Museum. The items on display here are very beautiful, but what makes this museum extra special is the way the items are displayed. Western museums can learn a lot from the guys who did this.

Archaeological

The National Archaeological Museum of Iran is a definite must for everyone who is at least a bit interested in the history of Iran. If you plan to go to Persepolis, see this museum first.

Music

To celebrate our first day in Iran, we went to a traditional Iranian restaurant.
The setting was superb, the food was great, but what we liked the most was the traditional Iranian music played live by this band.

photo of Tehran