Unlike the classic route of central Iran which tends to cross barren desserts with little to no vegetation, a road trip to the Iranian Kurdistan is rewarded with lush scenery, neon greenery and locals seen dancing in colourful outfits to Kurdish music for no good reason. 🙂
Iranian Kurdistan and Iranian Kurds, in general, have faced a lot of discrimination for various reasons:
The rise of Kurdish nationalism has always been something for the government to keep an eye on. The majority of Kurds in Iran are followers of Sunni Islam which have made them feel isolated from majority Shia Iran. Kurds in Iran have a language of their own, one of the richest in Iran belonging to minorities, along with a deeply routed literature. Due to their proximity to Persian in not only their language but their culture, Iranian Kurdish leaders don’t show any interest in Kurdish nationalism.
But that tends to be portrayed a bit differently to us living in the capital.
Having had a Kurdish friend back from my uni days and planning to meet up with him after such a long time gave us the excuse to bombard him with our questions.
Even for us as Iranians, Kurds, and Iranian Kurdistan is a rather blurry concept. We tend to have this vision of them as being warriors and rebellious due to some historical events. This is something the government clearly does not want us to forget. However, even the democratic party of Iranian Kurdistan has shifted their ideology from separatism to autonomy within a federal government. Nevertheless, what makes them look like a threat is their opposition to Iran’s current regime.
For all the above reasons and Iranian Kurdistan’s proximity to the Iraqi border, many tend to think of the region as unsafe. I would be lying if I say we weren’t also feeling a bit extra conscious, but that was totally gone after our first day.
Kurdistan is just as safe any other Iranian city. It’s stunning and the people are one of the kindest and friendliest I’ve ever seen. They were all open to holding conversations with random strangers, didn’t mind to have their photo taken and were just extremely happy in general.
An itinerary for a road trip in Kurdistan, Iran
Our trip to Kurdistan was rather short. We were a big group of friends and had to make sure everyone could take enough days from work. But due to the huge distance between Tehran and Kurdistan and also the region’s never-ending scenery, we could have easily spent a week here without ever wanting to go back.
We had 4 days and 3 nights to spend in the province and we decided to visit the highlights and leave the rest out for later travels. Here’s what our route looked like:
Essential experiences to have in Iranian Kurdistan
- Treat yourself with barbecued fish for lunch or dinner in either Palangan or Marivan.
- Learn to dance Kurdish from locals.
- Watch the sunset over Marivan lake.
- Hike. Hike. Hike.
Accommodation in Kurdistan
We rented a local home for two nights and spent the last at a friend’s house. It’s easy and very straight forward to rent local homes on arrival. There were no hotels in Palangan, but we found a decent hotel in Uramanat which had been fully booked.
As of recently, a brand new and beautiful hostel and art residency has opened up in Marivan. We’d highly recommend booking your stay at the See you in Kurdistan hostel which is run by the lovely team of See you in Iran.
Transportation & Driving to Iranian Kurdistan
The easiest way to get here is by renting your own car. I know it’s not common for foreigners to rent cars in Iran and they are mostly advised against it due to the crazy driving habit in Iran. I agree that it might be a bit tricky to drive in big cities, but if you’re planning to go off the beaten track it’s totally worth it. I’ve met people who were extremely happy as they got to visit places they wouldn’t have had otherwise.
If renting a car is not an option, then you’d have to take a bus to the closest city and then hire a driver to take you the extra mile. Buses from Tehran to Marivan or Sanandaj run daily and it could be a great base point in Kurdistan.
Roads in Kurdistan are mountainous and not always in perfect conditions. Smuggling is huge here hence there will be a lot of checkpoints. You don’t have to be some exceptional driver to manage but if you feel a bit unsure then just avoid being on the road at night.
Best time to visit Kurdistan, Iran
Kurdistan is best visited during spring when it’s fully green. The weather is absolutely delightful until early summer before the heat wave hits. It can get very cold and snowy during winter.
Day 1: Tehran to Palangan
After almost 8 hours drive and stopping for impromptu photo sessions, breakfast and lunch, we arrived at Palangan late in the afternoon. On the last 30 minutes of our drive, we could get glimpses of the valley on occasional turns. We arrived right when the sky and lamp hold hands and held our breaths witnessing the view we were about to discover the next morning.
I’ve written a very detailed post on our stay in Palangan.
Day 2: Palangan and Uramanat
Our drive from Uramanat turned out to be a lot harder than we thought. We started with taking a shortcut through the mountains and only found an hour later that the rest of the road was in such horrible conditions that we had to go back. We had planned to avoid driving at night but ended up driving for hours in pitch darkness.
We arrived at Uramanat really late and shattered from all the driving. We were lucky that we had already gotten a contact in Uramanat from a local in Palangan otherwise we would have been wandering around town for accommodation.
Day 3: Uramanat and Marivan
The next day we visited the tomb of Pir-e Shaliar, a sacred figure in the village of Uraman. There is a 3-day celebration held here each year in late January which dates back thousands of years ago. It involves a lot of dancing, great music and a traditional meal with an old recipe. It’s very touristy, so expect lots of crowds if you ever plan to go. 😉
Later in the morning, we hiked to the famous pending bridge overlooking the village. Only a few of us could dare to cross it but the adrenaline rush was there for all of us.
Thankfully there isn’t a lot of distance between Uramanat and Marivan. So we arrived at Marivan for a late lunch and still managed to visit the famous Ghoori Ghaleh cave on our way. The water cave is huge but I wasn’t really that impressed with it. I would probably suggest that you skip it. If cave exploring is your thing, then Alisadr cave in Hamadan is the place to go in Iran.
After lunch, we headed to the bazaar of Marivan. Like I said smuggling is a huge business here and a lot of branded products are sold cheap in Marivan. This is the case for a few other border cities in Iran and while the government is pretending to do something about it, it has gotten out of control. Apart from smuggled items, there are few shops selling local handmade shoes known as Giveh, the traditional Kurdish outfits with the famous Aladdin pants and lots of spices.
We spent the evening celebrating a friend’s birthday by the Marivan lake and went on a boat ride on the lake right after sunset.
We celebrated the evening dancing Kurdish by the lake and treating our bellies to a scrumptious barbecued fish which turned out to be our favourite meal of the whole trip. 🙂
Day 4: Driving back to Tehran
Considering how long it had gotten to us to reach Palangan in the first place, we decided not to lose any time and headed to Tehran right after having breakfast. We stopped to buy some pastries in Kermanshah and had a picnic in a random village just after Hamedan.
What to eat in Kurdistan?
Apart from the famous fish that you ought not to miss, there are few other snacks famous to Kurdistan. There’s Yersagh which is a sweet oily bread and Kalaneh, again an oily bread with vegetables. I honestly found both of them too greasy but it’s always worth a try. 😉
I was totally happy with how much we got to see in just 4 days, but I’m aware that we spent a great amount of time driving and that’s not something I’d really recommend. If you can go slower then do it. But I’d still wouldn’t have changed our destinations. 😉
Sounds like an awesome trip!! I hope travel to Iran for Americans will become easier one day, as there is SO MUCH I woyld still like to see. Bayad tasavor konam ke ye ruz bar gardam Iran ?
We hope so too. Actually both ways as I would love to travel to the US as well. 🙂
It’s iran kurdistan safe?
Absolutely!
Hello!
I would like to ask if it is doable to travel around iranian kurdistan by bus.
We are thinking of staying around for approximity 10 to 15 days!
Feel free to conact my for any travel information in Iranian Kurdistan. As an international guide/driver I would be more than happy to meet international travelers to Kurdistan
Whatsapp:
+989368714945
Whatsapp:
+989368714945
Thanks for such informative post and beautiful pictures. ^0^
I and my friend are planning to travel to Uramanat and it’s hard to find any accommodation info.
Is it possible if you could provide us with the contact in Uramanat homestay?
Thanks so much!!!
Hello Altina,
We didn’t have any accommodation planned before the trip either. Unfortunately I don’t have the contacts of the family from which we rented a home but we asked people from Palagan (where we stayed the night before) if they knew anyone in Uramanat and they gave us a number. Not to mention there was signs of home rents everywhere in Uramanat, so I think you’ll be absolutely fine. 😉
Hi Matin,
Thanks so much for the reply. It’s comforting to know that home rent is available in Uramanat. ^0^
Thanks for this blogpost! My husband and I are from Holland and are now traveling in Iran for three weeks. We did this exact roadtrip in the beginning of January, because of your post. We loved it!! I especially loved Pallengan.
The people in Kurdistan are lovely, the nature is fantastic and the appartements are really clean indeed.
(But we spend 5 nights in the province)
Hello M,
How amazing is that!! I love it when people follow itineraries. I’d absolutely love it if you could send me a few pics so I could share them. Really glad you enjoyed it. I love Kurdistan and will be going back for more. 🙂
Hi Matin, thanks a lot for all those informations. We are a french couple in iran for more than a month… your blog is definitely a gold mine for us. We found a mot of information about rasht and around… now about Kurdistan we are planning to head to.
Many thanks again. Take care.
We are sharing our journey jn iran through Instagram = @landscapture
Hello Pauline,
Thank you for the nice compliment. So glad the blog has helped you on your trip.
Kurdistan is definitely one of my favourite places in Iran.
Please kindly share the blog with you family and friends interested in Iran. 🙂
I am from India and i am planning for my second trip to iran in march .did the regular route of tehran,kashan,isfahan,yazd,shiraz and tabriz in dec 2017.looking to add Mashad and kurdestan this time.lucky to chance upon this excelent blog .
Hello Matin,
Just a general question. Will it be ok for a woman of 72 to travel alone through Iran? I would love to do it together with someone but can’t find anybody. They seem to love going to Irfan but take organised tours. Or… perhaps they just find me too old haha
Hello Cathy,
There’s absolutely no reason for it not to be ok. You’ll be perfectly fine. 🙂
Hi Matin!
Could you tell us what was the time of the year when you took those pictures?
It’s so lush and green!
I’m going in June – just wondering if it will still look this way.
Many thanks
Hi Miko, I believe I’ve already answered you on Instagram but here we go again.:)
This was in mid-spring so around May which is the best time to visit Kurdistan. June will be hot and you definitely won’t get the same luscious greenery. Sorry!
Hi, thank you for the information
Do you have the contact of any English speaking guide there? Thank you in advance for your reply
Hi Mohsen. No! I don’t. We travelled without a guide and I don’t know anyone there.
Thanks for sharing the beauty of Kurdistan and providing such an informative post. My wife and I are both tourist guides in Kurdistan. If you plan to visit Kurdistan, feel free to contact us. s.kuhzadi@gmail.com