We (a family of 4 americans) were just in Iran last week. Visas (obtained in China) were no problem - an "organised tour" is a requirement, but your "tour" can be a tour group of one (or, in our case, 4). We were well treated everywhere (though I must admit to being a little nervous being in Tehran on the date of the anniversary of the revolution, and watching them set up for the big demonstrations/rallies ... decided that day was a good one to get out of the city and go visit the assassin castle ruins!)

If you don't mind me asking how much was the "tour"? Who did you book through? I'll be going west to east through the whole country by motorcycle. Did they use their own vehicle?

Thank you!

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Brennan Dates

www.brennandates.com

We flew in/out (watching Argo on the Emirates flight as we took off from Tehran was kind of cool) and then travelled mostly in a vehicle arranged by the travel agency, so I can't speak to the motorcycle/accompanying vehicle issue.

We made most arrangements with Nasrin Etemadi, an Iranian in the UK, at persianvoyages[at]btinternet[dot]com. (We were then handed off to someone on the ground closer to the arrival date.) They were pretty responsive and pretty able to deal with specific requests. Note that as an American, your ability to be spontaneous is somewhat limited - your itinerary has to be approved by the Ministry (which takes time), and then you have to stick with it (at least in terms of which city you're visiting on which day, and to a certain extent where you're staying in that city). Flexibility within a given day's program, though, seemed to be fine - when the kids wanted to spend an afternoon doing something "fun", the guide found us a place to do carting and paintball ...

We paid USD1650/pax as a lump some for in-country costs: visa support, 24/7 guide, lodging, transportation, and entry fees. However, we chose to stay at higher-end-ish places, and we moved around a lot (Tehran, Alamut Valley, Dizin, Isfahan, Persepolis, Shiraz) including by train and plane, so I'd imagine you could manage for quite a bit less than that.

Good luck!

Oh, and also note that the recent more stringent sanctions have had a strong impact on the value of the real (local currency) - apparently it's devalued by about 300% in the last 18 months. The impact is that things for foreigners (such as hotel rooms) have gotten quite a bit cheaper recently. When we were there, the rate was between 35,000 - 38,000 reals/US$. Entrance fees to most historical sites, etc. were 5,000 reals (though set to increase to I think 15,000 or 20,000 next week).

ThAnks for the contact details!!!! I'm currently speaking with Persian voyages to see how they can accompany a motorcyclist through the entire country from turkey to Pakistan!!! They were very apologetic that none of their guides had a motorcycle and would a car be okay to accompany me!!! I'll post the quote on here and give a final number when the deed is done this April!

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Brennan Dates

www.brennandates.com

I am very impressed. Now, that is what one could diffinete ( sorry for my very bad english)
as very good and responseble service towards foreign travellers.

Good luck, and have a great trip!

Brennan you got a PM..