Qom Travel Guide

Travel Guide to Qom

Get familiar with top sights, find itineraries, accommodations and tours

General Information

Qom is the eighth largest city in Iran. It lies 125 kilometres (78 mi) by road southwest of Tehran and is the capital of Qom Province. At the 2011 census its population was 1,074,036 (957,496 at the 2006 census, in 241,827 families), comprising 545,704 men and 528,332 women. It is situated on the banks of the Qom River.

Qom is considered holy by Shiʿa Islam, as it is the site of the shrine of Fatimah bint Musa, sister of Imam `Ali ibn Musa Rida (Persian Imam Reza, 789–816 AD). The city is the largest center for Shiʿa scholarship in the world, and is a significant destination of pilgrimage. Qom is famous for a Persian brittle toffee known as Sohan, considered a souvenir of the city and sold by 2,000 to 2,500 Sohan shops.

Based on Wikipedia, Qom has developed into a lively industrial centre owing in part to its proximity to Tehran. It is a regional centre for the distribution of petroleum and petroleum products, and a natural gas pipeline from Bandar Anzali and Tehran and a crude-oil pipeline from Tehran run through Qom to the Abadan refinery on the Persian Gulf. Qom gained additional prosperity when oil fields were discovered at Sarajeh near the city in 1956 and a large refinery was built between Qom and Tehran.

Get in and around

The nearest and most easily accessible international airport is Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport.

Driving from Tehran might be a reasonable option.

There are plenty of scheduled bus services from Tehran and some major cities.

There are train routes which take you from Tehran and other nearby cities such as Arak, Yazd and Isfahan.

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Top sights & Things to do

When to visit?

The most popular time to travel is during the spring. The climate in Qom is called a desert climate. During the year, there is virtually no rainfall. The temperature here averages 18.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 125 mm. The driest month is July. There is 0 mm of precipitation in July. Most precipitation falls in January, with an average of 28 mm. With an average of 31.2 °C, July is the warmest month. In January, the average temperature is 3.6 °C. It is the lowest average temperature of the whole year. The precipitation varies 28 mm between the driest month and the wettest month. The average temperatures vary during the year by 27.6 °C.

  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
High/Low temperatures
-2°
12°
18°
24°
10°
31°
16°
36°
20°
40°
23°
38°
21°
32°
16°
27°
13°
19°
13°
Chance of precipitation
11%
10%
13%
11%
8%
3%
1%
2%
4%
8%
15%
11%
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Recommended Accommodation