Tabriz Travel Guide

Travel Guide to Tabriz

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

General Information

Tabriz is the most populated city in Iranian Azerbaijan, one of the historical capitals of Iran and the present capital of East Azerbaijan province. Located in the Quru River valley, between long ridges of volcanic cones in the Sahand and Eynali mountains. The valley opens up into a plain that gently slopes down to the eastern shores of Lake Urmia, 60 kilometres (37 miles) to the west. With cold winters and temperate summers, Tabriz is considered a summer resort. It was named World Carpet Weaving City by the World Crafts Council in October 2015 and Exemplary Tourist City of 2018 by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

With a population of over 1.73 million (2016), Tabriz is the largest economic hub and metropolitan area in Northwest Iran. The population is overwhelmingly Azerbaijani, though Persian is spoken by residents as a second language.Tabriz is a major heavy industries hub for automobiles, machine tools, refineries, petrochemicals, textiles and cement production industries.The city is famous for its handicrafts, including hand-woven rugs and jewellery. Local confectionery, chocolate, dried nuts and traditional Tabrizi food are recognised throughout Iran as some of the best. Tabriz is also an academic hub and a site for some of the most prestigious cultural institutes in Northwest Iran.

Based on Wikipedia, Tabriz contains many historical monuments, representing Iran's architectural transition throughout its deep history. Most of Tabriz's preserved historical sites belong to Ilkhanid, Safavid and Qajar. Among these is the grand Bazaar of Tabriz, inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2010. From the early modern era, Tabriz was pivotal in the development, movement and economy of three neighbouring regions; namely the Caucasus, Eastern Anatolia and Central Iran. From the 19th century, it became the most important city in the country in many respects. As Iran's closest hub to Europe, many aspects of early modernisation in Iran began in Tabriz.Prior to forced ceding of Iran's Caucasian territories to Imperial Russia, following two Russo-Persian Wars in the first half of the 19th century, Tabriz was at the forefront of Iranian rule over its Caucasian territories due to proximity. Throughout most of the Qajar period (up to 1925), it functioned as the seat of the crown prince.

Get in and around

Daily flights from and to Tehran on Iran Air, Iran Aseman and other companies. Direct flights from Istanbul (13 flights per week), operated by Turkish airlines are available.

Wel connected to highways. You can use taxi, however the easiest way to travel is via a hired car and its not expencive. By the bridge over the Urmia lake Tabriz is reachable from Urmia.

Bus relations with major cities. 6-8 Hours travel from Tehran. The bus terminal is a big and new building in the south of Tabriz. There are bus lines from Tabriz to Iranian major cities.

Daily train from Tehran takes 12 hours. There are comfortable night trains to Tehran.

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Top sights & Things to do

When to visit?

A common time to visit is Jun–Sep, when the weather is typically warm and dry. Winters (Dec–Feb) are cold, with temperatures around freezing. Nowruz (Mar) is the Persian New Year, celebrating the first day of spring with gifts, feasts and traditional rituals. In the month of Ramadan (varies depending on Islamic calendar), many businesses are closed during daylight fasting hours. The difference in precipitation between the driest month and the wettest month is 50 mm. During the year, the average temperatures vary by 25.0 °C.

  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
High/Low temperatures
-6°
-4°
11°
18°
23°
11°
29°
16°
33°
20°
33°
20°
29°
15°
21°
12°
-3°
Chance of precipitation
7%
9%
12%
18%
15%
6%
4%
2%
3%
7%
10%
11%
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