Tehran Travel Guide

Travel Guide to Tehran

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

General Information

Tehran is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With a population of around 8.8 million in the city and 15 million in its larger metropolitan area, Tehran is the most populous city in Iran and Western Asia, and it has the second-largest metropolitan area in the Middle East. It is ranked 29th in the world by the population of its metropolitan area.

based on wikipedia In the Classical era, part of the territory of present-day Tehran was occupied by Rhages, a prominent Median city. It was subject to destruction following the Arab, Turkic, and Mongol invasions. Its modern-day inheritor remains as an urban area absorbed into the metropolitan area of Greater Tehran.

Tehran was first chosen as the capital of Iran by Agha Mohammad Khan of the Qajar dynasty in 1796, in order to remain within close reach of Iran's territories in the Caucasus, before being separated from Iran as a result of the Russo-Iranian Wars, and to avoid the vying factions of the previously ruling Iranian dynasties. The capital has been moved several times throughout the history, and Tehran is the 32nd national capital of Iran.

The city was the seat of the Qajars and Pahlavis, the two last monarchies of Iran. It is home to many historical collections, including the royal complexes of Golestan, Sa'dabad, and Niavaran, as well as the country's most important governmental buildings of the modern era.

Tehran's most famous landmarks include the Azadi Tower, a memorial built under the reign of the Pahlavi dynasty, and the Milad Tower, the world's sixth-tallest self-supporting tower which was completed in 2007. The Tabiat Bridge, a newly-built landmark, was completed in 2014.

The majority of the population of Tehran are Persian-speaking people, and roughly 99% of the population understand and speak Persian, but there are large populations of other Iranian ethnicities such as Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Lurs, and Kurds who live in Tehran and speak Persian as their second language.

Get in and around

There are direct flights to/from from numerous European, African, Middle Eastern, and Asian cities. Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA) is the international airport in Tehran and the domestic airport is called Mehrabad which is inside of the city.

Traffic is very congested but has improved with the completion of several new tunnels and highways across the city. You can drive in from Turkey fairly easily as well as from the Southern parts of Iran.

Almost every city and village in Iran has bus services to Tehran, as evidenced by the hundreds of buses that pour in and out of the capital each day.

There is at least one train each day to the Iranian cities of Mashhad, Isfahan, Tabriz, Kerman, Yazd, Sari, Gorgan, Ahvaz and Bandar Abbas. Buy tickets at the station, or from travel agencies, or online from PinIRAN.

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Top sights & Things to do

When to visit?

Tehran has a semi-arid climate with distinct seasons. The summer (Jun–Sep), with very hot and dry conditions, is the peak travel period. The winter (Dec–Feb) is mainly cool, with a chance of snow and subfreezing temperatures. Nowruz (Mar) is the Iranian New Year marking the start of spring, a time of mild weather. Key cultural events include the Tehran Book Fair (May/Jun) and the Tehran International Short Film Festival (Oct/Nov). Precipitation is the lowest in July, with an average of 1 mm. Most of the precipitation here falls in January, averaging 36 mm. Between the driest and wettest months, the difference in precipitation is 35 mm. Throughout the year, temperatures vary by 26.5 °C.

  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
High/Low temperatures
11°
16°
22°
12°
28°
17°
34°
22°
37°
25°
36°
24°
32°
20°
25°
14°
16°
10°
Chance of precipitation
12%
18%
16%
15%
8%
2%
1%
2%
1%
5%
13%
12%
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