Solo travel to Iran

>>1211323
I was there two weeks mid-April last year. Only spent a day in Tehran (and I was glad to get out, it's too big for my taste and harder than the rest of the country to enjoy as a tourist). Stayed in Kashan and Yazd as well as Isfahan and Shiraz, with a few stops on the way (Abyaneh, Persepolis, Kharanaq...). Felt incredibly safe the whole time, met a few females traveling solo. VOA worked fine for me ; you have to show that you have insurance for the trip. They got my fingerprints, which took some time, but that's because I'm French and the French government decided to take the fingerprints of Iranians coming into France. Other travelers got their visa pretty quickly. Not sure if passing for a local is an advantage, as most people were incredibly helpful to foreigners, but not speaking farsi isn't a problem. No one will try to scam you, except maybe on Meidan Emam in Isfahan, but the scammers are approximately 100 times less obnoxious than those from your country.

>>1211323
The shitty part is that going to Iran effectively means saying goodbye to US visits if you had any planned.

>>1211331
Or I could just get a new passport...

>>1211323
Tehran doesn't really have a hostel culture though you can find cheaper hotels, couchsurfing is you best bet for having a good time in Tehran. Shiraz I stayed at the Niayesh Boutique Hotel, nice common area with backpackers, families and even some older travelers staying there, really nice atmosphere even found people to share transport to Persepolis with. Also got a visa on arrival as an Australian citizen which took about 20-30 minutes to process. We had 12 days and we missed out on some major sites because we spent more time than expected just hanging around with people since the locals are friendly and once you meet one or two they start to introduce you to there extended circle so you end up going to cafes or going shopping instead of seeing sites.

>>1211323
Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa what's going on here

I'm a 20 year old that is planning on solo traveling to Iran in mid April and will be visiting Tehran, Esfahan, and Shiraz for 2 weeks too. Only difference is that I'm male and European.

I've been reading up on Iran recently and I'm considering extending the trip to 3 or even 4 weeks long to fit in a few other sites. I'd like to visit the Caspian coast, Persepolis, conduct a few nature hikes, view a few smaller, rural towns, and if time/money permits then Yazd and Maschhad too.

To avoid the hassle of being denied entry I will apply for a visa beforehand even though I qualify for visa on arrival. I do have dual US citizenship but I'm planning on not saying a word about it and just use my Euro citizenship instead. Of course the trip is many months away so anything can still change. I planned on making a thread about traveling to Iran later on but I just saw this one and decided to pop on by.

>>1211323

>OP's image
>text is stylized to look like Devanagari even though Persian uses Arabic script

This triggers me

>>1211323
>>1211726
I'm planning to go there in mid April, too. I'm going to travel with my brother, though. Aaand we're both 27 years old. From Germany.

I'll apply for visa next week and I sure as hell will not say a word about my trip to Israel last year.

OP here

>>1211726
What a coincidence ! How long are you planning to stay in each city ? Persepolis is also high on my list, but I don't know about rural towns because I don't have a driving licence and I'm not sure a train can take me there.
Also what nationality are you ? I will probably be flying from Paris with a layover in Istanbul.
I eventually decided to apply for a proper visa beforehand. I'm using a company called "Touranzamin" which has excellent reviews online. But because of the embargo, they are asking me to send them a pdf form with my credit card details to pay for the fee. So I don't know, it doesn't look very secure...


>>1211980
Cool, I'm 25. I will be flying there from Paris. Are you guys going to stay in hostels/hotels or will you be couchsurfing ?
Also, how will you hide the fact that you went to Israel ? Don't you have a stamp on your passport ?

>>1212011
I still have to fine tune the details but as of now I'm guessing maybe 2-4 days in each city depending on what they have to offer me and because of time constraints. And my nationality is German. My plans are to fly to Istanbul first and visit there for a few days before flying into Tehran. After I'm all done with Iran I'll then fly to Dubai for a day or two before flying back home.

I haven't really given much thought into applying for the visa because I've never had to do so before. I always thought it was easy enough to just apply for one via the embassy and not through a company. I've never heard of Touranzamin and their method doesn't exactly sound tip top.

As for the small towns, I'm not 100% sure but I was planning on booking an excursion with a tour company to bring me to a smaller town so I can hike or explore a bit of the countryside. This way I'll see the rural way of life plus scenery. I also plan on using hostels but I see they're not very widespread. AirBnB is also a no go. If hostels are not available where I'm going then I'm probably unfortunately going to have to book with a hotel, which does not look cheap.

>>1211980
So far it's just me. I have nothing set in stone right now because I'm still deciding where, when, and what I want to do. How long do you expect it to take before you receive your visa? I don't know when I'll apply.

My passport has an old US address in it and I wonder if it will cause me any problems. Should be fun

>>1212011
Belgian here. I used Touranzamin too and also had to pay as you described. This was one and a half year ago. There were no problems whatsoever.

You can reach Persepolis from Shiraz with a taxi. Go to the main bus terminal and ask around. Get a taxi that is not 'dar baste' so it will stop for other passangers and you don't have to pay as much. Persepolis is worth visiting. I hitchhiked to Naqsh-e-Rustam which is nearby. Don't miss it. Pasargad I didn't find worthwile.

>>1211980
Please report here if you get the visa. I'm in a similar situation but I will gamble it to the VOA

>>1212565
If you do just be aware that it's not as simple as just showing up and you get a visa. Even if you meet all of the requirements you can still be denied if the border guard doesn't like you.

According to the Iranian Embassy of Germany's website
>Citizens of all countries of the world (with the exception of 10 countries) can obtain one-month visas upon presentation of the above-mentioned documents at the international airports of Iran. Persons applying for tourist visa can obtain a visa from the international airports in Iran after completing a visa questionnaire and with a hotel booking certificate, a round trip ticket, travel insurance and a biometric passport photo. If the Iranian partner of the persons applying for Airport Visa has already obtained a visa authorization and has sent it to the relevant airport, these visas can be issued quickly at the destination airport.

Good luck

>>1212655
there have been several testimonies of people having no troubles at all on getting the visa on arrival

>>1212011
We'll probably stay in hostels AND do couchsurfing. And we'll carry a tent with us. So we'll be camping some days, too.

Israel doesn't stamp passports anymore. They just give you a seperate piece of paper.

>>1212172
You have to apply for the visa via the embassy/consulate. BUT you need an invitation (with a reference number) from Iran before you apply.

Iranisches Generalkonsulat in Hamburg, Visaabteilung:
http://de.hamburg.mfa.ir/index.aspx?fkeyid=&siteid=432&pageid=34673

Travelling agency from which you can get your invitation (officially recognized by the Iranian consulate in Hamburg):
http://alirania.info/Startseite/Visum/Referenznummer-Iran/

It'll probably take approximately 10 days to get the invitation with the reference number.

Regarding the visa: you'll have to hand all the required documents in, no later than one month before departure.

>>1212565
I wouldn't recommend VOA.
I'll keep you updated anyway.

>>1212963
Why? I just heard positive stuff. Apart from the money you have to pay (75eur)

Someone going in May who wants to meet up or maybe travel a bit together?

>>1212655
My family (one of them had been to Israel before) went there with a goup, got visa on arrival at the airport in Iran. The group leader was not happy that they didn't sort out the visa in advance, but actually they ended up having to wait for someone to be let in that did have visa from earlier.

>>1211323
Hey I am solo travelling to Iran in April 2017 as well... from 17th to 29th
Brazilian male 28 years
Plan to go to Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz and Yazd
I'll also visit Jordan and Turkey before arriving in Iran
No idea about hostels or couchsurfing or visa...I'll be lurking your thread