Need to know

Getting there

Magic Carpet Travel (01344 622832, www.magiccarpet travel.co.uk) offers tailor-made and group journeys to Iran. A fully inclusive eight-day trip taking in Tehran, Esfahan, Shiraz and Persepolis costs from £1,545pp including flights. Two-week itineraries, including a visit to the Qashqai nomads, are from £2,395pp.

Bmi (0870 6070555, www.flybmi.com) flies daily from Heathrow to Tehran from £501 return.

Flying to and around Iran

Paul Tompkins wants to know who to fly with and whether internal flights are cheap

• Skiing takes off in Iran

Related Internet Links

• More travel articles about the Middle East

Related Links

• Flying to and around Iran

• Skiing takes off in Iran

Reading

Iran (Bradt Guides, £14.99)
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (Vintage, £7.99).

Also see:

www.tourismiran.ir www.tehranavenue.com

www.life goesonintehran.com.

Exhibition

Shah Abbas - the Remaking of Iran opened this week and runs until June 14 at the British Museum (020-7323 8181, www.britishmuseum.org. Tickets £12).

OTHER VIEWS OF IRAN

One of my favourite areas of Iran is around Shiraz. In addition to the wonderful gardens, the tomb of the poet Hafez is a must. Iranians recite his poems by heart around the tomb and you can begin to appreciate their love and reverence for their poets. The awe-inspiring site of Persepolis is near by, and around Firuzabad you can watch Qashqai nomads moving their flocks south - Neil McGregor, director, British Museum

Esfahan is a gem of the Islamic world: sitting in a café on Naghsh-e Jahan Square, looking out at the Safavid architecture, puffing on a hubble pipe, is to inhale centuries of civilisation. I once saw an old man sheltering from the sun under one of the famous stone bridges and singing a haunting mystic song that reverberated under the arches and sent shivers up the spine - Damian Whitworth, Times Feature Writer

One day when I was a child my father drove us through a crack in the mountain wall and around the back of Tochal, the 3,900m peak overlooking Tehran. The valley was flanked by steep mountains. Because we were nearer the Caspian Sea to the north, it was an ocean of blossom: pink, white, yellow - cherry, apple and apricot. The valley opened into a meadow with a couple of makeshift cafés. We got out of the car and smelt the view, taking in the ancient, sweet perfume of the valley. You could hear the cool wind, a subliminal hum of bees, and nothing else save distant waterfalls, high up the mountainside, where snowfields were melting. “This,” my father said, “is spring.” I hope to make it back to that valley to eat the cherries, apples or apricots one day - Darius Sanai, magazine writer who spent childhood in Iran

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