Days 1-5: Southern Iraq — Basra to Baghdad
Basra, Mesopotamian Marshes (mudhif overnight), Ur, Uruk, Nippur, Najaf (family homestay), Babylon, Karbala, Ctesiphon (the world’s largest single-span brick arch, built 540 AD).
Days 6-7: Baghdad
National Museum (Warka Vase, Nimrud Gold, Assyrian lamassu), Al-Mutanabbi Street booksellers, Shabandar Café, Abbasid Palace, Martyr’s Memorial, Tigris dinner cruise.
Days 8-9: Samarra to Mosul
Samarra spiral minaret (UNESCO), Ashur (Assyrian first capital), Nimrud, Mosul Old City — Al-Nuri Mosque, rebuilding neighborhoods, meeting local residents.
Days 10-11: Christian Heartlands & Yazidi Lalish
Baghdida (Iraq’s largest Christian town), Bashiqa, the Yazidi holy sanctuary of Lalish (walk barefoot through 12th-century temples), Shanadar Cave (Neanderthal burial site, 60,000 years).
Days 12-14: Kurdistan Mountains
Duhok — bustling Kurdish city. Amedi — a breathtaking 5,000-year-old citadel perched on a flat-topped mountain. Rawanduz Canyon (zipline, Kurdish picnic). Dokan Lake boat cruise. Sulaymaniyah — the Amna Suraka “Red Prison” Museum (Ba’athist torture facility now a memorial), Slemani Museum, tea in the main square. Halabja Memorial — the site of Saddam’s 1988 chemical weapons attack that killed 5,000 civilians, a deeply moving experience.
Day 15: Erbil & Departure
Erbil Citadel (6,000+ years inhabited, UNESCO), Qaysari Bazaar (carpets, honey, gold, Kurdish crafts). Transfer to Erbil International Airport.
