Days 1-2: Tehran
Arrive Tehran. Day 2: Golestan Palace, Crown Jewels Museum, Grand Bazaar. Evening: Tehran food street tour — sampling dizi (lamb and chickpea stew), kabab koobideh, and Persian ice cream (bastani sonnati) with saffron and rose water. Overnight Tehran.
Days 3-4: Kashan — The Underground City
Drive to Kashan. Visit Fin Garden (UNESCO) — the oldest existing Persian Garden (1590), with cypress-lined channels and turquoise-tiled pools. Tabatabaei House: a 19th-century merchant’s mansion with 40 rooms, stained glass, and stucco work so intricate it took stone-carvers 10 years. Afternoon: explore the 1,500-year-old underground city of Nushabad (Ouyi) — three floors of tunnels, chambers, and air vents 18m below ground, used as a refuge from invaders. Cooking class: learn to make Kashan’s signature dishes. Day 4: morning visit to the Sultan Amir Ahmad Bathhouse with its stunning rooftop. Drive to Abyaneh — the ‘Red Village’ at 2,235m, where the elderly women still wear the traditional white floral chador and the houses are built from red mud-brick. Afternoon: drive to Isfahan. Overnight Isfahan.
Days 5-7: Isfahan
Full Isfahan immersion: Naqsh-e Jahan Square, Imam Mosque, Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque, Ali Qapu, Grand Bazaar (carpet and spice sections), Chehel Sotoun, Vank Cathedral, Jolfa Armenian Quarter. One afternoon: Persian cooking class — prepare chelo kabab, mirza ghasemi, and kashk-e bademjan from scratch with a local chef. Evening: Khaju Bridge + Zurkhaneh performance. Overnight Isfahan.
Days 8-9: Yazd
Drive to Yazd. Old city walking tour: wind-catchers, Jameh Mosque (with Iran’s tallest minarets), Alexander’s Prison. Day 9: Zoroastrian Fire Temple, Towers of Silence, Dowlat Abad Garden. Afternoon: Yazd food experience — try ash-e shooli (Yazdi spinach soup), local sweets (baqlava, qottab), and the famous Yazdi cake at Haj Khalifeh confectionery. Overnight Yazd.
Days 10-13: Persepolis & Shiraz
Drive to Shiraz via Persepolis and Naqsh-e Rostam. Shiraz: Pink Mosque, Vakil Complex, spice market tour, Eram Garden. Cooking class: Shirazi salad, kalam polo (cabbage rice with meatballs). Day 12: Qalat village — an ancient village inside a cave near Shiraz. Day 13: Hafez Tomb, Saadi Tomb, free afternoon. Farewell feast with live Persian music. Overnight Shiraz.
Day 14: Departure
Transfer to Shiraz Airport.
