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Here are a few recommended by David Shannon (Sahneh, 1974-76)
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Wiki Travel has extensive material in its open source travel guide to Iran, featuring up-to-date information on attractions, hotels, restaurants, nightlife, travel tips and more.
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Lonely Planet is full of advice and articles by travelers who have been to Iran.
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TripAdvisor has a discussion forum that provides many first hand experiences of travel in Iran.
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Each of these sites can be useful, though much of what they offer is almost second nature to RPCVs. Tell us of any particularly valuable resources you have found in your research. Send your recommendations to doug@peacecorpsiran.org
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http://www.ricksteves.com/iran/iran_tours.htm gives a list of American companies offering tours to Iran; Tom Ricks (Mashhad, 1964-66) has led a tours with Distant Horizons.
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www.irangashttour.com based in Shiraz, pops up most prominently when googling “Travel Iran.”
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www.destinationIran.com appears to be another of these in-country agencies; these may be good for those who want to plan their own itineraries. Does anybody have any experience with a particular travel/tour agency they would recommend – or warn us away from?
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Recommendations from Doug Meyer (Semnan, 1967-68)
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This time we are going to look at travel (as Americans carrying U.S. passports) back to Iran. A group of ten of us took this journey in 2014.. It was an interesting and enlightening experience. I wholeheartedly recommend that anyone with an Iranian connection consider making the trip. (This means you.)
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There is considerable misunderstanding among Americans about travel to Iran. I was certainly one of those misinformed. I vaguely understood that Iran was not on the U.S. State Department’s list of proscribed countries, but had always assumed that the Iranian government would not issue a visa on an American passport. I was mistaken. But be awake and aware:
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The visa process was the most dramatic part of the entire trip. The Iranian Interests Section (IIS) at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington is quite understaffed. (And, I’m told, underpaid as well.) Our visas were finally issued on the very last day before our travel plans required them; we got the passports (with visas!) back less than 24 hours before travel time. The guys at the IIS were very helpful once they realized our urgency and the need for expeditious service. You can get a visa application here http://daftar.org/forms/visas/101.pdf and submit it easily by mail.
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The Iranian government requires that all American tourists travel with a private guide or group tour that is authorized to guide American citizens and aware of any relevant Iranian government regulations. However, Uncornered Market and others tell us: “Don’t be deterred by this requirement. We experienced both a group tour and a private guide in Iran. In both circumstances, we still had ample time to explore, walk the streets and browse the bazaars (markets) on our own. We made connections with ordinary people, we ate street food and were even fortunate enough to accept invitations to people’s homes.”
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The Iran Primer
http://iranprimer.usip.org/
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“The Iran Primer: Power, Politics and U.S. Policy” is an unprecedented project by 50 of the world’s top scholars on Iran representing some 20 foreign policy think tanks, eight universities, and senior foreign policy officials from six U.S. administrations. This "book" has no single political perspective or agenda, as the authors approach the subjects with a wide range of views.
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The book is also a living website project, as the entire book is available free on the web. It will also be constantly updated. The goal is to provide information about the many complex sides of a country with which the United States has not had relations for more than three decades.
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http://www.presstv.ir/
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Press TV is an official English language website of the government in Iran. You may find some of the content on this website interesting, some is beautiful, most is informative, including the political “advertising.”
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When you go shopping in Isfahan Doug Schermer recommends you visit shop of Hossein Fallahi, a Persian Miniaturist.
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