Tip no. 1

Do not rush into money exchange at your arrival!

In the airport, there will be fixers that would come to you to offer money exchange, transportation, and accommodation. The rates are not real and the transportation and accommodations are illegal and unsafe. We recommend you to simply ignore them and use the official airport taxi, use TAPSI or Snapp two online taxi services in Iran (like Uber) or using Airport Pick up services.
Tip no. 2

Exchange rates

Where to exchange my money? What is the exchange rate in Iran? What is Iran’s currency?

Iran’s currency is Rial with the currency code of IRR
All these banknotes and coins are published based on Rial but people do the daily economic chores with Toman. Toman is an unofficial currency which equals ten Rials.
Just remember whenever you get confused put your hand on the last zero of the banknote or coin that you are holding, and you will see the value of it in Toman.

The exchange rate in Iran:
There are two different exchange rates in Iran: 1. The official government rate and 2. The market rate. The official government rate is always lower than the market rate.

Check for rates offered by independent currency authorities (mid-market rates):

https://bonbast.com

Where to exchange your money?
1. Try finding shops that work with the free market rate. (licensed exchange shops around the Ferdowsi sq. Tehran)
2. other way is using Travel Debit Cards. With this card you pay for the card and the money in it which is loaded based on the market rate.

Tip no. 3

Using Metro/Subway

How to use metro (subway) from IKA airport to the city of Tehran?

Many of travelers ask how to use metro to get city of Tehran from IKA airport, here it is:

The IKA Airport’s metro (subway) station is located right opposite the airport, accessible via a pedestrian tunnel. Keep it in your mind the trains are scheduled from 6:10 am to 8:10 pm and they transfer passengers every 80 minutes. But since most the arrival flights got landed during nights, using metro is not available and also not suggested.

If you still want to use it you can buy tickets at the station; price is like 90,000 rials (1 dollar = 200,000 rials) at this date, Jan 2020.

From Tehran city to IKA airport?

First, from all the metro stations in Tehran, you need to get “Shahed-Bagher Shahr” metro station (Line 1) where there are trains to the airport every 80 minutes  from 7:15 am to 7:15 pm. The ticket price is 90,000 Rial. From here (Shahed station) you need to change the train in the next station (Namayeshgah Shahr e Aftab) and then after about 20 minutes you will get to the airport.

In the evenings, from 7:15 pm to 9 pm, there are taxi and bus that takes you from Shahed station to the airport. The taxi cost (a shared taxi) is 6500 Toman and the bus price is 2500 Toman. (Rial or Toman?)

After 9 pm we suggest you using online taxi Snapp or TAPSI.

Check AKI portal for more information. https://www.ikac.ir/en/metro

Tip no. 4

General Dress code in Iran:

Women must cover their hair and men cannot wear short pants.

False beliefs about Iran dress code:

False True
Women must wear a long dress remember that wearing a coat or Manteau is not mandatory but you cannot wear a T-shirt and also wearing a 3/4 sleeve is common.
Women cannot wear makeup or shiny nail colors Makeup is actually part of inseparable Iranian women routine
You cannot wear jeans jeans are very popular especially among young boys and girls
Men must wear long-sleeved shirts wearing T-shirts is really normal but not sleeveless ones
Everyone wears dark and black clothes all the time nowadays most people tend to wear colorful dresses
Wearing sandal is not possible It’s common in summer then bring one pair with yourself
Women always keep wearing scarfs even at home not at all, but don’t forget that you cannot take it off in public places. BTW in parties, most girls don’t wear scarfs and even have short dresses. Then bring some nice and suitable clothes in case you get invited, whatever you normally wear at parties in your own country.
Tip no. 5

Best time to visit Iran

When is the best time to travel to Iran?

Many people from other countries considered Iran as a vast sunny desert. Good news for Heliophile type of people is, Iran has two main desert and several cities are built in the vicinity of those deserts. Therefore, they have sunny hot days with chilly nights. Those who love desert trekking and safaris can find their paradise in the central desert of Iran, the south and southeast. The best time to visit deserts is autumn and early spring due to boiling hot summers and freezing winters. Visiting south and southeast is possible in winter as well.

That’s not the whole story. Iran is a four-season country with a wide range of climate conditions. For those Chionophiles who love visiting cold snowy places or go skiing, we offer Tehran ski resorts, the west and the northwest of Iran. Skiing and other winter sports obviously are possible in winter but even in summer days, you would enjoy the cold breeze of those places.
In addition, the west part of Iran has a mountainous climate with freezing cold winters. The best time to visit west part (Kermanshah, Yasouj, Shahr-e Kord, Sanandaj, Hamedan, and Lorestan) and their tourist sites is spring and summer.

There is even more. In case you enjoy a humid climate, you can visit the north of Iran include Mazandaran, Gilan and Golestan provinces. Moreover, Persian Gulf islands like Kish and Qeshm has sultry weather with great beach recreations. The best time to travel there is autumn, winter, and early spring.

To sum up, high seasons for Iran include early spring and autumn in order to visit the most famous cities, but in terms of being more adventurous, you can visit Iran on other seasons and explore more untouched areas with great climate.

Tip no. 6

Bargaining in Iran

It is widely common to bargain over what you buy in Iran. However, some confused tourists may overdo the bargaining. Iranians are famous for their hospitality in the world but the tourism industry and making money don’t have any conflict with that. To avoid any misunderstanding, here are some useful tips about bargaining in Iran that you should keep in mind.

First of all, Iran’s currency is about thousands of times cheaper than Us dollars. Then it is wise to calculate the amount you are bargaining over to the equivalent in your currency and not wasting your time and energy for peanuts.

During your journey to Iran, you will face many vendors in every market and some in deprived areas. Many of them are living at subsistence level and it is not fair to bargain over their cheap products.

On the other side, in some luxuries places do not buy things at first sight. Ask for the price from different shops and compare the price and quality. In the end, with adequate knowledge choose the best shop and try to edge down the price. The last technique could be leaving the shop as slowly as you can. In most cases, the shop keeper would call you for his/her last offer. Overalls, Shopping should be a pleasant activity for both sides and not considered as a fight club.

The list will be continually updated!