General Information About Tehran
Tehran, the capital of both Tehran province and Iran for more than two hundred years, is the political and economic heart of Iran, and it has played a great role in the contemporary history of Iran. In Tehran, every race with any social status and religion lives peacefully with others. Tehran is the city of crowded streets, polluted air, density, working opportunities, diversity, tall buildings, crazy traffic, long highways, and cars. It might seem somehow pointless to visit Tehran, but Tehran has its own beauty. Each tourist has spent at least two days visiting this strange large city. In the following, we explain why this city is unbelievably worth visiting. Several notes about Tehran:
- Tehran is the largest and most populated city in the Middle East.
- Milad tower (17th tallest freestanding structure in the world) is located in Tehran.
- Tehran remained the capital city in three different regimes (Qajar dynasty, Pahlavi dynasty, and the Islamic Republic of Iran).
- You can find several architecture masterpieces from different eras in this city.
The history of Tehran: The major history of Tehran begins with Qajar dynasty (two hundred years ago). Because of several crucial reasons (its rivers, mild climate, vast and fertile plains, etc.), Aqa Mohamd Khan Qajar chose Tehran as the capital of Iran after defeating the former rule, the Zand dynasty. Climate and geographical location: One of the strange things about Tehran is its climate. In two different parts of Tehran, you can experience more than 5 or 6 centigrade of difference in temperature. As a case in point, when in the northern part of Tehran it rains, the southern part of it can be sunny. Tehran is located in the north of Iran on the hillside of Tochal Mountain, and it stands 1190 meters above sea level. Some of the tourist attractions in Tehran:
- Milad tower:
With 437 meters of height, it is the 17th tallest freestanding structure in the world. It is a multipurpose building; it has several restaurants, shops, a museum, etc. In sunny days, you can see Mount Damavand from Milad tower’s balcony.
- Grand bazaar
- Golestan palace
- Niyavaran palace
- Sa’ad abad complex
- Tabi’at bridge
- National museum
- Jewelry museum
Some tourist attractions in Tehran province:
- Ab-Ali ski resort
- Tochal ski resort
- Toqrol tower
- Ferdows garden
Transportation to Tehran: Air: Tehran has two airports (Imam-Khomeini and Mehr-Abad). Mehr-Abad airport offers several regular domestic flights to every province and many large cities. Imam-Khomeini airport is only used for international flights, mostly to Istanbul and Dubai. Road: Tehran is connected to highway network of Iran via several highways, and tourists can access Tehran easily by intercity terminals. Rail: tourists can access almost all large cities of Iran by train. Tehran is also connected to East-West railroad network. Bus: city bus services cover almost all parts of Tehran, and you can find bus station in every single street, in other words, you can easily reach all corners of Tehran by bus. Note: using bus services need transportation card (Tourists can buy transportation cards in booths in the terminals). Taxi: there are several kinds of taxis giving service in Tehran, like ‘telephone taxi’ agencies, private taxis, shared taxis, pre-booked taxis, maxim, snap, etc. Note: taxis in Tehran must be paid with Iranian cash and are quite expensive compared to other cities. Note: tourists can book spot, snap, 30pod, maxim services online (like Uber system). Metro: thanks to the former mayor of Tehran, almost all corners of Tehran are connected to metro system. Metro is the fastest way of transport in Tehran, and its fare is also cheap. Because of its accessibility, affordability, and rapidity, Tehran Metro is always crowded.