It’s time for a recap regarding common misconceptions about travel to Iran. One top of the “myth list” is the belief among many Americans that American tourists are not allowed to travel to Iran. This is simply untrue, false, nonsense, you name it. The American government places no restrictions whatsoever on American tourists wanting to travel to Iran. In that regard, it is easier than traveling to Cuba, where some restrictions imposed by the American government still apply. All you need to do is get an Iranian visa, which we will help you with (it’s not that hard), buy an airline ticket and depart.
Equally high, if not higher, on the “myth list” is that Iran is a dangerous place for American tourists. This could not be more untrue. Iran is one of the safest countries in the world for Americans to travel to. It is true that in 1979 Iran took hostages at the U.S. Embassy. That was an extremely unfortunate incident that colored American feelings toward Iran since 1979. (By the way, all the Americans were eventually freed). But in more recent times American and European tourists have toured Iran in great safety and there have been no incidents . In addition, Iran has virtually no street crime. You are much safer statistically walking around Iranian cities alone at night than you would be in most American or European cities.
Another misconception is that Iranians do not like Americans. Here the opposite is actually true. When my wife Pat and I were in Iran last year we were more popular among Iranians than anywhere I have ever been in my life, including the U.S. When Iranians we met heard we were American they wanted to talk to us, invite to join their picnics (Iranians are very big on picnics) or invite us to their homes . Iranians make a very clear distinction between Americans and the American Government, who they are unhappy with because of the sanctions. With the prospect of the sanctions being lessened are removed in the near future, relations should be even better. Iran is a great place for people-to-people diplomacy.
Beyond the above-mentioned myths is the idea that Iran is an undeveloped country and not well set up to receive foreign tourists. Again, this is quite untrue. Every city on the major tourist routes boasts 5-star luxury hotels. Our tours make every effort to book you into those top hotels.
Another misconception is that Iran lacks modern infrastructure for Western tourists. Not true. For example, Iranian inter-city highways are almost all 4-lane divided highways and large distances can be covered in a relatively short time. There are also plenty of domestic flights, included on some of our tour itineraries, which make covering some of the large distances easier. Iran is big – around 2 1/2 times the size of Texas.
Also, Wi-Fi and internet are available all over and free of charge in hotels. The only infrastructure criticism I would make is that there are sometimes traffic jams in the large cities due to a lack of traffic lights. It is even hard to cross a street on foot at times. Just be careful.
If you doubt any of this myth debunking then the best thing to do is call us, book a tour and go see Iran for yourself.