FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Your parents or friends may call you completely nuts for going to lran, surely you are, but: Iran is definitely a safe place to travel. I’d even claim it’s safer than Europe is. The only thing not so safe on this journey are our western assumptions about Iran.       

“Travel is fatal to prejudice...” - Mark Twain -. 

You surely will end up in a big disillusion about how much the picture of the so-called “axis-of-evil” western media tries to portray lacks any basis whatsoever. But go and discover for yourself this fascinating country of extraordinary hospitable and friendly people, eye-wateringly beautiful mosques and shrines, stunning white beaches, snow capped mountains and mysterious desert villages with their vibrant bazaars and tiny warm tea houses. In no other country our prejudices will be so fundamentally refuted in such a heartwarming and hospital way. No trace of religious fundamentalism, suspicion or secret police but probably the friendliest people you’ll ever meet. I am not saying this isn’t an adventure. It surely is one hell of the very few last ones to undertake and you will feel like columbus on two wheels riding through a fairy tale from 1001 nights.

Flights international and national, mandatory travel insurance, tips and personal expenses. And everything else not listed above.

ThePersianRide is under Swiss management, which is located in Zurich, Switzerland. ThePersianRide tour operation is located in the heart of Persia, Tehran, Iran. 

All of our tours are designed as one-way tours for the simple reason that you get most out of Persia in your precious time. That way we avoid cumbersome, tiring and time wasting stretches and loops on the motorbike just “to get there”. Instead we deliver the bikes for you directly to the sweet spot to “be there” and start your adventure right where the magic happens. This is how we ensure that your awe-inspiring Iran moments begin as soon as you kick in first gear and don’t stop until it’s time to fly back home. If you are short on time and looking for a 1-week ride or want to opt for a round-trip, just get in touch with us and we will see what we can arrange for you. 

We designed our tours in way to be conveniently merged into one ultimate Persia trip without time consuming legs to cover in between. You can just keep your bike and ride along the next tour. Depending on the time of the year, we suggest different combinations that will let you explore almost all the best spots in Iran in the given time. From November to April, we recommend to start with Pistachio Smash and then as the cherry on top add Saffron Kick. On the other hand, from May to October, ideally take the first step with Candy Rock, then followed by Saffron Kick as the icing on the cake. The hardcore adventurists may even add a third leg and ultimately finish the trip on Beluga Delight riding all the way back to Tehran.

Although it is still not accepted for Iranian women to ride motorcycles, it is perfectly fine and allowed for foreign women as tourists. Hence, if you are female and would like to join for a ride, fear not, the Iranian road is yours!

Our guide will welcome you for the briefing session the evening before the tour starts, which is the day when everyone is flying in. The briefing session will give you the opportunity to get to know the guide as well as other adventurous riders while indulging in your first delicious cup of persian tea with saffron coated rock candy and get even more excited about the upcoming journey. Your guide will go through the tour itinerary and answer questions that may arise. He will further provide you a welcome package with some essential items for what's to come. The whole session will last somewhat around 1-2 hours and food/snacks will be served in the meantime to replenish for the adventure ahead.

Helmet: is definitely mandatory. Doesn’t matter if it’s full-face, half-face or motocross. If you think about bringing along a brain bucket or worse, a bicycle helmets better get in touch with us in advance and we’ll try to provide you a proper helmet to protect what you’ve got up there. If you consider carrying your helmet on the flight as hand luggage please keep in mind, that on most flights it is forbidden to do so. Better check back with your airline first.

Gloves: are a must. Bring warmer ones when riding Nov-April and lighter ones for the rest of the year. But most of all, bring along what you feel comfortable with. 

Boots: Ideally you’ll have some that are comfortable for motorcycling and still allow you to walk a few meters as you don’t want to miss out visiting the amazing cultural sites while trapped in stiff motocross boots.

Jacket: The same goes as with gloves, better have a warm one when riding Nov-April and lighter for the rest of the year. 

Trouser: Depending on your needs you don’t have to have motorcycle trousers but whatever you feel comfortable with. Especially during summer times it will be quite hot and in a fancy full leather suite you surely will melt down. 

Baselayers: For rides from Nov-April we definitely recommend warm underwear. As a reference for riding at that time of the year you can bring along what you would take for skiing, minus the poles, skis and boots of course.

Shades and Sunblocker: Essential. Obviously there’s lots of sun in Iran, and it’s strong and it will wipe off your skin. Make sure to protect yourself with high quality shades and sun blocker so you can jaunty enjoy the blue skies.

Luggage: All our tours are guided and we provide a pick up truck to carry various spare parts as well as small luggage. Please try to avoid bulky suitcases, a <100L duffle should do just fine and is also way more convenient to store/handle. Please keep in mind that the Pick Up does not directly follow the pack, so better have items which you need for riding with you. You can either carry a small backpack or tank-bag. Most riders carry on them their camera, some money, sunblocker and a water bottle.

Camera: You’ll regret not bringing one along as on our tours we will hop from one UNESCO world heritage sites to the next, not mentioning the splendid nature between persian gulf to caspian sea, deserts, Gilan rain forest, Zagros mountains. Just keep in mind when bringing along SLRs that you will have to carry the bulky beast with you on the bike during the day and also will not have access to lenses or whatever that is stored in your duffle on the pick up.

Medical Kit: Although your guide will have the most basic meds at hand, those are reserved for emergency only and hopefully never needed. In light of that, you are obliged to bring along your own personal medical kit. 

Two feet: Once in a while we will be exchanging two wheels for our two feet and explore lots of sights and nature. You probably don’t want to walk around the city in a full leather mono and MX boots, so make sure to have something comfortable at back hand in your luggage to pull on in the evenings and explore the surrounding area.    

Sleeping bags are definitely not needed as one the one hand our hand picked accommodations fulfill western standards and on the other hand are heated during winter and provide AC in the summer.

Electronics: Iran has a very reliable electricity with no power failures. Power sockets are of type C (standard “Euro” plug works with plug E and plug F) and F (“Schuko” plug works with plug E and plug C) and deliver standard voltage of 220V at a standard frequency of 50 Hz.

Internet: Most of our accommodations offer wireless Internet and on top at the briefing session we will provide you with a prepaid Iranian SIM card, so you are independent of local internet and don’t have to go searching for bloody unmemorable WIFI passwords at each stay. The iranian mobile internet is reliable and you will have a mobile internet connection most of the time en route, not necessary always at high speed though. Internet in Iran is filtered and access to services such as Twitter and Facebook may be restricted but can easy and conveniently be bypassed using a VPN (virtual private network) app. Most locals are using the encrypted Telegram app so consider downloading that to stay in touch with your new Iranian friends.

Driving Licence: For riding a motorcycle in Iran an international driving permit in combination with a valid motorcycle driving licence is mandatory.  The permit can be organized in your country of residence before departure.

Roads: Many people don’t consider a country like Iran for motorcycling. They are wrong! This is the ultimate motorcycling destination. Against what you would expect, roads in Iran are in mint conditions and even the remotest villages have tarmac connection. Iran is exceptionally clean and they even have workers swiping the highways with a broom. Never seen that before.

Traffic: The majority of our tours are well off the major traffic routes. Nevertheless, in Iran trucks are the major means of transporting goods and they can be quite scary at first but are always extraordinary careful and leave plenty of space when overtaking, yes they are fast. In Tehran, it's quite the opposite and that is actually the most dangerous part of our tours as traffic is insanely packed. You really want to stick directly behind our guide and not get lost in that chaos. Most of all don’t drive beyond your comfort zone and let us know when you don’t feel like tackling Tehran. No one will be impressed when you have an accident on the last meters.

Riding style: We decided against bracketing the group with guides for two simple reasons. First, there is no need to as one the one hand, surprise surprise, Iran is a very safe place and on the other hand without having your hand held by a guide, you will elevate this tour to the adventure of a lifetime. Second, you want to experience Iranian hospitality which will not let you untouched. Therefore you have to expose yourself to the people and we saw this is not possible if you have a guide hovering around you 24/7. So you would be missing out big time on this ride. That being said, depending on the requirements of different parts of the routes, the guide still may take over the lead where necessary. The rest of the time he won’t be tailgating but follow the pack with a cushion of 15 minutes behind so he will be there in no time in case you need him. The rest of the time you’ll be riding as a group along the route and meet with the guide at individually predefined checkpoints, most likely sights, throughout the day, which the guide will let you know in advance in the daily briefing. 

Bikes: Well, this is not MotoGP, but close. Just kidding. In Iran 250cc is the legal upper limit for motorcycles, garnished with a hefty 100% import tax on foreign brands, which makes the choice quite easy why we will go full Iran mode and explore Persia on, of course home crafted quarter liter bikes, that’s ThePersianRide. Taming these machines more than 1000km on various terrains will leave impressions: a probably sore bum, arms and everything. And a smile. The pain will fade away but the memories will last and even your grandkids will be impressed that you conquered persia on an over powered two-wheeled Iranian steed!

Difficulty/Strain: You might ask yourself why we consider riding 200km as strenuous? Back home probably after 200km on your 1200GS or KTM Adventure is where the fun begins. Well, consider that 150km on a quarter liter one cylinder bike will give you a similar sensation to somewhat like 400km on a regular bike. So you get more (pain) for less effort ;-) Hence inevitably in each tour there is at least one day with +200km and the more such days the more strenuous we rate a certain tour. In terms of riding skills at a basic level is all you need as mostly there is tarmac with partially gravel or sand.

Rest days: In light of the above we planned for rest days throughout the tours. Those days will give you desperately needed time off the bike to loosen up from riding and explore the cities of the persian empire such as Shiraz, Esfahan or Yazd, which you simply must not miss out. If you can’t get enough of riding you can still decide to plow the cities on two wheels or explore the surroundings riding together with your guide and take a plunge in a nearby waterfall.   

Petrol: Gas stations are more frequent than needed and found even in the most remote areas and even the desert. Petrol is of course included in the tour package and our guide will always carry a few spare gallons of gas, just in case. And surely we never leave the gas station without the obligatory persian tea. Believe it or not gas stations actually serve some of the best tea as they are the main tea replenish point for truck drivers - so you don’t want to miss out on that.

Accidents: So far we haven’t had any serious accident yet and we are aiming to keep it that way. Nevertheless your guide is trained in first aid and will always carry a first-aid kit with the pick up.

Insurance: A sufficient travel insurance is mandatory, and we would kindly ask you to provide policy details before we start riding. Bike wise insuring up to 250cc will do just fine but be sure to have off-tarmac riding covered as well.

Tours: Iranians landscape, nature and climate covers a very broad range. Hence, we explore the sandy southern parts of Iran from November to April (Pistachio Smash and Saffron Kick Tour) and as soon as the snow is gone we will ride up the mountains from May to October (Beluga Delight, Candy Rock and Saffron Kick Tour).   

Ultimate tours: If you can take the strain and like the pain you can just decide to not hop off the bike and stay for the next tour. If you want to conquer persia from sea to sea, you might want to stay for Saffron Kick after Pistachio Smash. If you want the best of two worlds Zagros mountains and the desert then start with Candy Rock followed by Saffron Kick or Saffron Kick followed by Beluga Delight.  

Your first 48 hours: Everyone will approach and talk to you! This may be confusing at first as coming from our western culture where personal distance is a virtue. Be prepared to experience the exact opposite of that, in a truly enriching way. While in other countries it is not common practice approaching random strangers it indeed is in Iran. They will invite you for tea, stay overs, birthday parties or even weddings. Despite your flight instinct suggest otherwise, say yes and you will experience a completely different Iran. Iranians are keenly interested who you are, where you come from, where you plan to go. The guest is seen as a gift from heaven, treated that way without any intentions of reward. Get used to the idea that strangers will just invite you off your bike for tea to have a chat, not because they want you to sell something or expect anything in return. Random strangers will drive a way that is wrong for them just to make sure that you find the right way. Nowhere else in the world will you ever encounter people being so unconditionally helpful. Let go of the western cold, stiffness and distance and allow random encounters on this trip to maybe grow into friendships of a lifetime.   

Geography: Iran with roughly 4,6 the size of Germany and the 18th largest country in the world is a land of extreme diversity. There is so much to explore and discover that you can spend months traveling around and still haven’t seen everything that makes this country so exceptional. Iran has it all: You can go skiing on Iran's highest mountain Mount Damavand (5610m) and swimming in the persian gulf at the same time of the year. There are two great deserts the Dasht-e Lut and Dasht-e Kavir which are mainly uninhabited and in contrast lots of green as 7% of Iran is covered in lush forests. This diversity allows motorcycling all throughout the year at the optimal times in each region and climate.  In light of that we explore the mystic sandy southern and central parts of Iran from November to April (Pistachio Smash and Saffron Kick Tour) and ride up the thrilling mountains from May to October (Beluga Delight, Candy Rock and Saffron Kick Tour).   

Climate: During wintertime there is heavy snowfall and sub zero temperatures in the northwest while at the same time in the south winters are very mild. Summer in contrast are dry and very hot in the south, exceeding daily average temperatures of 38 Degree Celsius (100 Degree Fahrenheit), while they are dry and hot in the northwest. To benefit most from this extreme climate we arranged our tours accordingly all throughout the year.  

UNESCO World heritage sites: Iran is birthplace to the oldest and richest cultures from all over the world. Mesopotamia, right south of the Zagros mountain range is the birthplace of human civilization. Out of this heritage there are now 22 impressive UNESCO world heritage sites all over Iran of which we will cover most of on our tours such as Persepolis, Pasargadae and Yazd, only to mention a few.

When to go: Two considerations regarding that. First around Nowruz, the Persian new year, we advise against any tour as most of the country and historical sites are congested with people. Second to consider, the temperatures when riding. Winters we will explore the warmer southern and central parts of Iran, still in the mornings and evenings riding can be “fresh” around 10 degree Celsius, with a +20 degree around noon. During summer we try to avoid the very hot south, but temperatures still may go up to 35 degree celsius in the north and west. As the saying goes, there is no bad weather, only bad gear. And by “bad” we mean too hot/cold, as rain is a very, very rare companion in Iran.

Money: This is quite simple: Iran is a cash country and you only have available what you bring with you into the country. Bring EUR or USD and change them at the airport upon arrival. Why? Because there is no such thing as ATMs. Credit Cards don’t work and are not accepted. E Banking? Forget it! But depending on how many souvenirs and persian carpets you want to take home you will actually need very little money on the trip. The rest we got all covered. Nevertheless, it can get confusing as the official currency is Rial, but to get rid of a few zeros most prices are in Toman, which differs by a factor of 10. So 10 Rials = 1 Toman. There are still plenty of zeros left to mix up but Iranian vendors are so perplexingly honest and will immediately let you know when you when you try to pay them too much.  

Languages: The official language in Iran is Farsi (Persian). Besides that dispersed all throughout the country also spoken are: Arabic, Turkish, Armenian, Kurdish and Baluchi. English is spoken by most in Tourist areas and around historical sites but rarely in the rural areas. Nevertheless, communicating with hand, feet and a lot of smiles will bring you lasting experiences out of your comfort zone.

Religion: The two largest groups of islam are Sunni and Shi’i of which the later as official religion of Iran is practiced by the majority. Ever since there has been a peaceful co-existence with other religious communities in Iran such as Armenian and Assyrian Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians.

Persian Holiday: Weekends are on Thursday and Friday on which not all services are available and some shops may be closed. Worth mentioning is Nowruz, the persian New Year, which is around the 20th of March. If you want to visit persia at that time we advice to stay well off from the main attractions.

Dress Code: Much more noise and attention is made around this topic which doesn’t reflect the relaxed situation in Iran. As a women you don’t have to worry about entirely covering your scalp in a black Hijab as rules are extremely relaxed, especially for tourists. You will see young women only covering the very top of their hair with most of it sticking out of the very colourful scarves only wearing it more or less on their shoulders.For the rest of the body trousers and shirts and long trousers are perfectly fine. The same goes for men minus the headscarf, but long trousers as well, which you will wear anyway when riding a bike. And no, you don’t have to wear a scarf under the helmet.  For entering some mosques it is obligatory to cover yourself entirely in fabric, the so called Chador. Don’t bother about bringing one as it is always provided for free at the respective sites.

People & Customs: First of all Iranians are not Arabs and do not speak Arabic. The language is Farsi besides other dialects. You will encounter people of curiosity and pride who are highly educated as Iran has the oldest and some of the best universities. Contrary to the picture western media propagates Iran is by far the friendliest country we have ever visited. They don’t hate Americans, basically they don’t hate anybody, love to drink coca cola and watch american movies just as you do. It’s almost impossible to buy only one piece of bread or tea or coffee or whatever as you will in most cases end up receiving it as a gift. If you stop with the motorcycle somewhere you won't have to wait for long till the first truck pulls over to make sure you are okay and not lost. And how could this be done any better than chatting over a cup of tea and delicious pistachios on the side of the highway. 

Drinks: Obviously there is no, at least legal, way to alcohol in Iran. This was our biggest concern when going to Iran for the first time how desperate it would feel not having a beer after one day of strenuous riding. Oh well, never have we been so wrong. Iranian tea is served everywhere, compares to nothing what we are consuming as “tea” and is pure bliss. Be sure to have it the iranian way with plenty of saffron coated rock candy. You will probably be asking yourself not how you miss alcohol, but how you could have been living without black persian tea. Be sure to bring home plenty!

Food: In general Persian cuisine reflects pretty much the spirit and culture one encounters in this very kind and humble but proud Iran. The most famous persian dish is of course Kebab which consists of two skewers of kebabs and comes along with delicious basmati rice, grilles tomatoes onions and butter. That is the perfect symbiosis which will melt in your mouth. 

Drinking water: Tap water is perfectly safe to drink everywhere in Iran although you don’t want to miss out blending your kebab with the so called Doogh which is a drink of white colour made of water and yoghurt. Don’t forget to mix it with mint.

Accomodation: In the larger cities there is a broad range of hotels to choose from up-to high end luxury hotels. In the countryside the options are less plentiful but we still tried to pick the best hotels or cozy guest houses. All our accommodations are hand picked, not by stars but hospitality and great food which is what this adventure is actually all about. Our stays have a very family atmosphere which necessarily limits accommodation size. Hence all accommodations are on a twin-share basis. If space allows upgrade to a single room is possible for additional cost. For further information just get in touch with us and we will try to arrange the rooms accordingly.