Desert & Trekking

Abgin adventure tours of Iran offer intelligent adventure and soft adventure travel through some of the world's most dramatic scenery. You can trek through high mountains and/or take a four-wheel drive expedition through some of the world's most beautiful deserts. Iran is a vast country equal to the size of Western Europe and its environment is one of the most diverse in the world. To the north, between the central deserts and the Caspian Sea, is the Alborz range with peaks as high as Damavand's 5,671 meters. This steeply rising range offers awesome alpine scenery with grand panoramas of snow caps receding as far as the eye can see. To the west is the Zagros Range that runs south-east from Azerbaijan to the Persian Gulf. This is a land of nomads, with rich pasturage in the north and powerful, tortured rock formations in the south. To the south of the Alborz and east of the Zagros are the great central deserts watered by extraordinary underground channel systems - qanats - invented millennia ago. These deserts stretch far into the distance against a back drop of high mountain ranges. They seem an empty vastness but every now and then you come upon a mud brick village fed by the precious water from a qanat or underground spring.

Why is Iran such a dramatic country? The Iranian plateau is a tectonic plate sandwiched between to encroaching plates, those of Arabia and Russia. As they move together, they dive under the Iranian Plateau which has, since time immemorial, been forced up in tortuous folds which create huge, monumental patterns etched into huge cliffs like some vast abstract sculpture - Iran is a photographer's delight.

When you journey across this vast landscape your imagination may wander to earlier travelers - merchants, nomads and invaders - who have crossed the plateau for millennia. Iran's location between Central Asia, Pakistan and the Middle East has made her a vital branch of the Silk Road but also a rich prize for Aryan, Arab, Turkic and Mongol invaders. Different dynasties in the countries past built stunning caravanserai to assist traders and pilgrims to Iran's many shrines. You may stay in one of the most beautiful of Safavid caravanserai on the edge of the central desert.

Abgin tours' expert guides have degrees in subjects as diverse as geology and architecture. They will combine fascinating journeys through visually challenging landscapes with a thorough knowledge of the country's topography, geology, geography, culture, wild life, agriculture and folk arts.

10 Days (Central Desert)

  1. Arrival Tehran
  2. Tehran, Varamin, crossing the Desert, O/N Camp
  3. Drive to Maranjob, visit Salt Lake, drive to Kashan, visit and O/N in Kashan
  4. Drive to Na'in, Anarak and Choupanan village, O/N Camp
  5. Drive to Khur, visit Jandagh-Mesr-Farahzad, O/N Camp
  6. Drive to Chak Chak, Lunch and visits in Yazd, O/N in Zein Al Din Carvanserai
  7. Drive to Kerman, O/N Camp in the Lut Desert
  8. Visit Mahan, Rayen Citadel, O/N Kerman
  9. Fly back to Tehran from Kerman, O/N Tehran
  10. Departure

11 Days (Azarbaijan Trekking Program)

  1. Arrival Tehran
  2. Drive to Masouleh, O/N camp
  3. Drive to Ardabil-Kalkhoran, O/N camp
  4. Ardabil-Meshkinshahr, O/N camp Sabalan
  5. Drive to Ahar-Tabriz, O/N Tabriz
  6. Drive to Jolfa to visit St. Stephanos Church and drive to Maku to visit Saint Thaddeus Church (Qara Kelisa), O/N Camp
  7. Drive to Urumieh via Khoy, O/N Urumieh
  8. Drive to Takab with enroute visit to two Kurdish towns and Karaftu cave, O/N Camp in Takab
  9. Visit Takht e Soleyman-Soltanieh, O/N Roudbar Camp
  10. Drive to Tehran
  11. Departure

18 Days (Lut Desert)

  1. Arrival Tehran
  2. Tehran-Varamin-crossing the desert, O/N Camp
  3. Drive to Maranjab, visit the Salt Lake, drive to Kashan, O/N
  4. Drive to Na'in-Anarak and Choupanan village, O/N Camp
  5. Drive to Khur, visit Jandagh-Mesr-Farahzad, O/N Camp
  6. Drive to Chak Chak, Lunch and visits in Yazd, O/N in Zein Al Din Caravanserai
  7. Drive to Kerman, O/N Camp in the Lut Desert
  8. Visit Mahan-Rayen Citadel, drive back to Kerman for O/N
  9. Drive to Shiraz, O/N Hotel
  10. Excursion to Pasargadae, Naghsh-e Rostam, Persepolis O/N Camp
  11. City tour of Shiraz, O/N Shiraz
  12. Drive to Yasouj, O/N Camp
  13. Yasouj-Broujen, O/N Camp
  14. Drive to Isfahan via Shahr e Kurd, O/N Isfahan
  15. Isfahan
  16. Isfahan
  17. Drive to Tehran via Natanz-Abyaneh, O/N Tehran
  18. Departure

21 Days (Desert-Persian Gulf)

  1. Arrival Tehran
  2. Tehran -Varamin, crossing the Central Desert, O/N Camp
  3. Drive to Maranjab, visit the Salt Lake, drive to Kashan, visit Kashan and O/N
  4. Drive to Na'in-Anarak and Choupanan village, O/N camp
  5. Drive to Khur, visit Jandagh-Mesr-Farahzad, O/N Camp
  6. Drive to Chak Chak, Lunch and visit in Yazd, O/N in Zein Al Din Caravanserai
  7. Drive to Kerman, O/N Camp in the Lut Desert
  8. Visit Mahan-Rayen Citadel, O/N Camp near Rayen
  9. Drive to Minab via Jiroft & Kahnooj, O/N Tourist Inn
  10. Visit Minab, Drive to Bandar Abbas, a short boat trip to Qeshm Island, O/N Hotel
  11. Return to Bandar Abbas and drive to Lar via Bastak, O/N Camp in Lar
  12. Drive to Shiraz via Firouz Abad, O/N Hotel in Shiraz
  13. Visit Persepolis, Half Day city tour of Shiraz, O/N Hotel
  14. Drive to Yasouj, O/N Camp
  15. Drive to Broujen, O/N Camp
  16. Drive to Isfahan via Sharhr e Kurd, O/N Hotel
  17. Isfahan
  18. Isfahan
  19. Drive to Tehran with visit to the village of Abyaneh
  20. Departure