Below is the itinerary for a 9 day trip to Iraq.
2023 Tour Dates:
April 22nd – 30th – FULLY BOOKED!
PRICE: €2350
Trip itinerary:
Day 1
Transfer from the airport to the hotel, welcoming from the team and check-in.
A tour of Baghdad landmarks can be arranged if arriving time before sunset. This will include statues from the Arabian Night & Monuments.
Traditional dinner of your choice.
Overnight: Baghdad / night 1.
Day 2
7 AM Start the day with “Qaimar Arab” breakfast near Tahrir Square – the eastern gate of Baghdad with the monument of freedom.
Visit Old Baghdad – various local markets such as copper market “Al Safafeer”, antique market “Khan Al Mudalal”, Souq Al Sarai, Souq Al Sarajeen, and Books market “Al Mutanabbi street”.
Visit heritage sites such as Madrasa Mustansiriya School, Clock of Qishla, and the Abbasid Palace.
This tour will be followed by a boat tour at the Tigris and a photo next to the Mutanabbi statue and include lunch at one of the famous restaurants along Hayder Khana street, we can also grab a treat from both Al Shahbender cafe and Haj Zbala Juice shop.
3 PM Heading to Salman Pak
Visiting Taq Kasra (the Arch of Ctesiphon) which is considered a landmark in the history of architecture and the largest single-span vault of unreinforced brickwork in the world. Served as a royal capital of the Parthian and Sasanian. Baghdadi grills for dinner or any of your choice.
Overnight: Baghdad / night 2.
Day 3
7 AM After breakfast, we will head to Babylon, named a UNESCO world heritage site in 2019. The drive will take about 1 ½ hour. You will visit the historical city, rebuilt Ishtar Gate, procession street, the foundations of the real Ishtar Gate, Babylonian temples, the lion of Babylon, the maze, southern & northern palaces, the place where Alexander the Great passed away. We then will drive up the hill to see one of the governmental palaces that was built during the 1980s and has a very beautiful view.
After lunch, we will head to Birs Nimrud, visiting The Ziggurat of Borsippa known as the “Tongue Tower”. This was an important ancient city of Sumer and has a religious edifice in honor of the god Nabu.
We will then drive to Karbala and check into the hotel. At night, we will visit the shrines with golden domes of Imams Hussain and Abbas, the sons of Ali Bin Abi Talib and shrine museums.
Overnight: Karbala / night 3.
Day 4
Today, we will head 3 hours south to Nasiriya to visit the grounds of The Great Ziggurat of Ur, a UNESCO world heritage site since 2016 and the former capital of Mesopotamia during the Sumerian time.
The site includes Abraham House, Sholgi Palace, and the oldest arch of its kind at the entrance of Dub-Lal-Makh Temple.
Dinner and prepare for VERY early start tomorrow.
Overnight: Nasiriyah / night 4.
Day 5
4 AM We will drive to Chibayesh and have a marshland experience – one of the highlights of my tours to Iraq!
Start with a local breakfast in the mud house and then it is followed by a sightseeing tour in numerous floating villages – the Gardens of Eden (birds, fishes, buffalos, reed, plants, and meeting the people of Ahwar). It is one of the largest ecosystems in the world and a UNESCO world heritage site since 2016. After the tour will be a meal of a special kind of fish in Iraq which lives only in the marshlands. You will have the tea from the reed house – Al Mudheef.
Stories from local people “Al Maadan” who have adapted to life on the water over the centuries.
Tour in the local market of Chibayesh and then drive back to Baghdad and check-in for one night.
Before sunset, a tour in Modern Baghdad will include Mansour and Karada areas, visiting some spots that locals visit daily and having a last delicious dinner in Baghdad.
Overnight: Baghdad / night 5.
Day 6
7 AM Heading to Samara’a visiting the beautiful Abbasid Caliphate architecture and artistic relics, twisted minarets, and lake palace, the great mosque of Samarra. The shrines of two Imams. This historical city has been on UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 2007.
After lunch heading to Hatra, an important historic religious center with its strategic position along caravan trade routes. Hatra was one of the first Arab states to be established outside of Arabia. (Sometimes closed).
Overnight: Mosul / night 6.
Day 7 Mosul
Start the day with a local breakfast of local Moslawies bakery (Manaqeesh) and start discovering the reconstruction of the old city, especially the Al-Nuri mosque and Al Tahira church, by reviving Mosul initiative’s spirit UNESCO. Also visiting Bash Tapia castle.
Having lunch “Kubba of Mosul” which is the most delicious meal made by locals.
After that, we head to Bakhdida or Qaraqosh to visit Church Square, the place where the Pope prayed for Iraq during his historic visit to Iraq in March 2021.
Free time in Mosul to visit local cafes, meet the people, explore a hospital turned cafe that ISIS used for its battles and much more.
Overnight: Mosul / night 7.
Day 8
Day 8 / Saturday 29 Apr
– Visit the Bahzani village where we can have breakfast at a local family house, followed by a visit to local factories of alcohol, sesame oil and olive oil.
– Head to Bakhdida, a Christian town between Mosul & Erbil, Visiting the Tahira Church that the pope in his historic visit to Iraq had visited.
– Seeing the last remaining medieval Christian painting – 12th -century fresco in the Syriac Orthodox Church Mar Guirguis.
Having lunch in one of the local restaurants.
– Back to Baghdad after lunch.
NOTE: The option to continue touring & visit the Kurdistan region of Iraq can be arranged with a local operator in Erbil. Message Janet if you would like help arranging this. The guide can even meet you in Mosul on the final day to take you to Kurdistan and you can fly out of Erbil at the end instead of Baghdad. This is an OPTIONAL extra and Janet will not be joining this part of the trip.
Overnight: Baghdad / night 8.
Day 9
End of tour, fly home. Departure transfers arranged.
Includes:
- Tour guide, including at least one female member to arrange the access in the holy shrines.
- Entry tickets.
- Transportation.
- Accommodation.
- All meals.
- Logistic support and permission access to all mentioned places.
Does NOT include:
- Flights to Iraq
- Visa
- Tips
- Travel Insurance
General Information:
Visa
Iraq has a new visa on arrival scheme for citizens of the EU, UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Russia, China, Japan & South Korea. If you are not from one of these countries then we will apply for a visa on your behalf. An invitation letter is issued and you can bring this to your local embassy to apply for the visa.
Passport
You will need your passport in all Iraqi checkpoints and hotels. Make sure you have at least six months valid on your passport on your arrival date, an empty page in your passport for the Iraqi visa sticker, otherwise you might have some issues at the border.
Airport
Baghdad International Airport
The Baghdad International Airport is located 16km away from downtown Baghdad. It is the country’s largest air hub, and home base for the national airline (Iraqi Airways). Connections are available to destinations worldwide.
Our transfer has been pre-arranged within the package.
Want to join?
Send an email to janetsgrouptrips@gmail.com letting me know briefly WHY you want to come, and then I’ll let you know if a spot is yours or not. Once I email you back and confirm, you can pay the deposit to secure your spot.
**ONLY 12 SPOTS AVAILABLE**
Terms and Conditions
Your deposit is non refundable.
For the balance of your payment, I can refund you the full amount (minus your deposit) up to 8 weeks before the trip begins should you have an emergency / illness / need to cancel.
Anything closer than 8 weeks, I cannot refund you. I suggest you take out travel insurance that covers trip cancellations, that way should something happen like you get Covid, you will get a full payout from your insurance company.
Feel free to email me should you have any questions about payment methods, payments schedule etc.
Janets Journeys 