Things to Do in Iran: City Guides & Audio Tours

Iran is a country shaped by one of the world’s oldest continuous major civilizations, with ancient ruins, Islamic architecture, Persian literature, traditional crafts and landscapes ranging from the Caspian coast to the Persian Gulf. The best way to experience it is through its cities, where layers of Iranian history and culture remain visible in palaces, mosques, bazaars, museums and historic neighbourhoods. Neywo has free audio guides for 5 cities in Iran, covering 401 narrated places in total through 16 walking tours.

What to see and do in Iran

Iran is vast and varied, so a journey usually becomes more meaningful when it is built around a few historic cities. These are the five Iranian destinations currently covered by Neywo.

Tehran: museums, palaces and the capital’s modern life

Tehran is Iran’s capital, largest city and primary economic centre. Its 235 narrated places make it the most extensively covered Iranian city on Neywo.

The city’s historic and cultural highlights include Golestan Palace, Tehran Grand Bazaar and the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. Saint Sarkis Cathedral adds another dimension to the capital’s architectural and religious heritage. Together, these places show the contrasts of modern Tehran: royal history, commercial life, contemporary culture and the presence of different communities.

Tehran is also a useful starting point for understanding present-day Iran. The country’s political institutions, economic pressures and cultural life are concentrated here, while its museums and public spaces connect the modern capital with a much longer national story. Explore the city with the Tehran audio guide.

Isfahan: monumental architecture and Persian artistic traditions

Isfahan is one of the essential stops on an Iran itinerary, with 90 narrated places available through Neywo. Its landmarks reflect the importance of architecture, craftsmanship and religious life in Iranian culture.

Jameh Mosque of Isfahan is among the city’s principal historic sites. Ali Qapu is another major landmark, and Chaharbagh Palace adds to the city’s architectural heritage. The repeated presence of palaces, mosques and historic urban spaces makes Isfahan a particularly rich place for seeing how Iranian architecture developed across different periods.

Iranian architecture extends back at least 5,000 years, and Isfahan offers a concentrated introduction to that tradition. Its buildings can also be read alongside Iran’s wider artistic heritage, including carpet weaving, calligraphy and decorative design. Find the city’s narrated places with the Isfahan audio guide.

Kashan: ancient settlement and historic monuments

Kashan has 18 narrated places on Neywo and brings together some of the oldest and most distinctive layers of Iranian history.

Tepe Sialk is an important archaeological site connected with the early development of settlement in the region. Jalali Castle and the Qazi Asad Mausoleum represent other parts of Kashan’s historic landscape, while Agha Bozorg Mosque reflects the city’s Islamic architectural heritage.

Kashan is a useful destination for seeing how Iran’s story reaches from ancient communities to later religious and civic buildings. The city also fits into the broader cultural history of Persian architecture, in which design, ornament and construction have remained central forms of expression. Continue exploring with the Kashan audio guide.

Kerman: caravan routes, historic buildings and recent memory

Kerman contains 18 narrated places, including landmarks connected with trade, local history and the city’s built heritage.

Vakil Caravanserai and Ganjali Khan Caravanserai recall the importance of travel and commerce across Iran. Caravanserais were part of the infrastructure that supported movement through the country, linking cities and routes across its varied terrain. Gonbad-e Jabaliyeh adds a separate architectural point of interest.

Neywo’s Kerman selection also includes the 2024 Kerman bombings. Its presence among the city’s narrated places points to the way a travel experience can include not only monuments and historic architecture, but also more recent events that have affected local memory. Discover the city through the Kerman audio guide.

Yazd: water, forts and desert-city heritage

Yazd has 40 narrated places and offers another perspective on Iran’s history and environment. Much of the country is arid or semi-arid, and water has long been a defining concern in Iranian life.

The Yazd Water Museum provides a direct way to explore that relationship. Abarndabad Castle and the Fort Mosque show other aspects of the city’s defensive and religious heritage, while Moshir Caravanserai recalls the movement of travellers and goods through Iran.

Yazd’s landmarks are especially useful for understanding how architecture and infrastructure respond to difficult environmental conditions. Across Iran, water scarcity remains one of the country’s most severe human security challenges today, making the history of water management more than a distant subject. Walk through the city with the Yazd audio guide.

A country shaped by continuity and change

Iran’s history is not a single uninterrupted reign. The Medes first unified the land in the 7th century BC, before Cyrus the Great founded the Achaemenid Empire. Alexander the Great conquered that empire, but Iranian power later returned through the Parthian and Sasanian empires. Under the Sasanians, Iranian civilization experienced a golden age.

After the Muslim conquest, Iran gradually became Islamized, while the Persian language and Iranian learning continued to flourish. Literature, philosophy, mathematics, medicine, astronomy and art were renewed under Iranian Muslim dynasties. Mongol conquests and Timurid rule brought further upheaval, and the Safavid dynasty reunified Iran in the 16th century and made Twelver Shia Islam the official religion.

This long process of conquest, recovery and reinvention helps explain the variety of places found across the country. Ancient Iranian traditions remain visible alongside Islamic monuments, later dynastic architecture and contemporary cultural institutions.

Persian culture in architecture, literature and craft

Iranian culture is expressed through many forms. Persian literature has roots in the Avestan tradition, the sacred Old Iranian language of the Avesta, whose texts contain legendary and religious material associated with Zoroastrianism and ancient Iranian religion.

Carpet weaving is another enduring part of Persian culture, with origins reaching back to the Bronze Age. Music also has ancient roots in Iran, which is described as the birthplace of the earliest complex instruments, dating to the 3rd millennium BC. Even polo, known locally as chogan, has early records attributed to the ancient Medes.

These traditions are not separate from the country’s cities. Architecture, craft, music and literature all contribute to the cultural setting in which Iran’s mosques, palaces, bazaars, museums and historic routes can be understood.

Explore Iran with Neywo’s free audio guides

Download Neywo to explore Iran independently through free audio guides for 5 cities: Tehran, Isfahan, Yazd, Kashan and Kerman. Together, they cover 401 narrated places across 16 walking tours.

The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. Narration is available in 11 languages, so you can explore Iran’s historic streets, monuments and museums while keeping your attention on the city around you.