IRAN
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I visited Iran October 2024 (entered through Armenia and left it some weeks later at the Turkish border) on a motorcycle with my wife as a duo passenger. All went very well, no problems at all, hotels were fine, food was good, petrol very cheap and the people are extremely nice. Forget all the stories about politics and ayatollahs, it's no problem travelling there and the people are really very friendly. Don't pay too much attention to the people that never visited it and are citing newspapers. You do need a Carnet de Passage for your vehicle (in my case a motorbike). For navigation I used my Garmin and Open Street Maps installed on my Garmin Zumo XT.
@Rob-Veerman Ok thank you. I am looking forward to see Iran I have heart/seen so many good travels story's from Irak and Iran. I am planning to go from Turkey to Kurdistan Irak and in the federal Irak to the south. Then in Iran back to the north into Armenia and then Georgia.
Rob how did you get there? Did you drive all the way from your home? Maybe I take the car night train to Edirne in Turkey.
Are there any "must see" places?for the people who have second thoughts:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPL5BLEetsUERzVAC_2UkPMu21TuvuQDA
https://www.youtube.com/@krikkosadventure/search?query=iran
https://www.youtube.com/@ItchyBoots/search?query=iran
https://www.youtube.com/@MarcTravels/search?query=iranThis is what really is happening in Iran. And yes I think when your from the UK or USA you probably run into more risk.
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@Rob-Veerman Ok thank you. I am looking forward to see Iran I have heart/seen so many good travels story's from Irak and Iran. I am planning to go from Turkey to Kurdistan Irak and in the federal Irak to the south. Then in Iran back to the north into Armenia and then Georgia.
Rob how did you get there? Did you drive all the way from your home? Maybe I take the car night train to Edirne in Turkey.
Are there any "must see" places?for the people who have second thoughts:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPL5BLEetsUERzVAC_2UkPMu21TuvuQDA
https://www.youtube.com/@krikkosadventure/search?query=iran
https://www.youtube.com/@ItchyBoots/search?query=iran
https://www.youtube.com/@MarcTravels/search?query=iranThis is what really is happening in Iran. And yes I think when your from the UK or USA you probably run into more risk.
@C-A-Kielen From The Netherlands through Turkey into Georgia, then Armenia, from there into Iran, doing some trips in Iran, back to Turkey (most eastern border) all the way through Turkey again along the south coast and the west coast of Turkey, through the north of Greece (took the ferry at Igoumenitsa to Brindisi (Italy), then through the mountains of Italy up north, into France and the fast way back by the highway back home to the Netherlands. In total it was around 18.200 kilometers.
Itchy Boots (Noraly) stated that from the Kurdish part of Irak you better first cross into Iran and go from Iran a bit more south into the Federal Irak. She did that very recently, which you will probably have seen on her YouTube channel. -
@Rob-Veerman Citing newspapers! The worrying story of Craig and Lindsay Foreman has been covered by all news channels.
Here's an extract from the British Government website:
*Risk of arrest, detention and a death sentence
There is a very high risk of arrest, questioning and detention for British nationals and British-Iranian dual nationals. If the Iranian authorities accuse you of security related offences as a British national in Iran, there is a risk that you will be sentenced to death.Holding a British passport or having perceived connections to the UK can be reason enough for the Iranian authorities to detain you. If you are detained in Iran, you could face months or years of imprisonment.*
So, no thanks, in my eyes it just ain't worth the risk.
@Nick-Carthew Don't take it personal, my remark was not meant at your posting, but more in general terms. The moment you step on your motorcycle you are already taking a risk (and then I am not even talking about going abroad where people are riding on what is called 'the wrong side of the road'). When we rode from Alaska to Ushuaia and had to cross Mexico we were warned by many Americans not to go there. The many Mexicans we met were very friendly and helped us out. If you avoid some places and political activities things will (hopefully) go fine.
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@Nick-Carthew Don't take it personal, my remark was not meant at your posting, but more in general terms. The moment you step on your motorcycle you are already taking a risk (and then I am not even talking about going abroad where people are riding on what is called 'the wrong side of the road'). When we rode from Alaska to Ushuaia and had to cross Mexico we were warned by many Americans not to go there. The many Mexicans we met were very friendly and helped us out. If you avoid some places and political activities things will (hopefully) go fine.
@Rob-Veerman said in IRAN:
When we rode from Alaska to Ushuaia and had to cross Mexico we were warned by many Americans not to go there. The many Mexicans we met were very friendly and helped us out. If you avoid some places and political activities things will (hopefully) go fine.
The risk for UK (and US) citizens is considerably greater than for other countries, and it's not just casual hearsay, it's real.
An innocent tourist can be a very useful pawn in a government-level political game, and unfortunately it's very cheap and easy to charge and incarcerate them.
Any US-Mexican diplomatic discord is nowhere near at the same level as UK and Iran. The problem in Mexico, as far as I understand it, is individual rogues / no-go areas, not the government.
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@Rob-Veerman said in IRAN:
When we rode from Alaska to Ushuaia and had to cross Mexico we were warned by many Americans not to go there. The many Mexicans we met were very friendly and helped us out. If you avoid some places and political activities things will (hopefully) go fine.
The risk for UK (and US) citizens is considerably greater than for other countries, and it's not just casual hearsay, it's real.
An innocent tourist can be a very useful pawn in a government-level political game, and unfortunately it's very cheap and easy to charge and incarcerate them.
Any US-Mexican diplomatic discord is nowhere near at the same level as UK and Iran. The problem in Mexico, as far as I understand it, is individual rogues / no-go areas, not the government.
@Rob-Veerman That is a lot of kilometers. Turkey itself is already a lot of km from west to east and back. I think I will make almost the same tour but in the opposite way. I hope to find a truck to transport the bike, otherwise it will be the car night trains, but that is very expensive.
Yes I have seen the episodes of Noraly crossing those borders. Krikkos (mentioned above) had the same problem. I also had planned the same route.
But in the "FB Overland Middle East group" there are several people reporting that recently it is possible that you can enter federal Irak with your Kurdistan Irak E visum direct from Kurdistan. They past the border between Kurdistan and federal Irak somewhere on the road between Duhok and Mosul. It was not more then a common security check. I will try that route first.@Nick-Carthew I think with regards to your government American and British people are not so welcome in Iran. You also have special visa requirements for the two country's. So yes It is possible that the risk for you could be higher.
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I visited Iran October 2024 (entered through Armenia and left it some weeks later at the Turkish border) on a motorcycle with my wife as a duo passenger. All went very well, no problems at all, hotels were fine, food was good, petrol very cheap and the people are extremely nice. Forget all the stories about politics and ayatollahs, it's no problem travelling there and the people are really very friendly. Don't pay too much attention to the people that never visited it and are citing newspapers. You do need a Carnet de Passage for your vehicle (in my case a motorbike). For navigation I used my Garmin and Open Street Maps installed on my Garmin Zumo XT.
@Rob-Veerman fully agree aout the iranian people
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So i did go to iran, and loved it - see my trip here https://www.polarsteps.com/RobertLaudensack/13540507-iran-2024
to navigate I used mostly google Maps and as backup mapy.cz for offline situations where I lost the internet and had to restart navigation like in the lut desert. myrouteapp is good until the turkish Iranian border, but the completely useless due to the lack of maps.
I only use mobile phone to navigate. my main device is an Oukitel WP22 with an huge accu an its very robust, as backup I had my Samsung Galaxy S20 in a love mei ruggedized case -
So i did go to iran, and loved it - see my trip here https://www.polarsteps.com/RobertLaudensack/13540507-iran-2024
to navigate I used mostly google Maps and as backup mapy.cz for offline situations where I lost the internet and had to restart navigation like in the lut desert. myrouteapp is good until the turkish Iranian border, but the completely useless due to the lack of maps.
I only use mobile phone to navigate. my main device is an Oukitel WP22 with an huge accu an its very robust, as backup I had my Samsung Galaxy S20 in a love mei ruggedized case@Robert-Laudensack I wouldn't recomend it https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/feb/18/britons-craig-and-lindsay-foreman-detained-in-iran-charged-with-espionage
GSA1250
HD Sport Glide
XT500 x 2 -
@Rob-Kelley I would, having the Dutch nationality.
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I was typing an opinion on countries like Iran, but I removed it in order to keep tis forum cosy...
I am just an enthusiastic MRA user, and hope you will be one too!
Most motorcycle problems are caused by the nut that connects the handlebar to the saddle.
Streetpilot 2610/Zumo 660/Zumo 395/ CAT S52 + MRA app -
I was typing an opinion on countries like Iran, but I removed it in order to keep tis forum cosy...
@Con-Hennekens said in IRAN:
I was typing an opinion on countries like Iran, but I removed it in order to keep tis forum cosy...
I think we’re adult enough not to create a war within our forum.
There is a big elephant in the room that hasn’t been mentioned. I truly believe that the ‘normal’ people of Iran (and other Islamic countries under sharia law) are very nice, hospitable and incredibly welcoming, but and it is a very big but for me. When the regime that is running the country treat their women as second class citizens, I’m afraid I have no interest in visiting that country.
My brother lives in Turkey, now Turkey is a much more tolerant country that isn’t governed under sharia law, but still, the menfolk look down on their women.
Women in Turkey obtained full political participation rights, including the right to vote and the right to run for office. But despite this ruling, Turkish women only have rights as much as their husbands or families bestow upon them. Although some of them are treated well, a good percentage suffer in silence from domestic abuse, violence, forced marriages etc.
I travel everywhere with my wife, we haven’t visited my brother and I’m sad to say that we’re never likely to.
Just to balance things out, I have another brother that lives in Israel and we’ll never visit that country either, but that’s for a whole different reason
Always willing to help if I can.
Triumph Tiger 1200 XRT called Tina.
MRA Navigation Next and SilverFox B8J bar buttons.
Quadlock wireless mount for IPhone 11.
Cardo Scala Packtalk Bold.
TomTom Rider 500. (In the cupboard now) -
@Rob-Kelley i refer to personal experiance not whats written somewhere
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@Con-Hennekens said in IRAN:
I was typing an opinion on countries like Iran, but I removed it in order to keep tis forum cosy...
I think we’re adult enough not to create a war within our forum.
There is a big elephant in the room that hasn’t been mentioned. I truly believe that the ‘normal’ people of Iran (and other Islamic countries under sharia law) are very nice, hospitable and incredibly welcoming, but and it is a very big but for me. When the regime that is running the country treat their women as second class citizens, I’m afraid I have no interest in visiting that country.
My brother lives in Turkey, now Turkey is a much more tolerant country that isn’t governed under sharia law, but still, the menfolk look down on their women.
Women in Turkey obtained full political participation rights, including the right to vote and the right to run for office. But despite this ruling, Turkish women only have rights as much as their husbands or families bestow upon them. Although some of them are treated well, a good percentage suffer in silence from domestic abuse, violence, forced marriages etc.
I travel everywhere with my wife, we haven’t visited my brother and I’m sad to say that we’re never likely to.
Just to balance things out, I have another brother that lives in Israel and we’ll never visit that country either, but that’s for a whole different reason
@Nick-Carthew said in IRAN:
I think we’re adult enough not to create a war within our forum.
Yes certainly, and I agree with the rest of your reply.
My less-cosy statements I did NOT make were specifically NOT targeted at the ordinary people in the streets -
I noted that for Iran there are only highways for planning and there is no Offline map for Iran?
I plan to go there in 3 weeks what can I do?@Robert-Laudensack try Osmand ! Offline maps for Asia, it's got everything you need. Plan the route in MRA using OSM map and import the GPX 1.2 file in Odmand, including POIs !
Best regards,
AdrianSamsung S24 Ultra and iPhone 13 with Android Auto / CarPlay
MyRoute-APP (Planner+Navigation, GOLD Lifetime)
Honda NC750X (2021) with CHIGEE Aio-5 Play -
@Robert-Laudensack try Osmand ! Offline maps for Asia, it's got everything you need. Plan the route in MRA using OSM map and import the GPX 1.2 file in Odmand, including POIs !
Hey in the round,
For off-road GURU MAPS goes very well.
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@Robert-Laudensack try Osmand ! Offline maps for Asia, it's got everything you need. Plan the route in MRA using OSM map and import the GPX 1.2 file in Odmand, including POIs !
@Adrian-Avram Thanks I'll have a look into OsmAnd. My problem was more on the navigation side: I like Myroute and I am used to it. Each new different App needs some getting used to. So, the problem was that I could not download offline maps for Iran in the 1st place. My overall planning I did with myroutapp, but there were problems due to issues with the maps. In the end, Goggle was good for 95% of the navigation and then mapy.cz for the Offline lifesaving situations
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i am plannig IRan too. I use a tomtom 550 ....
do i have any choice or tips to install a map for Iran? Or do i have to change my device!! i don't like to use smartphone as gpsplease help me
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i am plannig IRan too. I use a tomtom 550 ....
do i have any choice or tips to install a map for Iran? Or do i have to change my device!! i don't like to use smartphone as gpsplease help me
This post is deleted! -
i am plannig IRan too. I use a tomtom 550 ....
do i have any choice or tips to install a map for Iran? Or do i have to change my device!! i don't like to use smartphone as gpsplease help me
@DANIELZ77 You can install OSM maps on a Garmin device (I did so when I went to Iran), but you can't do that on a TomTom Rider. You will have to take a look on the website of TomTom if TomTom has any maps of Iran available. I am afraid that do not have them, but I am not sure. Have a look there.
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@DANIELZ77 You can install OSM maps on a Garmin device (I did so when I went to Iran), but you can't do that on a TomTom Rider. You will have to take a look on the website of TomTom if TomTom has any maps of Iran available. I am afraid that do not have them, but I am not sure. Have a look there.
@Rob-Veerman negative!!!!! i am really angry for that ..... now i must consider to change device!!!!! or if anyone has a trick ....
