Heritage & cities
Baghdad in Three Days
Three unhurried days in one city: the museum, the booksellers' street, the Abbasid rooms, the ziggurat at the edge of town, and an afternoon of tea where the poets used to sit.
3 DAYS · GENTLE PACE · 4–12 TRAVELERS · FROM $690
Most travelers give Baghdad a single day on the way to somewhere else, and leave with almost nothing. Three days is enough to stop rushing. You will spend a long morning in the National Museum, where the Warka Vase and the Nimrud ivories sit in rooms that are usually half empty, and an afternoon on Mutanabbi Street among the book stalls, ending with tea at the Shabandar. You will stand under the arch at Ctesiphon, the widest unreinforced brick vault anyone has ever built, and walk out to the ziggurat at Aqar Quf where the mud brick still shows the reed matting laid between the courses. Our guides live here. The days are short, the walking is flat, and there is always somewhere to sit down.
- Best season
- October – April
- Route
- Baghdad
DAY BY DAY
Day
01
The museum and the booksellers
Start at the National Museum before the school groups arrive — the Sumerian and Assyrian galleries deserve two unhurried hours. Then Mutanabbi Street, the Abbasid Palace and the Mustansiriyah School, ending with tea at the Shabandar café among the photographs of the people who used to drink there.
Day
02
The arch, the monuments, the shrine
Out to Ctesiphon in the morning to stand under Taq Kasra. Back into the city for the Martyr's Monument and Kahramana Square, then Kadhimiya at the hour the light drops and the courtyard fills. Cameras stay in the bus at the shrine; phones are fine.
Day
03
Aqar Quf, and the road to the airport
A short drive to Dur-Kurigalzu, where a Kassite ziggurat still stands forty metres up with the reed matting visible between the brick courses. Then the Church of Our Lady of Salvation, and to the airport with the afternoon to spare.
THIS ROUTE, PHOTOGRAPHED
What you will be looking at
What's included
- A guide who has led this route before, not a freelancer we found last week
- Driver and private vehicle for the whole route
- Hotels, booked for you on request
- Meals, arranged on request
- Visa support and your letter of invitation
- Entry tickets to every site in the itinerary
What's not
- International flights to and from Iraq
- Personal spending and tips
- Alcohol — it is not sold south of Baghdad, and we will tell you where it is
BEFORE YOU COME
Questions we are asked about this tour
Is Iraq safe to visit?
We have run group trips continuously since 2008, and the answer we give is practical, not promotional: the cities on our routes — Baghdad, the shrine cities, the south, Kurdistan — receive foreign travelers every week. You travel with an Iraqi guide and driver the whole time, we handle every checkpoint, and we adjust routes if conditions change. We will always tell you plainly what is and isn't sensible.
Do I need a visa?
Citizens of more than 30 countries — including the EU, UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea and China — receive a visa on arrival at Baghdad, Basra, Najaf and Erbil airports (around US$77, cash). We confirm the current rules for your passport before you commit to anything.
What should I wear? What about women visiting shrines?
Everyday dress in Iraq is modest but relaxed: shoulders and knees covered is enough almost everywhere. At shrines, women need a headscarf and an abaya — the abaya is lent free at the shrine gate, and our guides walk you through the etiquette so nothing is awkward. Many of our travelers say shrine visits ended up being their favorite moments.
Can I pay by card or withdraw cash?
Treat Iraq as a cash country. US dollars exchange easily everywhere; cards work in a growing number of Baghdad and Erbil hotels and malls but nowhere you should rely on. We tell you exactly how much cash to bring for your trip — most travelers are surprised how affordable the days are.
What are the groups actually like?
Eight to sixteen people, usually five or more nationalities, ages from late twenties to seventies. An Iraqi guide and driver stay with the group throughout; hotels are the best available in each city (solid 3–4 star). The pace is curious rather than rushed — long lunches are part of the itinerary, not a failure of it.
Can I join alone?
Most of our travelers come alone. We match roommates by request or arrange a single room for a supplement, and solo women regularly join our groups — see the questions above about dress and safety, and ask us anything else directly.
What is the food like — and can I drink the water?
You will eat well: masgouf grilled over embers by the Tigris, qeema in the shrine cities, Kurdish breakfasts of honey and clotted cream, dates from Basra groves. Stick to bottled water, which is cheap and everywhere. Vegetarians manage easily; tell us about allergies and we brief every restaurant ahead.
The gate is open.
Tell us which month suits you and we will tell you which group fits.