Grand tour
Basra to Erbil in Twelve Days
Bottom to top in twelve days, three fewer than our long crossing: the Gulf at Basra, the marshes, Ur and Uruk, the shrine cities, Babylon, Baghdad, Samarra, Mosul and Hatra, then over the mountains to Halabja and out at Erbil.
12 DAYS · ACTIVE PACE · 6–12 TRAVELERS · FROM $2,350
This is the whole traverse for travelers who have twelve days rather than fifteen, and it pays for the three saved days in earlier starts and longer hours in the vehicle. You land at Basra, where the rivers finish, and work north against the current the entire way: reed houses at Chibayish, the ziggurat at Ur, Uruk where writing began, the shrines at Najaf and Karbala, Babylon, two days of Baghdad, the spiral at Samarra, Mosul rebuilding around its own rubble, the Parthian columns at Hatra, and the mountains beyond. Some drives run four hours and two of them start before dawn. A couple of days — the Red Security prison, the Halabja memorial — are heavy in a way that has nothing to do with your legs. It suits someone who would rather see the country whole than see any one part of it slowly. Nobody has finished it and wished they had stayed home.
- Best season
- October – April
- Route
- Basra · Nasiriyah & the Marshes · Najaf · Karbala · Babylon · Baghdad · Samarra · Mosul · Sulaymaniyah · Erbil
DAY BY DAY
Day
01
Basra: museum, balconies, the river
Land at Basra and start at the museum, four galleries in one of Saddam's old riverside palaces. Walk the shanasheel quarter afterwards, where carved Ottoman balconies lean out over the creek in every stage of collapse, then take a boat onto the Shatt al-Arab as the light drops.
Day
02
Qurna, and into the marshes
First to Qurna, where the Tigris and Euphrates join under a leaning tree the locals will tell you is Adam's. Then south into the Chibayish marshes by canoe: a mudhif built from reed bundles without a single nail, lunch with the family who keeps it, and the water buffalo standing chest-deep at dusk.
Day
03
Ur, Uruk, and no one else
The ziggurat at Ur is restored enough to climb, with the excavated foundations of Abraham's supposed house beside it and a US airbase on the far side of the fence. Then Uruk, where the first written words were pressed into wet clay five thousand years ago. Most days you have the whole site to yourselves.
Day
04
Najaf: the gold and the graves
The Imam Ali shrine is the brightest thing for a hundred kilometres after dark, and you can walk in whatever your faith — cameras stay in the vehicle, phones are fine, and women cover their hair. Wadi al-Salam next, five million graves running past the horizon, then the silver stalls in the old market. No alcohol is sold this far south.
Day
05
Karbala, kept short on purpose
Across the square stand the two shrines, Imam Hussein's and Al-Abbas's, a few hundred metres apart — a gap that fills with millions at Arbaeen and holds a few hundred today. Walk it, the way the pilgrims do. Same rule as Najaf on cameras and hair. We keep the day short; by now the group needs it.
Day
06
Babylon, and the basalt lion
Through the reconstructed Ishtar Gate and down the processional way, past courses of brick still stamped with Nebuchadnezzar's name where he had it pressed in. The basalt Lion of Babylon stands in the open with nothing between you and it. Climb the mound to Saddam's palace above the ruins; the view explains the plan better than any sign.
Day
07
A day inside the National Museum
Into Baghdad, and most of the day is one building. The National Museum holds the Warka Vase, the Nimrud ivories and gallery after gallery of Sumer and Assyria, often half empty. It shuts on Saturdays, and several sites close Fridays too, so the week is built around the closures. Everything you saw downriver is explained in these rooms.
Day
08
Old Baghdad, from palace to shrine
Start at the Abbasid Palace, then the Mustansiriyah, one of the oldest surviving universities anywhere. Al-Mutanabbi Street for the book stalls and tea at the Shabandar among photographs of the men who used to sit there. Out to Taq Kasra, the widest brick vault ever raised, and Kadhimiya's twin gold domes as the courtyard fills at dusk.
Day
09
The spiral minaret at Samarra
North to Samarra, briefly the largest city in the world and still the largest archaeological site in the country. Climb the Malwiya's spiral ramp with the plain flattening out beneath you, walk the Great Mosque's outer wall further than you expect, and drive out to the Abu Dulaf minaret. There is no shade anywhere here; bring a hat.
Day
10
Mosul on foot, and Hatra
Walk the old city of Mosul, where the rebuilt Al-Nouri mosque stands again beside churches and rubble no one has cleared. Our guide here grew up two streets away and does not soften it. Out across the desert to Hatra, whose Parthian columns survived both empire and the men who tried to blow them up. A long day.
Day
11
Over the mountains to Halabja
Climb over the mountains into Kurdistan, along the shore of Dukan Lake, into Sulaymaniyah. The Amna Suraka — the Red Security prison — has been left exactly as it was found, and then the archaeological museum, the second best in the country. Halabja and its memorial take the afternoon. It is a heavy day and we leave the evening empty.
Day
12
The Hamilton Road into Erbil
West on the Hamilton Road, cut through the Rawanduz gorge in the 1930s, past Bekhal waterfall and up Korek by cable car. Down into Erbil for the citadel, lived on without a break for six thousand years, and the Qaysari bazaar beneath it for the last of the tea. The flight home leaves from here.
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.