Grand tour
Basra to Erbil in Nine Days
The whole length of the country in one line, south to north: the date palms and tidal rivers of Basra, the marsh reed-houses near Chibayish, Ur and Babylon, Baghdad, then Hatra and Mosul's rubble before the Kurdish citadel at Erbil.
9 DAYS · STEADY PACE · 6–14 TRAVELERS · FROM $1,790
Nine days from the Gulf marshes to the Kurdish mountains is a lot of country to cross, and this route does not pretend otherwise. Some days end with three or four hours on the road — Babylon to Baghdad, Samarra up to Mosul — often on straight highway with little to look at between the towns. What you get in return is the argument laid out in order: where writing began at Uruk and Ur, the Ishtar Gate's blue-glazed lions, the shrines of Najaf and Karbala that anchor the south, and then the leaning minaret of Al-Nouri standing over blocks that are still cleared by hand. It suits travellers who would rather understand how the pieces connect than tick sites in isolation, who don't mind an early start, and who can hold both a working shrine and a bombed street in the same afternoon. Bring patience for checkpoints and comfortable shoes.
DAY BY DAY
Day
01
Shatt al-Arab and the shanasheel
Basra Museum sits in one of Saddam's former palaces on the waterway, its galleries arranged by period. Afterwards, walk the shanasheel quarter, where carved wooden balconies lean out over narrow lanes, and the old covered markets. Late in the day, a boat takes you onto the Shatt al-Arab, where the Tigris and Euphrates run out together to the Gulf.
Day
02
Into the Chibayish marshes
At Qurna the two rivers meet under a tree local tradition calls Adam's. From there the road runs into the Chibayish marshes, where you board a narrow canoe and push through reed channels to a mudhif — a guest hall built entirely from bent reed, no nails, no wood. A Ma'dan family hosts lunch. The drive back to Nasiriyah is long.
Day
03
Ur, Uruk, and Najaf
Morning at Ur, where the restored ziggurat still shows the bitumen and reed matting between its brick courses, then Uruk, where the first written signs were pressed into clay. By evening you reach Najaf. Cameras are not allowed inside the Imam Ali shrine, though phones are, and women cover their hair to enter. The bazaar around it stays open late.
Day
04
Wadi al-Salam and the shrines
Wadi al-Salam in Najaf spreads for miles — the largest cemetery on earth, where burials have continued without a break for over a thousand years. You stop at the Kufa mosque before driving to Karbala, where the shrines of Hussein and his half-brother Abbas face each other across an open plaza. Alcohol is not sold anywhere south of Baghdad.
Day
05
The processional way at Babylon
The reconstructed Ishtar Gate stands at the entrance, its blue tiles set with bulls and dragons in relief; from it the processional way runs into the site. Nearby sits the worn basalt Lion of Babylon. A short drive reaches Kish. Above everything looms the palace Saddam built on the old ruins, its bulk hard to miss from the excavations below.
Day
06
Baghdad: museum, books, and brick
The National Museum holds the recovered Warka Vase and Nimrud ivories; it closes on Saturdays, so the day is planned around that. Al-Mutanabbi Street is the booksellers' quarter, busiest on Fridays. You also see the brick Abbasid Palace, the vast single-span arch of Taq Kasra at Ctesiphon just south of the city, and the Kadhimiya shrine with its golden domes.
Day
07
The Malwiya spiral, then north
Samarra's Malwiya is a spiralling brick minaret you can climb by its external ramp, once attached to a Great Mosque so large its outer walls still mark the footprint. There is no shade here at all, so this is a morning stop with water and a hat. From Samarra the road turns north toward Mosul — several hours of driving.
Day
08
Hatra, Al-Nouri, and the old city
Hatra's Parthian temple stands out in the desert, its columns and carved faces intact after two thousand years and a recent attempt to dynamite them. In Mosul's old city, the Al-Nouri mosque and its leaning minaret have been rebuilt, but the streets around them are still full of collapsed houses that have not been cleared. This is a hard day.
Day
09
Erbil's citadel and departure
The last day is in Kurdistan, cooler and greener. The Choli Minaret is what remains of a medieval mosque; the citadel mound above Shar Park has been lived on continuously for thousands of years and looks down over the fountains below. In the Qaysari bazaar you can buy last things — tea, nuts, a scarf — before the drive to Erbil airport.
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.