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If you can get a visa, it's now quite possible to travel from London to Iran overland, using the new weekly 'Trans-Asia Express'  from Istanbul to Tehran.  First, you need to reach Istanbul.  See the London to Turkey page for train times, fares and how to book.  The journey from London to Turkey takes three nights, and departures from London are daily.  Then you take the 'Trans-Asia Express' from Istanbul top Tabriz and Tehran.  Train times, fares and information for this train are shown below.

On this page:

Istanbul-Ankara-Tabriz-Tehran train times

Istanbul-Ankara-Tabriz-Tehran train fares

What's the train like..?

How to buy tickets

Getting an Iranian visa

What's the trip like..?

Tehran - Damascus train service

There is a safe, modern and comfortable weekly train from Istanbul to Tehran, reintroduced in March 2001, called the Trans-Asia Express.  The train is actually two connecting trains, a Turkish one from Istanbul to Tatvan pier, then a ferry across Lake Van, then an Iranian train from Van pier to Tehran.  Only one baggage van actually goes all the way, being ferried across Lake Van on the ferry.  Both Turkish and Iranian trains have modern air-conditioned 1st class 4-berth couchettes and an elegant modern restaurant car.  The total distance from Istanbul to Tehran is 2,968km excluding the 90km length of Lake Van.

Istanbul ► Tehran:					Tehran ► Istanbul:
Trans-Asia Express, eastbound...					Trans-Asia Express, westbound...
Istanbul (Haydarpaşa)	depart	22:55	Wednesdays		Tehran	depart	19:00	Thursday
Ankara	arrive	06:45	Thursdays		Tabriz	arrive	06:00	Friday
Ankara	depart	07:40	Thursdays		Tabriz	depart	07:10	Friday
Tatvan Pier (train)	arrive	11:44	Fridays		Van Pier (train)	arrive	17:03	Friday
Tatvan Pier (ferry)	depart.	13:00	Fridays		Van Pier (ferry)	depart	20:00	Friday
Van Pier (ferry)	arrive	17:00	Fridays		Tatvan Pier (ferry)	arrive	00:00	Saturday
Van Pier  (train)	depart	18:25	Fridays		Tatvan Pier (train)	depart	02:00	Saturday
Tabriz	arrive	06:50	Saturdays		Ankara	arrive	06:40	Sunday
Tabriz	depart	08:10	Saturdays		Ankara	depart	07:30	Sunday
Tehran	arrive	19:20	Saturdays		Istanbul (Haydarpaşa)	arrive	15:45	Sunday

You can confirm these train times at www.rajatrains.com.  Allow for an arrival an hour or two (or three...) late, so don't plan any tight connections.  Travelling westbound, always allow for a night in Istanbul, don't plan onward travel to Belgrade/Bucharest/Thessaloniki the same day.  If you want to stop off, there are other trains between Istanbul and Ankara, and between Tabriz and Tehran, see the Train travel in Turkey page for Turkish train times & fares, and www.rajatrains.com for Iranian train times & fares.

Left:  The magnificent Haydarpaşa station on the Asian side of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, starting point for trains to Asian Turkey, the Toros Express to Syria and the weekly Trans-Asia Express to Tehran.  It was built in 1908.  Ferries sail across the Bosphorus from the European side (Karaköy terminal on the Galata side of the Galata Bridge) to Haydarpaşa every 10-30 minutes, crossing time 20 minutes.  The fare is 1 YTL. Photo courtesy of Stuart Baker

Fares:
Fare per person, including couchette:
Istanbul ► Tehran:	£37 or $63
Istanbul ► Tabriz:	£31 or $53
Ankara ► Tehran:	£34 or $58
Ankara ► Tabriz:	£32 or $55

The Iranian Railways website (www.rajatrains.com) quotes the one-way fare as 404,000 Iranian Rials, about £25 or $47, including sleeping berth.  The Turkish Railways website (www.tcdd.gov.tr) quotes fares in Swiss francs, which converts to UK pounds sterling and US$ as shown above.

What's the Istanbul - Tehran train like..?

Above:  This is the Turkish part of the Trans-Asia Express, from Istanbul (Haydarpaşa station) to Tatvan on Lake Van.  It has modern air-conditioned 4-berth couchettes and restaurant car.  The compartment is shown here in daytime mode with berths folded away and seats folded out.  The restaurant cars on both the Turkish and Iranian trains are clean and modern, serving affordable full meals.

How to buy tickets:  eastbound from  Istanbul

You can book the eastbound train from Istanbul to Tehran at the international booking office at Istanbul Haydarpaşa station.  The ticket office in Istanbul accepts Turkish Lira, Euros, US Dollars and Visa/MasterCard, but not pounds sterling.  It's often possible to find berths available even booking a day or two before, but as this train only runs weekly it's probably best to book in advance before you get to Istanbul.  You can do this by asking a travel agency in Istanbul to buy the tickets for you.  Try these two reliable agencies:

Tur-ISTA Tourism Travel Agency, Divan Yolu Caddesi No. 16/B, 34410 Sultanahmet, Istanbul, Turkey. Telephone +90 (212) 527 7085 or 513 7119.  Fax +90 (212) 519 3792.  E-mail erdemir@tur-ista.com.  I can recommend their service - please mention seat61.com when booking.  They charge about 59 euros for an Istanbul-Tehran ticket.

Viking Turizm, Mete Caddesi No. 24, Taksim, Istanbul, Turkey.  Telephone +90 (212) 334 2600.  Fax 334 2660).  E-mail info@vikingturizm.com.tr.  Please mention seat61.com when booking.

How to buy tickets:  westbound from Tehran

You can book the westbound Tehran to Istanbul train at Tehran station - you will need to show your passport.  Alternatively, you can book the Tehran to Istanbul train through a number of Iranian travel agencies, such as www.irantravelingcenter.com.  Also see the travellers' reports below.

Visas for Iran:

Before booking, check that you can get an Iranian tourist visa.  Iran only used to grant tourist visas if you made tour arrangements within Iran through a recognised tour agency, but it is now getting a lot easier for independent travellers to get visas.  See the Iranian embassy website, www.iran-embassy.org.uk - this has a list of travel agencies who can help you get a visa, such as www.magic-carpet-travel.com, www.iranianvisa.com or www.persianvoyages.com.  One seat61 correspondent has recommended www.iranianvisa.com, saying their service fee is only 30 euros.  You may be able to find an agency who will tailor-make arrangements for you, allowing you to arrive in Iran on the Trans-Asia Express.  There is absolutely no problem reported in crossing the border into Iran by train, border officials are reported to be very friendly..!  Feedback on the visa situation for Iran, on any tour agencies prepared to make arrangements incorporating arrival via the Trans-Asia Express, and on the Trans-Asia Express itself, would be very welcome. 

Traveller Kester Dampney reports (2008):  "I submitted my application and itinerary to www.iranianvisa.com for 30 Euros, and had my authorisation number back exactly 30 days later.  They answered all my questions, and were helpful, even if it did take a little longer than they said at first.  I then posted my 2 application forms, 2 passport photos, my passport, my visa fee, a SSAE and a covering letter to the Iranian Embassy and received my passport back within 6 working days.  Easy!".  Also see the other travellers' reports below.

Currency:

The Turkish restaurant car accepts Turkish lira, US dollars & euros, but not Iranian Rials.  The Lake Van ferry accepts both Lira and Rials, and it is reported that Lira can be exchanged for Rials on board the ferry.  The restaurant car on the Iranian train will accept Iranian Rials or euros, but not Turkish lira.  There is no exchange possible on board the train or at the frontier, but the train stops for 1-2 hours at Tabriz and euros or US dollars (but not Turkish lira) can be exchanged for Rials there.  Rials are freely available at banks and exchange bureaux in Ankara and may be available in Istanbul.

Planning your trip:

If you are new to independent travel, it may seem daunting to plan a trip like this, but it's really not that difficult.  It can help to plan your itinerary using a simple spreadsheet, to work out a budget and make sure you book the right trains on the right dates.  How to plan an itinerary & budget.

A trip on the Trans-Asia Express...

The 'Trans-Asia Express' Istanbul-Tehran Photo courtesy of Arjan Veersma		The Trans-Asia Express in Eastern Turkey.... Photo courtesy of Arjan Veersma

The Trans-Asia Express arrives at Tatvan where passengers transfer to the ferry across Lake Van.  From Istanbul to Tatvan, the coaches are modern, smooth-riding air-conditioned 'TVS2000' 4-berth couchette cars built in Turkey.  Photo courtesy of Arjan Veersma.		The Iranian baggage van (but not the passenger coaches) is shunted onto the Lake Van ferry.  Passengers have to board using the passenger gangway.  Photo courtesy of Bob Johnson.

Above:  Sunset on Lake Van.  At Van on the other end of the lake, passengers leave the ferry and board a second train to complete the journey to Tehran.  Photos courtesy of Chris Blanchard.

The Van-Tehran train is Iranian, and also has modern air-conditioned couchette cars with 4-berth compartments.  Above right: The Iranian train's restaurant car.  Photos courtesy of Bob Johnson.

Traveller's reports:

Traveller Kester Dampney reports (March 2008) that there were plenty of seats left available on departure from Istanbul, and he had a 4-berth compartment to himself.  "Something else to  note is that British people are rounded up at the Iranian border, taken off the train and finger-printed.  We weren't sure what was happening at first (kidnap, arrest, deportation?!) but it was all ok, though the officials didn't explain it in English!"

Traveller Chris Blanchard reports (Sept 2006):  I bought my east bound train ticket from Ankara to Tehran at Istanbul Haydarpasa train station, without any problems.  The ticket office will need to see your passport and Iranian visa before issuing the ticket.  I got my ticket 4 days before travel.  I gather that places on eastbound trains are more readily available than on westbound trains, and making the reservation well in advance is strongly recommended.  On boarding the train in Ankara, I was guided to the couchette by the on-board staff, which I was sharing with an Iranian couple coming back from their holidays in Turkey.  They took me on as their son for the next three days of the journey. To make life easy going it is wise to bring along pictures of family and your own food as well, as it is highly appreciated and very normal that you share what you have!  Despite bringing food along, the meals you can buy in the train are very reasonably priced (both Turkish and Iranian trains) and drinking tea all day long is normal.  Food was distributed free of charge at certain points on the Iranian train, and breakfast and dinner could be served in your cabin, if you would like this.  Being a foreigner on the train, it really opens doors to other people who would like to talk to you, practice their English and show how hospitable and friendly they are (this is genuine hospitability and a big shock when compared to our westernized views).  Having been invited to a lot of the compartments I was happy that I could retire to my berth and sleep at the end of my first day on board the train. This of course applied to the rest of my journey as well.  Having arrived safely in Tatvan (after coming very close to a tornado) to board the ferry across Lake Van, I managed to arrange to get a shower on the ferry (there are no showers on the Turkish or Iranian trains), which was really nice after two days without washing. As the Turkish train was about 5 hours late, I witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen in my life over Lake Van!  On arrival in Van we boarded the Iranian train, which ran to schedule more accurately than the Turkish train.  Rajatrains is in the process of phasing out the old sleeper trains, and is replacing them with newer types that are more luxurious and comfortable than the Turkish trains. Despite this, they still operate some old rolling stock as well.  The best place to change your foreign currency to Iranian Rials (including British Pounds!!!!!) is at the Tabriz train station.  They are really friendly, speak English and are very fast and accurate.  It is also the easiest way to become an instant millionaire (by Iranian standards, as 100 euro = 1,000,000 Iranian Rials).  The only hiccup during the journey was the Turkish border police, as it took them more than 5 hours to check all passports, stamp and return them, whilst the Iranians took no longer than 1 hour for the same job.  All in all, this has been one of the most amazing train journeys, in terms of the people onboard and the landscapes you pass, that I am looking forward to do it again in the near future.

Traveller John Stubbs reports:  I found the Iran Travelling Centre, www.irantravelingcenter.com/contact.htm gave very good and reliable service.  I used them to get all my RAJA train tickets (including the Trans Asia Express in both directions), and hotel reservations. I just sent them, by email, a detailed itinerary of what I wanted and they soon sent me back an itemised invoice.  The Iran Travelling Centre invoices all its accounts in US dollars which presents payment difficulties in view of the embargo on sending US dollar to Iran. However, the Iran Travelling Centre banks with Melli Bank who happen to have a branch in London (www.mellibank.co.uk). If you telephone the bank and ask for ‘cash and payments’ department, the staff there, who are very helpful, will advise you on how to transfer the money from your own bank account. Once Bank Melli in London receives your payment it is transferred to the Iran Travelling Centre’s account branch in Shiraz within the next two working days.  Upon receipt of the money by the Iran Travelling Centre, your train tickets  are booked and hotel reservations made straight away. If you are asking  them to book an international ticket (eg Trans Asia Express) you will need to email the travel agency a scan of the photograph page in your passport. Once booked all the tickets and hotel vouchers are then dispatched by DHL to what ever postal address you give the agency. Ask the agency to email you the DHL Tracking Number once they have dispatched the package so that you can check its progress. I found that within about 10-14 days of sending the money, I had all the tickets/hotel vouchers in my possession.  Making travel arrangements in this way is certainly more expensive than doing everything on location if only because of bank charges and travel agent’s fees. However, I found it well worthwhile to have the security of confirmed reservations as it eliminated a lot of time that would have been spent queuing for tickets and searching for hotels.

Traveller Bob Johnson reports:  We used iranianvisa.com (note no www) whose proprietor, Hassan, was honest and helpful in facilitating our visas, which we ordered on line 1 month before collecting them from the Iranian Embassy in Ankara. We are British passport holders. They cost 115 euros each and only got us 15 days in Iran. It was not difficult to get them extended, for another 30 days, in Esfahan.  We bought our Ankara-Tehran train tickets at window 7 at Ankara station using a UK Visa card, and reservations were issued for compartments in both the Turkish and Iranian trains. Although they did, in fact, have identical accommodation, it was a bit of a scrum when we got off the (very late) ferry and tried to find our berths late at night on the waiting Iranian train (numbered in Farsi!), although it turned out OK for us.

A traveller reports on a westbound trip in May 2005:  We managed to find a travel agency who said they would book the train tickets and send them to us by DHL - which they did.  I now think most agencies in Iran would do this, but we enjoyed our long email correspondence (!) with this one based in Shiraz : www.irantravelingcenter.com.  I forget how much this cost, but it wasn't much and we thought it was worth it to have the tickets in our hands before we left the UK.  We went to the station in Tehran a day early to ask about departure and find the right place.  We were told to come at 2pm on the day, around 3 hours before departure, to do the customs stuff.  This was completely unnecessary as it only took a few minutes, and even those checking huge amounts of luggage in for the baggage van were dealt with quite quickly.  The Iranian train was really nice and old-fashioned and when we got going the views and scenery were great..!  It WAS slow, and there were long delays on the Iranian side of the border as 2 people were sent back to Tehran for having an expired visa, plus 1 suspected forged passport.  But you certainly got to know people and there was a good atmosphere on the train. The endless cups of tea brought your compartment by the staff didn't go amiss. Sadly, the crossing of Lake Van from this direction happens at dead of night..!  We were very disappointed, as the scenery up until dark had been fantastic - great views of other lakes at dusk.  My friend forgot her annoyance at the delays and longeurs and vowed to do the journey in the other direction to make the crossing in daylight.  So the ferry crossing was a bit of a nightmare as we were exhausted.  The charming Iranians who had taken us under their wing helped to carry our baggage and got us installed painlessly on the train on the other side, which otherwise was a mad scramble with no pretence of keeping to any allocated seat numbers.  The Turkish train was all fibreglass and plastic, after the rather quaint and homely Iranian one.  But there's no denying the staff were efficient and the timetable was actually kept to.  The food was really good too (it seemed even more gorgeous after 2 days of bread and cheese!) though shockingly expensive after Iran prices.  It was great to arrive at Haydarpasa station and then get straight onto a ferry amid those spectacular Istanbul views.  All in all a great trip and one we have very fond memories of.

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Tehran - Tabriz - Aleppo - Damascus by train...

There is a weekly train with couchettes/sleeping-cars and restaurant car from Tehran & Tabriz via Lake Van in Turkey (where passengers leave the Iranian train, take a ferry and join a Syrian train at the other side) to Aleppo & Damascus in Syria.  Fares are not expensive.  Times and fares are available at www.tcdd.gov.tr (click 'English' then 'passenger' then 'trains to the Middle East').  Also try www.rajatrains.com and www.cfssyria.org.

Traveller's reports:

Traveller Pol O Gradaigh reports "The Syrian sleepers were fairly wrecked; in a couple of the compartments it was impossible to resurrect the seating, and only the beds could be used. On the other hand, the beds were extremely comfortable. Also, the compartments each had two beds but side-by-side compartments have a connecting door, so a party of three of four could travel together  The Syrians provided food free of charge, but it was mostly composed of packets of biscuits, packed croissants etc. The exception was lunch the first day, which was some sort of chicken curry out of the fridge, very partially warmed up. Teabags were provided but not hot water! The moral of the story seems to be to bring your own food, especially if you feel the need for fruit or vegetables. There are shops selling drinks and sandwiches just outside the station in Aleppo, and grocery and vegetable stalls just outside the station yard in Meydan Ekbez.  On the Iranian train, full meals were available for about $2.00 each (according to the Iranians, they are free on the Tehran-Damascus return run). The train crossed the Iranian border about 1.00am. All this involved was an Iranian policeman coming on board, collecting the passports and coming back with them after a while. The Syrian border was similar. At the two Turkish border crossings it was necessary to get off the train. All the crossings were painless except for entering Turkey, which involved extremely rude officials and delays while the customs officers (oddly, responsible for collecting the visa fee) hunted for their forms and stamps."

Traveller David Kennedy reports on an Aleppo-Tehran train trip in 2007:  "We booked, though were not allowed to pay for, our onward sleeper from Aleppo to Tehran a week ahead.  Our names were entered onto an official-looking form by the international train ticket sales chap and we were told to return by 10am on the morning of departure.  On our return a week later there were a few hundred people in the booking hall waiting for the Tehran train.  All the sleeping berths had long since been allocated and we were still just in time to bag a pair of seats.  So a week in advance is too early and the morning of departure is too late to guarantee a berth or seat.  The carriages are fairly wretched, but luckily our car was primarily made up of Syrians also going to Iran for a fortnight's holiday.  There was a great party atmosphere and to some extent this made up for not having the expected sleeper berths.  We left around two hours late.  The Syrians were intrigued and somewhat amused by our notion that there was a timetable - the RAJA printout a good ice breaker in fact.  The Aleppo-Tehran train leaves on Monday and that's all you need to know.  Two hours out of Aleppo one of the two old US diesels broke down and so half the train decamped to picnic and we were welcome to join in.  Food is also provided just as Pol O Gradaigh reports, but take additional water, fruit and veg if you don't care for cold tinned processed meat.  It was well after dawn the next day when we got to Malatya in Turkey and the scenery from here on through to Mus is spectacular.  Worth the price of admission alone I'd say.  We got to Tatvan about six hours behind schedule.  We'd missed the boat and no one cared if it reappeared that night or the next morning.  Being up-tight London commuters, unable to accept such a lack of info and keen to avoid another night in uncomfortable seats, we rather harangued the Turkish guards billeted watch over us until we got an answer.  The boat was coming with in the hour, we crossed lake Van that night and I can report that the deck of the lake Van ferry is more uncomfortable and a not a little cooler than an air conditioned train.  The Syrian's partied on, singing, dancing and eating.  We arrived in Van at dawn.  The Iranian trains are modern, clean four-berth compartment sleepers.  There is a restaurant car.  The reservation you get given in Aleppo bears no relation to the train so you sit/sleep where you will.  The guards, in an effort to avoid having Muslim women in together with unrelated men will lump random single men in with obviously western women.  If you don't care for this simply stand your ground, they're not fierce.  We received a small rebate and a free tin of tuna as the in-compartment entertainment system, complete with LCD TV, had failed throughout the train.   I'd like to tell you what the trip was like from here on but after two nights without sleep we nodded off all the way to Tabriz.  To change money, the easiest place would seem to be your first major stop, Tabriz.  There's a bank staffed by Eng Lit masters.  They quoted T.S. Eliot as I changed my money.  You'll find Iran is a bit like that if you've not been before.  We arrived in Tehran at dawn the day after we were scheduled to arrive, around twelve hours late.  In Tehran we wanted to book a train back through to Istanbul in three week's time but were told that, as it was holiday season, all the trains (and almost all flights) were full.  It seems  one could use a local agency to book train tickets in advance from the UK.  We used Mohajeri on Nejatolahi street in Tehran (mohajeri.com +98 (21) 8882 1990 -  beware Iranian phone numbers change constantly) to get us out of the country via the weekly flight out of Tabriz (our tickets subsequently voided at the gate but that's another story) and they told us they could have got Iranian train tickets ready for us if we'd called ahead from the UK.  We had partial success getting tickets for travel around Iran whilst we were there.  In this regard, outside of Tehran, a little Farsi goes a long way and it isn't half as difficult as Arabic.  The standard of trains is high, the run to time and they are exceptionally cheap so, as you'd expect then, they get fully booked.  

Train, bus and ferry times for every country of Asia, Africa, America and Australasia are shown in the famous Thomas Cook Overseas Timetable, published every two months.  It's essential for every serious overland traveller, and an inspiration for armchair travellers..!

It costs £13.50 from the bureau de change section of any branch of Thomas Cook, or you can order online at www.thomascooktimetables.com.

Always take a good guidebook - I've found that the Lonely Planet or Rough Guides are easily the best out there for independent travellers.  They seem to be researched in much greater depth than most other guidebooks, and unlike many other books which seem to be tailored to one end of the market or the other, the Lonely Planets offer a range of suggestions for low-budget, mid-range and up-market travellers.

Buy Lonely Planet Middle East at Amazon.co.uk

Or buy direct from the Lonely Planet website, with shipping worldwide.

This covers Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Iran, Israel and several other countries.

Get an online quote from both Direct Line & Columbus Direct...

Travel insurance is a boring subject, but it's a real necessity, so make sure you budget for it.  Make sure the cover is adequate - for example, at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover, from a reliable insurer.  Remember that an annual multi-trip policy is often cheaper than several single-trip policies even for just two or three trips a year.  Here are some suggested insurers.  Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy after clicking these links.

  If you're a UK resident, try Direct Line whom I've used myself on many occasions, or Columbus Direct.

      If you're resident in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the EU, try Columbus Direct Australia.

  If you're resident in the USA or Canada, try Travel Guard USA.

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