Castles of the Assassins

During this Iran castle holiday, you will get to tour Tehran and Tabriz. As well as exploring the ancient castles of Alamut, Roodkahn and Babak.



The Alborz mountains of Iran boast a fascinating and complex history; their castles have protected Zoroastrian worshipers against the Muslim invaders of Saudi Arabia in the 7th Century, and 500 years later, housed the infamous 11th Century Order of ‘Assassins’.



The Assassins, whose reputation was made famous by the writings of Marco Polo and Crusaders, amongst others, were part of a religious sect of Ismailis Muslims, led by the much feared Hassan-i Sabbah. They found themselves fighting for power against both other Muslim groups in the region, but also invading Christian Crusaders. Using Alamut castle as a base, Sabbah expanded his influence to nearby towns and districts capturing and inhabiting mountain fortresses as he went.



Assassins were known for the psychological warfare methods they used to draw their opponents into submission as well as for their ‘fida’, warriors who carried out espionage and assassinations of the key enemy figures of the day. This tour takes us through this beautiful and remote region of NW Iran; giving us the opportunity to bathe in history, in natural hot springs, and in the stunning views for which this part of the country is famous.

Please note:

The UK Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) currently advise against travel to Iran. As such, the dates showing for this adventure are dependent on a change to the situation and Iran being assessed as safe to visit. We are happy to keep you updated on when this is the case so please do let us know if you are interested in this wonderful itinerary. We fully believe in, and practice Responsible Tourism, using hotels run by locals. We put time and effort into building our relationship with them to ensure you have a a great trip. We choose hotels based on cleanliness, comfort, safety, proximity to our route (to avoid unnecessary extra travel), and a warm client welcome, as well as reliability in their service to us. Wherever we can, we will choose smaller more characterful, individual hotels, but in areas where tourism is still developing, this may not be available.

Day 1 & 8: Tehran: Aramis Hotel, No. 1752 VAli Asr St. Vali Asr Square, Tehran, Iran. +21 889334012. Ensuite rooms, Wifi, Aircon, Restaurant & coffee shop.

To spread the benefits of our group visiting, we use a range of hotels in Qazvin (Day 2), Masule (Day 3), Ardabil (Day 4&5), Anza (Day 6) & Tabriz (Day 7), which are of a consistently high quality (3 & 4*). You can expect ensuite rooms, air conditioning and wifi.

We understand that it is useful to leave details of all your accommodation with friends/family whilst you are away, so before your trip we will email you a full list of the accommodation.