Tehran City Tour: Golestan Palace, National Garden (Baq-e-Melli) & national museum Tehran- One Day Tehran tour(6-7 Hours)

This Tehran city tour includes visiting Golestan Palace (UNESCO World Heritage Site), National Museum of Iran, National Garden and the gate of National Garden(Sardar é Bagh Melli).

Tehran city tour, starts from Lobby of your hotel and tour start at 08:20 am and finish at  03:00-04:00 pm.

Golestan Palace:

The complex of Golestan Palace consists of 17 structures, including palaces, museums, and halls. 

The lavish Golestan Palace is a masterpiece of the Qajar era, embodying the successful integration of earlier Persian crafts and architecture with Western influences. The walled Palace, one of the oldest groups of buildings in Teheran, became the seat of government of the Qajar family, which came into power in 1779 and made Teheran the capital of the country. Built around a garden featuring pools as well as planted areas, the Palace’s most characteristic features and rich ornaments date from the 19th century. It became a centre of Qajari arts and architecture of which it is an outstanding example and has remained a source of inspiration for Iranian artists and architects to this day. It represents a new style incorporating traditional Persian arts and crafts and elements of 18th century architecture and technology.

There are 12 halls in Golestan Palace, including the Marble Throne, Pond House, Karim Khani Nook, Containers Hall, Hall of Mirrors, Ivory Hall, Diamond Hall, Brilliant Hall, Salam Hall, Abyaz Palace, The Edifice of the Sun, and The Buildings of Wind catchers.

Marble Throne (Takht-e Marmar):

Fath’Ali Shah of the Qajar dynasty ordered to build this spectacular terrace, known as the Marble Throne, in 1806. Adorned by paintings, marble carvings, tile-work, stucco, mirrors, enamel, woodcarvings, and lattice windows, the throne embodies the finest of Iranian architecture.

Coronations of the Qajar kings and formal court ceremonies were held on this terrace. The first ceremony was for Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, and the last coronation at the Marble Throne was the coronation of Reza Shah of the Pahlavi dynasty, in 1925.

Pond House (Howz Khaneh):

Howz Khaneh (pond house) is in the basement of the Wind Catcher (Emarat-e Badgir). It worked with the four wind catchers to circulate and cool air by passing it over pools of water. The Pond House was used as a summer chamber during the Qajar era. A special cooling system pumped water from a subterranean system of streams into small ponds inside the chambers. The system was designed to pass through as many summer rooms as was necessary. The water was then channeled outside to irrigate the royal gardens. Unfortunately, this system is no longer in use.

Karim Khani Nook (Khalvat-e Karim Khani):

Dating back to 1759, this building was a part of the interior residence of Karim Khan of the Zand dynasty. This building has a similar terrace to the Marble Throne, but it is on a smaller scale and has less ornamentation. The marble stone, with an engraving of Naser-e-Din Shah’s image, is indeed a sight to behold.

Containers Hall (Talar-e Zoruf):

This building replaced the Narenjestan building in the north of Adj Hall or Sofre Khaneh. All the chinaware that were dedicated to Qajar kings by European kings were taken to this room. They were arranged in showcases that were built for this purpose. All the chinaware that exist in this room, are rare and beautiful.

Hall of Mirrors (Talar-e Aineh):

Hall of Mirrors is located on the west of Reception Hall and over the frontispiece and stone Iwan, in front of the lobby of the palace. It is one of the most famous halls of Golestan Palace. This relatively small hall is famous for its extraordinary mirror work and its ornamentation. There is even a portrayal of it in a painting created by Mirza Mohammad Khan Kamalolmolk in 1891.

Ivory Hall (Talar-e Adj):

Talar-e Adj is one of the main halls in Golestan Palace and its date of construction is unknown. During Naser-e-Din Shah`s reign, this hall was to keep (store) gifts from European monarchs. And in the Pahlavi era, it was used as a reception area and a place to hold official parties of the court. Among the collections of the Golestan Palace, a watercolor by Mahmoud Khan Saba (Malek-o Shoara) shows the exterior view of this hall during Qajar period.

Diamond Hall (Talar-e Almas):

Diamond Hall is located on the southern wing of Golestan Palace, past the Wind-Catcher Building. It is called “Diamond Hall”, because of the exceptional and glittering mirror work inside the building. It was constructed during the reign of Fath’Ali Shah but its appearance and ornaments were modified at the time of Naser-e-Din Shah.

Brilliant Hall (Talar-e Brelian):

Talar-e Berelian (Brilliant Hall) was so named because it is decorated by brilliant mirrorwork. The Brilliant Hall is famous for its mirror work and chandeliers.

Salam Hall (Talar-e Salam):

Salam Hall (reception) was intended to become a museum from the very beginning. This hall has exquisite mirror works. The ceiling and walls are decorated with plaster molding, and the floors are covered with mosaics.

After the Peacock Throne was moved from the Mirror Hall to the museum, this hall became the venue of official court receptions and was thus named the Reception Hall. In 1966, on the occasion of the Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Coronation, the decoration of this hall was modified to its present shape.

Abyaz Palace (White Palace):

Abyaz Palace which means White Palace was named so due to the color of the stucco and the white marble stones that covered its hall and staircase. It is believed that Naser-e-Din Shah, himself, designed the structure, with a central hall large enough to house the carpet which was sent by Sultan Abd-ol Hamid. This palace is now being used as a museum of anthropology and ethnology and displays some of the most ancient artifacts to be found in Iran.

The Edifice of the Sun (Shams-ol Emareh):

Shams-ol Emareh Palace is the most prominent structure in Golestan Palace and the most distinguished one on the eastern side of the complex. After Naser-e-Din Shah’s first visit to Europe, he ordered to build this palace with 5 floors so he could have a panoramic view of the city which was inspired by Europe’s tall buildings. It is also called the House of the Sun.

The Building of Windcatchers (Emarat-e Badgir):

This building is on the southern side of the complex and was built during Fath’Ali Shah’s reign. It is flanked by two rooms known as Gushvareh (“corner-like”). There is a central room that boasts the finest stained glass window in the Golestan Palace. Outside, there are four wind towers of blue, yellow, and black glazed tiles and a golden cupola. The Windcatchers are constructed to allow the cooling wind to move.

National Museum of Iran

National Museum of Iran is a state museum under the auspices of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts. The Museum consists of the Iran Bastan Museum (Ancient Iran) and the Museum of Islamic Archaeology and Art of Iran, as well as eight research departments, the conservation department, the library and the archives. The research departments are organized by specific archaeological and historical periods and topics. This Museum houses the largest collections of archaeological objects in the country. Dating from the Paleolithic to the late Islamic period, the collections represent more than a million years of human settlement and cultural achievement in Iran. The Paleolithic personal ornaments, clay and human figurines from the early village communities, earliest evidence of administrative technology and writing from the 4th millennium BC, Persepolis stone reliefs and capitals, Parthian life-size bronze statue of the “Shami Man”, natural mummy of a man called “Salt Man,” the Ilkhanid Mihrab (prayer niche) of Dar-e Behesht, and the pen and ink (Siah Qalam) paintings by Reza Abbasi of the Safavid period are among the important objects in the museum.

Ancient Iran

The Ancient Iran Museum is the first building in Iran specifically designed and built as a museum. It was designed by the French architect André Godard and constructed by two Iranian masons, Abbas-Ali Me’mar and Morad Tabrizi between 1933 -1936. Its façade and portico were inspired by the famous arch of Taq-e Kasra of Ctesiphon, one of the famous examples of the architecture of the Sassanian period; the building’s brickwork exhibits the Persian tradition of brick construction.

The permanent exhibition covers a surface area of some 4,800 square meters on two floors and a basement, containing selected artifacts in chronological order, from the Lower Paleolithic period (ca. 1,000,000 years ago) to the end of Sasanian times (651 CE). The first-floor galleries contain prehistoric objects including Paleolithic, Epipaleolithic, Neolithic, and Chalcolithic artifacts. The ground floor galleries contain historic objects including Bronze Age, Elamite, Iron Age, Median, Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, and Sassanian artifacts.

Islamic Archaeology and Art of Iran

The Museum of Islamic Archaeology and Art of Iran covers some 4000 square meters with three floors is a part of the National Museum of Iran. Its octagonal plan is inspired by the Sasanid palace at Bishāpur. The museum building was designed by architect Eugene Aftandilian, and its construction began in the 1940s and completed in the1950s. The building was initially used as ethnography museum and for temporary exhibitions. After a period of renovation, the building was reopened in 1996 as the Museum of the Islamic Era. In the summer of 2006, another phase of restoration and reconstruction began, and the new museum was reopened in 2015.

The ground floor is designated as the auditorium and the temporary exhibitions hall. The Islamic artifacts are on display chronologically on the first and second floors. The second floor contains the early Islamic, Seljuq and Ilkhanid periods and the first floor houses the holy Qurān hall, and artifacts of the Timurid, Safavid, Afshār, Zand and Qajar periods.

Entrance fee: Entrance fee not included and entrance ticket fee should be paid on entrance by tourists(Ticket of Golestan palace is at about 25 Euro per person).

Booking should be done at least 72 hours before date you need tour, after confirmation and online payment we send confirmed paper, inside it date of tour and time is exactly mentioned.

Note about tip: At the end of the tour, if you are satisfied with the quality of the tour, you can pay a tip to the tour leader and driver as you wish.

Note about feed back: After Tehran tour, please inform us about the quality of the Tehran city tour and your level of satisfaction with the tour (this helps to improve the quality of the tour operator).

  Time of this Tehran tour is 6-7 hours

If during Tehran tour, you decided to add another tour, please inform us and ask us for confirmation.

Start point is Lobby of hotel, end point can be any place as it is better for you (hotel or in place of attractions)

Price of Tehran city tour(with Metro or/+Snap) is 35 Euro per person, even for solo traveler it will be 35 Euro not more. Price of Tehran city tour(with private car) is 55 Euro per person, even for solo traveler it will be 55 Euro not more.

Tour guide: English speaking.

Welcome to Iran-Persia, ancient land & welcome to Tehran Capital of Iran.