Overview

Day 1

Transfer from the airport to the hotel, welcoming from the team and hotel check-in. A tour of Baghdad landmarks can be arranged if arriving time before sunset. This will include statues from the Arabian Night & Monuments. Traditional dinner of your choice.

Overnight: Baghdad / night 1.

Day 2

8 AM Iraq Museum tour. Local food for lunch.

4 PM Visit to Al Kadhimiya holy shrine in Baghdad and a visit to the gold market, followed by a visit to the royal cemetery of the Iraqi Royal Family in Aadhamiya and having a traditional grilled fish - Masgouf - for dinner in one of the local restaurants of fish nearby.

Overnight: Baghdad / night 2.

Day 3

7 AM Start the day with “Qaimar Arab” breakfast near Tahrir Square. Visit Old Baghdad - various local markets such as copper market “Al Safafeer”, antique market “Khan Al Mudalal”, Souq Al Sarai, Souq Al Sarajeen, and Books market “Al Mutanabbi Street”.

Visit heritage sites such as Madrasa Mustansiriya School, Clock of Qishla, and the Abbasid Palace. (This tour will be followed by a boat tour at the Tigris and a photo next to the

Mutanabbi statue and include lunch at one of the famous restaurants along Hayder Khana street, we can also grab a treat from both Al Shahbender cafe and Haj Zbala Juice shop.)

4 PM Heading to Salman PakVisiting Taq Kasra (the Arch of Ctesiphon) which is considered a landmark in the history of architecture and the largest single-span vault of unreinforced brickwork in the world. Served as a royal capital of the Parthian and Sasanian. Baghdadi grills for dinner or any of your choice.

Overnight: Baghdad / night 3.

Day 4

7 AM Heading to Samara’a visiting the beautiful Abbasid Caliphate architecture and artistic relics, twisted minarets, and Lake Palace, the great mosque of Samarra. The shrines of two Imams. This historical city has been on UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 2007.

After lunch, we start heading to Aqriquf visiting the Ziggurat of Dur-Kurigalzu which is the most notable landmark on the site and other temples dedicated to Sumerian gods and a royal palace. The Ziggurat was unusually well-preserved, standing to a height of about 52 meters. Dinner will be one of your choices of the delicious food of Iraq.

Overnight: Baghdad / night 4.

Day 5

7 AM after breakfast, we will head to Babylon, named a UNESCO world heritage site in 2019. The drive will take about 1 ½ hour. You will visit the historical city, rebuilt Ishtar Gate, procession street, the foundations of the real Ishtar Gate, Babylonian temples, the lion of Babylon, the maze, southern & northern palaces, the place where Alexander the Great passed away. We then will drive up the hill to see one of the governmental palaces that was built during the 1980s and has a very beautiful view. After lunch, we will head to Birs Nimrud, visiting The Ziggurat of Borsippa known as the “Tongue Tower”. This was an important ancient city of Sumer and has a religious edifice in honor of the god Nabu. We will then drive to Karbala and check into the hotel. At night, we will visit

The shrines with golden domes of Imams Hussain and Abbas, the sons of Ali Bin Abi Talib and shrine museums.

Overnight: Karbala / night 5.

Day 6

8 AM Head to Al Aqaisar Church ruins, one of the oldest in the Middle East and Iraq. After that, we will visit Al-Ukhaidir Fortress, which represents Abbasid architectural innovation in the structures of its courtyards, residences, and mosque. Lunch and sightseeing in Karbala city.

Overnight: Karbala / night 6.

Day 7

7 AM after breakfast, we will head to the city of Al-Kifl to visit the tomb of prophet Ezekiel. This site is special due to its shared history and importance for both Muslim and Jewish devotees.

After, we will drive to Kufa visiting Masjid Al Kufa then continue on to Najaf visiting the golden dome of the Holy Shrine of Imam Ali Bin Abi Talib. After lunch, we will head 3 hours south to Nasiriya to visit the grounds of The Great Ziggurat of Ur, a UNESCO world heritage site since 2016 and the former capital of Mesopotamia during the Sumerian time. The site includes Abraham House, Sholgi Palace, and the oldest arch of its kind at the entrance of Dub-Lal-Makh Temple.

Overnight: Nasiriyah / night 7.

Day 8

4 AM we will drive to Chibayesh and have a marshland experience. Start with a local breakfast in the mud house and then it is followed by a sightseeing tour in numerous floating villages - the Gardens of Eden (birds, fishes, buffalos, reed, plants, and meeting the people of Ahwar). It is one of the largest ecosystems in the world and a UNESCO world heritage site since 2016. After the tour will be a meal of a special kind of fish in Iraq which lives only in the marshlands. You will have the tea from the reed house - Al Mudheef. Stories from local people “Al Maadan” who have adapted to life on the water over the centuries. Heading to Qurna, the point meeting of Tigris and Euphrates rivers also exploring the Tree of Adam - An ancient jujube tree of Knowledge mentioned in the Bible. Drive to Basra and check into the hotel.

Overnight: Basra / night 8.

Day 9

8 AM Start the tour of Old Basra with Shanasheel houses, Ashar, Railway Station, Shat Al Arab, and the Museum of Basra. Also will have a river tour in Shatt Al Arab.

Overnight: Basra / night 9.

Day 10

Departure from Basra, either back to their hometown or to upgrade the package and come back to Baghdad via train.