Tehran Things to Do Tips by TheWanderingCamel

...is for sale somewhere in the labrynthine maze that is the Tehran Bazaar.

With over 10km of narrow alleyways lined with shops and stalls selling everything from a button to the richest gold; khans and open spaces; stairs that lead down to bustling basement restaurants; people pushing past people; bicycles and donkeys; porters bent double with the load on their back; the sights and the sounds and the smells that come at you; whole rows of fabric stalls - some stocked only with rolls and rolls of black, others exploding with gaudy colour - it's a dazzling, bewildering maze and you could stay there for hours.

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Address: The main entrance is off Sabzeh Maidan
Directions: In the south of the city

The S'ad-Abad palace complex in the north of Tehran is a huge area of peaceful gardens with no less than 18 palaces scattered through them. Some of the buildings served a ceremonial function whilst others are surprisingly domestic in their scale. Now they are all museums of one sort or another. It's just as well they never seem all to be open, to visit the whole complex would be a most daunting task! Just go and enjoy the gardens, they are beautiful at any time of the year, and visit one or two of the museums that are open.

The gardens are open all year round from 0800 -1900.

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Address: Kamal Taheri Street, Zaferanieh
Directions: In the north of the city, in the foothills of the Al-Borz mountains
Website: http://www.caroun.com/Museums/IranMuseum/TehranMuseum/SadAbadMuseum.htm

The Green Palace in the S'ad-Abad park was built for Reza Shah in 1925, and was used as a summer palace. Despite the very evident grandeur of the place, it still was clearly a home. It's quite touching to see the bathroom for example, with a shaving stand and small mirror. The family dining room is an intimate room, as is the study. The dazzling, glittering bedroom is literally the jewel of the place - it's like standing in the middle of a diamond.

Open every day 0800-1800

Open every day until 1800 hours.

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Address: S'ad-Abad Palace complex, Zaferanieh

If you want to see all the National Museum has to offer, you really should aim to visit it twice. Like all the world's great museums, there is so much to see and absorb, one visit just does not give you time to do it justice. The millenia of Persian history and culture are all represented here in a stunning array of artifacts and major treasures. Pre-historic items give way to the ceramics bronzes, gold and terracotta figures of the Achemanian and Sassanian periods. Huge reliefs and columns topped with double-headed beasts from Persepolis are on display along with coins, jewellery and other small, domestic items.

The museum is open every day except Tuesday from 0900-1200 and 1300-1600

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Phone: 672061-6
Address: Tir Street, Iman Khomeini Ave