Iran road trip: 30 days, 7,000 kilometers, from the Aras to Baluchistan

Hello,

We’re not sure this report will really be useful for VF backpackers.

As mentioned in our profile, our travel journals are primarily aimed at young van converters who’ve been following our trips for years. No cultural fluff—just a visual reconstruction that strictly follows our motorized routes.

That said, they might offer a different perspective: traveling immersed in a small, go-anywhere vehicle that fascinated the Iranians. We didn’t just visit once—we had to show off our van setup 100 times!

Anyway, it’s up to you to decide. 😏

The itinerary? No overly precise plan. It’s all about the vibe, improvisation, and what we felt like doing... since our van makes us completely self-sufficient. Sylvie wanted to see Persepolis, the desert cities, and the jewel that is Isfahan. For me, it was Abadan and Bandar Abbas—where I used to drive TIR trucks back in the 1970s. Then Bam and Baluchistan, where I’d never driven before.

Speaking of which, over 40 years of international road experience doesn’t make you immune to mistakes. Overconfident, I underestimated tensions in certain areas. You’ll find the stories in the text accompanying the photos.

All in all, these 30 days are shared online in two albums.

Click the "i" to display the story alongside the photos:

Album 1: PERSIAN GULF

Album 2: IRAN 2017

The travel journal map:



To wrap up, a few snapshots of our favorite spots 😏

Shushtar, Khuzestan



Qeshm Island



Strait of Hormuz



Bam



Gulf of Oman



Shahdad Desert



Ardabil



Varzaneh



Best regards, Sylvie & Bernard

Hi Sylvie and Bernard..

I work as a charterer in international road transport.. so I get what you mean ;) I’ll check out your travel journals—they interest me.. My husband and I are globetrotters.. Unfortunately, some countries are off-limits for us.. Thanks for sharing...

Hello

What’s the security situation like in Sistan? It’s a region I dream of visiting!

Shushtar looks amazing!

Yes, of course, the experience of international road transport lets you see behind the scenes. We know that 80% of illicit trafficking happens on the roads.

But on VF, it's mostly flight-only + guesthouse + local transport.

No run-ins with the mafia smugglers of Bazargan, corrupt customs officers, shady cops, or the Dogu-Maku alcohol trafficking...

In short, the underground Iran where everything is bought on the black market, even supposedly unobtainable Eurodiesel!

Hey Lofoten,

Do you mean as far as Bam (technically in Kerman Province, but a city populated by Baloch people), or further east, toward Zahedan? I just cycled from Bandar Abbas to Bam via Kahnuj and Jiroft. The vibe was a bit heavy at times for me, but it was manageable. No real filtering by the military, just a few questions. No specific security measures for Bam. I met an Italian guy who was taking the bus to Zahedan—no one stopped him, but I didn’t get any feedback. Just so you know, tensions are still very high at the border—seven Iranian guards were just killed there.

L.

I mean the Zabol-Chabahar route.

I heard that the few tourists there were escorted by the army in that area.

During this road trip, due to security conditions, we had to change our route 3 times. Stories are in the captions alongside the photos.

Recent news in this area:

26.04.2017 at 20:47

LONDON (Reuters)

Ten Iranian border guards were killed Wednesday by a Sunni extremist commando coming from Pakistan, reports the Tasnim news agency. The attack was claimed by the Jaish al-Adl group, the agency specifies. The Sistan-Baluchistan province in southeastern Iran is regularly the scene of violence caused by separatist groups or drug traffickers.

(Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; Tangi Salaün for the French service)

No need to discuss it for hours!

Hello Bernard and Sylvie,

You know since we sent you PMs about Russia, at 72, we’re fans of the plumber’s van 😏.

Especially stories in a comic-book style, unpretentious, with informative, objective texts that don’t tell us what to think.

But in my opinion, this topic doesn’t belong in this section where 90% of the posts are about the itinerary we did ourselves. It was in 2012, with an agency, the classic Tehran-Kashan-Isfahan-Shiraz route.

You should’ve posted it in the Motorhome and 4x4 sections with info on:

entry formalities?

customs procedures?

road conditions?

the maps you used?

how Iranians drive?

finding diesel ⛽?

There’s nothing here!

Too bad 😕

Best, Solange and Jacques

Thanks Jacques 😉

Since 2010, our travel journals have been aimed at young van enthusiasts who follow us. What interests them is the roads, the discoveries, the encounters, the places where we sleep, what we eat... In short, real-life experiences.

More technical info for RVs, 4x4s, or other travelers? It’s easy to find on specialized forums. No need to add more!

To change things up from the usual mosque and desert photos, here are a few images of the Iranian coastline we loved 😏

Persian Gulf



Qeshm Island



Gulf of Oman



Best regards, Sylvie & Bernard

More detailed info for camper vans, 4x4s, or other travelers? It’s easy to find on specialized forums. No need to add more!

Oh, NO!

Very little recent info on a major issue for Euro 6 camper vans: how do they handle Iranian diesel, which is known to cause problems for modern fuel injection systems. I think it was on VF that someone mentioned engine damage.

Same goes for border crossings. Did you use a "facilitator"?

Well, it’s not like we’d follow in your footsteps at our age, but since Iran is opening up to motorized travelers, it’d be great if you could share this info. 😏

Jacques

Hmm

With a DSR at 150%, you won’t see many Euro 6 motorhomes in Iran!

As for our road trip, the account is now complete. The final travel journals are shared online.

For those interested, here they are, in two parts.

View the story to the right of the photos:

PERSIAN GULF, from Bazargan to Baluchistan

IRAN, from Bam to the Aras

A word about the three areas where, in April 2017, it was advised to avoid driving with your own vehicle:

1. Khuzestan To prevent infiltrations by Daesh jihadists, police and military carry out heightened checks along the border with Iraq.

2. Chabahar-Iranshahr Road Avoid passing through Pishin along the Pakistan border.

3. Zahedan Coming from Bam, a military escort was mandatory for the last 100 km. For years, this has been the potentially most dangerous area! The porous borders are exacerbated by the predominantly Sunni composition of the tribal zones in the three countries.

Best regards,

Sylvie & Bernard

With a deposit at 150%, you won’t see many Euro 6 motorhomes in Iran!

That’s true, the deposit for a new RV is huge!

Thanks for the link to the PDFs. I didn’t like your Google Photos stories with the text on the side. Hard to read on my tablet. This is perfect now.

One last question. Why share your tips for improving Iranian diesel on another forum and not here? 😠

Don’t tell us there aren’t any motorized travelers on VF planning to go to Iran. That’s not true 😏

Cheers, Jacques

Hmm

With a CPD at 150%, you won’t see many Euro 6 motorhomes in Iran!

As for our road trip, the report is now complete. The final travel journals are shared online.

For those interested, here they are, in two parts.

Display the story to the right of the photos:

PERSIAN GULF, from Bazargan to Baluchistan

IRAN, from Bam to the Aras

Don’t like Google Photos?

PDF version:

Travel Journals 10 & 11

A word about the three areas where, in April 2017, it was advised not to drive with your own vehicle.

1. Khuzestan To prevent infiltrations by Daesh jihadists, police and military carry out heightened checks along the border with Iraq.

2. Chabahar-Iranshahr Road Avoid passing through Pishin along the Pakistan border.

3. Zahedan Coming from Bam, a military escort was mandatory for the last 100 km. For years, this has been the potentially most dangerous area! The porous borders are exacerbated by the predominantly Sunni composition of the tribal zones in the three countries.

Best regards,

Sylvie & Bernard

Hi Sylvie and Bernard, Your trips in Iran are amazing! Personally, I’ve been to Iran three times, but never by car. This summer, I’m thinking of going back. I’ll visit Kerman, which I don’t know yet. I’d like to go as far as Zahedan. Do you think it’s possible by bus? Is it reasonable (security-wise) if I take a few precautions? Another question: How do you handle visas without an invitation or hotel booking? Thanks for your answers. Have a great day. Jean-François

Visa? Unpaid reservation for a hotel in Tehran. Canceled as soon as the visa was issued. "Virtual" answers to the consular agent at the embassy in Paris. We obviously never mentioned entering by road.

Zahedan? We’re not in a good position to give advice. A third of our route was in the red zone on the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ March 2017 map 😠 www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/...-pays/iran/#securite

Kerman? Back in Mohammad Reza Shah’s time, truckers told me Zoroastrians still exposed their dead there. Not sure if the ritual is allowed today. In any case, the two Towers of Silence on the road to Yazd were empty when we passed through.

@hymer94 On VF, Iran is a niche destination for motorized travelers. No need to start a discussion.

Bernard

Just a quick note to share something new online.

If you don’t mind a low-cost road trip in a plumber’s van , here’s a little photo series on Iran:

IRAN’S DESERTS

Okay, we’re all on the same page—no need to bring out the Kalashnikov, these are also low-cost photos taken by the hubby with a little compact camera for 99 € ;)

Best, Sylvie & Bernard

Thanks for these photos! Even low-cost, as you say, they’re gorgeous.

Rereading your PDF travel journals, I saw that you *finally* took into account the criticism about downplaying the dangers of your destinations.

I stand by what I wrote to you in our DMs. When you see how your posts are received on forums for young van-life enthusiasts, it was borderline irresponsible not to warn them about the risks of driving through the Caucasus, Iraq, or the remote areas of Afghanistan…

Especially in a basic tradesman’s van!

Glad you took it into consideration.

Cheers, Jacques

Yes, we’ve been criticized for not posting warnings. Those who’ve followed us for years are mostly young people with no experience and limited budgets. Drawn to the idea of a low-cost road trip, they want to copy us behind the wheel of their Twingo 😠 So, Caucasus, Mauritania, Siberia, or Baluchistan—just forget it!!!

Hi Sylvie, hi Bernard,

Following the Ahvaz attack on 22/9/2018, I just reread your Khuzestan travel journal. In the caption of one of your photos, you mention the issues faced by the Arab-speaking Sunni minority, which no one talks about in Iran trip reports. That’s why I love your photo stories. In a subtle way, with small details, they shed light on realities that are often overlooked without telling us what to think. I remember your accounts of endemic corruption in Russia, while on VF we mostly see threads about the wonders of the two capitals. Keep it up! 😏

Best, Jacques

Hi 😏

The twists of current events, sometimes tragic ones!

We’re finishing updating our Iranian travel journals just as the 2026 hostilities begin. We hesitated about sharing them on VF.

If VF thinks it’s not the right time, into the trash they go—no hard feelings!

We now have 12 travel journals 😏



The full account is shared, with text and photos:

Persian Gulf, 6 travel journals

IRAN, 6 travel journals

Our route along the Strait of Hormuz

Back in the 1970s, I drove a truck all the way down to Bandar Abbas. Right after the British left Oman, Mohammad Shah’s army had just annexed Abu Musa, Greater and Lesser Tunb—the three islands that allow military control of the Strait of Hormuz. At that time, Qeshm Island was strictly off-limits to foreigners!

Forty years later, we spent a wonderful stay there, followed by a road trip along the Gulf of Oman.



Bandar-e Jāsk



Best regards,