Multi-Region Iraq

UNESCO Heritage

Expedition

All 6 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Iraq

Overview

Every UNESCO World Heritage Site in Iraq in one journey. Seven days from Babylon to the Marshes to Kurdistan, visiting all six sites: Babylon, the Ahwar of Southern Iraq, Samarra, Ashur, Hatra, and the Erbil Citadel. This is the only itinerary in Iraq that completes the full World Heritage list.

Itinerary

Baghdad: Babylon

Meet at Baghdad International Airport. Drive south to Babylon, the capital of Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2013. The reconstructed Ishtar Gate, the Processional Way, and the ruins of the Hanging Gardens. Lunch near the site. Return to Baghdad. Overnight: Baghdad.

The Marshes: Chibayish and Ur

Fly to Basrah. Drive to Chibayish through the road that cuts into the marshes. Board a traditional mashoof boat through the waterways. Visit an Arab marsh family in their mudhif reed house. Lunch of fresh fish and rice. Afternoon: drive to Ur, the birthplace of Abraham, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2016, the Great Ziggurat and the royal tombs. Overnight: Basrah.

Samarra and Ashur

Fly to Baghdad. Drive north to Samarra: the Malwiya spiral minaret, the Great Mosque, and the Abu Dulaf Minaret, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007. Afternoon: continue to Ashur, the first capital of the Assyrian Empire, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003. The ruined palace, the temple of Ashur, and the city walls. Overnight: Mosul or Tikrit.

Hatra

The City of the Sun: Hatra, the first Iraqi site on the World Heritage List (1985). The circular double walls, the great iwans standing to full height, the Temple of the Sun, and the shrines of its many gods. The stones still carry the bullet marks of 2015, the walls are rising again. Return via the sulfur springs of Hammam Al-Alil. Overnight: Mosul.

Mosul Heritage Sites

Sunrise at Bashtabia castle over the Tigris. The reconstruction of the Al-Nuri Mosque and the Hadba Minaret, Al-Tahira Church and Hosh al-Bayaa, the sites of the UNESCO Revive the Spirit of Mosul initiative. Then Qaraqosh: the Grand Al-Tahira Church, the largest in Iraq, where Pope Francis prayed in 2021. Overnight: Mosul.

Erbil Citadel

Drive to Erbil. The Erbil Citadel, UNESCO World Heritage since 2014, one of the oldest continuously inhabited places on earth. Walk the ramparts and the Qaysari Bazaar below. The Mudhafaria Minaret. Evening: farewell dinner in the old city. Overnight: Erbil.