2023
Tour itinerary can be seen below.
• Arrive in Diyarbakir and check into our hotel.
• Tour Southeast Turkey’s biggest city. We will walk around Diyarbakir’s ancient city walls and see the Great Mosque, the Four-Legged Minaret, Armenian and Cyriac churches, and two restored caravansaries.
• Evening at leisure.
• Depart by 08:00 by bus for Erbil. We will travel south before arriving at the border point of Silopi.
• Undergo borer formalities before crossing into Iraqi Kurdistan.
• Drive through Zakho before travelling onwards to Erbil, arriving at 20:00.
• Evening at leisure.
• After breakfast, tour Erbil. We visit Old Erbil, seeing the Kurdish Archaeology Museum, the Mound of Qalich Agha and the ancient citadel before stopping for a drink in one of the old tea houses.
• In the afternoon, we visit Erbil FC stadium and the Jalil Khayat mosque.
• In the evening, we will head out to Ainkawa for food and drinks in the Christian district.
• Travel to the famous Hamilton Road in the morning. New Zealand native Archibald Hamilton engineered the bridge between 1928 and 1932, and it’s regarded as one of the greatest engineering feats of the 20th century. The gorges, canyons, rivers, lakes and mountains that Hamilton Road snakes through are stunning.
• Along the road, stop at Bekhal Waterfall and Gali Ali Bag Waterfall. We also pass through the towns of Shaqlawa, Harir and Soran.
• In the late afternoon, we head to Pank Resort, a holiday destination for both Kurdish and Arab Iraqis. Along with the breathtaking panorama of views is a chance to ride a self-driving rollercoaster. Afterwards, we can head to the Korek Mountain ski resort for a 15-minute cable car ride to the top.
• Return to Shaqlawa, where we stay overnight.
• Today is a day of remembrance. A chance to reflect on the thousands of Kurds murdered by Saddam Hussein’s regime.
• We visit Amna Sukhara, also known as ‘The Red Prison,’ a former headquarters of Iraq’s intelligence service under Saddam Hussein. Within these walls, the regime imprisoned and tortured Kurds. Today, a beautiful memorial made from 182,000 mirror pieces and 5,400 lights commemorates the destruction committed by the Hussein regime. Each piece of mirror signifies one Kurd killed by Saddam Hussein's government, and the lights represent each Kurdish village destroyed.
• In the afternoon, we have a stroll around the city, including the Sulaymaniyah bazaar.
• Take the evening spent at leisure.
• Visit the town of Halabja. On March 16th 1988, the city was subjected to the worst genocide in Iraq's history. For five hours, chemical weapons were used against the civilians of Halabja, with 5,000 killed and up to 10,000 injured.
• We go to the Halabja Monument Museum before driving back to Sulaymaniyah for a walk around the bazaar.
• Afterwards, drive back to Erbil and spend the evening at leisure.
• Early morning departure for the remote and sacred village of Lalish—the spiritual heartland of the Yazidi people.
• After Lalish, we drive north to Duhok— a gorgeous city encircled by mountains and the Tigris River.
• After checking into our hotel, we will visit the enormous dam, then spend the evening socialising around the city with the locals or visiting the Dream City amusement park.
• After breakfast, travel back to Diyarbakir, arriving around 17:00.
• Depart for home, or we can arrange an additional night for you on request.
Rooms are on a twin basis and if you are travelling alone we will allocate someone for you to share with if possible. To have your own single room there is an additional cost of £180.