Tailor-made Iraq Tours 2026, 2027 & 2028

South of Baghdad, the cobalt-tiled Ishtar Gate and the towering walls of Nebuchadnezzar II’s Southern Palace mark the epicentre of Mesopotamia. Here, the mud-brick ruins of the Etemenanki ziggurat and the Processional Way reveal the precise origins of urban planning, cuneiform law, and imperial power.

On Mutanabbi Street, the scent of old paper and tea fills the Shabandar Café, the historic heart of Baghdad’s intellectual revival. Nearby, the Iraq Museum showcases the treasures of Nimrud and Sumerian masterpieces, while the Abbasid Palace stands as a rare survivor of the city’s 12th-century golden age.

The gold-leafed domes of the Imam Ali Holy Shrine in Najaf and Imam Husayn in Karbala anchor two of Islam’s most important spiritual centres. In nearby Kufa, the Great Mosque’s 7th-century foundations and sand-coloured arcades mark the site where the Arabic Kufic script was perfected over a millennium ago.