Inter-city taxi in Iran - costs - how does it work?

[adrdilauro]

I am going to travel around Iran soon. I would like some hands-on feedbacks on travelling by inter-city taxi.

First, how much should I expect to pay? Let's say, for transportation between two cities that are 250km - 300km from each other? I am sure I'll pay more than locals would do, but it's important to have a price range to refer to.

And what about prices when you need the taxi driver to wait for you in the car? For instance, if I want to do some sightseeing outside a major city, with a couple of stops, it's easier to do everything with the same taxi driver rather than looking for a new taxi in each spot. What could be the price asking the taxi driver to wait for an hour? Would you suggest doing that?

Finally, is it ok to ask your hotel help in organising these taxis, or they'll make the trip too much more expensive? Are there stations where you go and look for shared cars, and if there are not enough people in a car you can pay the full fare and just leave immediately?

[richard mole]

Hi. I am in the same situation as you. When are you travelling? Richard

[adrdilauro]

I am back after this travel in Iran, I'll post an answer to my own question as reference for future travellers.

The situation is very different in touristic areas (Teheran + Kashan + Esfahan + Yazd + Shiraz) and in non-touristic areas (everywhere else - with the exception of some tourists in Tabriz, I did not meet any single foreign tourist anywhere outside the classic route above).

NON TOURISTIC AREAS

It's pretty simple and clear - for intercity trips, taxi drivers seem to have a "standard fee" of roughly 10 EUR per 100km. I don't know whether locals pay a bit less, we didn't try to bargain, but it's a fact that several taxi drivers, in different cities, some contacted directly and some through hotels, were doing the very same calculation.

If you want to hire the taxi for sightseeing purposes (you ask the taxi to stop in a few places on the way, and / or you ask him to take you to a sightseeing spot and then back), the driver usually asks for an additional fee that depends on how much time he has to wait. This fee is more "fluctuating" than the one for the distance travelled: some drivers asked us 1.5 - 2 EUR per hour, others asked 3.5 - 4 EUR per hour, this one probably depends on how much "tourist" you look like, and can also probably be bargained.

Last remark: while taxis in non-touristic areas are a quick and inexpensive way to move from place to place without worrying about booking in advance, I'd still suggest to take the VIP bus when possible (if you are not in a super rush, and you are able to find a bus for your route): the bus is a bit slower, but it's very comfortable and in the hot season you don't have to worry about air conditioning (taxi drivers tend to refuse to turn it on, except in places like Khuzestan where the outside temperature is 50°).

If you want to book intercity buses, the best way is to download the Snapp app and do it from there. Sometimes it's a bit difficult to find bus routes that are not on the way from Teheran, but you can be smart and look for connection with cities that are close to your final destination: example, we wanted to go from Kermanshah to Dezful, and this route is not the one that comes from Teheran, so initially we didn't find anything. But we did find a connection to Andimeshk (the bus was going to Ahvaz, we asked the driver to drop us off in Andimeshk, and got a taxi from there to Dezful).

TOURISTIC AREAS

The situation in touristic areas is very simple:

1. Taxis without a touristic guide are super difficult to find, and they'll ask you for super high prices when they see you are a tourist - they can easily ask you for 70-80 EUR to drive you to a place that is 60km away and back. If you want to use custom transportation, I just suggest you to find a regular tourist guide, it's going to cost you slightly more than a regular driver who doesn't speak english
2. There is an agreed fixed price that all guides follow, you are not going to find anything below that price - in Esfahan it seems to be 110 EUR per car for a full day tour (55 EUR if you do half day); in Shiraz it seems to be slightly less (80 EUR for full day).

But on the other side, in touristic areas it's very easy to find the VIP bus service, because they are very well connected.

So, considering all this, my personal suggestion in touristic areas would be to move between cities only by bus, and if you want to see small villages or attractions around a major city, I'd suggest to organise a tour that bundles as many of those attractions together in one day.

To book these tours, we used Tap Persia, who are very honest and professional, they give the right price depending on the city (we discussed with local guides in every city and we did not find anything cheaper than the prices offered by Tap Persia).