Rasht

Rasht is a city in the north of Iran around 40 km from the shore of the Caspian Sea. Rasht is known in Iran for its beauty and its parks. People for all around the country come there to experience much wetter and colder climate than the rest of the country. It is the capital of the northern Iranian province of Guilan. All in all Rasht and its surroundings offer a starkly different experience from southern Iran.

Get in

By plane

• 1 Rasht Airport (RAS  ^IATA). There are a few daily flights from Tehran. Most of these depart either early in the morning or late afternoon. Seeing the Alborz mountains from the air is quite an experience. There is a direct flight to Dubai.  

By bus

Like everywhere in Iran, Rasht is well connected with Tehran and neighboring towns by bus. Two main bus stations in Tehran which connect the capital to Rasht. There are several buses all day long and it costs only about €2 for normal buses to €4 for VIP bus services (such as Royall Safar Iranian which has a high quality bus service). Having an Iranian bank card, it is possible to buy tickets online from some companies, such as Royall Safar Iranian. you can also buy bus tickets inside two bus terminals of Tehran and bus terminals of other cities or buy it from travel agencies inside the cities. The journey usually takes 6 hours.

• 2 Rasht Bus Terminal (also known as Terminal-e Gil), Gil Square. In the south of the urban area of Rasht. (updated May 2019). You can easily find shared taxis to city center, it costs around 30,000 rials. there are also private taxi companies in bus terminal and they take you to everywhere in city or neighbour towns. Pay attention to ask the price before taking the private taxis. Going to the city center will not cost more than 100,000 rials.

By shared taxi

Shared taxis (Savaris) plow the Caspian coast, so getting to Rasht from anywhere in that area is easy. A good choice for a trip from Tehran would be a shared taxi or bus to Chalus, a spectacular route through the Alborz mountains and then a savari from Chalus to Rasht.

By train

There are daily train departures from Tehran to Rasht, leave Tehran at 07:45 and arrive Rasht in 13:10. The non-reduced ticket price costs 430,000 rials (May 2019) and can be bought either online from the Iranian railway website or in travel agencies. The railway passes through Alborz mountains and then Sefidrood river valley and stops in Karaj and Qazvin on its way to Rasht.

• 3 Rasht railway station (ایستگاه راه‌آهن رشت) (12 km south from the city center). (updated May 2019)

See

• The Shahrdari is Rasht's most identifiable landmark, its colonial style tempered by a token mini-dome topping a distinctive whitewashed tower. It looks great when floodlit at night.
• Rasht Museum is small, but well presented in a 1930s house. Its mannequin displays illustrate Gilaki lifestyle, amid a selection of 3000-year-old terracotta riton drinking horns in the shape of bulls, rams and deer. Supping from such vessels supposedly endowed the drinker with the powers and skills of the animal depicted.
• Golsar is a high-class district with many shops, restaurants, boutiques, and coffee-shops, and is a very popular neighborhood for teenagers and young adults to meet and socialize with peers, particularly on Thursday and Friday nights. The suburb used to be a very small town, which had a chain gate and security guards at its entrance until 1979. During the past couple of decades the demand for housing in Golsar has increased and the area has grown rapidly. It is now the most expensive place in Rasht to purchase a house or apartment.
• Shahre-yaran urban district
• Manzariyeh urban district
• Traditional Bazaar
• The excellent Gilan Rural Heritage Museum is 18 km south of Rasht (2 km off the Qazvin highway). Six full homesteads complete with rice barns are already ‘active’ in 150 ha of woodland. On open days, local crafts (thatching, mat-making, cloth-weaving) are displayed and there are tight-rope walking mini-shows.
• Mirza Kouchak Khan Tomb
• Mirza Kouchak Khan House The horseman statue is Kuchuk Khan, the Jangali leader of 'Soviet Iran'. A steady flow of well-wishers visit his mausoleum on Manzariyeh St, sheltered by a contemporary brick gazebo with intricate wooden roof.
• Danaye Ali Tomb is topped with a faceted pyramid of blue tiling.
• National Library was the first public library of Iran.
• Sabz-e Meydan square
• Park-e Shahr City Central Park
• Saravan Natural Park
• Imamzadeh Hashem Tomb
• 1 Hajj Samad Khan Mosque. Built in 1915. (updated Nov 2021)
• Iran National Tea Museum, 52W8+GJC, Lahijan, ☏ +98 13 4222 9980. (updated Oct 2024)

Do

Firstly you must see the Golsar area in the north of the city. It's the most modernized section of the city, you can find the youth roaming over there, beautiful shops and restaurants. You find yourself in a European country in the middle of an Asian civilization.

Golsar, pronounced golsâr (Persian: گلسار), is a suburb of Rasht. Golsar used to be a very small neighborhood so that a chain gate had been put at the entrance before 1979. A few security guards were always monitoring and taking care of this gate. During the past couple of decades the demand for living in Golsar raised so that the area of this neighborhood started to grow rapidly. This area of Rasht is now the most expensive place in the city to purchase a house or apartment.

Golsar is filled with shops, restaurants, boutiques and coffee shops, and is the most popular place for teenagers and young adults to meet and socialize with peers. This crowd is due to an opportunity for young girls and guys to meet each other and exchange their phone numbers for either long-term or short-term relationships.

• Masouleh historical village is a spectacular little village built on such a steep slope that the roads inside the village lie on the roofs of the houses below. A walk around town is very pleasant.
• Bandar-e-Anzali is Iran's main Caspian port. You will see fish markets and large ships from the countries around the Caspian. For 200,000 rials per hour for an entire boat you can go on a motorboat ride through the harbor and into the large lagoon. The boat drivers often suggest that since you are in "Lagoonland" women should be allowed to remove their headscarves. It is a good opportunity since after wearing the scarf for long a breeze through the hair on a motorboat is most welcome!
• Rudkhan Castle medieval castle made of brick and stone. It is located 50 km southwest of Rasht and driving there takes about 1 hr. From the parking area you hike up to the castle (1 hr) through the forest passing waterfalls and tea shops. 200,000 rials entrance fee is paid at the castle.

Eat

Rasht and the surrounding towns of the Caspian province are a great place to try still-warm, walnut-filled koloocheh cookies. Look for stores selling cookies with round patterns embossed on them (they say the best ones are sold in nearby Fuman). You can buy some kind of dooghs, the traditional drink of the area. Sara is the most famous doogh in Iran. A traditional breakfast is cooked cow head.

Due to the fertile soil northern Iran offers a great variety of food. In Rasht this includes Shami Rashti, Ardabij (Anar Bij) and Baghala ghatogh.

• 1 Shekam Ol-Molouk Restaurant, Manzarieh Boulevard (inside Kadus Grand Hotel), ☏ +98 13 3336 5075. Try some baghali ghatogh (fava beans, eggs, and dill). Or choose from other options like mirza ghasemi (grilled aubergine), shami rashti (split pea/meat patty), or shish kebab. (updated Feb 2021)
• 2 Vahid Restaurant, ☏ +98 13 3377 2252. This one is pretty neat given that it's on a rooftop terrace of a fairly high building, giving you ample views. (updated Feb 2021)
• 3 Razeghi Restaurant, Somayeh Blvd, No. 123, ☏ +98 13 3372 3322. A good place to try local dishes, like kalle pasche. Piano and buffets part of the scene. (updated Feb 2021)

Sleep

Budget

There are a cluster of cheap, centrally-located mosaferkhanehs clustered just south of Shahrdari Square, off Emam Khomeini Street. As with other such establishments, many of them suffer noise and cleanliness problems.

• 1 Ecolotka Rasht Hostel (south of Chaparpord), ☏ +98 911 623 8156, info@seeyouiniran.org. in a serene place, among the nature of the Hyrcanian Caspian Sea; Hyrcanian forests are the most ancient of all forests survived the ice age due to Caspian Sea’s humidity. A very green and quiet village. (updated Jul 2019)
• 2 Pâmchâl Hotel, ☏ +98 131-6603031. 2-star hotel. (updated Aug 2019)
• 3 Shabestan Hotel (beginning of Bint Al-Huda Street, just west of Ansari Square), ☏ +98 13 3211 0033. Has a cafe in case you don't want to go out to eat. (updated Feb 2021)
• 4 Sabouri Apartment Hotel, Resalat St (in front of Shahid Golestani Park), ☏ +98 13 3335 5268. Very colorful lit up with polychrome lights at night, and the linoleum floor is an interesting touch. Cafe on site. from 3,300,000 rials. (updated Feb 2021)

Mid-range

• 5 Ordibehesht (off Shohada square), ☏ +98 13 3322 9210. Twin rooms with bathroom for around 110,000 rials per night. The building is reminiscent of a palace in a horror movie but the rooms are all right. The reception can arrange fairly cheap taxi tours all over the area. (updated Aug 2019)

Splurge

• 6 Kadus Grand Hotel. A little far away from downtown but the taxi fee is not very high at local. The staff can't speak English well. about €43 for a twin beds room a night. (updated Aug 2019)

Stay safe

See also the information at Iran#Stay safe.

Emergency services

• Police: 110
• Fire department: 125
• EMS: 115
• Road EMS: 115 or 112

Go next

• Buses go to Tehran, Tabriz, Mashad and many cities along the coast.