The Middle East’s best-kept secret, lran forms a footbridge between Europe and Asia, and has hosted some of the great invaders: Genghis khan from the east, Alexander the Great from the west, and hippies from all over the world. A visit to lran is a voyage of contrasts-women clad in black, mosques bejeweled and dazzling, desert towns with twisting laneways, formal gardens and snowcapped peaks. And wherever you go, you are welcomed with a warmth that is astounding.

March to MAY OR September to November-or during the reign of Shah Abbas, who, with an eye to international tourism, set up a vast network of caravanserais

Sipping tea at sunset in Emam Khomeini Square, Esfahan, watching the shifting colours of the mosques Trying to imagine what Persepolis was like during the time of Darius the Great Getting lost in the twisting lanes of Yazd, feeling like you’ve stumbled onto a Star Wars set Goggling at the fantastical exhibits of Tehran’s National Jewel Museum, which have inspired war Paying your respects to the dead poets of Shiraz by visiting their mausoleums

Read Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith by Gina Nahai-magic realism set amongst the Jewish community of Tehran; Persian Pilgrmages by Afshin Molavi, an expat lranian journalist who explores both history and current issues, by speaking to locals

Listen to Night Silence Desert by Kayhab Kalhor and Mohammad Reza Shajarian, a modern-day fusion of lranian classical and folk music forms

Watch the Circle, Jafar Panahi’s story of women who have fallen outside the law

Eat abgusht, a delicious meat soup stew, or gaz-nougat Esfahan style

Drink chay-tea, taken in conjunction with a puff on the hookah pipe. Dugh is a popular cold drink made from yoghurt or sour milk and sparkling still water.

Masha’allah (God has willed it)

Chadors, tiled mosques, mullahs, covered bazaars, Persian carpets, controlled borders; Paykan cars (paykan means ‘arrow’)

The skiing season lasts through to May; women can pursue higher education; lran is emphatically not Arabic

Esfahan is lran’s masterpiece, the jewel of ancient Persia and one of the finest cities in the lslamic world. The exquisite blue mosaic tiles of Esfahan’s lslamic buildings, its expansive bazaar and the city’s gorgeous bridges demand as much of your time as you can spare. It’s city for walking, getting lost in the bazaar, dozing in beautiful gardens, and drinking tea and chatting to locals in the marvelous teahouses.