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Go horse-riding and sleep in a Turkmen öy (yurt) tent at the Gharra Tappeh Sheikh stud farm

Ask yourself if a forerunner of NASA didn’t help build the incredible 1000-year-old tower Mil-e Gonbad in Gonbad-e Kavus

Hike across the bald Binalud mountains to the splendid stepped village of Kang, nicknamed ‘Mashhad’s Masuleh’

Enjoy an incredible Caspian panorama as you wind up through ridge-top forests towards a ‘secret valley’ hiding the lonely West Radkan Tower

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WESTERN MAZANDARAN

A traffic-clogged semi-urban sprawl follows the Caspian’s south coast virtually without interruption, except for a fairly pitiful forest reserve at Sisingan. Iranian tourists love the area’s rainy climate but few Western tourists find the coast’s drizzle and dirty dark-sand beaches a great attraction. The lush green mountain hinterland is contrastingly attractive, with white-top Alborz peaks forming an impressive if distant panorama viewed between Qa’emshahr and Amol (clouds permitting).

Amol

0121 / pop 204,000

This drearily characterless sprawl was the capital of Tabarestan (ancient Mazandaran) for a millennium. Sadly, today it retains just a sprinkling of half-forgotten old tomb towers hidden away in unexciting suburban lanes north of the bazaar. Gonbad Mir Heydar Amoli (off Andisheh 49th Alley) is prettier than the bigger 1623 Gonbad Mir Bozorg Qarameddin Marashi (off Mofateh St; admission free). Near the old bridge, the ageing Mehmankhaneh Tehran ( 222 4534; Beheshti St; s/tw/tr/q IR40,000/70,000/90,000/100,000) is basic but clean-enough. Transport to Tehran, Babol, Sari and Baladeh (IR12,000, two hours, 8am and 2pm only) uses the terminal (near Hezar Sangat Sq), way out at Imam Reza St’s eastern end. For destinations west, savaris use Istgah Mahmudabad (Talib Ahmoli St).

Around Amol

TEHRAN TO AMOL

The tiresomely busy Haraz mountain road is less spectacular than the Karaj–Chalus route but skirts right around Fuji-shaped Mt Damavand, which is very briefly visible from west-facing windows when passing through Pollur (65km from Tehran). A long, dramatic canyon follows. Above Vana (65km before Amol), a long waterfall pours out of cleft cliffs topped by what look like ancient fortress ruins.

BALADEH

0122 / pop 9000

A peaceful, lonely road leaves the Haraz road at an isolated tea-shack called Hardowrud. Passing close to Azad Kuh’s awesomely vertical north face near Kalak, the road zigzags up through some of Iran’s very finest mountain scenery before eventually meeting the Chalus–Tehran road at the lonely Pol-e Zanguleh restaurant.

Baladeh is the only village en route to have accommodation or shops. A 15-minute scramble above Nuri Blvd, 8th Alley, the reasonably extensive towers and fortifications of Baladeh Castle offer a fabulous panorama across the fine mountain-backed valley.

Some 10km west in Yush, the intriguing Nima Yushi House ( 433 3491; admission IR3000) has been partly restored, safeguarding fireplaces, chunky plaster-work designs and some multicoloured orosi windows. Saeed Jamshidi ( 433 3315) has the key.

The route west of Yush is spectacular and delightfully peaceful (only 9km is unasphalted). Azad Kuh’s vertical north face is spectacularly visible from Kalak (closest approach) and Khisen. Between these hamlets, there’s a wonderful panorama that incorporates Mt Damavand as a conical jewel among a whole collection of mountain peaks: look east approaching Pil (28km west of Baladeh). After Khisen the road zigzags up a pass and into an astonishingly vast bowl of white-topped mountains. Fine scenery continues to Pol-e Zanguleh, an isolated restaurant at the junction with the Chalus–Karaj road Click here.

Sleeping & Eating

Mehmanpazir Saeed ( 422 3426; Nuri Blvd; s/tw/tr IR50,000/70,000/80,000) Very basic rooms are attached to a sporadically open restaurant in Baladeh village centre. No showers.

Mehmankhaneh Nima ( 422 4992; Yush rd; d/tr/ste IR150,000/200,000/500,000)