WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE VISITING IRAQ

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This article sums up the most important things you need to know before traveling to Iraq, a that has only recently opened up for tourists, and tourism is still in its infancy. The country went through the Gulf wars of 1991 and 2003, the Iraq-Iran war (1980-1988), followed by the civil war of 2006-2007. Finally, the Islamic State caused enormous damage and kept the people in fear. Safety is something new and highly appreciated after long years of brutal massacres, civil war, and invasions.

Read this article about the best books on Iraq to get more prepared

A complete travel guide to Basra in Iraq

The number of organized tourist groups is increasing. However, it is mainly adventurous and curious travelers who venture to visit Iraq. Even Iraqi people did not have the chance to discover their own country, and in general, there is a lack of information about the country. Policemen are not used to seeing tourists either. They are kind to them but do not speak English and do not always know what to do. Since rules change regularly, there is a lot of uncertainty about procedures.

You must be flexible and understand that Iraq is in a period of recovery, where controls and precautions are still vital. This may force you to change your plans sometimes. With this mindset, you will have a fantastic time, and there is a good chance that Iraq will become one of your favorite destinations.

Is Iraq safe to visit?

The country is in a stage of recovery, and the frequent security checkpoints are clear reminders of the devastating recent past. Iraq is now considered safe for traveling. Even though ISIS has largely been weakened in Iraq, it has not been completely eliminated, and military crackdowns against ISIS soldiers still happen. They retreated to the desert areas. Thus, some regions like Anbar and around Hatra are not without risk. I felt entirely safe in Iraq, but you should always listen to locals. Also, the mountain region of Iraqi Kurdistan is a hiding place for PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) soldiers, who are often targeted by the Iraqi army on Iraqi soil. Iran launches occasional missiles against strategic targets. The regions west of Mosul in the direction of Sinjar are still not safe and not accessible at all. 

Important: The recently erupted and ongoing war between Hamas and Israel since 7th October 2024 can potentially spread over to other countries in the Middle East, including Iraq. Many countries issued a “red” travel warning for countries, including Iraq, where there is an American military base. So far, life is normal; tourists can still go, but the situation can change, and it is especially important now to always be up-to-date with the current situation.

As an independent traveler, you need local contacts to verify your identity and help you with translation, as English speakers are rare in the country. 

There is an excellent network of foreign travelers and Iraqi hosts, the Iraqi Travelers Café Facebook group, where locals are accommodating to help you with transport, accommodation, or advice. Join this group as a first step before heading to Iraq alone.

How to get a visa to Iraq?

Getting a visa to Iraq has become a lot easier than before since Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq in March 2021. Since then, the Iraqi government has offered Visa on Arrival (VOA) for the following countries. (Don’t forget to double-check it before your actual trip to Iraq).  

• USA, UK, France, Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland
• European Union countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

You can only get a single-entry visa valid for two months, which cost 77 USD. 

It is important: if you arrive in Kurdistan, you get a visa from the Kurdish autonomous region that does not permit you to cross over to federal Iraq. Therefore, if you want to visit federal Iraq, you should arrive in Federal Iraq. Initially, you could only get a visa on arrival if you flew to Baghdad, Najaf, or Basra. However, things changed recently and now you can get a Visa on Arrival at any land border if you are otherwise entitled to.

Hotel reservation upon arrival

Occasionally, the officers at the airport ask for a hotel reservation upon arrival in Baghdad. If you cannot present it, they make you pay 50$. Plus, the reservation needs to be in specific (understand one of the expensive) hotels. There is no point in worrying or arguing about that. Make a booking for the first night in one of the costly hotels that offer free cancellation (I always do it in Hotel Mansour). After you save the booking, you can cancel it. I was not asked for that so far, but other travelers had this experience, so just do it. 

How to travel around Iraq?

The whole concept of tourism is a brand-new thing for Iraq, which means it does not have a big choice of hotels. Only the most expensive ones in the big cities are listed on booking.com. Apart from a few travel agencies, qualified English tour guides are hard to find.

For all that, this is the best time to come to Iraq if you look for an authentic travel experience in a country that welcomes tourists with open arms and a big heart.

There is regular public transport (minibus or shared taxi) between the cities. Inside the city, taxis are the best option for foreign travelers. Inside Baghdad, you can use the Careem app, the cheapest and easiest way to get around.

You can have your tour organized from A to Z with a foreign or local travel agency so that you do not need to care about anything. However, if you are on a lower budget, arrange only your transport and accommodation. Package tours in Iraq are pretty expensive.

Insurance: Safetywing is a cheap travel and medical insurance that also covers COVID-related issues in most countries, including Iraq.

Flights: Use Google Flights or Skyscanner to book your flight to get the best flight offers.

Traffic 

Baghdad has no metro system, and traffic jams are every day. Since some attractions are scattered in different parts of the city, you must calculate wasting plenty of time on the road. Instead of day trips from Baghdad, you had better continue to other destinations. Except for Tak Qasra, from where you have to return to Baghdad. There is no way to make a shortcut to Babylon.

Opening hours

The limited opening hours of some main attractions in Baghdad make it more difficult to make a good plan for visiting the capital. The Iraqi Museum and others open at 9 am and close at 1 pm or 2 pm. 

Read this ultimate guide about a suggested itinerary and other travel tips for Baghdad.

Entrance fee

Foreigners usually have to pay eight times more than locals for every attraction, regardless of if it is the Iraqi Museum with world-famous artifacts or the less-known Agargouf zikkurat. The standard entrance fee is 25,000 IQD (~17 USD). It means that the entrance fees can add up to a significant amount at the end of your trip. 

Checkpoints

Understandably, keeping the country safe after the turbulent years is a priority in Iraq that involves several checkpoints on the way. In most cases, they wave you through; however, at other checkpoints, they ask for the ID of locals and the passport of foreigners. They make a copy of it, ask some questions and let you continue your trip. It usually does not take more than 5-10 minutes, so nothing to worry about. However, some areas had been considered unsafe, and even now, they take extra precautions, especially with a foreigner. It is for your safety as a traveler and because they understandably became more suspicious about Western travelers, who only came to Iraq to join the Islamic Caliphate a few years ago. 

If you travel to the Anbar region, you can expect more questions at the first checkpoint before entering Fallujah, including your local contact. Anbar region was the most affected by the destruction of ISIS after Mosul, and some of the ISIS soldiers are still hiding in the remote desert areas.  

I had the most problems when entering Kurdistan. Once, I traveled with some friends from Baghdad, we had to turn back because “we were not a family”. Another time because the vehicle from Baghdad was not registered, a requirement that only existed temporarily, and some weeks later, it was not a problem at all. 

Once I was heading in a shared taxi towards Baghdad around 9-10 pm. The policemen made me get out of the car, asked for my contact’s number, and told him to come to pick me up at the checkpoint. They considered it unsafe at this late hour to arrive in Baghdad, although I explained I would go directly by taxi to my hotel from the bus station. 

You cannot be sure if you can get through the checkpoint towards Hatra, the ancient city of Upper Mesopotamia and, in my opinion, one of the most impressive sites in Iraq. Here you should also not go too late, and they may restrict the time you can spend there as it is in the middle of a deserted area, the nest of the remnants of ISIS militants.

You may not encounter any of the above; however, it is only a matter of luck. The more time you spend in Iraq, the more you understand that there is no rule, and things can change day by day. Nothing is engraved in stone.  

In Kurdistan, there are certain roads you are not allowed to take as they are deemed unsafe. For example, you can visit the Mar Mattai monastery from Mosul, but you cannot continue to other parts of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Local contacts

I recommend always having a local contact who you can call just in case. Wherever you are in Iraq, you may need help. You can bump into a policeman, a closed door, a refused entry, or a checkpoint where you are posed questions. You must always be ready for unexpected things. The Iraqi Travelers café is a fantastic Facebook group connecting foreign travelers and locals who are eager to help you in any way they can. If you do not speak Arabic, having the phone number of some locals in case you have a problem can make your visit so much easier. Without the help of locals and the connections, it is hard to navigate all your trip as a backpacker alone. It is also the best way to understand Iraq through the eyes of locals better. In Iraq, you will be welcomed with extreme helpfulness, which will probably be the highlight of your trip. 

Permits to enter places

You can only enter some monuments with special permits, and only a local with a connection can arrange that for you. This is how I visited the University of Baghdad, the Mukhaal university in Basra, the Umm al-Qura mosque in Baghdad, and the archeological sites (Uruk, Nippur, etc.)

Often (although rules are changing almost daily about that), you need a permit for Hatra too.

Can you travel around alone in Iraq?

You can travel independently around Iraq, but as I stressed above, make sure you always have somebody to help you translate if you don’t speak Arabic. Google translate is awesome but will not solve bigger and more complicated issues. You must prove to have a local contact waiting for you at your destination in many cases. I highly recommend trying to visit Iraq mainly with locals, who can free you of any troubles. 

Insurance

I used Safety Wing for my last trips, because

it covers almost all countries, including the ones that are excluded from other packages, except Iran, North Korea and Cuba.

It is the cheapest option you can get for 42 $/months and less if you need for a shorter trip.

It is a combined medical and travel insurance, but for the cheaper price, it does not cover the damage or loss of electronics such as phones, laptops, and cameras.

IATI is another reliable widely used travel insurance which covers Iraq with hundreds of thousands of satisfied travelers.

Sim card

Getting a local sim card for your trip is a must to find your way, stay in touch with your local contacts, and translate. If you have your flight late at night, you may find all the shops closed that sell sim cards. In this case, you can buy it in the city center the following day. 

Important: not all mobile service providers sell Iraqi sim cards for foreigners. Although small kiosks also sell sim cards. As a foreigner, always go to the official shop of the mobile company. Asia cell is a good option. You can find their shop on al-Karrada street.

Money change

The rates are always worse at the airport, so change only the minimum amount you need to get from the airport to the Abbas ibn Firnas square (10 000 IQD) and grab a taxi to the city center. They accept dollars as well. There are several money changers around Firdos Square in the center. You may find ATMs, but Iraq is a cash-based country, where the easiest is to carry enough cash to avoid having to search and waste time finding a machine to withdraw money.

Alcohol

Alcohol consumption is not propagated but not entirely prohibited in Iraq. There are bars, discos and nightclubs in Baghdad and in the Kurdish cities in the northern part. Kirkuk also has bars and alcohol shops, and there are some alcohol shops in Mosul and Basra as well. You find the alcohol shops in the Christian quarters of Karrada and on Sadoun street in the capital.

Since the service price is high in the bars, people prefer drinking the alcohol discretely in the car, and at home.

Otherwise, people get together in cafes, have shisha, and drink tea, coffee, and other non-alcoholic beverages. And although alcohol consumption is restricted, almost everybody is smoking in return, literally everywhere! 

Food

It is one of the attractions of Iraq.The most famous Iraqi specialties are kebab, Masgouf (grilled fish) dolma, kubba.

How to dress up and behave in Iraq?

Dressing

There is no specific dress code in Iraq, but you should dress up modestly, hiding your legs. There is no requirement to wear full-sleeved shirts, or a mid-thigh “manteau” like in Iran. You don’t need to cover your hair either. In Baghdad, you see young girls wearing T-shirts. In some other more conservative cities, like Mosul and Basra Cover your arms a bit more.

Women are required to wear an abaya to enter mosques. If you do not have one with you, you can always buy it in one of the shops around the site. Kerbala and Najaf, the holy cities, are a bit different. A more extensive area around the shrines of Imam Ali and Hussein is considered sacred. Here, you need to wear an abaya as soon as you reach the security control. For foreigners, it is advisable to keep it while taking the shared taxi to and from Kerbala and Najaf to other cities to avoid policemen’s attention at the security checkpoints. In this way, you can avoid being asked for your passport and making locals waste time because of you. Although it does not take more than 5 minutes in most cases, and locals are always very patient.

I always have a scarf around my neck because sometimes you do not need to wear an abaya, but they ask you to cover your hair.

Otherwise, you do not need to cover yourself as this is not a must in Iraq.

Strictly no public affection

In Iraq, strict Islamic rules apply concerning the expected behavior. Some countries in the Middle East are more permissive with foreigners in this respect, while others do not make any distinction. Iraq belongs to the latter one. It means that showing affection in public is prohibited. Non-married couples are not allowed to stay in the same hotel room. All hotels are equipped with video cameras to check that. You cannot hug, let alone kiss, either in public or in the car. If you are caught, you may try to arrange it with the policeman, who can be kind to let you go; however, legally, you can be jailed for that. 

Do not take photo with religious Muslim women

Religious Muslim women refuse being on photos even with a scarf.

The best time to visit Iraq

There is only a relatively short time that is ideal for discovering both the lowlands and mountains of Iraq.

Summer in Baghdad and to the south of Baghdad (June-August) can be scorching, reaching 45-50 degrees in the capital and even 60 degrees in the port city, Basra. The humidity can get almost 100% in the Basra region and the marshes. You should avoid going to Iraq this time, as even locals do not go out unless necessary.

The hilly northeastern Kurdish part of Iraq is usually 6°C cooler than the lowlands, making it ideal for a visit in the summer months. Winter can be surprisingly cold when the temperature can drop to close to zero. The dry climate makes you feel it to the bones. December-February is also not the best time to go to Iraq, especially not to the hilly areas. 

To sum up, the best time to visit Iraq is September – November, and March-May.  

I have used SafetyWing travel insurance for all my trips lately. It is a cheap medical insurance and covers almost all countries in the world, including Iraq.

Sandstorms

It was not an issue before, as sandstorms happened only a few times a year. However, they have become more frequent this year because of the complete lack of rain. Only in April and May the air traffic stopped 8-10 times. Sandstorm in Iraq is different from how I imagined it before. It is not a strong wind that blows the sand in your eyes, or at least not in the cities where the buildings hold it up. It is rather an immense concentration of dust that sharply restricts the visibility, and everything turns in orange color.

During one sandstorm, thousands of people had respiratory and allergy problems forcing them to stay at home. Another time, schools and government offices closed, and people were asked not to leave their homes unless necessary. This did not happen before. But the lack of precipitation has a drastic effect on the environment. Water scarcity is a common problem in the Middle East, but Iraq is one of those affected the most. Especially with a climate where the temperature can reach 50-60 degrees in June-August. In 2022, the Sawa lake near Nasiriya simply dried up for the first time. The environmental changes and their effect on water supply are alarming in Iraq. 

How can sandstorms affect your travels?

During my first visit to Iraq, my flight from Istanbul to Baghdad was canceled and rescheduled for the day after. An airport closure usually lasts only a day, and the air clears up quickly. 

During my second visit to Iraq, the sandstorm messed up my plans, and I had to cancel my trip to the desert. But at least I arrived. Sandstorms were regular the rest of the tour, although they did not influence my trip. I could visit the places, but the visibility was far from perfect. Apart from not being able to take nice photos, that was not a problem for me. I did not suffer from respiratory issues or similar.

Artifacts of archeological sites

It may be common sense, but especially with respect to the recent events (one British tourist was charged with smuggling Iraqi artifacts that he collected from an archeological site), that you should by no means take away any tiny piece of pottery or other artifacts from an archeological site, even if it seems to be worthless. According to Iraqi law, it is punishable with the death penalty. (update: he will be released soon from prison finally)

If you read all the above, you are ready to head to Iraq, a unique destination in the Middle East with one of the friendliest people on earth and plenty of treasures to discover that were hardly accessible until now. Experienced travelers say that Iraq was one of their most rewarding destinations (including myself). And with the visa on arrival for plenty of countries, it cannot be easier.

Other articles about Iraq

All you need to know before traveling to Iraq

How to visit Mosul in 2022?

Travel guide to Basra, Iraq

What to visit in Baghdad in 3-4 days

The best books to read about Iraq (constantly updated)

Visiting Lalish, the holy place of Yezidi people

How to visit Babylon and other places around Hillah

Most interesting places to visit in Iraq

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