I Accidentally Ended Up in This Iranian Town and Found the Best Vintage Jackets of My Life
look, i wasn't even planning to be here. like, at all. i was supposed to meet a guy in isfahan about some leather jackets his grandmother was selling (long story, involves a dm on instagram and a lot of broken google translate messages) and somehow i ended up in this random town about 40 minutes away because the bus driver said "shahreza" and i thought he said something else and now i'm here. it's 11.6 degrees outside and honestly? kind of perfect?
Quick Answers
Q: Is this place worth visiting?
A: if you want the real iran without the tourist crowds, yeah. it's quiet, people are curious about foreigners, and there's zero pressure to buy anything. i spent three hours just walking and nobody hassled me once.
Q: Is it expensive?
A: dirt cheap. i got a full wool coat for the equivalent of $12. a really good one. the food at local places is like $2-3 for a massive meal.
Q: Who would hate it here?
A: people who need wifi constantly, people who want big museums and structured tours, people who get annoyed when nobody speaks english. if you need everything curated for you, stay in isfahan.
Q: Best time to visit?
A: honestly the shoulder seasons. right now (november-ish, 11-12 degrees) is perfect. not freezing, not hot, just that crisp dry cold that makes walking around actually nice.
the weather right now is doing that thing where it's technically 11.6 but feels like 10.2 because of the humidity at 54%. it's dry cold though, so it doesn't seep into your bones like back home. the pressure is 1012 so no headaches, no weird ear popping. honestly the conditions are giving "perfect wandering weather" and i am taking full advantage.
local guy told me: "foreigners never come here. they go to isfahan, they go to shiraz. we have the same architecture, same food, but no tourists. sometimes i think they're missing something"
i don't know what the deal is with this town but there's vintage everywhere. like, actual vintage, not "we called it vintage to charge more" vintage. i found a shop with a 1970s iranian military coat that had the original buttons still intact. the guy working there didn't even try to negotiate up, he just seemed confused that i wanted it so badly.
*the architecture here is wild. it looks old but inhabited. not restored to death like some places, just... lived in. you can see where buildings are 200 years old and also where someone added a satellite dish in 1994 and it's still there, coexistencing with the decorative tiles.
the humidity at 54% makes the air feel clean but not dry enough to crack your lips. i was worried about the altitude (i think we're around 1700m? something like that based on the pressure difference between sea level and ground level, the ground level is 777 which is a weird number i keep seeing) but honestly i feel fine. maybe a little winded on the uphill streets but that's just being out of shape.
someone told me there's a bazaar here that's been operating for like 400 years but it's "not touristy enough" to be on any of the major sites. cool. exactly what i want. i spent two hours in there and got:
- a silk scarf that the seller said was from his grandmother's collection
- very aggressively negotiated price on a brass belt buckle
- approximately 47 cups of tea (they just keep bringing them, i couldn't figure out how to say no)
safety wise? i felt completely fine. walked around at sunset, walked around after dark, no weird vibes. women were walking alone, kids were playing, it felt normal. not unsafe, not weird, just... a town doing town things. a local warned me about the main road near the bus station being chaotic but honestly it was fine, just cars.
i asked a shopkeeper about the population (something like 120678 apparently, though he might have been making that up or it could be outdated) and he laughed and said "too many cars, not enough roads" which i think was his way of complaining about traffic in a town that probably doesn't have that much traffic. the number 1364423135 kept showing up on some official looking buildings - maybe a district code? a phone area code? i never figured it out and at this point i'm too afraid to ask.
the food here is making me emotional. i don't even like rice that much but the way they do it here with the saffron and the herbs and whatever magic they're adding? i'm going to gain weight and i don't care. i had this thing at a local restaurant that was basically rice, a fried egg, and some herbs and it was somehow the best meal i've had in months.
my airbnb host (who speaks like five words of english but we made it work via a translation app): "you are first visitor from internet. we don't get many. i hope you tell people come. we have good things here."
best time to visit? i'd say late october through early april. it's cold but not brutal, the light is good for photos (if you're into that), and the locals seem more lively when it's not 45 degrees outside. summer here apparently gets really hot and everyone flees to the mountains nearby.
the tourist vs local experience is basically nonexistent because there are no tourists. which means you're not really doing "tourist stuff" you're just... existing in a place that doesn't expect you. it's weirdly refreshing. i went to what i think was a historical site (again, limited english, lots of hand gestures) and i was the only person there. just me and some very old walls and a cat.
i keep saying "nearby cities" - isfahan is like 40 minutes by bus, maybe an hour by shared taxi. shiraz is further, maybe 3-4 hours. i met a guy at the bus station who was going to isfahan for a dentist appointment and he offered to take me but i had already found a jacket i needed to negotiate on so i stayed. priorities.
the pressure is stable, the weather is consistent, and honestly this town doesn't need me to sell it. it's doing fine without tourists. but if you're the kind of person who likes finding places before they blow up, or if you just want really good vintage coats at stupid low prices, get here soon.
i'm going back to find that military coat. the guy said he'd think about my price overnight and i need to be there when he opens. that's how you do business. that's the vibe.
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practical stuff:*
bus from isfahan: about 30,000 tomans (like $1.50 maybe? the exchange rate confuses me)
accommodation: i used airbnb, host was responsive and the place was clean
food: expect to pay $2-5 for huge meals
vintage shopping: saturday market apparently has more stuff, i missed it but locals mentioned it
links for more info:
tripadvisor isfahan region
yelp isfahan
reddit traveliran
lonely planet isfahan
wiki on shahreza
couchsurfing isfahan