When to visit Mashhad

Mahan Air flies 6 times per week and Kish Air flies three times per week from Kish Island to Mashhad. The flight takes around 2 hours, the planes Airbus 300 & McDonnell MD 83 are 20 years old on average, and might give you a scary feeling. But the plane crew is decent and converse in good English. The return ticket will cost USD 200 can be bought from travel agencies in Kish (Near Kish Air head office or Mahan Air Office)

There are International flights to Bahrain, Damascus, Dubai, Kuwait, Bishkek, Beirut, Jeddah, Dushanbe, Kabul, Doha, Almaty, Lahore and Istanbul.

Rail

There is train to Mashhad from Tehran. There are more than 3 different trains in different prices and qualities every day (mostly they leave afternoon or evening). Its about 10~14 hours way.

You get here from Turkmenistan. There are trains from Ashgabat and Merv to the Sarakhs border. And at the other side of the border there is a daily train from Sarakhs border to Mashad.

Bus

There are mostly night buses to Mashhad from other important cities. There are NO international buses from Ashgabat or anywhere in Turkmenistan.

Bicycle

Sarakhs border crossing: the area near the border is not safe and considered dangerous even by Iranians, incident of two guys raiding a tent and trying to rape a female while camping at night occurred on Sep 2012 around 20km from the border (not reported to the police). Cross early and cycle at least 50km before trying to find camp. The road is in good condition, a few ups and downs and one good uphill before reaching Mashhad