Mashhad Pilgrimage tour on 10 days 

Take the train or bus from Tehran to Gorgan, nestled attractively in the Alborz Mountains. Gorgan makes a great base for visiting the Turkmen steppe and the remote Mil-e Radkan tower. If you're impressed by this tower, you'll want to visit the incredible 1000-year-old tomb-tower of Mil e Gonbad, in Gonbad-e Kavus, before visiting the forested mountains of Golestan National Park, perhaps staying at the Turkmen Ecolodge.

Next up, travel to Iran's holiest city of Mashhad, where you can revel in the ecstasy of pilgrims in the stunning and massive Haram-e Razavi complex and visit the beautifully proportioned Boq'eh-ye Khajeh Rabi mausoleum.

Mashhad is a great base for exploring the hinterlands by foot, bicycle, or horseback. Nearby Kang is a photogenic stepped village of stacked mud-brick homes. The mausoleum of 11th-century poet, Ferdosi is found in Tus, while Omar Khayyam has his tomb in Neishabur. The impressive mountain cliffs of Kalat Naderi lie to the north. Mashhad is a gateway to Central Asia; otherwise, fly back to Tehran or continue south by bus or train into the desert.