Iraq…Mesopotamia & the Jewels of Assyria
April 02 - April 19, 2025
Led by Professor Miklos Sarkozy, Historian, and Associate Professor of Iranian and Middle Eastern Studies at the Karoli University of Budapest, Hungary

Mesopotamia-the land between the great rivers Tigris and Euphrates-was the home to the world’s earliest civilization. To walk on such sites as Eridu, Uruk, Ur of the Chaldees, and Babylon is to trace the history of the first cultures to build cities, invent writing, develop the wheel, and rule the known world. Some have claimed that the Garden of Eden was located in Iraq, and biblical history touches this land too. When it became an independent country in 1932, Iraq had been home to ancient Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria and had been conquered by Persians, the Macedonian army of Alexander the Great, the armies of the Islamic conquest, the Mongol hordes, and the Ottoman empire of Turkey. At many points in its history, Iraq could be said to have been at the center of the civilized world, and you will see elements of this ancient history along with remnants of more recent times, including the regime of Saddam Hussein and the Coalition occupation. For the first time in our history selling tours to Iraq, we are now pleased to visit sites that we have never been able to see before the Assyrian ancient cities of the north: Nimrud, Nineveh, Hatra, and Khorsabad. With many of them having suffered heavily under the occupation of ISIS in the last few years, and now that ISIS has been mostly pushed out of this region, there are multiple international projects focusing on restoring part of the glory of those ruins. 

Can be combined with Kurdistan tour (April 18 - April 28, 2025)

Trip Grade:
II Active: Some hikes, slightly more demanding walks at or to sites, few elevations, comfortable but busy schedule and some long rides and extensive drives.

LODGING Level:
*** Superior Lodges and hotels with additional amenities, refined service and comfort level acceptable to western standards. (3 or 4 stars)

**** Luxury: Regular style- usually large- hotels, typical western standard with ample venues, and full amenities. (4 or 5 stars)

Special tour Remarks:

During this trip, there will be a few checkpoints between provinces and cities, and your patience is appreciated whenever they delay us a little bit longer than expected to verify documents.  

Accommodations have developed and improved a lot in the last few years, and now most of the hotels we use are very comfortable and with western standard services. You also must understand that our guides cannot compare to the “classical” definition of guides in well-touristy places like Europe or Turkey or Egypt, and Morocco; they act primarily as tour managers and coordinators as the country does NOT have any official and licensed expert guides in the real sense of the word.

Everyone joining must be in good health, with an open mind and a sense of adventure. Please note that although this trip is not necessarily physically demanding by exertion, the remoteness of some locations, the back roads we sometimes have to take, and the delays can be quite a different experience. The security arrangements may change throughout the trip, and any sudden changes in the itinerary or hotels due to unforeseen conditions are possible. Keep in mind that Iraq’s weather is hot even in the ideal months of November to March, so you should protect yourself from dehydration, sunstrokes, etc. Our tours always include an abundant supply of bottled water on your vehicles every touring day. 

The tour includes the area north of Baghdad covering the ancient ruins of Assyria: Nineveh, Khorasabad, Hatra, and Nimrud - all the regions under ISIS occupation for many years and are now liberated. We still monitor any security issues, and if there is any need to alter the itinerary due to difficulty accessing the sites, Spiekermann Travel reserves the right to make any changes to the itinerary if needed. Travelers should be able to accept and adapt to sudden changes graciously.