Iraq

Iraqi Kurdistan, the autonomous region in the north, is the most accessible part of Iraq for independent international travellers — own visa-on-arrival regime, direct flights from Istanbul, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt (Lufthansa) and other regional hubs to Erbil (EBL) and Sulaymaniyah (ISU). Erbil (Hawler) is built around the Erbil Citadel — the oldest continuously inhabited site in the world per UNESCO, with at least 6,000 years of stratified habitation (UNESCO World Heritage 2014) — surrounded by the modern Qaysari bazaar, the Sami Abdul Rahman Park, the Erbil Civilization Museum and an extensive restaurant and café scene. The Hamilton Road through the Zagros (Archibald Hamilton, 1920s) connects Erbil to the Iranian border via Rawanduz, the Bekhal Waterfall, the Geli Ali Beg gorge and the Korek Mountain Resort.

Sulaymaniyah, the cultural capital of southern Kurdistan, has a strong literary tradition, the excellent Slemani Museum (Iraq's second-best archaeological collection), the Amna Suraka 'Red Security' museum (the former Ba'athist secret-police headquarters now a memorial), and the surrounding Lake Dukan and Halgurd–Sakran mountain country with serious multi-day trekking. Duhok in the north is the gateway to the Yezidi heartland of Lalish — the holiest site in the Yezidi religion and an active pilgrimage centre in a wooded valley with the white-cone Sheikh Adi shrine — and the Christian monasteries above Alqosh and Lalish (Rabban Hormizd Monastery, founded in 640 AD).

Baghdad — the 8th-century Abbasid capital that gave the world the modern banking system, algebra (al-Khwarizmi), the House of Wisdom translation movement, the Arabian Nights and one of the great medieval kitchens — is the practical centre of federal Iraq. The National Museum of Iraq holds the principal Mesopotamian collection in the world (badly looted in 2003 but substantially restored, with notable Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian pieces). Mutanabbi Street is the Friday morning book market and the literary heart of the city. The Abbasid Palace (12th-century), the Khulafa Mosque, the Souk al-Safafeer coppersmith bazaar, the Al-Mustansiriya School (1227, one of the oldest universities in the world), the Tigris waterfront and the freshly grilled masgouf restaurants of Abu Nuwas Street round out a 2–3-day Baghdad stay.

Iraq holds six UNESCO World Heritage Sites covering the deep history of Mesopotamia. Babylon (UNESCO 2019), 85 km south of Baghdad, has the partially restored Ishtar Gate replica and the Processional Way of Nebuchadnezzar II's great capital. Ur (Tell el-Muqayyar), 350 km south near Nasiriyah, is the Sumerian city of Abraham with the great Ziggurat partially restored under Saddam in the 1980s. Hatra (UNESCO), in the western desert near Mosul, is the Parthian-era caravan trade capital with extraordinary preserved Hellenistic-Arab fusion temples. Samarra (UNESCO), 125 km north of Baghdad, has the 9th-century Great Mosque with the Malwiya spiral minaret and the Al-Askari Shia shrine. Ashur (UNESCO), the original Assyrian capital, lies on the Tigris between Mosul and Tikrit.

Najaf and Karbala in central Iraq are the holiest Shia Muslim cities in the world after Mecca and Medina, centred on the shrines of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (Najaf) and Imam Hussein and his half-brother Abbas (Karbala). The Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf and the Imam Hussein Shrine in Karbala receive several million pilgrims annually; the Arba'een pilgrimage on foot from Najaf to Karbala in October-November (the 40th day after Ashura) draws around 20 million pilgrims, making it the world's largest annual religious gathering. Both cities welcome non-Muslim visitors with respectful dress (women in chador, modest clothing for men) and provide a deeply moving counterpoint to the archaeological circuit. The Wadi-us-Salaam cemetery in Najaf is the largest cemetery in the world.

Iraqi cuisine is one of the great kitchens of West Asia: masgouf (the open-fire-roasted Tigris carp, the national dish, traditionally served along the Abu Nuwas riverside in Baghdad), kubba (the great Iraqi bulgur-and-meat dumpling category — kubba mosul, kubba halab, kubba shorbah, kubba burghul — each with regional variants), tashreeb (broth-soaked bread), biryani Baghdadi, qouzi (whole roasted lamb on rice with toasted nuts), the date sweets of Basra (where the world's largest date palm groves still survive), the strong Iraqi coffee with cardamom and the elaborate tea ritual. Iraqi-Kurdish hospitality (kêfxweş in Kurdish, karam in Arabic) is the single strongest first impression for most international travellers. The Ahwar marshlands (UNESCO 2016) in the south — partially restored after the 1990s drainage — are the largest wetland in the Middle East and the traditional home of the Marsh Arabs (Ma'dan) and their distinctive reed-house mudhif culture.