GoVilaGo
A deep canyon above the town, best seen from the road and the viewpoints.
Visiting times: Any hour, but the viewpoints need daylight. No ticket.Do something fun
What to do there
Waterfalls, viewpoints, walks, and food beside the stay. Instagram shows the picture. This page holds the place.
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Featured destinations
Erbil
The capital: citadel, bazaar, and the parks around the city.
Duhok
A city between the dam lake and the mountain ridge.
Sulaymaniyah
A city of books, museums, and the mountains on its edge.
Halabja
A town of memory at the foot of the mountains, east of Sulaymaniyah.
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What will you discover?
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Sights and attractions
Citadels, bridges, mosques, and the views people stop for.
Explore by interest Taste of KurdistanTea houses, markets, and the food of the towns.
Explore by interest ShoppingCovered bazaars, cloth, and the lanes under the citadel.
Explore by interest Things to doA drive, a walk, or a waterfall afternoon.
Explore by interest WellnessParks, lakes, and quieter ground away from the road.
Explore by interest Arts and craftsWeaving, tailors, and the old trading lanes.
Explore by interest Eat and drinkWhere to sit for tea, juice, or a meal.
Famous places
Citadels, waterfalls, museums and mountains, each with what it is and when you can visit.
The waterfall drops beside the Hamilton Road. Spring is the strongest flow.
Visiting times: Open all day. Tea places and stalls from morning until late in summer. Small parking fee.A stepped waterfall with tea houses above the pools.
Visiting times: Open all day. Shops and tea houses from morning until late in summer; many close in winter.The cable-car summit looks over Rawanduz and the surrounding ridges.
Visiting times: Cable car usually 10:00–18:00 in summer and shorter in winter. It stops in high wind, so phone or ask locally the same day.The town sits on a mesa. Walk the gate, the mosque, and the rim at sunset.
Visiting times: Town streets open all day. The bazaar and tea houses wind down after sunset. No ticket.The main street is for grilled meat, tea, and an evening walk.
Visiting times: Shops and grills from about 9:00 until midnight in summer, earlier in winter.The town climbs the cliff. Newroz fires are lit on the slope.
Visiting times: Streets open any hour. The Newroz torch walk is the evening of 20 March; come early, roads close.A green valley on the Great Zab, quiet outside holiday weekends.
Visiting times: Daylight is best. No ticket, few shops; take your own food and water.A short ridge walk with canyon views. Wear shoes with grip.
Visiting times: Daylight only. Start before 8:00 in summer and carry two litres of water per person.Short rides on the edge of town. Ask the stable for the day’s price and a guide.
Visiting times: Usually from the afternoon until sunset in summer. Ask the stable the same day; there is no fixed timetable. $25A mound city above Erbil, lived in for thousands of years and on the UNESCO list since 2014.
Visiting times: Citadel lanes open every day in daylight. The Kurdish Textile Museum is usually 9:00–17:00 and closed on Friday. Walking in is free.The covered bazaar under the citadel: tea, spices, gold and tailors in narrow lanes.
Visiting times: Shops roughly 9:00–21:00. Quiet on Friday morning, busiest after 18:00.A city park around the 12th century Mudhafaria minaret, with a cable car over the lawns.
Visiting times: Park open from morning until late evening, free. The cable car mostly runs from the afternoon; ask at the gate on the day.The largest park in Erbil: two lakes, long walking paths and a running track.
Visiting times: Open every day from early morning until late, free entry.Erbil’s largest mosque, finished in 2007, marble inside and two tall minarets.
Visiting times: Visits between the five prayer times, daylight hours. Modest clothes, a headscarf for women, shoes off at the door. Free.The Bradost mountain cave where Neanderthal burials were found in the 1950s.
Visiting times: Daylight only, no ticket office. Take water and closed shoes; a local guide makes the path easier to follow.The 1930s mountain road from Erbil to the border, cut through the Gali Ali Beg gorge.
Visiting times: Open road at any hour, but drive it in daylight. Ice and fog from December to February.Stepped waterfalls and tea platforms on the slope under Amedi.
Visiting times: Open all day. Restaurants and tea platforms from morning until late in summer; quiet in winter.At 3,607 m the highest peak fully inside Iraq, above Choman.
Visiting times: Climbing season June to October. Only with a local guide, on the marked path, and register in Choman first.The former Ba’ath intelligence prison in Sulaymaniyah, now a museum of the Anfal years.
Visiting times: Usually 9:00–16:00 and closed on Friday; entry free. Hours change on holidays, so ask before you go.Opened in 1961 and the second largest museum in Iraq, with finds from Jarmo onward.
Visiting times: Usually 9:00–16:00 and closed on Friday; small ticket. Confirm the day before, the hours change.The wall of rock behind Sulaymaniyah, with a road up to sunset viewpoints.
Visiting times: Any hour; best an hour before sunset. No ticket. The last bends can be icy in winter.The largest lake in the region, held by a 1950s dam on the Little Zab.
Visiting times: Shore open all day. Boat trips mostly morning to sunset in summer; agree the price first.Water straight out of the border ridge, with tea platforms over the stream.
Visiting times: Open all day; tea places from morning until late in summer. Strongest water April to June.The memorial for the 1988 chemical attack, with the names of the victims.
Visiting times: Usually 9:00–16:00, closed on Friday; entry free. Very busy every 16 March.Stone villages stacked on steep slopes, on the UNESCO list since 2021.
Visiting times: Villages are open at any hour, free. Go in daylight; some upper roads close after heavy snow.The holiest Yazidi shrine, in a valley of cone-roofed buildings near Shekhan.
Visiting times: Daylight, every day, free. Shoes off inside the valley and modest clothes; ask before taking photographs of people.A lake right above the city, with a shore road and picnic ground.
Visiting times: Open all day, free. The shore fills up on Friday afternoon.The ridge on the south side of Duhok, with a road and a cable car to the top.
Visiting times: The road is open any hour. Cable car and cafés mostly afternoon and evening; ask locally in winter.A high stone arch over the Little Khabur, the landmark of Zakho.
Visiting times: Open all day, free. Best in the evening when the arch is lit.