Backpacking Iran

However, the exchange rate you will receive in Iran, is not the official rate (the one reported online) but rather the free market rate. During my time in Iran, the official rate reported on foreign exchange websites was 1€ = 34 000 Rial. However, when changing money in the country, I would receive a rate of 1€ = 41 000 Rial, an improvement of about 20%! Take this into account when you are heading to Iran. Whatever is reported as the live official rate, see above, will not be the rate you receive. But rather you will receive the free market rate which will be in your favour by a further 20%.

Rial and Toman

There is another complication. Iranians don’t like using so many zeroes on their prices, so they often speak in terms of Toman instead of Rial. 1 Toman = 10 Rial. Using the Toman allows Iranians to remove a zero from prices. It is important that you do not misunderstand this concept. There is still only one single currency in Iran and it is the Iranian Rial. But when quoting prices either verbally or in written form, often people will use the Toman which means one less zero is used. If there is any confusion when you are purchasing something just politely ask if the price quoted is Toman or Rial. No one is trying to rip you off, it’s just the way things are in Iran.

Still Too Many Zeroes

One last complication! So let’s say you go to a small bakery to buy some snack. You see the price quoted as 2 Toman. What does this mean? Well, when using Toman to display prices, it is common to remove a further 3 zeroes. So 2 Toman actually means 2,000 Toman, which in turn means 20,000 Rial or about 0.5€.

TL;DR Version

• The only currency is the Iranian Rial.
• The free market rate is about 20% better than the official rate.
• Prices are often quoted in Toman rather than Rial which means one less zero is displayed.
• Sometimes a further 3 zeroes are removed again when prices are displayed in Toman.

Purchasing a Sim Card

Using the internet in ran can be a frustrating experience. WiFi in cafes and public spaces is far less common than you are likely accustomed to. Hotels and Hostels do provide WiFi connections for guests, but they connections are notoriously slow, prone to disconnections and require a VPN in order to access social media.

Accordingly, getting hold of an Iranian sim card is a decent idea. It’s not a necessity, but certainly useful to have mobile internet. MTN Irancell is the provider that appears to be the most popular with travellers. MTN Irancell have a booth in the international airport in Tehran. If you are not able to purchase a sim at IKA, there are also a few locations in Tehran that you can buy them from. A list of Irancell service centres is available on the Irancell website here. There are sometimes Irancell kiosks inside major subway stations including this one inside the Imam Hossein Subway Station.

The sim you should purchase from MTN Irancell is the visitor sim. All pricing details for the Irancell visitor sim can be found here.