Qom Travel Guide, Iran

Qom, Travel guide – Location

The beautiful city of Qom which is famous for its intense religious life, is located in northern Iran, only a few kilometers away from the Caspian Sea. Qom travel guide will help you make a better image about the city’s natural background, economy and cuisine.

Qom, Travel guide – Geography

The dominating topography in Qom is given by the nearby Kavir Desert and National Park with their captivating salt crusts, reddish colored sands and the amazing desert night sky. The captivating landscape of the city with its shining domes surrounded by the desert with the immense salt covered surfaces creates unique scenery.

The climate is semi-desert with average minimum temperatures in July of about 22ºC and maximum of 40ºC, scarce rainfall especially in August and September when they are totally absent. A very present phenomenon here is the wind which is stronger in June and November when it reaches about 72km/hour.

Kamar Rood River crosses the area nearby the city, being very useful in local land irrigations.

Qom, Travel guide – Flora and Fauna

Due to harsh weather conditions the local flora and fauna is not very rich but still, few species have adapted and live here. Flora is represented by some shrub, tree and grass species which adapted to high temperatures, little humidity, salty lands and also big temperature differences between night and day, summer and winter. The cypress tree is another beautiful appearance here, this region housing one of the oldest such trees in the world, about 300 years old.

Fauna is also present and well adapted to desert conditions. Tourists visiting Qom could be able to observe several terrestrial species like the antelope, panther and different bird species.

Qom, Travel guide – Transport

Qom is located on old communication routes between the Orient and Europe, some old roads and bridges being architecture monuments, real tourist attractions. The city is crossed by important roads and railroads creating good connections with other cities in Iran like Teheran and Shiraz.

The nearest international airport is located 120km away in Teheran, the Imam Khomeini International Airport, creating good connections with Asia and Europe.

For traveling within the city, the bets choice would be to take a taxi or a bus which is quite inexpensive and reliable. Taxis in Qom have not only men as drivers but also women, so you can get the chance to choose among various taxi companies.

Qom, Travel guide – Population and Economy

Population in Qom numbers about 270.000 people, and is an important educational and religious centre, considered to be a holy city. The city houses the largest Muslim college in the country and is visited by large numbers of tourists and pilgrims every year.

The local economy is based on tourism especially the religious one, commerce, agriculture and light industry. Local agriculture is profitable due to irrigations and mainly produces vegetables, cereals and fruits. The light industry mainly produces textiles and different manufactured glass and ceramic objects.

Qom, Travel guide – Cuisine

Local cuisine is famous for its appetizers and great spices which offer a unique flavor to every dish. Locals use as ingredients mainly rice, lamb, fish, vegetables, spices and different herbs. Most of the dishes are served with rice, special Basmati rice, like the khoresht, a sort of lamb stew, dolma, which are grape leafs stuffed with a combination of vegetables, nuts and cheese, and served with a yoghurt and mint sauce, chelo, which is rice served with a meat stew, polo, again made with rice and vegetables and typical spices, abgoosht, a kind of mutton soup and many other delicious such varieties. Iranians thus people from Qom too, drink a lot of chay, which is tea and have extremely sweet and strongly flavored deserts usually made with honey, almonds, pistachio, peanuts and many spices.