Tehran is to have a permanent tour bus service on 15 different routes.
The Tehran Tourist Bus was officially unveiled in a ceremony at Milad Tower. It then went on a symbolic tour from Milad Tower to the Glassware and Ceramic Museum of Iran (Abgineh Museum) in 30-Tir Street, MNA reported.
The passengers who were mostly journalists enjoyed a one and a half hour ride through Tehran streets and received comprehensive information on the capital’s history and its tourist attractions and destinations.
Currently, the tours are designed on 15 routes, including 12 half-day and three full-day tours. Buses are ready to take visitors from two stations in Tajrish and Imam Khomeini Squares, from Sunday to Friday at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
The Tehran Tourist Bus will be a permanent feature after years of pilot plans and scattered bus tours around the city.
The first one-day Tehran tour was held in 2006 in District 20, the oldest district in Tehran. Two years later, in 2008, the private sector began to collaborate in the plan, said Amir Gholamali, the private sector representative who is also in charge of launching the city tour bus.
“We intend to introduce Tehran to various strata of the people in different parts of the capital and also life styles of the metropolitan city, and show that to take a vacation does not necessarily mean traveling abroad”, noted Gholamali.
Tehran Municipality also took part in the plan for the first time in 2013 during Nowruz holidays, launching a program called “Guests of Tehran”. The services then too, were provided by the private sector and the ‘Gardesh Afarinan Pars Travel Agency’.
The agency is still responsible for implementation of the plan.
“We tried to adapt successful models of other countries to make them appropriate for domestic demand”, emphasized Gholamali.
Over 50 places have been selected as destinations. He pointed that tours have been designated as historical, religious, and entertainment tours to various destinations such as Milad Tower, Imam-zadeh Yahya, Molavi St., Tehran old neighborhoods, Mashq square (between 30-Tir and Imam Khomeini St.), and Shah Abdolazim Shrine in Rey, south of Tehran.
eight more routes will be introduced in the near future. Narrating stories from the history of Tehran is among the programs for the tourists.
Four buses are roofless for the warm seasons, so that passengers will be able to enjoy “the tour, and the spring and summer weather at the same time.”
The bus is equipped with wireless internet service as well.
