Next up is Chehel Sotoun Palace. Set in a landscaped and forested park in front of a tranquil reflecting pool, this graceful pavilion was built by Shah Abbas II for entertainment and court receptions. Entering through a portico with twenty slender wooden columns, you’ll discover soaring halls embellished with frescoes, paintings and mosaics; the Hall of Mirrors is especially breathtaking!

Today you’ll enjoy lunch during your Isfahan day tour at a local restaurant we’ve selected for its delicious Persian cuisine and friendly ambience. The Iranian people are gregarious by nature and some of your fellow diners, once they hear you speaking English, may ask where you’re from!

This afternoon, your exploration Isfahan day tour continues in Naqsh-e Jahan Square. This 17th-century site is one of the largest public spaces in the world. Here in the square, you’ll visit the 17th-century Shah Mosque, revered as a masterpiece of Islamic architecture and easily recognised by its magnificent tile-work and soaring cupola and minarets.

Here in the square, you’ll visit the 17th-century Shah Mosque, revered as a masterpiece of Islamic architecture and easily recognised by its magnificent tile-work and soaring cupola and minarets. In the Ali Qapu Palace, you’ll marvel at its beautiful music rooms and the balconies where Safavid kings would sit to enjoy the polo matches unfolding in the square below. You’ll continue your day exploring by the Qeisarieh Bazaar that surrounds Imam Square. With hundreds of local vendors that specialise in traditional arts and crafts, it’s a wonderful place to shop for pottery, enamel, jewellery and delicately inlaid board games.

Then we head to visit Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque that is one of the architectural masterpieces of Safavid Iranian architecture, standing on the eastern side of Naghsh-i Jahan Square, Isfahan, Iran. Construction of the mosque started in 1603 and was finished in 1619. This is one of the oldest congregational mosques in the country, and its construction and embellishment over the past twelve centuries illustrate a number of important periods in Islamic architecture.