Iran is an ancient country with a long-held history, which is worth visiting. Not being an expensive destination to travel, you can arrange a memorable travel to Iran.
After having decided to travel to Iran, you may have some concerns over obtaining Iran Visa, reserving a hotel and accommodation, transportation and Iran currency exchange. You may be obsessed with the way to exchange money, the best place to exchange your money, the international credit cards accepted in Iran, or the rate of exchanging your currency. But there is no need to worry as in the following, you will learn everything related to exchanging money as a tourist in Iran.
What Tourists Need to Know About Money in Iran
Tourists are not usually familiar with Iran currency and money-related issues in this country. To avoid confusion, tourists need to know some issues prior to their travel to this dreamy destination to enjoy the most of their trip without running to any problems.
First, Tourists should know that international credit cards like MasterCard or Visa Card are of no use in Iran; as a result, tourists need to forget about using their credit cards here, but without worries as there are some ways to handle this issue. The other point which can be quite challenging for tourists can be different rates of money exchange in Iran since we have two different exchange rates. The last issue to consider would be the official currency in Iran. While the official currency is Rial, people use Toman in their everyday life. Just keep reading to ease your worries about these issues.
International Credit Cards in Iran
As mentioned earlier, international credit cards like MasterCard or Visa Card do not work in Iran. Iran is not connected to the international banking system because of sanctions that have been imposed on Iran. This problem may cause some inconvenience for tourists, but they can easily handle the problem by just carrying money in cash while traveling to this beautiful country and exchange their currency in Iran.
Exchange Rates in Iran
Prior to exchanging your money, you need to keep a few points in mind. First, you need to check valid websites or sources before exchanging your money because in Iran, the exchange rate may undergo some changes even within one day. So, you need to know the rate of the day to make a safe exchange.
Besides this exchange fluctuation that you should bear in mind, there is another important point that every tourist should be aware of. There are two exchange rates in Iran that can make quite a difference for you as a tourist. These two rates include the official or government rate and the free (open) market rate.
Exchanging your currency with free market rate would be more beneficial to tourists as free market offers higher value of your currency compared with the government one. To check the current rate before exchanging money, you can check the website xe.com for government rate and bombast.com for free market rate.
Money Exchange in Iran
There are three places where you can exchange your money in Iran. There are some bank branches and exchange offices at Imam Khomeini Airport, which can be quite helpful as you need to exchange part of your money on the arrival to pay for some initial services before checking in. You are recommended not to exchange all your money at the airport as you can exchange in the city at a better rate; moreover, for the amount of money you change at Imam Airport, we recommend you to choose the exchange office on the second floor for more reasonable rates.
The other place to exchange your money would be banks like Melli Bank (BMI) or other government banks like Mellat Bank, Saderat Bank, and Pasargad Bank. Banks exchange your money with government rate, which is much lower than free market rate, so you are not advised to do your exchange at banks.
In addition to Banks, there are numerous exchange offices in cities where you can exchange your money at a higher rate provided that these offices or shops, which are called Sarrafi in Persian, offer money with free market rate. Exchange offices can be found abundantly in all cities in ran, so you can locate the ones near your hotel for your convenience. In Tehran, the capital of Iran, many exchange shops are located on Ferdowsi Street; they have some electronic boards that display the current rate of most currencies in the world. But you are recommended to bring dollar or euro for easier exchange. The last recommendation is to avoid doing your exchange from venders for your safety.
Iranian Currency: Rial or Toman
One point that can be quite frustrating for tourists is the difference between Rial and Toman, which are both used in different situations by Iranians, so tourists need to know their difference while traveling in Iran. Rial is the official currency in Iran, which is used in written forms such as bank notes, so Rial is used in formal situations like banks, contracts and exchange offices. While Toman is used in everyday life by people. The difference between these two lies in the number of zeros, which means Toman has one zero less than Rial. To make it simpler, consider a bank note with the denomination of 100000 Rial on it; to convert this amount to Toman, you just need to omit one zero by simply putting your finger on the last zero. You are done, 100000 rial is equal to 10000 Toman. So, there is no need to concern over this issue, just remove one zero to pay for your everyday expenses in Toman.
The Last Word
Persian Trips Travel Agency is here to facilitate your travel to Iran in any issue that may be of concern for you. If You have any further question, you can be in touch with us through our Whatsapp,instagram
