Urmia is the capital of West Azerbaijan province, in the Azerbaijan region of Iran, near the Turkish and Iraqi borders. It is known by its nicknames as the "Cradle of Water" and "Paris of Iran".

Get in

By plane

• 1 Urmia Airport (OMH  ^IATA). There are two daily flights to Tehran. As well as flights to Mashhad and Van  

By train

The railway is still under construction.

By car

By the newly built bridge over the Urmia lake you can reach Tabriz within 1.5 hours.

By bus

There are daily buses from Van in Turkey and Arbil in Iraq and also to Tehran, Tabriz and major Western Iranian cities.

Get around

Urmia has many parks and touristic coastal villages on the shore of Urmia Lake. The oldest park in Urmia, called Park-e Saat, was established in the first Pahlavi's era. Urmia's largest park is Ellar Bagi Park (Azerbaijani "Garden of the Peoples") along the Shahar Chayi, or the City River.

• The Urmia lake, the second saltiest lake in the world is only a few kilometers away. You can go for swimming and you will flow on the water.
• Natural History Museum - Displays the animals native to the vicinity of Urmia.
• Urmia Museum - an archaeological museum.

See

• Lake Urmia
• Church of Naneh Maryam (Mother Mary): The first church in the East built by the magi who made the journey to Jerusalem to see Jesus Christ.
• Three Domes Tower:The Three Domes Tower is situated in an alley branched off the Ostad Barzegar Street in the southeastern part of Urmia
• Friday (Grand) Mosque:Urmia’s Friday Mosque is located in the middle of Urmia Bazaar. It has a vast courtyard and a large brick Shabestan (covered area), roofed in the middle part with a high dome.
• old Urmia Bazaar:The Urmia Bazaar is situated in the southeastern corner of Urmia. At present, the major part of the bazaar which still stands intact is flanked by the Imam (Asgarabadi), Eghbal and Mahabad (Montazeri) streets.
• Band Park:Band is a village alongside the route to Piranshar, which is one of the major places for going out in Urmia. Here you can drink tea, smoke water pipe, eat kebab and enjoy long and warm evenings in summer time.
• Marserkis Church:The Marserkis Church is one of the stone structures of the province. The roof and all walls are skillfully and solidly built with stones of irregular shapes
• Sardar Mosque:Built in the Qajar dynasty by Abd-o-Samad Khan, father of Agha Khan and great grandfather of Azim-o-Saltaneh Sardar, Sardar Mosque is situated some 500m away from the Friday Mosque. In 1951, the latter installed a big clock on top of the entrance door, which is why it is also called the Sa’atlu (clock) Mosque.
• Nine Steps (Doquz Pelleh) Ice House:The Doquz Pelleh Ice House is situated by a little spring called “Darreh Chay” in an old district of Urmia called “Asgar Khan”. Doquz means “9” in Turkish. The ice house was regularly harvested by the people of Urmia before the city expanded to its present shape. Also, the Chaharshanbe Suri ceremonies used to be held beside the little pool some 40 meters away from the spot where the spring water flows into the ice house.

Sleep

• Reza Hotel, Besat Street, ☏ +98 441 222 6580. 
• Qods Hotel, Tak Setareh, ☏ +98 441 223 1861. 

Talk

Azerbaijani or Azeri, a Turkic dialect, is the primary language spoken by most Urmian people, although many people, especially the younger generation, can communicate in Farsi and English up to some level.